Le Creuset bread recipe (easy no knead artisan loaf)

Simple no knead artisan style bread recipe made in Le Creuset (or other dutch oven).

Jump to:

• Baking schedule
• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Variations
• Recipe
• Recipe

When I was younger I was a champion sleeper. 

So much so that Mum had to wake me up to take me to kindy (I’m pretty sure it started about 9.30am!). 

I was even such a sleeper that on holidays I would sleep through buffet breakfast. 

Can you believe it?

On a family holiday to Fiji when I was about 12, every morning my sister and I would pass on buffet breakfast and instead order it to our room when we decided to emerge from slumber. 

The order was the same every day.

‘One long stick bread please.’

What arrived at our door 20 minutes later was a warm, crusty loaf of the most delicious bread either of us has ever tasted. 

Each morning we polished off the whole thing spread with a little butter and Vegemite.

While my sleeping habits have changed a lot since then my love for a fresh loaf of bread has only grown and my love for homemade bread is still growing.

Entitled ‘amazing no knead bread recipe,’ this bread was screaming for me to make it from the second I laid eyes on it. 

It looked just like a loaf you’d get at a fancy bakery. 

During the whole process I was hesitant. 

I couldn’t believe that half a teaspoon of yeast in 6 cups of flour could amount to such deliciousness but that little bit of yeast really worked its magic!

It does take a long time from start to finish compared to regular yeasted bread but there is seriously little actual work involved.

It's a great alternative to sourdough bread if you don't have a sourdough starter. 

Baking schedule

I’ll do a little math for you:

• to eat it at 12 midday, start the bread at 4pm the day before
• to eat it at 9am, start the bread at 12 midday the day before
• to eat it at 7pm, start the bread before bed the night before

Ingredients

To make no knead Dutch oven bread you will need: 

• Bread flour - bread flour has a higher gluten content than regular flour so it is recommended for making bread. 
• Dry Baker's yeast 
• Salt - sea salt is preferable
• Water - just are room temperature. There's no need for warm water in this recipe. Filtered is best if possible as the chlorine in water can impact the yeast. 

Instructions

Step one

In a large bowl (I used the bowl of my electric mixer) mix the flour, yeast and salt together using a wooden spoon.

Step Two

Add the room temperature water and mix it in. 

I was a bit lazy so used the dough hook attachment to bring it all together for my homemade dutch oven bread.

You just have to mix it until there are no more dry bits and nothing left up on the sides of the bowl. 

I added a bit more water than the original recipe (I’ve added it in my recipe below too) because it seemed too dry and it's meant to be quite a wet dough.

Step Three

That’s it, that’s basically the hardest part. 

Now you just need to cover the bread dough with plastic wrap or a tight-fitting lid and walk away for 12-18 hours to give . 

It doesn't need to be left in a warm place. 

I made mine at about 5 in the afternoon on Saturday.

The next day at about 8am this is what it looked liked. 

When it’s ready for the next step the sticky dough will have doubled in size and be bubbly on top. It will also smell yeasty (in a good way). 

When you first make the dough it just smells like wet flour so you’ll notice the difference.

Step Four

Now you need a lot more flour. Sprinkle it out on top of a clean tea towel (a cotton one).

I just realised I made this step a lot more difficult because I didn’t read the part where it said to tip the dough out onto the towel. 

I thought I read to pick it up and use your hands to shape it.

It was mighty tricky balancing all that dough in my hands but I somehow managed.

The easier way to do it is to turn the dough out onto the tea towel.

Flour the top of the dough and your hands and then gently start tucking the dough under itself until it makes a smooth ball like the photo above. 

It should only take a minute or two.

You’re not kneading, just shaping.

Dust the top of the dough with more flour and then wrap it up loosely with the tea towel or cover it with another one.

Now it needs another rest for 2 hours.

Step Five

After 1.5 hours, it’s time to pre-heat the oven and the pot. 

This is what gives the loaf the Le Creuset name. It was created to bake in a Le Creuset dutch oven.

You don't have to use that brand though - cast iron regular dutch ovens are best but any lidded oven-proof heavy-duty pot will work.

I used a big cast iron pot for my loaf which I got at Aldi. 

They still have them on sale once a year (mine is more than 10 years old and going strong). 

Pre-heat the oven to 210C fan-forced with the pot inside.

After two hours the dough will have doubled in size again. 

Mine was enormous.

Step Six

This is the tricky part.

Take the pot out of the oven and place it on something heat-proof. 

It’s best not to do this on top of the stove because the flour does fly around a little and a bench top is easier to clean.

Get your hands under the tea towel and flip the dough out into the hot dutch oven so it’s seam-side down. 

It doesn’t need to be pretty, just in the pot. 

Mine was quite unattractive but I think it made for a very pretty finished loaf of artisan bread.

Bake it for 40-50 minutes and then use oven mitts to take the lid off and bake for another 5-10 to brown the top.

The recipe said that it’s done when it reaches 200 degrees. 

I assumed it meant 200C but the other temperatures are in degrees F so I’m not so sure. 

Either way, mine was mighty hot inside when it was ready.

Isn't it beautiful?

Turn the bread out onto a wire rack to cool.

‘I can’t cut it until it stops talking,’ I said to my husband. Without even looking up he said ‘oh ok.’ 

I think he must be rather used to my kitchen craziness by now. You have to listen to me too though. 

Do not cut the bread until it has cooled and stopped making noises or it will be tough and not tasty.

Admire your bread in all its glory.

Variations

Absolutely you can add flavours to this loaf. 

As it sits for a long time at room temperature prior to baking, we recommend shelf-stable flavours like garlic powder (add at the beginning). 

A firm cheese like parmesan cheese, grated through the dough would be delicious too. 

When it has cooled, slice it up with a sharp knife and devour it quickly. 

If you like warm bread you can indeed warm it up again or toast it, you just can’t eat it warm from the oven after its first baking.

I had my first slice with mushrooms and feta and was so eager to get into it I nearly forgot to get a photo. 

Apparently it lasts a few days. 

I wouldn’t know. 

Someone ate all mine within 24 hours. 

Enjoy!

What about you? Have you ever slept through breakfast? Do you like to make your own bread?

Recipe

Recipe