Even for novice bread bakers, this recipe is easy, flexible, straightforward, and yields a delicious, hearty loaf! And the best part–there’s no kneading, just mixing. Choose whatever whole grains are in the pantry, and get started! A Dutch oven is the ideal baking dish in this recipe, but choose any heavy-bottomed oven-safe dish that’s available.
Ingredients
For the cooked grains:
- ¼ cup steel-cut oats
- ¼ cup farro*
- ¼ cup barley
- ¼ cup wild rice
- Or any combination of whole grains (wheat berries, millet, freekeh, amaranth, quinoa, teff, etc) equaling 1 cup
- 4 cups water
For the dough:
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
- Generous ¼ tsp or 1 g instant yeast
- 2 tsp salt
- ¼ cup cornmeal
- ¼ cup flax or chia seeds
- ¼ cup oat bran or wheat germ
- 1 cup cooled, cooked grains
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 ½ – 2 cups water
- Cook the grains: Add water and whole grain mixture to a pot and bring to a boil. Cover and cook for 45 minutes, or until fully cooked. Discard any remaining liquid and let cool.
- Make the dough: Combine all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Dissolve the honey in 1 ½ cups water. Stir in the cooked grains, honey water, and mix. The dough will be shaggy and sticky. Add more water if there are any dry spots.
- Let the dough rest: Cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap and let it sit in a warm room, around 70 degrees, for 12-18 hours (18 is preferred for a rich, fermented flavor). When it’s ready, the dough will have doubled in size and there may be a few bubbles on the surface. But this is a chunky dough, don’t worry if there aren’t visible bubbles!
- Fold the dough: Dump the dough out of the bowl onto a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle with flour and fold it over itself once or twice. Cover with a towel and let it rest for 15 minutes.
- Shape the loaf: Use some flour to coat your hands to prevent sticking. Gently shape the dough into a ball. Add more flour, or cornmeal, to your work surface and set the dough ball on the floured surface. Dust the top with more flour or cornmeal, then drape a towel over the top.
- Let it rise: Leave the dough covered for about 2 hours. When it’s ready, it will have doubled in size.
- Prep the baking dish: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees about a half-hour before the dough is ready. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy-bottomed Dutch oven with a lid, or something similar, in the oven as it heats up. If you don’t have a lidded container (or the lid isn’t rated to that high of a temperature) you can cover the pot with foil during baking.
- Bake the dough: When the dough is ready, remove the Dutch oven from the oven. Be super careful–it will be very hot! Use both hands to gently scoop up the dough and drop it into the hot Dutch oven. You might hear a little sizzle as it hits the pot. Cover with the lid (or foil) and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the lid (or foil) and bake another 15-25 minutes until the loaf is beautifully browned.
- Cool the loaf: Carefully remove the loaf from the Dutch oven and cool on a rack.
- Enjoy: Once the loaf is cooled, slice and serve! Butter, a drizzle of honey, and some flaky salt are highly recommended!
This recipe was adapted from the classic No-Knead Bread from NYT Cooking and Michaelmas Harvest Bread Recipe.
*Interestingly enough, farro is not a specific grain, but a grain category comprised of ancient grains einkorn, emmer, and spelt.
Carrie Hause is the Digital Media Specialist for Taste the Local Difference. Contact her at [email protected].