How to Make Healthy No-Knead Bread with Basically No Effort

This no-knead bread is really quick and easy. It is perfect for first time bread-makers or those who are short on time. It’s very hands off, takes 90 minutes start-to-finish, and is a wholegrain bread that is low in gluten if you choose to use spelt flour.

I grew up with the smell of freshly baked bread. My mother did 90% of the cooking in our house, but my dad was just as talented in the kitchen. As a mathematician, he particularly excelled in baking.

Both my parents love to bake fresh bread, and I remember few moments in my childhood where we ate shop-bought loaves.

As they grew short of time as careers progressed, they invested in a bread machine, and it was magical to watch them fill it with simple ingredients in the evening, and then wake up the following morning to the smell of fresh-baked bread wafting lazily up the stairs to greet us.

Bread makers are amazing things, but I have few single-use items in my kitchen, and I love to save space on counters and in cupboards where I can, so I haven’t had one for many years. Instead, I make my bread by hand or with my beloved stand mixer (no amount of small counter space would make me give that up!), and it can take time.

Time I don’t always have.

Until I discovered no-knead bread.

We are talking zero effort: a rough measuring and a brief mixing of a handful of ingredients, then covering a bowl, dumping out its contents into a loaf tin, and baking. Zero effort.

The best bits:

• no kneading (BEST bit), super hands off baking
• 90 minutes start-to-finish, no lengthy rises (only 20 minutes each)
• easy to double-batch and make 2 loaves with the same amount of time and energy
• made with only 6 recognisable ingredients, wholegrain, and containing no sugar, preservatives, E numbers, or vegetable oils!
• delicious, soft, sandwich-ready bread

And the smell that fills your house as it bakes! There’s no aroma quite as lovely as the delicious earthy, satisfying, warming scent of no-knead bread as it cooks.

Try it. You may be surprised!

Print

No-Knead Spelt & Oat Bread

Prep Time

2 mins

Cook Time

45 mins

Resting Time

40 mins

Total Time

1 hr 27 mins

 

This no-knead bread is really quick and easy. It is perfect for first time bread-makers or those who are short on time. It’s very hands off, takes 90 minutes start-to-finish, and is a wholegrain bread that is low in gluten if you choose to use spelt flour.

Keyword: Bread, Cheap, Dairy Free, Easy, Healthy, Kid-Friendly, Low Sugar, One-Bowl, Real Food, Spelt, Sugar Free, Sweetener Free

Servings: 1 loaf (8 serves)

Ingredients

• 450 g (2 3/4 cups) wholemeal spelt (or wholewheat) flour
• 1 tablespoon dried yeast
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 100 g (1 cup) oats
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• up to 500ml (2 cups) warm water

Instructions

1. Mix everything together in a bowl until it forms a soft, but not sticky dough, adding water as needed. Cover the bowl and leave in a warm spot for 20 minutes. Dump into a lightly greased 900lb (2l) loaf tin and leave for another 20 minutes while you preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas 6. Sprinkle with some extra oats if you like. Bake for 45-50 minutes, then allow to cool before cutting.

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