No-knead Wheat Bread

I don't mean to pile on, but I'm going to assign some homework.

Lucky for you it's pretty easy homework, and it smells and tastes pretty good to boot.

You need some flour, some yeast, a big spoon and a little time. If you're short on time this weekend, don't worry. The beauty of this bread is that once you get all of the ingredients together and give it a first rise, you can stick the dough in the fridge. 

Then when you've got a hankering for some freshly baked bread, make a quick loaf, let it sit for about 30 minutes, and then pop it in the oven. 

This bread is wonderfully versatile. The texture makes for outstanding toast, hearty sandwich bread or the perfect vehicle for soup. Seriously, who needs a spoon, anyways?

No-knead Wheat Bread

makes 3 loaves

Ingredients

3 cups  lukewarm water

1 ½ Tablespoons  active dry yeast (2 packages)

1 ½ Tablespoons  salt

3 ¼ cups  whole wheat flour

3 ¼ cups  all-purpose white flour

cornmeal for the pizza peel to keep loaf from sticking

Directions

Heat water to a lukewarm temperature (just a bit warmer than body temperature, should feel warm but not hot to the touch). Pour the water into a 5-quart, lidded plastic container. Stir in the yeast and stir to dissolve.  Add salt and stir again.

Without waiting for the yeast to bubble, mix in all of the flour at once, using a wooden spoon. You don't have to knead the dough, just mix until it becomes wet, but is still loose and sticky.

Cover loosely and allow the mixture to rise at room temperature for 2 hours. (After this you can refrigerate the dough for up to 10 days, using the dough as needed.)

Sprinkle the pizza peel liberally with cornmeal. Place a baking stone on the middle rack of the oven and a shallow pan for holding water on the lower shelf. 

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

When ready to bake a loaf, pull a piece of dough about the size of a grapefruit. Holding the dough in your hands and adding a little more flour if needed, stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom to form a ball. Rest the loaf, uncovered, on the pizza peel for about 30 minutes.

Dust the top of the loaf liberally with flour and, using a serrated knife, cut a few ¼ inch deep slashes in the top of the loaf. Pattern does not matter, but the slashes will help the bread to rise in the oven.

Carefully pour 1 cup of water into the shallow pan that is in the oven. This will create a lot of steam, so be careful. Slide the loaf from the pizza peel to the preheated baking stone in the oven.

Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until the bread is nicely brown and firm to the touch. Allow cooling completely on a wire rack.