HomeTipsCookUncategorizedThe Easiest Bread Recipe You’ll Ever Bake
by Williams-Sonoma Editors
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No kneading. No dough hook. Just a bottle of beer and a few pantry ingredients and your home will be suffused in the comforting aroma of freshly baked bread.
Wait, beer? Yes! It’s the secret ingredient in this crusty loaf which takes just 10 minutes of active cooking time to make. Half Baked Harvest‘s Tieghan Gerard shared this recipe with us from her new cookbook, Half Baked Harvest Super Simple. She uses the recipe often, sometimes employing it as the dough for a stunning Rosemary Potato and Wild Mushroom Burrata Pizza—currently the dish up next on our what-to-make-for-weekend-lunch list.
The dough is soft and bubbly. Once it rises, you need only transfer it to a well-floured board and do your best to shape it into a round. We suggest using a bench scraper to lift the edges of the dough over the center before flipping it over onto a piece of parchment paper for baking. A preheated Dutch oven in a hot oven does the rest.
No-Knead Bread and Pizza Dough
Tieghan Gerard of Half-Baked Harvest proves once again how easy it can be to master great recipes, such as this wonderful, crusty loaf from her Super Simple cookbook.
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Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 45 mins
Resting Time 2 hrs
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed (see Note)
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 (12-ounce) beer
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, yeast, and salt. Add the beer and olive oil and mix with a wooden spoon until combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.
TO BAKE AS BREAD
When ready to bake, place a 6-quart cast-iron Dutch oven or heavy pot on a rack positioned in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 450˚F. Once it reaches temperature, let the Dutch oven warm for 30 minutes.
Turn the dough out onto a generously floured work surface. Using your hands, form the dough into a ball and place it on a large piece of parchment paper.
Carefully remove the Dutch oven from the oven and place the dough with the parchment paper in the center of it. Transfer the pot back to the oven, cover, and bake for 30 minutes. Carefully remove the lid and continue cooking until the bread is a deep golden brown, about 15 minutes more.
Carefully lift the bread out of the pot and place it on a rack to cool completely, about 2 hours. (Don't slice the bread right out of the oven—you want to let it continue to cook as it cools.)
TO USE AS PIZZA DOUGH
Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and divide it into 2 equal pieces. Use half of the dough as directed in any given pizza recipe and save the remaining dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, for another use.
Notes
Note: To get the right consistency in your dough, start with your base amount of flour, then add more as needed, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough is smooth but not dry. It’s better to have a dough that’s on the slightly sticky side than a dough that’s too dry. The dough should be a bit loose; it should not feel dense or heavy.
© 2019 by Tieghan Gerard
Excerpted from Half Baked Harvest Super Simple
beer breadbreadHalf Baked Harvestmake-ahead recipesovernight breadpizza doughTieghan gerard
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38 comments
VRJanuary 26, 2022 -
What parchment paper did you use? Most brands I’ve used are oven safe up to 415 degrees…this is baked at 450.
Reply
Williams-Sonoma EditorsJanuary 26, 2022 -
We have baked it using several different parchment brands. The paper may brown at the edges while in the oven. Cook’s Illustrated makes some suggestions in this post: https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/5858-can-you-heat-parchment-paper-higher-than-manufacturers-recommend. Some parchment paper brands can work in ovens up to 500 degrees.
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Maxine CornellJanuary 25, 2022 -
Should the beer be flat and or warm or does it matter
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Williams-Sonoma EditorsJanuary 25, 2022 -
It should be bubbly and straight of the can. The temperature doesn’t matter. Good luck!
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MaxineJanuary 22, 2022 -
Should the beer be flat and warm to work
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AlbertinaMarch 25, 2021 -
Awesome! It was really very easy to and also tasty. Thanks a lot for sharing this bread recipe.
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KarajanFebruary 24, 2021 -
Interesting use of beer. I hate to use it for a bread recipe but I suppose I will give this recipe a try.
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Maxine CornellJanuary 20, 2022 -
When preheating the Dutch oven do I do it with the lid on
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Williams-Sonoma EditorsJanuary 20, 2022 -
Good question! When we made the bread, we preheated it with the lid on. Obviously, be careful when you remove it! The lid will be very hot.
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Alice GundersonFebruary 18, 2021 -
Do the math. How could 12 oz of beer and 3 cups of flour (~13.5 oz) make a pound of dough?
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JenniferFebruary 14, 2021 -
Does the beer have to be at room temperate?
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Peppers & Cherry Tomato Pizza Topped With Prosciutto & Burrata | Basque SpectrumJanuary 19, 2021 -
[…] you are the adventurour homemade pizza dough maker, here my favourite pizza dough recipe:; I have yet to try the recipe to make bread but so far I’ve only used it […]
Reply
Pepper & Cherry Tomato Pizza Topped With Prosciutto & Burrata | Basque SpectrumJanuary 18, 2021 -
[…] you are the adventurour homemade pizza dough maker, here my favourite pizza dough recipe:; I have yet to try the recipe to make bread but so far I’ve only used it […]
Reply
EllenJanuary 7, 2021 -
This recipe sounds delicious…I have bread flour, could I use this vs reg. Flour….
Thanks
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MegJune 12, 2020 -
If I wanted to make rolls with the dough (12 round rolls), how long should I bake them for? Thanks!
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Pamela Rylander-AraujoApril 17, 2020 -
I found no errors in the recipe. I made this today and added fresh chopped rosemary. It was excellent.
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LeighMarch 25, 2020 -
Looks so good! Excited to test out different beers.
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JenniferFebruary 14, 2021 -
Does the beer have to be at room temperature?
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TomJanuary 25, 2022 -
Jennifer, when i make my pizza doughs i use water thats around 98-100 so I’m assuming that yes it is best to use room temp.
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JennaMarch 24, 2020 -
Can you let the dough rise overnight? Would you let it rise in the refrigerator?
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ElleApril 15, 2020 -
Probably, but you’d need to take it out to finish rising possibly for as much as two hours on the day you choose to bake it.
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StephanieMarch 24, 2020 -
If I don’t have a Dutch oven for baking, can I just put my crock pot in the oven?
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AprilMarch 25, 2020 -
I don’t think that would be a good idea – you need something heat proof to 450. I don’t know that the crock pot bowl can take that.
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AlyssaApril 15, 2020 -
I used a cast iron pan and covered with foil. Worked just as well!
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MartaMay 19, 2020 -
It could be possible prepare it with whole grain flour or spelt? Thank you
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Jackie WintersMarch 24, 2020 -
Just made this! It came out gorgeous!
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Carolyn d DrahosMarch 24, 2020 -
I think we know who drank the rest of the 6-pack of beer!
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BonnieMarch 24, 2020 -
What can you use instead of beer??
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CarolMarch 24, 2020 -
What about a non-alcohol “beer” like O’Doul’s (sp?)…?
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JeannieMarch 24, 2020 -
What can you use other than beer?
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SandraMarch 23, 2020 -
So there’s some typos…I’m still going to make this bread, as soon I as get some beer. Thanks for sharing.
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JanetMarch 24, 2020 -
I can’t sat oil? What is a substitute?
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savannagalMarch 23, 2020 -
What are the errors?
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Don BitMarch 24, 2020 -
Did you read the instructions?
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ConnieMarch 22, 2020 -
Agreed! It is laughable!
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