Ok look, I know during the first lockdown last year we all loved sourdough, it was the banana bread for hipsters (I guess that makes me a hipster), we all gave our starters names and we baked a few loaves. I also know that of the many people who learnt to make a starter following my guides here and on instagram, many of you will have let your starter wither and die, and I get it, commitment is hard, sourdough is easy to forget. But now that we are back in lockdown once again, should we be reviving our lacklustre, tired starters? You absolutely can but, if you’re like me and life is a bit much right now, I have a great alternative. No knead bread made in the style of sourdough. 

No knead bread is certainly not a new idea, it was pioneered by baker Jim Lahey and there are recipes for it all over the internet. My version follows the same basic idea I just make it with the addition of stretch and folds, building in strength to the dough but without any labour intensive kneading. It gives an ‘artisan’ style loaf, with a nice open crumb, but without the tricky element of sourdough. 

For this loaf I went with that cliche millennial flavouring of ‘everything bagel seasoning’ because, look it might be a cliche but, it’s great and I love it, and yes I sprinkle it on my avocado toast. You can make the seasoning yourself (I have a recipe for that here) or you can buy your own, your choice. 

No Knead Everything Bagel Bread

No Knead Bread
250g plain flour
250g strong white bread flour
400ml lukewarm water (see note)
2g fast action dried yeast
10g salt
2 tbsp everything bagel seasoning

Topping
4 tbsp everything bagel seasoning

Note - some people have found this dough tricky to handle as it is high hydration, if this is something you haven’t worked with before you can reduce the level of hydration to 350-375ml water which will make the dough easier to handle

To make the dough add the flours to a large bowl and mix together to combine. Pour in the water and use your hands to mix to a shaggy dough, making sure there are no dry pockets of flour. Cover the bowl and set aside somewhere warm for 30 minutes to hydrate. 

Sprinkle the yeast and salt over the dough and use a wet hand to mix together. To do this I first dimple the dough with my fingers, fold the dough a few times and then squish the whole thing through my fingers, making sure everything is well incorporated. Cover and rest for 30 minutes, again doing so somewhere warm.

Sprinkle the bagel seasoning onto the dough and do your first set of stretch and folds. If you’ve ever made sourdough you’ll know this process well, its a low effort alternative to kneading. To stretch and fold use a wet hand to go under the dough and pull it up and over itself, stretching as you do so. This is done at multiple points around the dough, 4 or 5 times. The video below shows the process when I make sourdough breads and it will look very similar for this recipe. After the first stretch and fold we are going to repeat the process 3 more times, resting for 30 minutes between each set in your warm spot. 

Once all your stretch and folds have been done we need to let the dough rest until doubled in size. This should take another 60-90 minutes depending on the temperature of the kitchen or warm spot your resting the dough. Personally I like using the oven with light turned on, just careful as some ovens can become a little too warm for this. 

Once doubled scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Stretch out slightly and form into a rough ball. This is just a pre-shaping so do this briefly and don’t worry about making it perfect. Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and leave for 30 minutes to relax. Lightly flour the top of the dough and flip over and shape. The easiest way to do this is fold the outside edge the dough into the middle, working your way around the dough to make a nice tight ball. At this stage I then flip the dough, so the seam is on the bottom, and roll the dough on the surface creating tension and make the shape a little tighter. 

Spritz the ball of dough with water and sprinkle generously with your everything bagel seasoning. Carefully lift up and transfer to either a proving basket or bowl lined with a kitchen towel. Whichever you are using, dusting the inside with rice flour will help the dough release after proving. 

Cover the basket/bowl and refrigerate the dough for 8-14 hours (you should be able to leave it for 24 hours but 14 hours is the longest I have tested it so far). 

An hour before baking preheat the oven to 250ºC or as high as your oven will go. Place a large cast iron dutch oven to heat up as well. Once preheated remove the dough from the fridge and carefully turn it out onto a round of scrunched up parchment paper. Use a razor blade or sharp knife to slash the bread and carefully transfer it to the cast iron pot. Cover the pot with the lid and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. After the time is up reduce the temperature to 220ºC and bake for a further 20-25 minutes or until the bread is well browned. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least an hour before slicing. 

Example Baking Schedule
5pm - Mix the flour and water

5.30pm - Mix in the yeast and salt

6pm - Add the everything seasoning and do set 1 of stretch and folds

6.30pm - 2nd set of stretch and folds

7pm - 3rd set

7.30pm - 4th set

9pm - Pre-shape the loaf

9.30pm - Shape the loaf and refrigerate

8am - Preheat the oven

9am - Bake the bread