I baked my first ever loaf of crusty white bread this morning, and I am amazed. I am awestruck. The process could not have been simpler as I used a no-knead recipe, and most of the work involves just waiting for the dough to rise. Note: some planning ahead is required. I waited out the whole 20 hours of rising time, mixing the dough Saturday afternoon so I could work with it Sunday morning.

I’ve worked with dough plenty making pizza and baked dishes and desserts, but this is a whole other thing. Each time I peeked at the dough as it was rising, I was startled by it as a pulsing, moving thing. It was alive. And when I removed the loaf from the oven, perhaps the most exciting part was hearing it pop and hiss as the surface of the bread cracked.

After 18 hours of rising

I used the New York Times No-Knead Bread recipe, adapted from Jim Lahey at Sullivan Street Bakery. The only way I altered the recipe was by adding rolled oats and sunflower seeds to the flour mixture before pouring in the water. And before setting the round of dough to rise for the final two hours, I added another handful of oats to the top before placing it seam-side down on the cotton towel.

It looks like a mess when you flip it into the pot and flour gets everywhere . . . Not to worry.

Halfway through baking

Voila! Bread!