Citrus Free Classic No-Knead Bread
There is something deeply satisfying about pulling a crackling, mahogany-crusted loaf out of a screaming-hot Dutch oven, especially when the ingredient list is this short. Four pantry staples — flour, yeast, salt, and water — are all it takes, which means there is absolutely nothing hiding in this bread that could cause a problem for anyone avoiding citrus in any form. No citric acid, no zest, no juice, no preservatives derived from fruit — just honest, old-fashioned fermentation doing all the heavy lifting overnight. The long, slow rise is what builds that complex, slightly tangy flavor and the open, chewy crumb that makes this loaf taste like it came from a serious bakery. Scoring the top before the covered bake traps steam inside the Dutch oven, giving you that blistered, crackly crust without any special equipment beyond what most home kitchens already have. Let it cool the full hour before slicing — the wait is genuinely hard, but the texture of a properly set crumb is worth every minute.
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Learn more →Ingredients
8 servings
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- ¼ tsp instant yeast
- 1 ½ tsp kosher salt
- 1 ½ cups water, room temperature
Instructions
- 1
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, instant yeast, and kosher salt. Add the water and stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until no dry flour remains and a shaggy, sticky dough forms — about 1 minute. The dough will look rough and wet; that is correct.
- 2
Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and let the dough rest at room temperature for 12 to 18 hours, until the surface is dotted with bubbles and the dough has roughly doubled in size.
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