'Easiest ever' homemade bread recipe with only four ingredients and no kneading

Freshly-baked bread is no doubt one of the best smells to have in your house, and eating it is even more enjoyable - especially when it's still warm.

But making it from scratch isn't always easy, especially when it comes to kneading the dough - which can be a strenuous and time-consuming activity.

Kneading is often an important part of the bread-making process, as it helps to create micro-bubbles which inflate during probing and baking, resulting in a light and fluffy loaf. However, according to one cooking whizz on social media, you can bake bread without kneading - and with just three ingredients.

The 'easiest ever' recipe for baked bread was shared by the account @lets_eat_uk, who often posts handy cooking tips and hacks to make life easier in the kitchen.

His no-knead bread video has amassed an impressive 859.9k views at the time of writing, and hundreds of people have taken to the comments to thank him for sharing the easy recipe.

All you'll need to make the loaf is 450g of bread flour, two tablespoons of fast-action or instant yeast, two tablespoons of cooking salt and 375ml of very warm - but not hot - water.

He said: "This is the easiest, laziest and most delicious homemade bread recipe which requires absolutely no kneading."

'Easiest ever' bread recipe

To make the mouth-watering loaf of bread, all you need to do is stir together your bread flour, salt and yeast, before adding in your warm water and mixing well with the handle of your wooden spoon so that everything is combined. Then, cover the bowl with some cling film or a kitchen towel and let the dough rest for around two to three hours so that it doubles in size.

Your dough should be wobbly after this time, and so the next step is to switch your oven on at 220C and place your chosen baking tray in to heat up for around 15 minutes while you work on the dough.

Sprinkle some flour over a flat surface in your kitchen and tip the dough out of the bowl, stretching and folding the sides around six to eight times before turning it over and tucking it in underneath so you have a nice, smooth and round loaf.

Then, place a bowl over the top of the dough to let it prove again - but only for around 15 minutes whilst the oven heats up.

The chef said: "Remove the bowl and flour your dough - you can also score it at this point if you wish to. Grab yourself some baking paper and using a scraper, pick up the dough and place on to the paper and shape again if needed. But honestly, don't worry too much about the shape."

Before putting the dough in the oven, boil up the kettle and pour some water in an oven-safe bowl to go in alongside your bread. This helps to create additional moisture, which keeps the skin stretchy without splitting during baking. You should place both the dough and the water on the middle tray of the oven, and bake for around 40 minutes.

After the time is up, place your freshly-baked loaf on a cooling rack for half an hour before tucking in.

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