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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 Tieghan!! Thank you for such an AMAZING recipe!! I have tried and tried to bake bread here in Colorado and it has nearly always fallen flat and dense. We made this last weekend and it turned out absolutely perfect!! It was so delicious. I would like to try and let it sit overnight tonight and bake tomorrow to see if I can increase the sour taste. Do I let it rise first, then refrigerate? Once I take it out of the fridge do I let it come to room temperature before baking? Any tips or tricks would be so appreciated! BTW, I am LOVING your cookbook. It is amazing! Thank you from a fellow Coloradan.
Hi! I’d let it rise first, then place in the fridge. Let sit on the counter while the oven pre-heats. Please let me know if you have any other questions. Hope you love this recipe! 🙂
And thank you! You are SO SWEET!
Hi there!
Quick question about step three, because this would be my first attempt at baking my own bread (!!!)- when you place the dough in the dutch oven to let it rise, should the lid be on/off/or use a wet towel like you mentioned in the first step?
Thank you! Can’t wait to try this out.
Hi! I just keep the lid on! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thank you!
I made this last night and I was blown away by he ease of the recipe and the results of the bread!! The only thing it requires is a little patience while the yeast does its thing. I let it rise overnight. It was a perfect loaf! You’ve gotta try this!
I am so glad you liked this and it turned out great for you! Thanks!
Love this Tieghan! This was first time baking bread, and I was so scared! But this turned out SO well and made me feel like a pro. Thank you 🙂
That is so great! I am so glad this turned out perfect for you Emily!
Halo
I love this bread and so fo all my friends?Never tasted so good bread ever!
I buy a big box of yoghurt, so i wonder: is it possible to make a doble doght and freze half of it?
When in the prosess, if possible?
Karen from Norway
Hi! Yes, making a double dough will be great. Just thaw the dough overnight in the fridge. Let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe. Thank you! 🙂
Tried it yesterday and it worked out marvelous! Great bread! Great recipe! This will be my go-to-bread-recipe.
Thank you so much for this great idea!
Will try this next time with 2 parts wheat / 1 part rye flour.
I am so glad!! Thank you Marion!
Great recipe. Made with skyr yogurt instead of Greek and it worked great. I would love to try with some Rye or other whole grain flour – any suggestions on ratio?
I would use half rye or whole grain and half all-purpose. I think that would be great!! Please let me know if you have any other questions. Glad you loved this recipe! 🙂
Hello! I live in Santa Fe and tried this bread, and it was perfect for except for being a tad too dense. I’m at high altitude, but so are you.. so what might I have done wrong and how should I adjust?
Hi! I would try baking this for 10-15 minutes less. Sometimes it can cook up faster due to different oven temps. Also, make sure not to slice into the bread too soon. Let me know if you have other questions. Thank you! 🙂
This turned out amazing. Super simple to do! I know everyone’s oven is different, mine, I can’t turn past 420 or it’ll set the smoke detectors off lol!!! So 420 it was. Perfect bread, and did not burn for me. And I waited that 2 hours for full cook & cool down time.
…it was very hard to wait….lol, me & the kids loved, will make again!!!
Thank you for another great recipe.
That is so great! Thank you Karen!
Hi quick question regarding step 3, when you say “place in a parchment lined 4 quart or larger dutch oven” does this mean putting it in a designated pan and letting sit or is this a special oven it needs to be in to rise for one hour?
Hi Sally! A dutch oven is just another name for a cast iron pot. So put the parchment in the oven safe pot you are going to bake the bread in. Let me know if you have questions and I hope you love recipe! 🙂
Made the bread today after initial 25minutes removed the lid and set timer for 20 minutes. Continued preparing dinner smelling the bread. Glad I checked it at 17 minutes crust was very dark. My oven is usually right on as far as temperature. Can’t wait to have a piece!
I hope you absolutely love this! Thank you Cindy!
OMG! The bread is so good! My husband keeps commenting how much he likes it!
Thank you! I am so happy to hear that you love it!
Hi Tieghan
I made this the other day and cooked it as you said, but the bottom became burnt before the time was up and as a result, the dough turned out cakey. Do you have any suggestions or do you think it was just my ovens fault?
Thanks!!
Lindsey
Hey Lindsey! All ovens run hot or cold (mine runs 100 degrees too hot), so it could be your oven. I would just bake the bread 10-15 minutes less. That should be great! Let me know if you have other questions. Thank you!
This was amazing – huge hit over here, and lots of leftovers for our winter storm today.
Perfect! So glad you like this bread Alison, thank you!!
How should I change this recipe if I don’t have instant yeast and only active dry yeast?
Hi Kim! Just allow the dry yeast to sit in the warm water with the honey for 10 minutes until it gets foamy and proofs. That will work great! Let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love the recipe! Thank you!
I’m baking this tonight, my husband was disappointed that we wouldn’t be eating the bread with my homemade lasagne tonight! Thanks for the easy recipe, I plan on buying yiur cookbook.
I hope you love this Heidi! Thank you!