No Knead Overnight Loaf
Baking bread from scratch can seem intimidating. But once you realise that a basic loaf requires only a four ingredients, a few minutes of work, and almost no kneading, it opens up a whole new world of freshly baked homemade bread. This No Knead Overnight Loaf is probably the easiest bread recipe ever. It literally only takes a few minutes work. No mixers or bread makers required, one bowl and four ingredients is all it takes.
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Ingredients
- 3¼ Cup White Bread Flour I use unbleached stoneground flour
- 1 tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Instant dry yeast
- 1½ Cups Warm water Not Hot
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flour to ensure there are no lumps. Add the salt and yeast to opposite sides of the bowl*. Make a well in the centre and pour in the warm water. Mix with a spatula or wooden spoon until well combined and a sticky, rough/shaggy dough forms
- Cover the mixing bowl with a cloth or plastic wrap and let it rest overnight (around 12 hours or up to 18 hours) at room temperature (ensure it's in a draft-free area)
- In the morning, gently scrape the dough from the bowl onto a floured surface, knead a few times then fold the dough over itself to shape into a tighter, smooth ball (for a round loaf), then place on a lightly floured piece of baking paper
- Sift a light coating of flour over the top, to help keep the dough moist, then loosely cover and let rise again for another 30 - 40 minutes, while you preheat your oven and pot
- Place your oven safe casserole pot, with lid on, in the centre of the oven and preheat the oven to 230°C while the dough rests**
- When the oven and pot are hot and the dough has risen a little further, very carefully, as not to burn, remove the pot from the oven. Using the edges of baking paper to lift the dough, carefully transfer the loaf, Including the baking paper, to the pot and cover. Place the pot in the oven and bake for 30 minutes with the lid on. Then remove the lid and bake for a further 10 - 15 minutes until the crust is the colour you want. Use oven mitts to remove the pot from the oven (take care not to burn)
- ***If using a baking sheet or pizza stone instead of a pot, use the baking paper to carefully slide the loaf onto the stone. Add the water to the bottom sheet as mentioned in the notes and bake for 25 - 35 minutes, or until golden. Ensure that the bottom of the loaf is well baked then remove (Baking time is less for this method as the loaf is directly exposed to the heat)
- Transfer the loaf to a wire cooling rack and let cool for around 30 minutes before serving
Notes
*Salt can stop the yeast from working so try to avoid the two ingredients touching until you mix the water through. Hot/boiling water can also stop the yeast from working so ensure the water is warm/tepid
**If you do not have an oven safe casserole pot with lid (Dutch oven), you can use a standard metal baking sheet or even a baking/pizza stone. Make sure that you also preheat it with the oven as it helps to cook the bottom of the bread. The loaf might not be as crusty as baking it in the pot but you can counter this by placing a deeper baking sheet in the bottom of the oven while preheating, then add a cup of water to it once you've added the loaf. This will create steam in the oven which will help the crust form. You can also spray the sides of the oven with plain water in a spray bottle at the beginning and halfway through if you prefer.
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