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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
Hi! I didn’t read all the comments so I’m sorry if this was already asked, but can I use white whole wheat flour? Or just regular all purpose?
Can’t wait it to try this!!
i Morgan! I think using half white whole wheat and half all-purpose flour would work amazing! Using all whole wheat might give you a dense bread. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love the bread!
I made this yesterday and it is delicious! It’s just hands-off enough that I was able to make it while working from home. Let me tell you – the smell of this while baking had me so impatient. My experience differed just a tiny bit in that my cook time was quite a bit shorter. I baked it, covered in my 4.5 QT dutch oven for 20 minutes, uncovered it, and only had to bake it again for about 15 more minutes (as opposed to 25-30). It’s possible that my oven runs a bit warmer, or because I am in Maine at a low altitude, but it was fully cooked through!
I am really glad it worked out for you and you took it out in time! Thank you so much Kelsey!
This bakery taste of it is very special very tasty. I often do it on weekends for my husband and children. Thank you!
I hope you all love it! Thank you!
Can you let it sit out on the counter overnight or will the yogurt completely spoil?
Thanks!
I would not let it sit on the counter overnight because of the yogurt. I do think it would spoil. Please let me know if you have any questions. Hope you love the bread!
Oh wow! Can’t wait to try this bread! I too love bread and can’t imagine living without it even for a day lol! 🙂
Yes! Couldn’t agree more! I hope you love this recipe Julia!
Sounds Great
Thanks!
Can’t wait to try your version. One question… while letting it rise, do you cover the ball of dough with a damp towel, dry towel, nothing at all? Thanks.
I cover is with a damp towel or plastic wrap. Let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love the bread!
That’s brilliant, Tieghan! I’ll make it this weekend for sure. Baking for me, too, is one of the ways I deal with anxiety. I’m sorry to hear you are dealing with it at the moment. I’ve had panic attacks since I was a kid (though I did not know to call them that then) and a few longer periods of ‘generalized anxiety disorder’. The most recent were some really bad months after my book came out at the end of 2015. I went to see a psychiatrist and he thought medication was the only way. It is something that I’d rather avoid but I was desperate so I tried. Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect, greatly increasing the anxiety I was experiencing (some people apparently react that way). I stopped taking medication and started meditating daily instead (up till than I’ve been an ‘occasional meditator’). Slowly, I started to fell better and now feel like my brain is truly being reprogrammed. It’s not that I do not feel any anxiety anymore but I feel much better equipped to deal with it. I don’t know how you feel about meditation, but I hope that sharing my story might help you. With love, Vera
Oh no! I am so sorry to hear that you went through that Vera. Anxiety is super hard to deal with and I am really glad that you find ease through baking like I do! Thank you so much for sharing that with me, because it does help a lot?
I love sour dough bread and when you said chili that’s all it wrote.
I put my home made grape jam on my bread to go with my chili. This heavenly.
My children eat it for breakfast.
Oh wow! That jam sounds so good! I hope you love this bread to go with your jam and chili! Thanks Shirley!
Hey Tieghan,
This bread looks lovely! I made a bread recipe from jo cooks that’s similar to this, but I like your idea of the yogurt and it looks really wonderful. This bread with apple butter and salted roasted dates sounds like such a good fall snack! 🙂 I’m sorry you’ve been anxious lately (I feel the same). Thankfully there’s bread and I’m looking forward to the apple butter recipe. 😉
Sounds so yummy with some apple butter and dates! I hope you love this bread Krsitin! Thank you!!
Adding greek yogurt is a such a genuis addition – I bet it gives the perfect amount of tangyness.
I think it tastes so good in bread, so definitely try it out! Thanks Nicole!
Dutch oven, no knead bread is my favorite this time of year!!! LOVE it! I have always wondered if there was an easy way to do a sourdough version!! I am unreasonably psyched to give this a go!!!!
Woo! I hope you love it! Thanks Maria!
hi,
Can you use regular 2-3% plain yoghurt or does it have to be Greek?
Thanks,
Marie
It does not matter, but I do use whole milk greek yogurt. I think you should use greek yogurt for best results. Hope you love the bread! Thank you!
That is THE MOST BEAUTIFUL loaf of bread I have ever seen!! I am totally a bread novice, but I simply cannot wait to make this! I am thinking it would make wonderful Christmas gifts for friends!
YES! I am sure this would make the perfect gift! And who doesn’t love bread?! Thanks Leah!
same question as Jeannette. with step two, does this require a rise before putting into the fridge overnight. And if so, does it need to be punch downed and again before placing in fridge?
Hi! You want to transfer the dough to the fridge after it has risen at room temp for two hours. Punch the dough down and then transfer to the fridge. Let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love the bread!