Apple Sage Dutch Oven No Knead Bread
Sweet and savory, this No Knead bread is a perfect pairing to any delicious meal.
The Facts
Most No Knead bread recipes want a long rest time, on average 13 hours. With this recipe, we aimed to provide the same results with less time. By increasing the yeast to a full packet of 2.25 teaspoons versus the average 0.5 teaspoon, we are able to get a faster rise but still get the airy texture and perfect golden crust for this Apple Sage Dutch Oven No Knead Bread.
We then began to dive further into how can we enhance a flavor of a bread without just adding more spices and mix-ins. Previously, in our other 2 no knead Dutch oven bread recipes (Sea Salt Rosemary Bread and Cinnamon Raisin) we focused on enhancing the flavor of the bread by mixing in a variety of spices or mix-ins, like raisins. Looking at the core of really any bread recipe there is always at least these four ingredients: flour, yeast, salt, and some sort of liquid to bring it all together.
With this recipe, we turned to looking at how the liquid could bring a new flavor story to the table. The idea also stemmed from the fact that we have seen sourdough starters using pineapple juice instead of water to bring more acid into the dough to create the classic “sour” taste. We were not going for sourdough here, but rather something sweet and light just enough to distinguish it from other breads. This is how we came to the conclusion of using apple juice to do the job. Apples are light and sweet but can be paired with other spices in the savory flavor profile. Also, due to the sugar content in apple juice it helped to feed the yeast and give it a nice rise in the short timeframe.
We paired the apple juice base dough with a combo of sage and thyme. Sage being the main flavor profile and just a hint of thyme to round it out. This gave the bread a fresh and vibrant flavor to round out the sweetness of the apple flavoring. We finished it off with the classic sprinkle of sea salt across the top to bring in a sweet, savory, and just a hint of saltiness to this bread.
This bread is a great addition to any dinner. We even have turned it into a garlic bread and dunked it into homemade tomato soup.
We would love to hear how your Apple Sage Dutch Oven No Knead Bread turned out and what you paired it with!