By Amy Treasure
The fact that this bread recipe requires absolutely zero kneading is a massive bonus and there are just 4 ingredients that make the tastiest and most crustiest of loaves.
I bake a lot and will usually make bread once a week. I find the whole process so satisfying there’s nothing quite like pummeling bread dough to within an inch of its life, however, when I am very busy a simple no fuss bake is appealing. If you bake then you will no doubt easily find the required ingredients in your store cupboard. The only thing you really need to do is remember to make the bread mixture the night before you want to put the bread in the oven.
This particular recipe is cooked inside a cast iron pot with the lid on. The reason for this is that you need the steam inside the pot to create the heavenly crust that will form. If you are not much of a bread baker, then this is the loaf for you as it is completely foolproof. It will be the crustiest and tastiest loaf you have ever baked, and so simple to achieve.
No knead whole wheat bread
Ingredients
- 480g wholewheat flour
- 2 teaspoons of salt
- 3/4 teaspoon active dried yeast
- 475ml of room temp water
Method
- Put all the ingredients in a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until combined
- Cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave overnight
- Preheat your oven to as hot as it will go, this is probably gas mark 9 or 240 degrees
- Once hot, add your empty pot to the oven and heat it for around 10 minutes
- Meanwhile, flour your hands and worktop and tip the bread dough out onto it
- Collect the dough into a rough ball shape, it will be sticky so don’t panic!
- Remove the pot from the oven with oven gloves and then drop your ball of dough into it
- Bake for around 30 minutes with the lid on, then remove the lid and bake for a further 10 mins
- Remove from the oven and let it cool before you attempt to remove it from the pot
You will be left with a beautifully baked whole wheat loaf and who can resist warm bread and butter? I served mine with broccoli and stilton soup, here’s the recipe in case you were wondering:
Broccoli and stilton soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 leek, finely sliced
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 stick celery, finely chopped
- 1 medium potato, cubed
- a knob of butter
- 1 veg stock cube
- 1 head of broccoli, roughly chopped
- 140g stilton, crumbled
Method
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the onion, fry for one minute
- Add celery, leek, potato and butter and let it sweat with the lid on for 5 minutes
- Pour in stock cube and a litre of boiling water, cook for 15 minutes
- Add broccoli and cook for 5 mins. Transfer to a blender or blend carefully with a hand blender to the desired consistency
- Stir in the stilton and add a few chunks to the top of the soup for decoration
Enjoy with your fresh from the oven whole wheat bread!
