No Knead French Bread
This easy overnight no knead bread can be made into one French bread loaf or two Baguettes. It is a light and airy loaf with a beautiful crusty exterior.
Equipment
- 1 large bowl
- 1 large sheet pan
- 1 cake pan or deep sheet pan
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 6 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp yeast (active dry)
- 2 tsp salt
Wet Ingredients
- 3 cups warm water *105°-115°
Instructions
- This is an overnight rise, so the night before you want your bread combine the dry ingredients together in a large bowl and mix well.
- Add your lukewarm water and stir to combine everything into a dough.
- Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a draft-free spot and let rise overnight for 12 hours (up to 20 hours) on the countertop
- The next day (after at least 12 hours), Uncover the dough. It should be sticky, and bubbly and slightly wet on top.
- Line your pan with parchment paper and sprinkle it generously with flour
- Flour your countertop and your hands well and remove the sticky dough out onto the well floured counter.
- If you are making one large loaf, then shape the dough into a large loaf and transfer it to your parchment lined AND well floured sheet pan. You can re shape the dough at this point after transferring. Sprinkle a generous amount of flour on the top of the loaf, then score the top with a sharp knife or blade, creating slits down the length of the dough. Cover and let rise in a warm spot for an additional 1-2 hours.
- If you are making baguettes, once the dough is on the counter, split it in half with a sharp knife and form into two long and skinny loaves, then continue as above.
- When the second rise time is nearly done, preheat your oven to 450°F
- In order to get a crusty exterior it helps to have moisture in the oven. You can do this by adding about 2 cups of hot water to a pan and placing it in the oven on the rack below the rack you will cook your bread on.
- After 10 minutes you can remove the water pan and continue baking the bread for another 30 minutes or until golden brown.