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Tara's Go-To Boule Recipe (No Knead!)

Tara Howard
This is my go-to recipe for baking bread! You'll bake an artisan-style boule that is crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside! It is easy, healthy, and super delicious!
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Prep Time 1 day
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 day 45 minutes
Course bread, Side Dish

Equipment

  • Glass mixing bowl
  • Danish Dough Whisk or Wooden Spoon
  • Tea Towel or Lid
  • Digital Scale
  • Dutch Oven
  • Banneton Basket (this is optional but will create a pretty design on your bread)
  • Lame (optional)

Ingredients
  

  • 100 grams Sourdough Starter Recently fed and bubbly
  • 375 grams Warm Water
  • 300 grams Bread Flour
  • 200 grams Whole Wheat Flour or All-Purpose Flour
  • 2 teaspoons Finely Ground Salt Celtic or Real Salt

Instructions
 

5-24 Hours Before You Bake:

  • Feed your starter according to your normal ratio of flour to filtered water

When You Are Ready To Bake:

  • Add 100 grams of fed sourdough starter to a glass bowl
  • Add warm water to sourdough starter and whisk together until starter is completely dissolved
  • Measure both the bread flour and whole wheat or AP flour into the starter and warm water combination, then sprinkle the salt in
  • Combine all ingredients together with a Danish Dough Whisk or a wooden spoon. Incorporate together until there is no dry flour left in the mixture.
  • Cover with plastic wrap or a tight lid, and let it rest for 15 minutes

Stretch & Fold Method:

  • Uncover the mixing bowl, and then wet your dominant hand with water. Grab the dough from the underside and pull it up and over itself. Rotate the bowl 90 degrees, and then grab the dough from the underside and pull it up and over itself a second time. Rotate the bowl once more, repeating the stretch and fold technique each time. You are essentially pulling the underside of the dough ball onto the top, turning the bowl, and repeating all the way around.
  • Repeat the stretch-and-fold process twice more at 15-minute intervals. Cover the bowl again, and let it rise overnight – 8 to 10 hours. This step is why your planning ahead and knowing when you want to bake bread is critical!

Stretch & Fold & Let Rise - Again! This Is Done The Next Morning:

  • Thoroughly flour your banneton (I like to use corn meal), and then dust your working surface lightly with flour. Wet your hands, and then gently scoop the dough out of the mixing bowl and onto your working surface. Spread it out, so that it makes a rough circle about 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick and then gently fold the edges of the dough in toward the middle, shaping it into a round ball.
  • Seam-side up, transfer the dough to the banneton, and then cover it loosely with a tea towel. Let it rise at room temperature 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Heat Your Oven:

  • Set the Dutch oven in the oven, and then heat the oven to 500 F. Transfer the dough to the fridge, and let it chill while the oven heats up (see below)
  • While your oven is heating, you can chill the dough in the refrigerator. Doing so will make scoring your dough a lot easier (this is where a Lame comes in handy if you plan on regularly making dough - but a very thin, sharp knife will do the trick)

Bake & Wait:

  • When the oven reaches temperature, place parchment paper on your counter-top, and get the dough out of the refrigerator. Gently invert the banneton over the parchment paper until the dough releases. The dough might take several seconds to release. Score the loaf with a lame or a sharp knife
  • Carefully (it's VERY hot!) remove the Dutch Oven from the oven, and remove the lid with mits. Grasping the edges of the parchment paper, gently lower the dough into the Dutch Oven (yes, the parchment paper goes in the oven with the dough!) - Cover with lid, and place in oven
  • Bake at 500 degrees for 30 minutes
  • After the 30 minutes at 500 degrees, turn the heat down to 450 degrees, and then remove the lid of the dutch oven. Continue baking another 15 minutes
  • Transfer your beautiful boule to a cooling rack. Let it cool completely before slicing and serving - this will be hard, but definitely worth it to let it cool!

Notes

  • If you don't have a Banneton basket - have no fear! You will just skip all the banneton steps and simply plop your dough into your Dutch Oven! I think investing (they are inexpensive!) in a banneton is well worth it, though - even if you only bake bread once in a while. Here's why: you will be SO much more inspired to keep baking bread when it looks super pretty! Just my advice!
  • Once you master this super easy recipe, I'd advise you to try out different flavors to add to your bread! I love to add Fennel Essential Oil (only a few drops!) before baking - the flavor is AMAZING! You could also add dried and minced Rosemary, Olives for a Mediterranean twist, or minced garlic and onion! The options are endless! The only thing to note is that if adding actual minced foodstuffs, you would add it to the flour and water mixture. I use my Essential Oils all the time, which you'd add once your dough is ready to be placed in the oven for the first time.
  • If using different flour types, you will need to adjust your measurements. I'd advise sticking to this recipe in the beginning to build up your confidence, and then moving on to ancient grains such as Einkorn or Spelt.