No knead bread is quite impressive but so easy! This recipe is yummy, and even the beginning baker can succeed in making a delicious artisan style bread.

The Magic of no knead bread is the easiest part…the long, slow rise. After mixing up the dough, just cover and wait. Have patience, the yeast is doing all the hard work for you.

There is a printable recipe with the full instructions at the bottom of this post! Ok, let’s get baking!

Ingredients:

3 cups bread flour

¼ tsp. dry active yeast

1 ¼ tsp. salt

1 cup chopped dried apricots

½ cups raw sunflower kernels

1 ⅝ cups water

Quick notes on Ingredients:

Using good quality ingredients will make your bead the best that it can be! Any flour will work, but I love a good quality bread flour such as Bob’s Red Mill Artisan Bread Flour, although any bread flour will work well. If all you have is all-purpose flour, this will also work.

This particular recipe caries a pretty hefty dose of fruit and nuts, but please feel free to adjust the amount to your liking. Nearly any nut/fruit combination that you like will work!

Instructions:

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, yeast, and salt, chopped apricots and seeds. Add the water and mix together with a wooden spoon until just combined. You will have a sticky, shaggy ball of dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 12-18 hours, and do not disturb!

Easy Artisan Bread Recipe that anyone can make! Filled with apricot and sunflower kernels, or the fruit and nuts of your choice. Simple ingredients and easy to follow tutorial. Perfect for Holiday baking or Thanksgiving!

After rising, the dough will be very sticky! Carefully dump it onto a well floured surface.

Stretch the dough and fold it into thirds. Then turn the dough 90° and stretch it out again, and fold it into thirds.

Gently shape the lump into a loaf with the ends tucked under, then slash the top. Allow the dough to rest 15 minutes.

Place the loaf on a pre-heated cast iron skillet or dutch oven. Put into a pre-heated 450° oven, and throw a few ice cubes into the bottom of the oven if desired (this helps the loaf and crust form best). Bake 35-40 minutes. Allow to cool before slicing!

Notes on Baking:

Because this recipe has lots of fruit, be sure to bake it for the full amount of time, otherwise the center will not cook fully.

If you like a crusty top on your bread, make sure to create some steam in the oven just as you put the bread in. This will delay your crust hardening in the hot oven, and give your yeast bubbles more time to expand. It will also help produce that lovely artisan crunch to your bread.

I usually just pop a few ice cubes in the bottom of the oven, but some bakers use a spray bottle of water or an oven safe dish of water on the bottom rack. Do some experimenting and see what works best for you!

This bread is rich and filled with amazing flavor. I loved it toasted with some cream cheese spread on top! If you make this super easy (but impressive bread, let me know how it goes, and please pop your questions into the comments!) happy baking!