Kneadlessly Simple: Fabulous, Fuss-Free, No-Knead Breads Read online

  ¼ cup corn oil, canola oil, or other flavorless vegetable oil, plus extra for coating dough top and baking pan

  1¾ cups ice water, plus more if needed

  1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate morsels

  Glossy Chocolate Drizzle for garnish, optional

  First Rise In a large bowl, thoroughly stir together the flour, cocoa, 2½ tablespoons sugar, salt, and yeast. In another bowl or measuring cup, whisk the honey and oil into the water. Thoroughly stir the mixture and chocolate morsels into the bowl with the flour, scraping down the sides and mixing until well blended. If too dry to mix together, add just enough more water to facilitate mixing, but don't over-moisten, as the dough should be stiff. If necessary, stir in enough more flour to stiffen it. Brush or spray the top with oil. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. If desired, for best flavor or for convenience, you can refrigerate the dough for 3 to 10 hours. Then let rise at cool room temperature for 12 to 18 hours.

  Second Rise Vigorously stir the dough. Using an oiled rubber spatula, fold the dough in towards the center all the way around (this organizes the gluten for shaping the dough into a loaf). Invert it out into a very well-greased 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. Evenly brush or spray the top with oil. Smooth out the dough and evenly press into the pan with an oiled rubber spatula or fingertips. Cover the pan with nonstick spray—coated plastic wrap.

  Let Rise Using Any of These Methods For a 1- to 2-hour regular rise, let stand at warm room temperature; for a ½- to 1½-hour accelerated rise, let stand in a turned-off microwave along with 1 cup of boiling-hot water; or for an extended rise, refrigerate, covered, for 4 to 48 hours, then set out at room temperature. When the dough nears the plastic, remove it and continue the rise until the dough reaches the pan rim or doubles from its deflated size.

  Baking Preliminaries 15 minutes before baking time, place a rack in the lower third of the oven; preheat to 350°F.

  Baking Sprinkle the loaf top evenly with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Bake on the lower rack for 40 minutes, or until the loaf is well browned. Cover the top with foil and continue baking for 25 to 30 minutes, occasionally testing with a skewer inserted in the thickest part. When it comes out with just slightly moist particles clinging to the bottom portion (or until the center registers 204° to 206°F on an instant-read thermometer), bake for 5 minutes more to ensure the center is done. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Loosen the loaf with a knife, then place on the rack. Cool thoroughly. Garnish the cooled loaf with Glossy Chocolate Drizzle, if desired.

  Serving and Storing

  Serve warm, or cool, or toasted; the bread slices best when cool. Cool thoroughly before storing in plastic or foil. Keeps at room temperature for 3 days. May be frozen, airtight, for up to 2 months.

  Variations

  Nutmeg Chocolate Bread

  Prepare as directed, except add ¾ teaspoon ground nutmeg along with the salt and increase the yeast to 1 teaspoon (the nutmeg inhibits yeast growth a bit).

  Orange-Hazelnut Chocolate Bread

  Prepare as directed, except add 1½ teaspoons finely grated orange zest along with the water mixture and ½ cup hulled, chopped, and lightly toasted hazelnuts along with the chocolate morsels.

  Simple Enriched White Rolls

  KS Quotient

  Easy: Fuss-free, easily mixed ingredients. No hand-shaping.

  These rolls are tender, rich, and aromatic, due to an ample addition of butter and a very long first rise that develops a fine yeast flavor and fragrance. They taste like the classic home-style butter rolls my mother sometimes baked, but I've eliminated the hand-shaping, which makes these much easier to prepare. I simply plop portions of dough into muffin tins, butter the tops, then set them aside to rise. Yes, sidestepping the traditional shaping means that the rolls come out looking like plain muffins, but since the dough is moister and is manipulated less, they are even more succulent and tender than hand-shaped ones.

  To bake all the rolls at once, you'll need 18 standard-size muffin tin cups (about 2¾ inches across at the top), or 12 jumbo muffin tin cups (3½ to 3¾ inches across at the top). If you don't have enough muffin cups, use what's on hand to bake an initial batch of rolls. Keep the unused dough refrigerated for up to 24 hours, then stir well. Place in the tins and rise and bake as for the first batch.

  Yield: 12 large or 18 medium muffin-shaped rolls

  2½ cups (12.5 ounces) unbleached all-purpose white flour, plus ½ cup (2.5 ounces), plus more as needed

  5 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided

  1 1/8 teaspoons table salt

  ½ teaspoon instant, fast-rising, or bread machine yeast

  1½ cups ice water, plus more if needed

  ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly, plus 1½ tablespoons more for brushing over rolls

  1/3 cup top-quality instant nonfat dry milk powder (don't use a generic brand)

  First Rise In a large bowl, thoroughly stir together 2½ cups flour, 3 tablespoons of the sugar, the salt, and yeast. Stir in the water, scraping down the sides just until the ingredients are thoroughly blended. The mixture should be the consistency of very thick pancake batter; if necessary, stir in just enough more water, a bit at a time, to thin it, or more flour to thicken it slightly. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. If desired, for best flavor or for convenience, you can refrigerate the dough for 3 to 10 hours. Then let rise at cool room temperature for 15 to 20 hours.

  Second Rise Vigorously stir ¼ cup butter, the milk powder, and remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar into the dough until very well blended. Stirring vigorously and scraping down the bowl as needed, gradually add ½ cup flour or enough more flour to yield a dough slightly thicker than thick pancake batter.

  Generously grease or spray 12 giant-size muffin cups or 18 regular-size muffin cups with nonstick spray. For large muffin cups, use a well-greased ¼-cup measure and scoop up scant cupfuls of dough; for small muffin cups, use a 1/8 -cup measure (or coffee scoop) and scoop up generous cupfuls of dough. Put the portions in the cups, then divide any leftover dough evenly among them. Drizzle 1½ tablespoons butter over the roll tops, dividing it among them. With fingertips, spread out the butter and smooth each top until the dough surface looks completely smooth. Tent the muffin tins with nonstick spray—coated foil.

  Let Rise Using Any of These Methods For a 1½- to 2½-hour regular rise, let stand at warm room temperature; for a 1- to 2-hour accelerated rise, let stand in a turned-off microwave along with 1 cup of boiling-hot water; or for an extended rise, refrigerate, covered, for 4 to 48 hours, then set out at room temperature. Continue the rise until the dough nears the foil. Remove it and continue until the dough doubles from its deflated size. Sift a little flour over the roll tops for garnish.

  Baking Preliminaries 15 minutes before baking time, place a rack in the lower third of the oven; preheat to 375°F.

  Baking Bake on the lower rack for 18 to 23 minutes, until the tops are nicely browned. Tent the pans with foil and continue baking for 5 to 10 minutes more, until a skewer inserted in the thickest part of a center roll comes out with just a few particles clinging to the bottom (or until the center registers 205° to 208°F on an instant-read thermometer), to be sure the centers are done. Cool in the pan on wire racks for 10 minutes. Sift a little more flour over the rolls if desired. Transfer the rolls to a bread basket for serving.

  Serving and Storing

  Best served warm. Reheat, wrapped in foil in a 350°F oven for 5 to 10 minutes, or wrapped in paper towels in a microwave oven on medium power for 15 seconds per roll. Store airtight in plastic at room temperature for 2 to 3 days, or freeze, airtight, for up to 2 months. Thaw before reheating.

  Chapter 4: American Favorites

  When people think of American breads, they usually think "comfort food," and with good reason. There could hardly be more comforting fare than well-made loaves of puffy, fragrant, home-style white bread, or cinnamon-raisin pinwheel bread, or ooey-gooey sticky buns. But some of America's best-loved bread
s have a different character: San Francisco sourdough is as crusty as any of Europe's rustic loaves and gets a kick from a pungent starter. Another popular savory loaf is cheese bread; the one in this chapter is zippy with sharp cheese and green chiles.

  Of course, due to the artisan bread movement in this country, interesting new breads more in the style of those in Europe are coming on the scene here all the time: The Sonoma-Style Multigrain Crunch Bread is an adaptation of a terrific crackly-crusted boule from northern California's Artisan Bakers. My Crunchy Yeasted Cornbread with Coarse Salt and my updated Easy Buttermilk Pot Bread with Coarse Salt are also simple crispy-topped peasant-style boules.

  County Fair White Bread

  KS Quotient

  Fairly Easy: Easily assembled ingredients; two-stage mixing. No hand-shaping required.

  Unlike the fluffy-stuff loaves lining supermarket shelves, this traditional enriched white bread has substance and texture and a buttery, yeasty smell. A bit more voluptuous, softer, and more fine-grained than the Easy White Bread Loaves, this is reminiscent of the loaves that often won the white bread category at the local county fairs when I was a child. True, it's not the sort of loaf that cutting-edge shops are selling these days, but when you want comfort food, or maybe a taste of home, this is it.

  This same dough can easily be turned into Pull-Apart Butter-Top Rolls and Cinnamon Pinwheel Raisin Bread.

  Yield: 1 large loaf, 12 to 14 slices

  3 cups (15 ounces) unbleached white bread flour, plus 2/3 cup (3.33 ounces) or as needed

  2½ tablespoons granulated sugar

  1½ teaspoons table salt

  ¾ teaspoon instant, fast-rising, or bread machine yeast

  1¾ cups ice water, plus more if needed

  3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled, plus extra for coating dough top and baking pan

  ¼ cup good-quality instant nonfat dry milk (don't use a generic brand)

  1 large egg, at room temperature and beaten with a fork

  First Rise In a large bowl, thoroughly stir together 3 cups of the flour, the sugar, salt, and yeast. Thoroughly stir the water into the bowl, scraping down the sides and mixing just until the ingredients are thoroughly blended. If the mixture is too dry to incorporate all the flour, a bit at a time, stir in enough more water to blend the ingredients and produce a fairly soft dough. Brush the top with butter. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. If desired, for best flavor or for convenience, you can refrigerate the dough for 3 to 10 hours. Then, let rise at cool room temperature for 16 to 20 hours; if convenient, vigorously stir the dough about halfway through the rise.

  Second Rise In a medium bowl, stir together the butter, milk powder, and 2 tablespoons of the beaten egg until thoroughly blended; reserve the remaining egg for glazing the loaf top. Vigorously stir (or beat on low speed with a heavy-duty mixer with a dough hook) the butter mixture into the dough until smoothly and evenly incorporated; this may take several minutes. Gradually mix in 2/3 cup or enough more flour to yield a very hard-to-stir dough. Using a well-oiled rubber spatula, fold the dough in towards the center, working all the way around the bowl; this helps organize the gluten for shaping into a loaf.

  Invert the dough into a well-greased 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. Smooth out the top and press evenly into the pan using a well-buttered rubber spatula or fingertips. Evenly brush the loaf top with the reserved beaten egg; don't allow the egg to pool around the pan edges, as it will cause sticking. Using well-buttered kitchen shears or a serrated knife, make a ½-inch-deep slash lengthwise down the center of the loaf. Cover the pan with nonstick spray—coated plastic wrap.

  Let Rise Using Any of These Methods For a 1½- to 2½-hour regular rise, let stand at warm room temperature; for a 1- to 2-hour accelerated rise, let stand in a turned-off microwave along with 1 cup of boiling-hot water; or for an extended rise, refrigerate for 4 to 48 hours, then set out at room temperature. Continue the rise until the dough nears the plastic. Remove it and continue until the dough extends slightly above the pan rim.

  Baking Preliminaries 15 minutes before baking time, place a rack in the lower third of the oven; preheat to 375°F.

  Baking Bake on the lower rack for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned. Cover the top with foil and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes longer, until a skewer inserted in the thickest part comes out with just a few particles clinging to the bottom (or until the center registers 208° to 210°F on an instant-read thermometer). Then bake for 5 to 10 minutes more to be sure the center is done. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn out the loaf onto the rack; cool thoroughly.

  Serving and Storing

  Cool thoroughly before slicing or storing. Store airtight in plastic or aluminum foil. The bread will keep at room temperature for 2 to 3 days, and may be frozen, airtight, for up to 2 months.

  Pull-Apart Butter-Top Rolls

  KS Quotient

  Fairly Easy: Easily assembled ingredients; two-stage mixing. Simple hand-shaping required.

  The mild aroma, mellow taste, and melting texture of these home-style rolls remind me of ones that were the pride of the gray-haired ladies who baked for the frequent fund-raising church suppers my family attended during my childhood. Neatly aproned and hair-netted, they would stand in the back of the parish kitchen deftly turning out dozens of sheet pans of rolls, which were whisked straight from the ovens and devoured by eager tables of diners. For me (and probably for many other patrons) the highlight was not the featured ham or oysters or turkey, but those amazing all-you-could-eat butter rolls!

  These rolls are made using the same dough as the County Fair White Bread. The very easy shortcut shaping method is one I borrowed from the church supper roll bakers, who used it because they had to produce huge quantities very quickly. It involves merely forming portions of dough into long logs and then cutting them crosswise into plump rectangles, so it's handy for inexperienced or very busy cooks as well. The rolls always expand and join together again during rising and baking, but, as their name suggests, they neatly pull apart when served.

  Prepare the County Fair White Bread recipe up to the point it would normally be put into a loaf pan for the second rise; be sure to add the butter, milk powder, and egg as directed before proceeding with the following steps. (Note that the 1 tablespoon of egg reserved to glaze the loaf is not needed for the rolls.)

  Yield: 24 finger rolls

  1 recipe County Fair White Bread dough, ready for the second rise

  Unbleached white bread flour or all-purpose white flour for dusting

  2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

  Second Rise Coat a 9 x 13-inch baking dish or pan with nonstick spray. Coat a large sheet of baking parchment with nonstick spray, then dust with flour. Coat a very large cutting board with nonstick spray, then generously dust with flour.

  Working in the bowl, generously dust the dough with flour, turning it until lightly coated all over. Smooth and press the flour into the dough until it is less sticky and easier to handle. Using well-oiled kitchen shears, divide the dough into thirds, placing each portion cut-side down and well separated on the parchment.

  Working on the cutting board, press and pat one portion out into about a 5 x 10-inch rectangle, dusting with flour as needed to prevent stickiness. If the dough is resistant and springs back, let it rest for a few minutes, then continue. Tightly roll up the rectangle from the 10-inch side, forming a log. Pinch the seam tightly closed along the length of the log. Dust with more flour, then turn seam-side down. Stretch the log out from the middle until evenly thick and about 12 inches long, then flatten the log until it's about 2½ inches wide.

  Using well-oil kitchen shears or a large serrated knife, cut the log crosswise into 8 equal slices. Pat the row of rolls back into the log shape, then use a wide spatula to transfer them to the baking pan, placing the row lengthwise in the pan. Pull the rolls apart slightly so they fill the 13-inch length. Repeat the shaping and cutting process, laying the
second and third log of rolls so they completely cover the pan; the rows will come together and fill it as they rise and bake. Brush the roll tops with half the butter. Tent the pan with nonstick spray—coated foil.

  Let Rise Using Any of These Methods For a 1½- to 2½-hour regular rise, let stand at warm room temperature; for a 1- to 2-hour accelerated rise, let stand in a turned-off microwave along with 1 cup of boiling-hot water; or for an extended rise, refrigerate for 4 to 48 hours, then set out at room temperature. Continue the rise until the rolls double from their original size, removing the foil if the dough nears it.

  Baking Preliminaries 15 minutes before baking time, place a rack in the lower third of the oven; preheat to 350°F.

  Baking Bake on the lower rack for 20 to 25 minutes, until the roll tops are nicely browned. Then cover with foil and bake for 3 to 5 minutes more or until a skewer inserted in the thickest part comes out with just a few particles clinging to the bottom (or until a center roll registers 204° to 206°F on an instant-read thermometer), to be sure the center is done. Brush the rolls with the remaining butter. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Lift the rolls from the pan and serve immediately.