Caffeine Free Classic Dutch Oven Bread

There is something deeply satisfying about pulling a golden, crackling loaf out of a screaming-hot Dutch oven, and this no-knead recipe delivers that bakery-worthy result with almost embarrassingly little effort. The ingredient list is about as short as it gets — flour, yeast, salt, and warm water — so there is absolutely nothing here to raise a red flag for anyone keeping caffeine out of their diet. That long, slow rise of up to 18 hours is where the magic happens, developing a complex, tangy flavor that tastes like you spent all day in the kitchen when really the dough did all the work overnight. The covered bake traps steam inside the Dutch oven, giving you that blistered, crackly crust, while the final uncovered stretch turns it a deep, gorgeous amber. Scoring the top before it goes in lets the loaf bloom and expand in a controlled, dramatic way that makes the finished bread look genuinely impressive on a cutting board. The hardest part of the whole process is waiting the full hour after baking before you slice in — but skipping that rest means a gummy crumb, so hold tight. Once you have made this once, store-bought bread is going to feel like a serious downgrade.

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