No Need to Knead Garlic Bread

Preparation

On Mixing Day:

1. Measure 3 cups water into a small container. Add crushed garlic, and heat on high in microwave for 3 minutes. Let this cool down while the rest of the ingredients are being measured. 
2. Measure flour, salt and yeast into the large bowl/container and mix well to distribute evenly. When measuring flour, do not sift. Instead, use the “scoop and level” method: lightly scoop the flour into a one cup measuring cup, then use a knife to level off the top.
3. When the water has cooled to lukewarm (about 100 degrees), add to the dry ingredients and mix by hand with the wooden spoon. The dough will be very sticky. Add a little more water if the dough is too dry to mix in all the flour. 
4. Cover the container very loosely with the lid or plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 2 hours or more. The dough may rise to the top of the container and then fall a bit. That is OK. Remember, kneading is not necessary. 
5. At this point, you can refrigerate the dough for up to10 days and bake as needed. The longer it is refrigerated, the better the flavor. If you bake some of it the day it is mixed up, the dough will be sticky and harder to handle unless it has been refrigerated for at least 3 hours.

On Baking Day:

1. Prepare a cookie sheet/pizza peel for the dough to rise on by putting a piece of parchment paper on the cookie sheet or pizza peel and dusting it liberally with corn meal. 
2. Sprinkle the top of your refrigerated dough with flour. Use scissors or a knife to cut the dough in the bowl into 4 pieces. 
3. Flour your hands and pull out a piece of dough. Place it on one palm, and gently stretch up a side of the dough to the top of the loaf, rotating the ball a quarter turn as you go. Do this on all four sides of the circle. You will now have an upside-down round loaf in your hand. The loaf can be kept round, or you can stretch it a bit into a longer shape.
4. Flip the loaf smooth side up/ folded side down on the dusted cookie sheet/pizza peel. Let it rise for about 40 minutes. 
5. Twenty minutes before the end of the rising time, put one oven rack in the middle of the oven with another cookie sheet (or a bread stone if you have one) on the rack. Put another rack toward the bottom of the oven, with the broiler pan, or another small metal (not glass) pan, on it. Preheat the oven to 450° F for 20 minutes. 
6. Now you are ready to bake! Dust the top of the loaf with flour, and then use a serrated knife to slice a 1/4” deep  “X “on top of the round loaf. You can slice crosswise across the top of a longer loaf in a few places. 
7. You can transfer the loaf onto the hot baking surface in a number of ways, but be careful -- the oven is very hot. Slide a metal pancake turner under the parchment paper and transfer the loaf to the hot cookie sheet/baking stone; or pick up the cookie sheet /pizza peel with the dough on it and hold it close to the hot cookie sheet/ bread stone. With a quick forward push/shake motion, slide the dough onto the hot surface.
8. Quickly pour the one cup of hot water into the broiler pan or metal pan on the bottom oven rack and close the oven door. The water will make steam for a crispier crust.
9. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the crust is well browned.
10. Cut cooled loaf into 10 slices.