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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
iii just put my bread in the fridge after 2 hrs. i never made regular bread so i had to google ‘punch-down’,
however, since i was not clear on what to do i put my fist in the center & pushed down the dough, then
folded it left to right & so forth.. covered it w/plastic & now, 45min. later it is rising quickly in the fridge &
touching the plastic…what do i do? planned to leave it in fridge for 2 days.
Hey Elaine,
You can just leave it as is. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
My dutch oven is only 3.2 qt… should I do half of the recipe? If so, how do you adjust the timing?
Hey Katherine,
I would recommend using the dutch oven but just cover it with foil instead of the lid. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Have you ever put herbs, like thyme or rosemary and garlic, in this bread ? Or would you recommend it? I can’t remember the last time I’ve had sourdough bread, but am excited to try this recipe with gluten free flour! Can’t decide if herbs would be any good in it though.
Hey Danii,
I personally haven’t done this but I know other followers have just added it right into the dough with great results. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
This bread is amazing! So simple and brilliant next to a hearty soup. I don’t have a Dutch oven so I bake it in a square pan and cover it with foil (making sure to lift the center of the foil a bit so it isn’t just a flat ceiling), then I remove it for the browning and tada! Easy to get carried away if you leave some butter, jam and a knife next to the loaf ?
Amazing!! I am so glad this turned out so well for you, Gigi!! Thank you for trying it! xTieghan
Could this be used for sourdough pizza dough?
Hi Kim,
Yes that would work! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Hi! I only have a 3.5 quart pumpkin cocotte from staub , will that work? Or is it too small? Can I cut recipe smaller to fit ? If yes how would I cut recipe down? Would love to make this bread today if I can Thanks so much !!!
Hi! I only have a 3.5 quart pumpkin cocotte from staub , will that work? Or is it too small? Can I cut recipe smaller to fit ? If yes how would I cut recipe down? Would love to make this bread today if I can Thanks so much !!!
Hi Will,
You can use that but I wouldn’t cover with a lid, I would just do some foil. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Thank you, Tieghan. I will try this!
I hope you love this one, Marilyn! xTieghan
What wonderful bread!! Thank you for this recipe. I would like to make this loaf yet again (using the 5 cups of flour) but this time divide the completed dough in half to have 2 smaller loaves. I do have a smaller dutch oven to bake them in. At what point in your recipe should I cut dough in half? And should I cut it with a sharp knife? Should it be right before the final 1 hr rise on the counter when half of the dough would be in the smaller dutch oven waiting to be baked and while the oven is pre-heating? Should the remaining half of the original dough then be put in the refrigerator, waiting for it’s turn to bake next in the smaller dutch oven or should it remain on counter for a longer time in a smaller bowl? Do you know what the temperature of the oven should then be with this smaller loaf and dutch oven? And what about the timing – would that be altered somewhat in terms of how long the divided loaf should bake with dutch oven lid on and then with lid off?
Thank you again, Tiegen, for this lovely bread. I also appreciate your time and any information you can give me to divide this original recipe in half (after the dough is made, and instead of making 2 half loaf recipes). My friends and family love this bread and I want to give the smaller loaves as gifts But I’d also like to be time efficient in making these smaller loaves 🙂
Hi Marilyn!
You can cut the dough in half before you let it rise in step 3. Yes, use a sharp knife. You can leave the remaining dough covered on the counter. Baking directions below! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I am so glad you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
Preheat to 475 degrees F. Bake, covered for 15 minutes. Using oven mitts, remove the hot lid and continue baking until the bread is a deep, golden brown, about 15-20 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!
This bread was great but did not have any sourdough flavor. How can I get more of the sourdough flavor. The crumb was very good too. what the max time the dough should be in the fridge before continuing with the rest of the recipe
Hey Harriet, for more sourdough flavor, swap the yogurt for an equal amount of sourdough starter. This will give you the best sourdough flavor.
The dough can sit in the fridge for 3 days. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I am so glad you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
I would like to add raisins too dough. Can this be do ne
Hi Susan,
Sure that would work! I would go ahead and add at the end of mixing. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Hi! I made this for the first time this weekend and it was so easy and so good! I’ve only experienced making bread (focaccia) one time before that. My only problem was that it seemed to cook much quicker (glad I read some comments before hand) but even having said that, the top wasn’t crunchy/crusty. Is it supposed to be? And if so, what did I do wrong?
Hi there! Can you give me a little more info on how you baked the bread? Did you leave the top off for any amount of cooking? To get the bread crustier, just leave the top off of the pot while cooking. Does this make sense? Please let me know if you have any other questions. I am so glad love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
I tried this over the Memorial Day weekend, and could not have been more pleased with how it turned out! It was my first time ever making bread, and I wanted an easy recipe that I might be able to succeed with. I also wanted to use my Dutch oven. This recipe was perfect. I used regular, plain whole fat yogurt, and the bread tastes wonderful! It looks like something that came out of an artisan bakery. Next time I might be more careful in shaping the ball as I put it into the Dutch oven, because one side looks a bit deconstructed. But I think that gives it character. ??
Haha I love that you are looking on the bright side!! Thank you so much for trying this, Joanie! I am really glad you enjoyed it! xTieghan
I’ve always wanted to try and make my own bread and yours looked so incredibly good that I gave it a go. It turned out perfectly!! The crust was devine and the inside dense and full of flavour. Thank you for making it so simple!
Thank you Maz! xTieghan
This recipe turned out great the bread was crispy outside and soft inside. I’ve made it twice turned out great both times.
Love that! Thank you so much Marina! xTieghan