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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
of course like your website but you need to take a look at the spelling on quite a few of
your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling problems and I in finding it very troublesome to tell
the truth however I’ll surely come back again.
Thank you!
could i use whole wheat flour?
Sure! That should be great! Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂
I tried this but the read didn’t cook all the way thru. It was extremely doughy. But the bottom of the bread was almost burst. Followed your cooking times. any thoughts?
HI! Sounds like your oven might run a little hot. Try reducing the oven temp to 375 after 10 minutes of baking at . That should cook the bread all the way through. Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂
I have made this bread a few times and when it comes out of the oven, it’s very hard and crispy outside. But then as the bread cools it get soft outside. And my bread doesn’t;t look nearly as crispy as yours. Do you add water to the oven? What am I doing wrong? The flavor is delicious and I love making it but I want it to look like your picture. ?
Do you have to use the parchment paper?
The parchment paper really helps when transfer the dough in and out of the dutch oven. It also helps with sticking too, so if you can I do recommend using the parchment. That said if you don’t have it, just be sure to flour the bread well before baking. Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂
Delicious easy bread, and the overnight maturing gives a lovely tang. One tip for bakers in cooler climates (I live in the UK) is to let the bread warm properly before baking. Two hours is fine, and doesn’t detract from the end product. Yum!
Thank you so much Tim! I am so glad you liked this!
Haven’t yet made this, but could I use a genuine sourdough starter instead of yogurt? I despise yogurt in any form. And would it be an amount equal to 8oz? The starter dates back to 1856. Thx
I have not tried the recipe this way, but I do think that would work. Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂
I made this, followed the recipe and the parchment paper stuck to the bottom of the bread. Was I suppose to add flour? Maybe you should have mentioned to sprinkle flour on the parchment paper to prevent sticking. I’m not an experienced baker so I didn’t know.
HI! I am so sorry for the trouble. I do not sprinkle flour on the paper before baking, but I also have not had issues with sticking. Was you dough very sticky or was it dry to touch? Again, so sorry for the trouble. Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂
Can you make this with part rye or wholemeal flour? If so what ratio would you suggest?
Sure! I would do half rye or wholemeal and half white flour. Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂
I can’t wait to try it but just have one question. At Step 4, does the dutch oven/cast iron pot need to be preheated as well? Or can I just put the cold pot + dough into the 475 degrees F. oven ?
You do not need to preheat the dutch oven, everything goes in cold. Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂
Wanted more of the “sour” flavor so added 2 teaspoons of lemon juice to yogurt and let sit overnight. Had more sourdough flavoring.
Great! Thank you Lily!
Can i ask the 1 cup is equals to 250ml in you receipe?
I am in the process of baking the bread now. I’m wondering if, as opposed to when baking no knead bread, you meant us to not preheat the dutch oven.
Thanks, Guy
Hi, would like to ask the measurement of 1 cup is it equal to 250ml in your receipe?
Can i ask the measurement of 1 cup is it 250ml ? Tis
Hi Kathy! Are you talking about the water or the yogurt? For water the 1.5 cups of water is equivalent to 354.882 mL. The 1 cup of yogurt is 245 grams or 8.64 ounces. I hope this helps and let me know if you have any other questions! Thanks!
I followed the directions, but about 8 minutes before the bread was to come out of the oven it smelled like it was burning and sure enough it was very dark brown so I took it out of the oven and it’s burned on the bottom. My oven temp was 475, which I thought was too hot. What happened?
HI, it is possible that your oven runs hot, which could be why the bread overcooked on the bottom. Try reducing your oven to 425-450 degrees and start checking the bread 10 minutes before it’s supposed to be done. Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂