My kitchen runs chilly in the winter, so I had a pretty hard time proofing my dough for this no-knead bread. After about 2 hours nothing was happening, so I wound up using my toaster oven. After I toasted up some rolls for breakfast sandwiches I let the oven temperature come down so the plastic wrap wouldn’t melt, then popped it in there for a little over 2 hours. The dough rose to just over the lip of the pan!
If the bread is browning too quickly around the 30-minute mark, tent the loaf with aluminum foil. Also, if you prefer, feel free to brush a tablespoon of melted butter on top of the loaf prior to cooling. Bread flour has more protein content than all-purpose flour, which helps with gluten development. The bread flour will provide more chew than all-purpose, but you can definitely substitute one for the other. I tend to prefer bread flour in my pizza dough.
Looking for other breakfast ideas? Try my baked french toast or my peanut butter oatmeal energy bites.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Total Time 5 hours 15 minutes
Serves up to 10 people
Ingredients
3 1/3 c bread flour, plus more for work surface
1 1/2 c whole milk, room temperature
2 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 3/4 tsp kosher salt
Cooking Spray
Preparation
In a large bowl using a wooden spoon, stir together flour, milk, sugar, yeast, and butter until no dry spots remain. Cover the bowl with a clean dish towel and let stand for 20 minutes. Add salt and stir until dough is sticky and elastic, 2 minutes. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerator. Chill for at least 8 hours, or preferably overnight.
Lightly coat an 8 1/2 – by – 4 1/2 inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Turn chilled dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Using lightly floured hands, shape dough into a rough oval. (The dough may be difficult to shape, this is okay!). Fold short ends of the oval in towards the center, pressing gently to seal. Working in the same direction as the previous fold, fold the dough in half over itself, pressing gently to seal and form an 8-inch long log.
Transfer dough, seam side down, to the prepared loaf pan, gently encouraging it into the pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap that has been lightly coated with cooking spray. Let rest in a warm place (i.e. the top of your refrigerator) until the dough has risen just over the lip of the pan, about 2 hours. During the final 30 minutes of the resting period, preheat the oven to 375 F with the oven rack in the lower third.
Bake until golden and a thermometer inserted into the center of the loaf registers 200 F (40-45 minutes). Invert loaf onto a cooling rack, then turn right side up. Let your no-knead bread cool completely before serving.