EASY! Overnight, No Knead Yeast Bread
By
I love having smart friends.
Smart friends who give me great, easy, healthy recipes are my favorite kind of friends. As are my friends who give me chocolate. Or jars. Or hugs. Or the friends who listen to my constant and sometimes nonsensical chatter. And the ones who put up with my unreasonable freak-out moments of stress. And the ones who pray with me. And the ones who deal with me during soccer season when I can’t finish sentences.
Let me just pause and wipe a tear. I really have the best friends ever…
Well now. (stops to loudly blow nose and gain composure) I really brought all that up to say that one of my great friends, Nikki, shared this recipe with me. She’s one of my smart friends who I believe has done all of the above and then some (God bless her).
Once when I was at her house, she let me try some of the bread she had made that morning. It was great! And then she started telling me how she made it. How you don’t have to knead it. How you start it the night before and how it takes about three minutes to mix up. I think I grabbed her neck, hugged her fiercely, and knocked her over when she handed me the recipe. Not really. I truly can control myself. Usually. But hey, there was a great recipe involved, so no guarantees. See, I told you my friends are great to put up with me.
And now, the easiest bread recipe in the world…
No Knead Yeast Bread
3 cups flour (This recipe works a little better with unbleached white flour, but I prefer to use freshly ground hard white wheat so that it is healthier.)
1 ¾ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon active rise yeast
1 ½ cups water
Note: You need a covered dish to bake this bread. I found a deep-dish casserole dish with a lid that worked for me, similar to this one. But if I can save up and splurge on this one, would that not be the coolest?
Stir ingredients together in the evening. (No need to proof the yeast.) Cover and allow dough to sit over-night on the countertop. In the morning, dump the dough onto a well floured surface. Shape it into a ball. Let it sit for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 450°, heating the baking dish in the oven at the same time. Place the dough in the hot baking dish. Cover and bake for 30-40 minutes.
When you mix it and cover it in the evening, it starts out looking like this:
In the morning it will look like this:
After you bake it, it will look like this:
And when you slice it it will look like this:
Once you serve it, it will look like this:
(There’s no picture. The bread is gone. Obviously.)
I highly recommend that you give this recipe a try, and that you consider serving it with this wonderful Calico Beans dish. It’s a wonderful combo!
Well, now it’s your turn to gush about how great your friends are. Comments left on this post will gain you an entry in our give away for gift certificates to our Heavenly Homemakers Shop!
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Baked my first loaf this morning – it is AMAZING!!!!!!!!! This will be a new regular in our house!! Thanks, Laura!!!
One question: I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to grease the dish before baking, so I went ahead and did it – but do I need to?
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Laura Reply:
September 25th, 2012 at 6:19 am
I don’t typically grease mine, but it won’t hurt if you do!
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Kelly Reply:
September 26th, 2012 at 5:30 am
I greased mine.
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I made my first loaf today and I love how super easy it is! Question, when I take it out of the oven should I cool it on a rack? Also, when I put it on the floured surface this morning, before I baked it, I was afraid of overworking it trying to get it into a ball..I tried getting it into a ball shape and then it would just kinda spread out from there…hope that makes sense, so it didn’t stay in a ball shape. I’m wondering if I should have mixed it more the night before….?
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Kelly Reply:
September 26th, 2012 at 5:28 am
When I took mine out of the oven I did put it on a cooling rack. I also rubbed butter on it to soften the crust. I did not work mine much. I split it in two, put it on the floured surface, rolled it a few times, then put them in their baking dishes. This way they were the perfect zsize for bread bowls for soup. If yours did not stay in the ball you needed to add more flour.
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Natalia Reply:
September 26th, 2012 at 5:34 am
Thank you so much, I will try with more flour next time! It was a big hit here! The flavor is wonderful and with the process being so easy I could see myself making it a couple times a week! Thanks for sharing.
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Laura Reply:
September 26th, 2012 at 6:36 am
I don’t think you need to change anything about the mixing. It is just kinda funny to shape into a ball when it really just wants to flop around. :) Just work very lightly on the counter (about 20 seconds) then let it take on the shape of your baking pan. I don’t cool mine on a wire rack – I typically just put it on the stovetop, but you sure can put it on a wire rack if you want.
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I have a friend that is so great she GAVE me a grinder to grind my grain!
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My first loaf is in the oven, but I’m a little concerned it won’t turn out… the 30 minute “Resting” on the counter didn’t make the dough rise at all. I’ve never had bread rise more in the oven and I’m thinking this is going to come out like a dense brick :( I’ll let you know, but is it supposed to do a full rise again after you shape it?
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Laura Reply:
September 28th, 2012 at 7:39 am
No, it doesn’t rise much after you shape it, but I try not to over work it when I’m shaping it so it keeps some of its “puff”. Mine usually comes out more dense than a regular loaf of bread. Hope yours turned out okay!
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Kimberly Reply:
September 28th, 2012 at 11:50 am
Well, it didn’t rise much, like you said, but it was still very nice! I have the sassafras oblong baker so it made a nice “french bread” looking loaf, although kind of short. The bread is nice and chewy, like a sourdough. Thanks so much for sharing this! With regular bread rising time I could never have fresh baked bread for breakfast, but with this method, I could have it every morning!
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This looks amazing…gonna try it this week!
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Guess I’ll be making this tonight.
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Turned out pretty good….a little “chewy”, but good.
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thanks for the recipe looking forward to making it
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I am sorry to ask this question that it may be obvious to everybody. But I am not sure if I am understanding this correctly. When you say to put the dough in the hot baking dish and cover. Do you mean the same baking dish used for he overnight? Or it could be any other baking container or sheet? Thank you in advance, for any imput.
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LindseyforLaura@HHM Reply:
October 18th, 2012 at 10:19 am
You can use any baking dish as long as it has a lid!
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Patricia Reply:
October 18th, 2012 at 4:12 pm
Thanks you!
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Thanks for this great recipe! We tried this morning and everybody loved it, especially my husband and asked me to make it again. So simple, a few ingredients and even my kids can help. Thanks a lot Laura, you really inspire me!
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My own personal tastes….I don’t love the bread. It’s a bit too chewy for me and the crust is quite crisp. I like my bread a bit softer on the outside. I think this would be great for bread bowls or for sopping something or another, but not for just eating (for our fam anyway:)
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I was wondering how long this bread needs to sit before its baked? I am asking because I want to bake it and eat it hot for dinner. So, could I make it early morning so that I can bake it right before dinner? And if so, how early would I need to mix I t if we wanted to eat it at 6:00 pm? Thanks for the help?
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Laura Reply:
November 20th, 2012 at 6:42 pm
Yes, you can definitely do this in the morning and have it ready for dinner. If you start it around 8ish you’ll be good to go!
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Ginger Reply:
November 24th, 2012 at 6:45 pm
Thanks for replying. We are really enjoying this bread. Probably a little too much. ;)
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What do you think if I let it rise even longer? Would it be too long? Like if I mix it at night for dinner the next day?
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Linda Reply:
January 21st, 2013 at 10:33 am
I have a similar recipe. It says you can leave it on the counter
10-12 hours. After that you can put it in the fridge for up to 7 days.
Remove from the fridge about 1 hour before you bake.
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LindseyforLaura@HHM Reply:
January 31st, 2013 at 4:43 pm
I agree. I think leaving it to rise longer will be just fine.
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Has anyone tried this with instant yeast? It’s all I have right now. I’m going to give it a try and will post back with an update! Excited for fresh bread for breakfast! :)
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Do you have an easy recipe similar to this for a cinnimon raisin bread?
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Laura Reply:
January 21st, 2013 at 8:47 am
No I don’t, but I bet you could adapt this one to make it into cinnamon raisin!
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Has anyone broke any dishes making this? I did small loaf in spelt and 1 regular loaf in wheat and white. When I took the spelt loaf out and set the small casserole dish on top of the stove it shattered. Maybe my kitchen was too cool or maybe the glass wasn’t tempered enough. Anyways the bread was great :)
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Can you use regular loaf pans or do you have to use a baking dish that has a lid?
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Laura Reply:
January 24th, 2013 at 2:43 pm
This does require a lid – weird for a bread, huh?! :)
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Thank you for sharing this recipe! I gave it a try and improvised lid onto a dish. I had my doubts that it would turn out well but when it was done it looked beautiful and artisan and tasted lovely. Thank you for sharing.
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My family loves this bread, and we, especially, like it with this infused olive oil that I thought I needed to share. It is a healthier alternative to butter.
Infused Olive Oil
1-2 cups (this depends on how spicy you like it) organic extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 Tbsp chopped fresh basil (or 1 tsp dried)
1 Tbsp of fresh rosemary (or 1 tsp dried)
1/2 tsp real salt or sea salt
1 pinch of crushed red pepper (or more to your liking)
1 clove fresh garlic, minced
(Optional: freshly grated Parmesan cheese)
In quart-size mason jar mix all ingredients; shake well; allow it to “infuse” for about an hour before serving. Use as dipping sauce for bread. You will need to refrigerate if using cheese.
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I totally forgot to put this bread in the oven this morning. I wonder what it’ll be like after sitting out for 24 hours!
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I’ve been wanting to make this for months, but I don’t have a covered dish. Tonight I was determined I would find a way, and I am going to try it in a Pyrex mixing bowl (oven safe according to their website), improvising with a Pyrex pie dish for a lid. Wish me luck! :P
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kelly g Reply:
March 25th, 2013 at 7:46 pm
I have always made mine in a pyrex covered casserole dish. It works great!
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Have you cooked this in Cast Iron? I have done many sourdough loaves this way and they always turned out great. TIA
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Laura Reply:
May 7th, 2013 at 2:37 pm
I haven’t, but I would imagine that would work great. Thanks for the idea!
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Virginia Reply:
May 7th, 2013 at 3:12 pm
Wanted to tell you I ended up going for it the other day! It turned out beautiful in the Cast Iron. I used a deep one and a smaller one for a lid. Greased it in a little lard and sprinkled cornmeal on the bottom. I did take it out once and tap on the bottom and decided it was not done enough and put it back in for a few mins. but it turned out great!
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I am sorry one more question what is the temp. of the water need to be?I just noticed that.
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Laura Reply:
May 7th, 2013 at 2:38 pm
It needs to be warm, but not so hot that you can’t poke your finger in comfortably to test it. :)
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Hi, this looks great! I was wondering if I could add some dried herbs to the dough? Thank you.
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Laura Reply:
May 14th, 2013 at 7:41 am
I don’t see why that wouldn’t work!
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I had to add almost a cup more flour because it wasn’t holding a shape….I used fresh ground white wheat….any reason this may have happened? Thanks!
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Erin Reply:
May 22nd, 2013 at 7:51 am
Mine never holds a shape either. It still works and makes a really tasty loaf.
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