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Need bread in a hurry? 'No knead' to worry

Mark Bittman shares recipes for great bread that's easy to make

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  Baking no-knead bread
Oct. 8: Food writer Mark Bittman shows TODAY hosts how to make super-speedy homemade bread.

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updated 9:48 a.m. ET Oct. 8, 2008

Looking for a quick way to make delicious bread for friends and family? Well, you're in luck. In his latest installment of “How to Make Everything TODAY,” celebrated food writer and New York Times columnist Mark Bittman shares his secrets for some quick and simple homemade bread they're sure to love. Check out his recipes:

Speedy No-Knead Bread
By Mark Bittman

Yield: One big loaf

Time: 5 to 6 hours

INGREDIENTS

3 cups bread flour
1 packet (1/4 ounce) instant yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Oil as needed

Recipe continues below ↓
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DIRECTIONS

1. Combine flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Add 1 1/2 cups water and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest about 4 hours at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Lightly oil a work surface and place dough on it; fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest at least 30 minutes more.

3. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees.  Put a 3 to 4 quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under the dough and put it into pot, seam side up. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

MANAGE YOUR RECIPES


Fast No-Knead Whole Wheat Bread
By Mark Bittman

Yield: One loaf

Time: 5 to 6 hours

INGREDIENTS

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup coarse corn meal
1/2 cup whole rye flour
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Oil as needed

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine flours, corn meal, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Add 1 1/2 cups water and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest about 4 hours at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Oil a standard loaf pan (8 or 9 x4; nonstick works well); lightly oil your hands and shape the dough into a rough rectangle. Put it in the pan, pressing it out to the edges. Brush the top with a little more oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest at least minutes more.

3. When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 F. Bake about 45 minutes, or until the loaf reaches an internal temperature of 210 F. Remove the bread from the pan and cool on a rack.

MANAGE YOUR RECIPES



Best-selling cookbook author Mark Bittman is the creator and author of the popular New York Times weekly column "The Minimalist," and one of the country's best-known and most widely admired food writers. His flagship book, "How to Cook Everything" (John Wiley and Sons, 1998), is currently in its 14th printing and has, in its various formats, sold more than a million copies.


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