4-Ingredient No-Knead French Bread Recipe: Fresh Homemade Bread In 3 Hours | Bread/Muffins

My family loves fresh homemade bread. During the coronavirus pandemic, I learned to bake sourdough complete with my own starter and we love it. For the days when there isn't enough time for that process I love this beautiful, four-ingredient, three-hour, no-knead bread recipe that my daughter found on TikTok. This French bread recipe is so simple you'll want to make it all the time.

You will need parchment paper and a 3-quart Dutch oven for this no-knead French bread recipe. The ingredient list is short: bread flour or all-purpose flour, water, yeast and salt. Yes, just four ingredients are all that's needed for this wonderful homemade bread recipe (and one of them is water). The ingredients are mixed together and allowed to rise for about two hours. The bread is baked in a Dutch oven for about 45 minutes or until it's golden brown.

For an amazing complete dinner add a bowl of soup. We enjoy a bowl of white bean vegetable soup with this hot, crusty bread.

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Cuisine: French
Prep Time: 10 minutes plus 2 hours to rise
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours and 55 minutes
Servings: 10 (makes 1 loaf)

Ingredients

4 cupsbread flour orall-purpose flour
2 cups warm filtered water (or good tap water)
2 packets (.25 ounces each) instantyeast or quick-rise yeast
1 tablespoon (15 grams)salt (I used 2 tablespoons, but some may find that too salty)

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Recipe Notes

In colder winter months I put the dough to riseon my kitchen counter away from drafts and close to the sun if possible.

You can add optional toppings to this easy bread recipe like coarse salt, seeds, sesame seeds, nuts, chia, sliced almonds, sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds. Make it your own!

Here's how to make it:

In a ceramic or glass bowl combine yeast, warm water, flour and salt.
Mix thoroughly. For softer bread I found adding ingredients in this order worked. For a bit more dense crusty bread I added dry ingredients and then the warm water.
Place a towel over it and place in a warm location for 2 hours. When you are 1 hour and 45 minutes into the rise OR 15 minutes before you want to cook the loaf, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F and place Dutch oven inside with the lid on.
After 2 hours remove dough (wet hands makes this easier) and place gently on a lightly floured piece of parchment paper.

See Also
The Impossible Pie recipe book: 12 easy dinner recipes & desserts from 1982 - Click Americana Series No. 28A – Vintage Betty Crocker Recipe Sheet « RecipeCurio.com Grandma's Secret Pie Crust Recipe with Tips for the Perfect Pie Crust Desserts – Fabulous Foods That Are Fun To Fix « RecipeCurio.com
If you like denser bread handle as little as possible, if you like a few air pockets GENTLY fold the dough over on itself two to three folds. Using a serrated knife cut an X into the top of the dough. If you would like a topping, gently tap the dough with wet hands and add topping of your choice (such as sea salt).
Place dough in parchment into the preheated Dutch oven. (Make sure to pull back the parchment so that the dough can brown).
Bake in a 450 degree F oven for 30 minutes. Remove the lid, pull gently back the parchment from edges where it may have become stuck and bake an additional 15 minutes for a beautiful brown finish.
Remember to let it cool for a few minutes before you cut.

See Also
Nostalgia Alert! 45 Vintage Pie Recipes to Try Today

Nutrition Facts Per Serving

Calories: 186

Total Fat: 0.6g

Saturated Fat: 0.1g

Cholesterol: 0mg

Sodium: 699mg

Total Carbohydrate: 38.7g

Dietary Fiber: 1.6g

Total Sugars: 0.1g

Protein: 5.7g

Vitamin D: 0mcg

Calcium: 9mg

Iron: 3mg

Potassium: 82mg

Recipe cooking times, nutritional information and servings are approximate and provided for your convenience. However, 30Seconds is not responsible for the outcome of any recipe, nor may you have the same results because of variations in ingredients, temperatures, altitude, errors, omissions or cooking/baking abilities. This recipe has been analyzed by VeryWellFit. However, any nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and it is up to the individual to ascertain accuracy. To ensure image quality, we may occasionally use stock photography.

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Dutch Ovens

Yeast

All-Purpose Flour

Salt

Parchment Paper

Mixing Bowls

Measuring Cups

Measuring Spoons

Kitchen Towels

Bread Flour

Rubber Spatulas

Whisks

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4-Ingredient No-Knead French Bread Recipe: Fresh Homemade Bread In 3 Hours | Bread/Muffins | 30Seconds Food (2024)

FAQs

What are the four basic ingredients in bread? ›

In addition to the four main ingredients used to make bread – flour, salt, yeast and water – there are often small quantities of other ingredients which are added to improve the texture, crumb structure and keeping properties of the bread.

Learn More Now ›

What is the secret to soft homemade bread? ›

Brush With Butter

Butter contains fats that retain gases during baking, ensuring the dough rises properly in the oven and softening the crust. If you forget to brush the dough before you bake, you can still apply it as soon as you take it out. The butter will minimize the amount of crisping a loaf will do as it cools.

Discover More Details ›

What is the best flour for French bread? ›

Secret #1: The Right Flour

The French typically use Type 55 flour for their baguettes, which has a lower protein content than All-Purpose flour (usually 11.5% protein). I know that's not found in your standard supermarket, but you can buy it online from King Arthur Flour.

Get More Info Here ›

Why is my homemade no knead bread so dense? ›

Why is my bread dense: Usually bread will be too dense when there is too much flour. Keep in mind this dough will be pretty sticky, do not add more flour than specified. Other factors that come into play are humidity and age of flour. Little yeast, long rise, sticky dough are keys to a good, light loaf.

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Which ingredient keeps the bread tender and fresh? ›

Finally, if you're feeling adventurous, why not add honey, molasses, or brown sugar to your recipe? Not only will they give your bread a unique flavor, but they'll also help keep it soft and moist for days.

What are the 4 steps in bread making? ›

Bread making involves the following steps:

Mixing Ingredients. Mixing has two functions: ...
Rising (fermentation) Once the bread is mixed it is then left to rise (ferment). ...
Kneading. ...
Second Rising. ...
Baking. ...
Cooling.

Explore More ›

What ingredient makes bread more fluffy? ›

Add Sugar

Adding sugar weakens the gluten structure, absorbs water, and eventually makes the bread lighter and softer. As a result, sugar improves the bread's taste, structure and texture. Yeast also eats up sugar to produce carbon dioxide, which raises the dough and makes bread fluffy.

Show Me More ›

Does letting bread rise longer make it fluffier? ›

Does Rising Bread Affect Its Texture? For a fluffy bread texture, the key is to let the bread rise long enough.

View Details ›

What do bakeries use to keep bread soft? ›

Commercial bakeries use two types of ingredients to slow spoilage — emulsifiers and enzymes. Emulsifiers keep bread from going stale by preventing oil and water from separating.

What is the secret of French baguette? ›

What's the secret to a proper crusty baguette? The long fermentation helps develop the dough and produce a nice crispy, crusty crust. Adding steam to the oven by adding water or ice to a preheated baking tray or pan will help develop that crust.

Show Me More ›

What makes French bread better? ›

While bakers elsewhere might use chemical additives to oxidize the dough and speed up the fermentation process, French bakers ferment the dough naturally; the longer process yields better structure, texture, and flavor.

Know More ›

What type of bread is used in French bread? ›

French Breads in Paris

Baguettes in the making.
The Epi is perfect for sharing, just break off the little pieces.
Tradition feuilletée au sel de guérande création La Parisienne.
Lame de Boulangerie. Scarification.

Get More Info Here ›

What is the point of no knead bread? ›

It's easy to see the appeal of the “no-knead” approach in bread baking: minimal effort produces maximum flavor. By simply mixing up your dough and giving it an extended rising period, you can enjoy gorgeous, golden loaves without having kneaded a thing.

Discover More Details ›

What is the best yeast for bread making? ›

Active Dry Yeast is an ideal yeast to use for artisan breads or no knead breads that require a slower rise time. It's also the preferred type of yeast for those doughs that proof in the refrigerator for extended periods of time.

View Details ›

How to get no knead bread to rise higher? ›

Folding the bread a few times during its long fermentation helps move the yeast to find more food and to introduce a little more oxygen into their environment.

See Details ›

What are the 4 components of bread? ›

Bread is a baked product whose ingredients are flour, water, salt, and yeast. During bread making, biochemical and chemical-physical processes of changes occur, which affect various constituents. Water and flour are the main ingredients in a bread recipe and they affect texture and crumb the most.

Learn More ›

What are the 4 ingredients always involved in yeast bread production? ›

There are only four yeast bread ingredients you really need: flour, yeast, water, and salt. All the other ingredients in a recipe are there to add flavor, nutrition, color, and to change the characteristics of the crumb.

4-Ingredient No-Knead French Bread Recipe: Fresh Homemade Bread In 3 Hours | Bread/Muffins | 30Seconds Food (2024)

FAQs

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