No Knead Bread (5 Loaves in 2 hours!)

4.55 / 5 ( 37 Reviews )
89 Comments Jump to Recipe

No Knead Bread

This is my favorite bread recipe!  My aunt taught me how to make it during a visit, and it’s now requested at potlucks, family gatherings, or just at home!  I haven’t found anyone who doesn’t love this recipe, especially because it’s so quick and easy, and there is no kneading involved!

So, I don’t know about you, but reading this, I would be and WAS totally LOST 🙂   So, to see it in picture, click read more:


Add 5 cups hot water to a huge bowl 🙂
I use one similar to this that my mom picked up for me at a garage sale for a buck.

Sprinkle 4 TBSP yeast into water

Add 1 Cup oil

add 6 TBSP sugar to activate the yeast

It’ll start doing this bubbly thing

add 2 TBSP salt, if you want (I like it better with the salt)

Start with 6 cups of flour.
Add up to 10 (usually it takes between 9-10).
After the original 6, add 1 cup at a time, until you are up to 9 cups, then add 1/2 a cup at a time.

Stir until well mixed, forming a sticky ball

Cover and wait 10 minutes

After it’s risen for 10 minutes, stir around the bowl once.

Stir from the outside of the bowl, piling onto the inside.  Cover, and wait 10 minutes.  Repeat 6 times.

After you’ve stirred 6 times (10 minutes between each one) oil your hands (yep! Pour vegetable oil right on your hands).  Then take about 1/5 of the dough (sorry, I don’t have pictures of this part… but my hands were covered in oil and dough!) and mold into a loaf shape.  Do this by using both hands, and folding the dough over on itself until it’s smooth on top, and long 🙂

Place in well oiled Loaf Pan (I used oil for some, and then when they didn’t come out very easily I switched to coating them with Pam for Baking, and then the oil.  The oil gives them a buttery taste, the pam lets it slide out of the pan easily!) Cover and let rise for 30 minutes.  I spray Pam on the bottom of the towel, it makes the bread not stick to it.

Bake for 30-35 minutes at 375.

There is a proper way to let the bread cool.  Did you know that?  I didn’t!  I figured it out the hard way.
If you don’t let it cool properly, it’ll end up looking like this:

So, to let it rest in the loaf pans for at least 5 minutes after removing from the oven. Then, tilt the pans on their side to let the bread cool for at least 10 more minutes. (Sorry about the picture discrepancy, I made 3 batches for my mom’s group, so that’s why there is more than just the 5 loaves pictured)

They’ll slide out easily.   To allow for easier cutting, let cool completely. I never have been able to do that!  They taste WAY to yummy fresh out of the oven!

Eat and Enjoy!

No Knead Bread (5 Loaves in 2 hours!)

This is my favorite bread recipe! I haven't found anyone who doesn't love this recipe, especially because it's so quick and easy, and there is no kneading involved!
4.55 / 5 ( 37 Reviews )
Print Rate
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
Serves: 60
Adjust Servings: 60

Ingredients

  • 5 cups hot water hotter than bathwater, but not scalding
  • 4 tablespoons yeast
  • 1 cup oil
  • 6 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 tablespoons salt
  • 8-10 cups flour

Instructions

  • Mix all ingredients together, should be sticky, stir down from the outer part of the bowl inward every 10 minutes for 1 hour.
  • Keep covered.
  • Put oil in bread pans.
  • Put dough in bread pans, cover & let rise for 1/2 hour.
  • Makes 4-5 loaves
  • Bake at 375°F/190°C for 30-35 minutes.

Recipe Notes

Can also be used to make : cinnamon rolls, biscuits

Nutrition

Calories: 99kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 4g | Sodium: 234mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g

Meal Type: Breads
Categories: Yeast Breads

Comments & Reviews

  • can you make this with wheat flour?

  • Do you use high-gluten (bread) flour, or all-purpose?

  • Is it dry yeast or cake yeast?

  • Thanks for the great picture show and tell. I have heard about this bread elsewhere, but also found it confusing. But looks like a lot of sticky work. Is it worth it? How do you compare it with traditional bread making? Thanks for your help and again the great procedural!!

    • It’s COMPLETELY worth it! It’s the best bread I’ve ever made! It looks sticky, but it’s really not. It’s so simple! One turn around the bowl, once every 10 minutes, 6 times, and you’re done!

  • Thank you for sharing this recipe. I will be making this for sure.

  • Looks great! 🙂

  • I never make homemade bread because it seems so labor intensive and I don’t have a bread machine to do the work for me, but this recipe seems completely do-able for me. I’m going to give it a try this week. Thanks Becky! 😀

  • I was wondering if I could half of the receipe? I don’t have that many loaf pans. Thank you!

  • Quick question. Does it slice well for sandwiches? I just barely got into bread making and my bread tastes delicious, however it falls apart easily. I have been researching and the number one cause for this is not enough kneading. So if this requires no kneading I am wondering what quality of bread you get. Thanks!

    • Oh my goodness! I just saw this! It slices for thicker sandwiches… if you have a good knife, and are good at it, you can probably get small slices… mine end up being between 1/2″ and 1″ thick.

    • I made 100% Whole Wheat bread. I also put Honey in instead of Sugar. I was wondering if you have played with the amount of oil that is put into the bread. It just seems like a lot but that might be what makes the bread so moist. It is very delicious.

    • I’ve never made this recipe, but I use an electric knife to slice my home made bread, and can get nice thin slices. I got the knife at Goodwill for $5, but new ones aren’t very expensive.

  • I just made this, Amazing! I didnt have enough loaf pans so I made cinnamon rolls and biscuits. They all turned out so good. Now I just have to stop eating them, lol! Thank you for this.

  • Superb recipe! The texture is moist, the taste is addicting, and it adapts to variations wonderfully! I have made the 16 hour no-knead bread several times, but wanted to make bread in a hurry yesterday and think this tastes even better, although you pretty much have to stick around during the whole process, and be ready to stir during 10 min. intervals for an hour.

    I was amazed at how well the dough had risen every 10 minutes to almost double. I have never had bread rise that well before.

    Variations to recipe: I made half a recipe, and I used about 1/2 the suggested portion of salt. I baked the bread on a pizza stone in the oven. I did not use bread pans, but shaped the dough into 2 long loaves. I beat 1 egg with 1 tsp. water and brushed that on the top of the loaves before baking. I sprinkled cornmeal over the top of one loaf. Both loaves were gorgeous. We preferred the one with cornmeal on top, but both were wonderful. I put cornmeal and flour on my bread board before shaping the loaves, and they did not stick to the board. Nor did they stick to the pizza stone. The crusts were crispy and the insides were very soft and moist.

    I had put the pizza stone in the oven when I turned it on, and I set the temperature to 375F. At 35 min., the loaves clearly were not close to being done, and I baked them probably 15-20 min. more until they were golden brown. Perhaps it took longer because of the loaves being larger.

    My husband said they were better than any loaves he’s had from a bakery.

  • This bread is amazing! I halved the recipe to see how it tasted and I’m making another full batch! I also used crisco to grease the pans because I didn’t have and pam and it just falls out! Soooo yummy!! Thank you! Also….this is my first time making homemade bread!! Wow!

  • I just made this recipe and everything went great until I put it in the oven. They didn’t rise while baking. What could I have done wrong?

  • This looks amazingly easy…can’t wait to give it a try. Thank you for the easy to use pictures!

  • I loved the texture but thought it definitely had an oil taste. I’m trying it tonight with butter instead.

  • Can this bread be frozen?

  • This bread is fabulous! So easy to make and it tastes great! Thank you for posting this.

    • I’m so glad you like it! We love it around here! My aunt, and her friend who gave her the recipe, are AMAZING! 🙂 It’s for sure my favorite bread recipe! 😀

  • Can tge dough be frozen for later use?

  • I would have never noticed there were more than 5 loaves

  • How would I make cinnamon rolls, probably easy I just can’t think clearly right now. I have a cyst growing on my brain. Thank you. Making the bread right now. Can’t wait.

  • This sounds great! Will definitely have to try it! Could you tell me what size loaf pans to use?

  • I wish I had seen this 30 minutes ago. I just mixed up a batch of the 18 hour rise bread. LOL
    I will do this one next!

  • I will be making this today!!!!!

  • I made it and it was delicious. Thanks so much for the pictures. It was awesome.

  • I have made this twice now! I can not believe the simplicity and the results you get! By far the best I have tried. My co-workers are begging for the recipe! I’m trying the 50/50 whole wheat and white flour right now! Even working all day and two kids I have the energy to make this very easy recipe!! Thanks so much!!

  • Can I keep the dough in refrigerator for few days and make a new loaf every few days ?

    • I’ve never tried that… 🙁 You might bake half and then save the other half, just so it doesn’t ALL go bad… then if it works, try a few more days…

  • I just wanted to share (if someone already did, I apologize..I didn’t read all the comments) that I divided this recipe right in half, and I followed the directions exactly except since I came up with 3 loafs instead of 5 I checked them at 20 minutes and they were perfect! So if anyone is wondering if you can cut it in half… You can! Great recipe by the way. I’d add my photo if I knew how, lol.

  • Becky what type of yeast do you use? In the pictures it looks to be powered. Also do you think this recipe would be OK with rye flour?

    • I’m just using the regular yeast. 🙂 I didn’t know there was a non powdered form 😀
      As to the rye flour, it makes a much thicker bread. I’m not sure if it would work well or not. But I’d love to hear your results!

  • Love this! Going to try but was wondering if I substitute butter for oil would I still use 1 cup (2 sticks)? I used to make bread letting it rise etc. but was just too labor intensive. Can’t wait to try this over the weekend!!

  • Becky, do you sift or “fluff” your flour when measuring it?

  • Hi Becky, I have a question. I bake a LOT of bread. Usually for a 9 x 5 inch pan the amount of flour is 3 1/2-4 cups of flour. You are saying to use 9-10 cups of flour and then you used 9 x 5 inch pans. Were they very small (short) loaves? I would think to fill 5 loaf pans, you’d need at least 17 cups of flour. I definitely want to make this recipe but I want good sized loaves so I was wondering if I should only make 3 or 4 loaves. I’d really appreciate any input from you or other folks! Thanks.

    • Hi Janet! Those are some excellent questions. This isn’t a very dense bread. it’s light and fluffy, and amazingly good. You could probably cut it down to 4 loaf pans, but for sure not less than that. It’s one of those crazy recipes that sounds like it will never work, but when you actually do it, you’ll love it!

      • Becky, thanks so much for the response! I can hardly wait to bake this bread…..hopefully today after work! I’ll let you know how it turns out :).

        • Yay!! Can’t wait to hear what you think!

          • Hi Becky, I wanted to check back and let you know the results! I made the recipe with a few minor changes after reading some of the comments. I used 1/2 cup melted butter and 1/2 cup oil. I also added about a cup of instant potato flakes, as I usually add those to my breads. The bread came out of the oven very nice and I left it in the pans for 5 minutes and then turned on their sides for 10 minutes but they still seemed to collapse some. It is extremely tender bread! I sliced using just a serrated bread knife so the bread kind of “smooshed” down. I will try with an electric knife tomorrow. Also, I used 4 9 x 5 loaf pans instead of 5. I will make this again, as it has a great taste but I’m not sure it will hold up to a good sized sandwich. I’ll give that a try tomorrow, as well. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe. I love to add new ideas to my bread cookbook!

  • Wow! I am definitely going to bake this on Saturday…after I buy a couple more loaf pans – lol! If someone asked and I missed it, sorry, but have you frozen the cooled loaves before and how did it work? Thanks for the awesome recipe!!

  • Becky, did you use AP flour or bread flour? Thanks!

  • Can you use honey instead of sugar?

  • What type of oil did you use in this recipe?

  • I tried it and I don’t know what I did wrong but they didn’t rise at all I followed the recipe to a T and nothing when I baked them they turned out pale and unappealing looking and flat. Plus I only came out with 4 loaves, not 5. IDK what I did wrong.

  • I I tried this last year and loved how easy it was to make so many loaves at once. I was wanting to do it again this year but can you adjust/alter the recipe for Whole Wheat. Say instead of 10c white flour use 6c Whole Wheat and 4c white flours and have the same result?

  • Sounds delicious! I’ll try it soon! Has anyone added anything (like maybe make an olive loaf or something?

  • I’ve made bread for MANY years. I always use instant yeast and mix it in the flour, so I will try that. I’ll also use 1/2 whole wheat flour/white flour. I’ve been making Alexandra’s Peasant Bread recipe for years, so will use the (4) 1 liter Pyrex bowls her recipe calls for and figure out what size and how many bread pans that I will need for the rest of the dough. This will be fun and interesting. Thank you for the recipe.

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