For physician Jeffrey Hertzberg and baker Zoe Francois, the journey to no-knead bread began innocently enough.

While their toddlers learned to play the xylophone in a Minneapolis music class, Hertzberg began telling Francois about his no-knead, 5-minute mix of flour, salt, yeast and water.

Made in large batches, the dough can be refrigerated for weeks and baked one loaf at a time by simply cutting off a piece, letting it rise, shaping and baking. Trained in traditional methods, Francois was skeptical, but she saw promise in the chemistry Hertzberg was selling: a wetter-than-average dough that was easier to handle and simple to work with.

This month, the duo is releasing its second book on no-knead bread, joined by tomes from two fellow bread pioneers.

Marabeth Soneson of Cedar Falls has been using the no-knead method since discovering several cookbooks on the subject.

"I've always baked bread. ... Everyone knows one of the hassles is the time it takes and the preciseness - you need a three- to four-hour window, and most people don't have that kind of time."

The no-knead method saves time, and she likes the flavor. "There's a fermentation process that goes on, like wine or beer, a flavor development you can't replicate any other way. It's really rich and moist. The texture is coarse - all the better to collect the butter," said Soneson.

Trained at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., Francois embraced Hertzberg's method after checking it out herself.

"When I tried it, it really was revolutionary, and was mind boggling because it went against everything I had been taught," she said. "Everybody had to know about this."

The first book from the two, "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" (Thomas Dunne Books, 2007), was well received and has 200,000 copies in print. This month, they release "Healthy Breads in Five Minutes a Day." Two other no- or low-knead bread bakers also put out books in October: Jim Lahey with "My Bread" (W.W. Norton & Co.) and Peter Reinhart (who pledges ease more than outright no-knead) with "Artisan Breads Everyday" (Ten Speed Press).

To those counting the minutes, no-knead bread doesn't really take just five minutes. The reference refers to the time it takes to mix ingredients, not taking into account resting time and baking. But critics and proponents agree it's a vast improvement over the laborious process of making artisan breads using classic methods - kneading and rising, with starters to consider for sourdough or rye.

"The books are accessible to people who have never baked bread," Hertzberg says. "The key to our books is that if you don't teach people how to store it, they are not going to do it often. It's giving people the freedom to create a bread that fits in their diet or the way they eat."

Whole-Grain Garlic Knots with Parsley and Olive Oil

Start to finish: 4 hours (30 minutes active)

Makes 5 to 20 rolls

For the master dough:

5 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour

2 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1/4 cup vital wheat gluten

4 cups lukewarm water

For the rolls:

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup finely minced fresh parsley

4 cloves garlic, finely minced

2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

1 to 2 tablespoons blended seeds (such as sesame, flax, caraway, raw sunflower, poppy and anise)

In a 5-quart bowl or, preferably, a resealable, lidded plastic food container or food-grade bucket (not airtight), whisk together both flours, the yeast, salt and vital wheat gluten.

Add water all at once and mix without kneading, using a spoon, a 14-cup food processor (with dough attachment), or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. You might need to use wet hands to get the last bit of flour to incorporate if not using a machine.

Cover dough loosely with plastic wrap or a cover. Allow mixture to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse (or at least flattens on the top), approximately 2 hours.

After rising, refrigerate in the lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 14 days. This recipe makes 4 pounds of dough. Each pound makes 5 rolls. To prepare the rolls, use 1 pound of dough, refrigerating the remaining dough until desired.

To prepare dough as garlic knots with parsley and olive oil, in a large skillet over medium, heat olive oil. Add parsley and garlic, then saute for 4 minutes, or until parsley is soft and mixture is aromatic. Add more olive oil if mixture looks too dry.

Break off 1 pound of the dough (returning the rest to the refrigerator). Dust the surface of the dough with flour, then divide it into 3-ounce pieces (about the size of small peaches).

Dust each piece with more flour and quickly shape into a ball. To do this, gently stretch the surface of the top of the ball down and under to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go.

Elongate each ball into a rope about a little less than a 1/2-inch in diameter, and tie a knot in the center of the rope. Allow to rest for 30 minutes on an olive oil-coated baking sheet, or a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper.

Meanwhile, place a baking stone on the oven's center rack. Place an empty broiler tray on the bottom rack. Heat the oven to 450 F.

Drizzle olive oil, garlic and parsley mixture over the knots. You may have some left over for another batch.

Place baking sheet on the stone, pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the broiler tray, and quickly close the oven door. Bake for about 20 minutes, until browned and firm. Serve slightly warm.

(Recipe adapted from Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois' "Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day," St. Martin's Press, 2009)

Cheese Bread

Start to finish: 15 hours (30 minutes active)

Makes one 10-inch round loaf

3 cups bread flour

2 1/2 cups cubed (1/2-inch cubes) pecorino cheese

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon instant or other active dry yeast

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 2/3 cups cool (55 F to 65 F) water

Wheat bran, cornmeal or additional flour, for dusting

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, cheese, salt, yeast and pepper. Add water and, using a wooden spoon or your hand, mix until you have a wet, sticky dough, about 30 seconds.

Cover bowl and let sit at room temperature until surface is dotted with bubbles and dough is more than doubled in size, 12 to 18 hours.

When the first rise is complete, generously dust a work surface with flour. Use a bowl scraper or rubber spatula to scrape dough out of the bowl in one piece.

Using lightly floured hands or a bowl scraper or spatula, lift edges of the dough in toward the center. Nudge and tuck in edges of the dough to make it round.

Place a tea towel on your work surface and generously dust it with wheat bran, cornmeal or flour. Gently place dough on the towel, seam side down. If dough is tacky, dust the top lightly with wheat bran, cornmeal or flour.

Fold the ends of the tea towel loosely over the dough to cover it and place it in a warm, draft-free spot to rise for 1 to 2 hours. The dough is ready when it is almost doubled. If you gently poke it with your finger, it should hold the impression. If it springs back, let it rise for another 15 minutes.

Half an hour before the end of the second rise, heat oven to 475 F, with a rack in the lower third. Place a covered 4 1/2- to 5 1/2-quart heavy pot in the center of the rack.

Using pot holders, carefully remove the heated pot from the oven and uncover it. Unfold the tea towel and quickly but gently invert the dough into the pot, seam side up. Use caution; the pot will be very hot. Cover the pot and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove the lid and continue baking until the bread is a deep chestnut color, but not burnt, about 15 to 30 minutes more.

Use a heatproof spatula or pot holders to gently lift the bread out of the pot and place it on a rack to cool thoroughly.

(Recipe from Jim Lahey's "My Bread: The Revolutionary No-work, No-knead Method," Norton, 2009)