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It’s about that time of year when I begin to crave bread baking, and this cheaters no-knead dutch oven sourdough bread is my newest homemade obsession.
Did anyone else’s moms bake bread when they were growing up? As I’ve mentioned…over and over, my mom is not much of a cook, but she has always loved to bake. Most of the time her baking was limited to chocolate chip cookies and pecan pies, but during the fall and winter months my mom would bake up a fresh loaf of bread for Sunday night dinner.
The woman loves bread like no other. Give her fresh, homemade bread and there’s a good chance she’ll end up eating the entire loaf within a day…the warmth, the carbs…the butter!
Anyway, mom baking bread on Sunday night is always such a relaxing and comforting memory for me. The house smelled incredible, the kitchen was warm from the oven, and often times there was also a roaring fire.
So basically the perfect fall night.
Recently, I’ve been seriously craving those comforting smells of homemade bread. A lot of this is due to my anxiety being kicked into high gear lately, but it’s also the extremely chilly nights and much cooler days we’ve been experiencing here that totally have me wanting to bake.
Also, it snowed up in the mountains while I was hiking on Saturday morning, so yeah, there’s that too.
Warm, baked things are clearly what needs to happen over here.
One of my favorite loaves of bread is a really good loaf of crusty sourdough. For years now I have been wanting to develop a sourdough bread recipe for the blog, but the involvement of making homemade sourdough always scared me off. It can take weeks to make a really great loaf of sourdough and let’s just be honest, that’s kind of way too much time for most of us.
I mean, right?
I make my homemade naan with plain greek yogurt, and it’s probably the most popular recipe here on the site…and with good reason. It’s incredible and I’m not sure I can really top that naan, but the use of yogurt in the recipe got me thinking.
Greek yogurt has some of the same cultures as a sourdough starter, so I thought I might try adding some to a no-knead bread recipe and see how it turned out.
The results? Sourdough bread perfection. YES.
Like any other no-knead bread recipe, this cheater’s sourdough is EASY. The dough is made with a total of six ingredients, including the water, and it all goes into one bowl, gets mixed up, and is then left to sit and rise. You can literally be done with the actual mixing of the bread in five to ten minutes. The rest of the time involved is rising and baking time.
Meaning hands-on work is so minimal. Mix. Let Sit. Bake. EAT. Simple as that.
As the title of this recipe states, you need a good dutch oven for baking the bread. It’s a must for getting a bread that’s crusty on the outside, but extra soft on the inside. I love my Staub 5 1/2 Quart Cocotte for this bread, it’s the perfect size. Any heavy cast iron pot that’s 4 quarts or larger will be great though!
Another key to success? A super hot oven and keeping the lid tight on the pot for the first half of baking. This traps the heat inside the pot, which in turn creates the extra hard crust, but extra soft interior.
Again, perfection and so easy!
I’ve made this multiple times now in the last few weeks, most of the time on Sunday, because I just love the smells and memories it brings.
Plus, serving it up with a bowl of chili is pretty much the best Sunday night dinner.
And of course, any leftovers are delicious when toasted the next day for breakfast, or used as a base for your favorite lunchtime sandwich. I’ve been spreading my homemade apple butter over toasted pieces of this bread, and it’s quickly becoming my go-to breakfast and/or afternoon snack…and yes, the apple butter recipe is coming soon. I’ll be sending out the recipe exclusively to all the HBH email subscribers, so if you aren’t signed up yet, I’d do so soon!
Cheaters No Knead Dutch Oven Sourdough Bread
Servings: 12 servings
Calories Per Serving: 241 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 cup plain greek yogurt (any % fat will do, but I use full fat)
Instructions
- 1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the water, yeast, honey, flour, salt, and yogurt. Using the dough hook, mix until the flour is completely incorporated. Alternately, you can mix the dough with a wooden spoon until it comes together. Cover the bowl with a wet towel or plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature 2 hours or until it doubles in size.2. If time allows, punch the dough down, cover the bowl, and transfer to the fridge to let sit overnight. This will help develop a stronger "sourdough" flavor. 3. Generously dust a work surface with flour. Scrape the dough out of the bowl. It should be loose and sticky. Form the dough into a ball and place in a parchment lined 4 quart or larger dutch oven. Allow to rise 1 hour or until doubled in size. 4. Preheat to 475 degrees F. Bake, covered for 20-25 minutes. Using oven mitts, remove the hot lid and continue baking until the bread is a deep, golden brown, about 20-30 minutes more. Remove from the oven. Carefully lift the bread out of the pot and place it on a rack to cool completely, about 2 hours. Don't slice into the bread right out of the oven, the bread continues to cook as it cools. Enjoy!
Honestly though…it’s doesn’t get better than this bread…with a little salted butter. YUM.
This post was originally published on September 19, 2017
Is it possible to leave this bread in the fridge for too long?? I didn’t plan correctly and I can’t Continue making until
TonightI put it in the fridge at 6:45pm last night, is 24 hours in the fridge too much?
Hi Lauren,
You should be okay, I would continue with the bread. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any others questions! xTieghan
Can I use GF measure for measure flour or regular GF all purpose flour for this? I tried to read through the comments but there are sooooo many!
I love your recipes! I’ve made several of the cookies!
Hi Cathy! I have never made this with GF flour so I can’t really say how it will turn out. If you do try it, I recommend Cup4Cup flour. Please let me know if you have any other questions and how it turns out. I hope you love this recipe! xTieghan
Hi,
I am SO excited about this recipe!!!! Since it is quarantine here, everyone seems to be making bread so it took me a week to track down the yeast (10 grocery stores out, so I had to order online)! This recipe sounds perfect because I did not want to go through the trouble of making a starter for sourdough but love the taste of it!
Anyways, my enameled dutch oven is safe to 375* with the lid on and 500* without the lid on in the oven. I am new to dutch ovens and do not know the risk of going over the temperature of my particular dutch oven (will it crack the enamel? I have also read it’s a limit to the lid due to the plastic handle? I am not sure). Since the recipe requires it be covered for the beginning of the baking time, and 475* from the recipe is over my temperature limit with the lid on, should I just bake it uncovered the whole time? Or put something like foil over it instead to try and cover it? OR do I risk it (does not seem smart since it is 100* over the lid on limit)?? I do not want to mess up the bread recipe, but more importantly, I do not want to crack my dutch oven!!!! Please let me know what you would do!!!! I am so excited about this.
(PS I love your recipes and have tried so many of them during all of this quarantine craziness! Thanks for giving me activities!)
Hi Caroline,
I would recommend using the dutch oven and just cover in foil. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Made this today, delicious…Thank you
Thank you Shelley! xTieghan
I am mid-way through making this (with a combo of flours based on what I had in – it is IMPOSSIBLE to buy flour at the moment) and wondered – for the prove after being overnight in the fridge, does it still need to be covered with clingfilm? And does it need to be scored before it goes in the oven?
I’ve left mine a little longer to prove than the recipe says after being in the fridge because it’s rising slower with being so cold.
Hi Anna,
I would cover with a dish towel and it does not need to be scored. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Hello
We really loved this recipe. How could I get it to sour more? Don’t get me wrong. It was delicious. My husband was asking if I could make it more sour.
Thank you
Geni
Hi Geni,
Thanks so much for trying the recipe! Try using a sour beer next time. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
This is a great recipe! I had tried other no knead breads b this one gave a really great result. I did substitute the tablespoon honey for garlic bacuse I was making it for dinner. Tasted wonderful! I also substituted 1/2 a cut of regular flour for Bobs Red Mill gluten flour. I’ve done this with most of not all bread recipes just to give it an extra boost. This is going into my recipe box for sure!
Thank you so much for trying this Laurel! I am really glad this turned out so well for you! xTieghan
Laurel (or Tiegan, if you have a recommendation!) did you substitute an equal amount of garlic as the called for amount of honey? Looking to sub out the honey when I make this for Christmas because my 10-month-old can’t have honey. Thanks for your help!
This was fantastic! So easy to make and the bread is absolutely delicious. Thanks for another great recipe!!
Thank you so much Brittany! xTieghan
do you preheat Dutch oven?
Hi Susan! I do not preheat it! I hope you love this recipe! xTieghan
Made it last weekend, absolutely delicious, crusty on the outside and fluffy in the inside, just divine and very easy to do! Thank you for sharing.
Be well and stay safe 🙂
Perfect!! I am really glad this turned out so well for you! Thank you for trying this. I hope you are staying healthy and well!! xTieghan
Good morning! I have made this bread twice now, first as a gift I did not try, second for myself. I feel like I followed the recipe appropriately. The bread was just shy of being completely done on the inside when I made it for myself (just a touch doughy in the center) but the outside was a beautiful crust. Would it be best to cook it another 5-10 mins longer WITH the dutch oven covered to cook the inside longer? Thank you!
Hi Megan,
Thanks so much for trying the recipe! You could totally add a little extra time, all ovens are different so this would definitely make sense. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Hi! Made this bread today and it is fab! Have you ever tried it with whole wheat or grains? Thanks!
Hi Katherine! Whole wheat should work great for you! I hope you love this bread! xTieghan
The bread was delicious! I will be making it often. I had a problem with the parchment paper. I have 2 packages and they both said 425 degrees maximum but I used it anyway. It didn’t flame up but smelled like it was burnong. I searched online for parchment that would withstand the 475 degrees and found none any suggestions? Thanks so much.
Hi Karen! I will leave the brand I use below! Thank you so much for trying this! xTieghan
Hi Tieghan!
I have this dough sitting under a wet towel on the counter as we speak! I’m excited to pop it in the refrigerator over night and then bake it tomorrow! My question is, if I don’t have any parchment paper, is that ok? Should I grease the Dutch oven or use oil spray? Thanks in advance!
Hi Lindsay! If you do not have parchment paper, I would recommend flouring the dough extra before baking so it does not stick! xTieghan
Mmmm the smell of baking bread in the morning! I put a square piece of parchment paper on the counter and put the dough straight on it from the bowl, then picked it up by the corners to put in the dutch oven. Of course then I was so anxious to get it going that I neglected to read the part about another rise…oops! But it looks good so far! And now I have an excuse to try again! 😉
Oh the best!! I hope this turned out well for you, Linda! Thank you for trying it! xTieghan