No-Knead Tasty Dutch Oven Bread that’s Easy and Quick
Try this easy tasty dutch oven bread recipe with chocolate, pecan, and cherries for a delicious addition to your holiday meal.
I’ll try anything to make entertaining a little easier during the holidays. While I’ve always used store-bought bread in the past I’ve recently learned how easy it is to bake bread in my dutch oven. I’ll never go back to store-bought again!
Chocolate, Pecan-Cherry No-Knead Tasty Dutch Oven Bread
Welcome back to A Very Global Christmas annual holiday series with my dear friend Stephanie from Casa Watkins Living. We have so much fun sharing twelve days of globally inspired Christmas ideas every year and today is for easy recipe ideas.
I’ve shared a make-ahead Christmas breakfast, how to create a signature cocktail, and how to dress up store-bought cupcakes in the past. I’m super excited to share an easy from-scratch recipe today!
You can find ideas for Christmas trees, ornaments, gift wrapping, wreaths, and more at A Very Global Christmas page, or click on the links below to see this year’s stories.
- Day one: A Romantic, Natural, and Maximalist Christmas Tree
- Day two: DIY Pomegranate Potpourri ORnaments
- Day three: DIY Modern Pomegranate Wreath
- Day Four: DIY Advent wreath centerpiece
- Day Five: Potpourri Gift Tags
- Day Six: Air Plant in Terrarium Gift Idea
- Day Seven: Blue and Green Tinsel Tree in the Bedroom
Back to can baking bread really be easy? Yes! And after a few tries with different recipes, I’ve cut out unnecessary steps to make the process even faster. So all you need is a few ingredients and about 10 minutes of active time with an additional hour for the dough to rise. Then into the oven for 30 minutes!
Make the basic form of this recipe with only flour, yeast, water, and a pinch of salt.
Cherry, Pecan, and Chocolate No-Knead Dutch Oven Bread
A tasty no-knead dutch oven bread for easy holiday entertaining.
Ingredients
- 6 Teaspoons Unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 Cups of all purpose flour
- 1/2 Cup of sugar
- Fast active yeast (2 Teaspoons)
- 1/2 Cup of dried cherries
- 1/2 Cup of pecan pieces
- 1 1/2 Cups of warm water (105F)
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Combine flour, cocoa powder, salt, and yeast in a large bowl.
- Add warm water and mix with a spoon.
- Add cherries and pecan pieces and mix. The dough will form into a ball.
- Cover the bowl with a towel and let sit for an hour or until the dough ball doubles in size.
- Preheat the oven to 450F with the dutch oven inside. Putting the dough into the warm dutch oven will make the crust crispy!
- Turn dough into a floured surface scraping the sides of the bowl.
- Gently gather the dough into a ball by folding in the sides and carefully placing it in the preheated dutch oven.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a rack.
Notes
The basic ingredients of artisan bread are flour, yeast, salt, and water with the same instructions and taste light and soft! Experiment with add-ins for sweet bread like I did for this tasty no-knead dutch oven recipe!
Substitute the cocoa powder and sugar with 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate morsels.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1/8 of loafAmount Per Serving: Calories: 221.75
The prep for this tasty bread is easy. Put the faucet on warm while you measure out the flour and cocoa powder. Add the yeast and pinch of salt and mix with a spoon. Add the warm water and stir a few more minutes.
Add the cherries and pecans. Cover with a towel and let the dough rise. It’s taken about an hour every time I’ve made bread with fast active yeast.
Preheating the dutch oven in the oven will make sure you get a crispy bottom. I tried using pam in my bowl and dutch oven and did not see a difference so now I don’t even bother. The baked loaf comes out of the dutch oven clean every time.
This is now my family’s favorite bread. I can’t wait to try more combinations with it. Maybe cranberry and lemon zest next?
Commonly asked questions about baking no-knead dutch oven bread:
Do I have to preheat the dutch oven first? Most recipes call for this step to achieve a crispy bottom but if you are apprehensive about placing the dough into a hot dutch oven without burning yourself, skip this step. The bread will still be delicious.
What size of the dutch oven is best for no-knead bread? I snagged a 4 QT robin’s egg blue one from Aldi with the Crofton brand name and LOVE it! I use it multiple times a week for stews, soups, and bread that holds enough for two dinners for a family of four! I find using this size easy to place the dough into without burning myself too.
But specifically for artisan bread that serves eight, a 2 3/4 QT dutch oven is sufficient.
What does the dutch oven do for the bread? The lidded pot traps steam that ensures a delicious soft center and crust!
Is instant yeast the same as active dry yeast? Dry yeast will be labeled active inactive or instant. Active yeast needs to be activated prior to use while instant dry yeast is ready to use the instant you open it.
Now let’s head over to Casa Watkins Living to see her easy recipe idea for the holidays!
Best Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
