My new favorite bread recipe comes from alexandracooks.com. Be sure to click over there and visit her recipe, since she has lots of tips for making this turn out just-right, as well as several variations that I haven’t tried working with yet. What I’m posting today focuses on making one peasant loaf and one faux focaccia loaf.

This bread is incredible easy to make, but you do have to plan ahead. I need about three hours between the time you start the bread to the time when you can eat it.

Announcement: I’m planning some changes to this blog to focus on providing more useful resources for my readers. My posts on type psychology have been the ones people consistently comment on as being the most helpful, so I want to focus on that while continuing to write my Christian articles and introducing homeschooling resources for teaching high-school English. With all these changes, I’m most likely going to be phasing-out these weekly recipe posts or moving them to a different blogging platform (unless you all REALLY want me to keep them, in which case they’ll probably be less frequent).

Easy No-Knead Bread

2 cups lukewarm water (110–120° F)

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons active-dry yeast

4 cups flour (3 cups all-purpose, 1 cup whole wheat)

2 teaspoons salt

room temperature butter, about 1 tablespoon

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1/8 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/4 teaspoon parsley

1 clove garlic, diced

coarse sea salt

Dissolve the sugar into the water in a small mixing bowl or glass measuring cup. Sprinkle the yeast over top, then let it stand for about 10 to 15 minutes until the mixture is foamy.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Once the yeast mixture is foamy, stir it up. Mix the yeast mixture into the flour until it forms a soft dough.

Easy No-Knead Bread | marissabaker.wordpress.com — before rising

Cover the bowl with a tea towel run under hot water and rung out so it is slightly damp. Set it aside in a warm spot to rise for about one-and-a-half hours.

Grease one oven-safe bowl or a medium casserole dish and one 9-inch by 9-inch baking dish. Use 1/2 tablespoon of butter for each. Using two forks, punch down the dough and scrape it from the sides of the bowl, turning the dough over on itself. Using the two forks, pull the dough apart into the equal portions and then scoop one into each baking dish.

The peasant loaf, the one in the bowl or casserole dish, is now done. For the faux focaccia, mix 1 Tablespoon olive oil, 1/8 teaspoon Italian seasoning, 1/4 teaspoon parsley, and 1 clove diced garlic. Spread the dough out with your fingers to fit the shape of the pan, then dip your fingers in the olive oil mixture and press the top of the dough to make dimples in the surface. Spread the remainder of the olive oil mixture on top of the bread, and then sprinkle the top with coarse sea salt.

Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Let the dough rise for about 20 to 30 minutes, then bake for 12 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375ºF and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and turn the loaves onto cooling racks.

Brush the top of the peasant loaf with butter. Let the loaves cool for about 10 minutes before cutting.

I found this recipe on Pinterest, and it’s the only cinnamon roll recipe I make now. It’s originally from a blog called pReCiouS MoMentS. I’ve changed measurements that were in grams to cups or tablespoons, to make it easier to American cooks to follow. I also changed the scalding instructions — I wanted an exact temperature to aim for so I didn’t scorch the milk or kill the yeast, and it takes much less than an hour for my milk to cool to the right temperature. My rolls also have less filling, and I’ve added a glaze.

No-Knead Cinnamon Rolls

No-Knead Cinnamon Roll recipe, marissabaker.wordpress.com — first round of ingredients ready

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Dough

1 cup milk

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon yeast

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup white whole-wheat flour

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling

1 Tablespoon cinnamon

4 Tablespoons brown sugar

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Glaze

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1 Tablespoon milk

Mix milk, sugar and vegetable oil in a pan. Scald by heating to 150°F. Leave to cool for about 20 minutes, or until the temperatures is between 105°F and 115°F. Sprinkle yeast over the scaled mixture and let sit for about 5 minutes.

Place 2 cups flour in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and add scalded mixture. Stir with a spatula until it comes together to form a thick batter. Cover and let the batter sit for at least 1 hour.

Add the remaining 1/4 cup flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir until the mixture comes together. Rolls can be made now, or covered and chilled until needed. Dough will be easier to work with if chilled.

When ready to make the rolls, mix ground cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl. Dust the work surface and the top and bottom of dough freely with flour. Roll out the dough into a thin, rectangular shape. Dust the dough and work surface with flour when necessary.

Brush the rolled out dough with melted butter. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over the surface. Roll the dough neatly in a line towards you, rolling as tightly as possible. Pinch the seams to seal.

Cut into 1-inch thick slices and arrange in a baking pan greased with butter. Use one 9×13-inch baking pan, or two 8×8-inch baking pans. Place the rolls close together so that they are almost touching.

Cover and leave to rise for 30 to 60 minutes, or until the rolls double in size. Rolls can be left to chill in the fridge over night and baked the next morning. If rolls have doubled in size in the refrigerator, bake right away. Otherwise leave to sit on counter until they double. Bake in preheated oven at 375°F for 12-16 minutes, or until golden brown.

Let rolls cool on the counter. Mix glaze ingredients and drizzle over cooled rolls.

Tag: no-knead

The Easiest No-Knead Bread

Easy No-Knead Bread

No-Knead Cinnamon Rolls

No-Knead Cinnamon Rolls