Secrets from the Cookie Princess: No Knead Crusty Bread

What's better than fresh, homemade bread with a crunchy crust and soft, fluffy interior? We loved this bread with our Thanksgiving dinner and I even made another loaf this weekend. Super simple to make with ingredients already in the pantry and no kneading. Yup, perfect artisan-style bread and you don't have to knead it at all. Plus, you can adapt this recipe in all kinds of ways to add flavor from herbs and spices to match whatever you're serving. Since we had this with Thanksgiving dinner, I can tell you this bread is great for leftover turkey sandwiches, but also perfect for pairing with pasta, chili or soup.

Today is Group B's reveal day for Secret Recipe Club! What's Secret Recipe Club? Each Monday a group of bloggers post a recipe they've made from another blogger's repertoire. Nobody knows who's featuring their blog until that day and it's a fun chance to visit new blogs and try something different. Visit some of the other bloggers in my group by checking out the blog hop at the bottom of this post. To learn more about Secret Recipe Club, click here. This month I was lucky enough to bake from Little Bit of Everything, written by Julie in Nebraska. Julie has lots of delicious recipes and I had a hard time finding one to settle on. The Lemonade Brownies had me intrigued, but I figured I'd save those for spring or summer. The Bubble Up Pizza also sounded amazing, but I've always wanted to try this No Knead Bread, so when I saw Julie gave it whirl, I knew I had to give it a go. I'm so glad I did. My version is exactly as Julie made it. Seriously, four ingredients, people. And did I mention that you don't knead it? You do have to plan ahead since you'll need about 12-18 hours of rise time, and then to preheat the oven, preheat the pot and the actual bake time. But that's easy enough to plan around. Go visit Julie and see all the other great stuff she has!

No Knead Crusty Bread

Ingredients

3 cups flour
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon yeast
1 1/2 cups water

In the bowl of a stand mixer (fitted with the dough hook attachment) or a large bowl with a hand held mixer, whisk together flour, salt and yeast.

Turn mixer on low and gradually add water. Mix until a shaggy dough forms. Note: If your dough is too dry, add a little more water, about 1/2 Tablespoon at a time. If it is too wet, add a little more flour, about 1/2 Tablespoon at at time.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for 12-18 hours. Note: I let mine rise overnight.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Once oven is to temperature, place a lidded cast iron pot in the oven to heat for 30 minutes. While pot is preheating, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a rough ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest until pot is hot.

Remove pot from oven and carefully transfer dough to the pot. Note: I used a giant spatula to maintain the shape of my ball, but you could use your hands, a dough scraper or two large spatulas.