The Easiest Overnight No-Knead Bread Recipe

September 5, 2024
By Joy the Baker
37 Comments

Recipe

Think you aren’t a bread baker? Let me change your mind! This easy no-knead bread recipe does all the hard work while you sleep, so you can wake up to a gloriously crusty, perfectly imperfect loaf that’s so simple, even the cat could make it (just kidding – if Tron could bake bread I’d always be out of butter).

Y’all, this no-knead overnight bread recipe has been my lifeline over the last few months.

Moving into my new house in Bellville has been a bigger challenge than I ever imagined—think boxes everywhere, tools I can’t find, and “Where did I put that spatula?” moments. But this bread? It’s been my rock. So simple that even when everything else was chaos, I could still pull together a fresh loaf with just a handful of ingredients. I baked one for the previous owners, wrapped it up in a fancy Williams Sonoma kitchen towel, and brought it over during the inspections because, you know, bribery with carbs. And I’ve baked loaves for my new neighbors as a way of saying, “Hi, I come in peace…and with gluten.” There’s something about leaving a loaf of bread on someone’s doorstep that feels extra special, even if it’s really the easiest thing to make.

Sometimes a simple loaf (and the bread smells from the oven) are all I need to feel like I’ve got my life together.

But here’s the kicker: this is the bread recipe that turned my geologist boyfriend into a full-fledged baker. I mean, I always suspected he had an inner baker waiting to emerge, but this no-knead bread really sealed the deal. Of course, he approached it with all the scientific precision you’d expect—he ran the food cost numbers like it was some sort of geological survey and realized that making bread at home was not only delicious but also made the most financial sense. Capricorn, anyone? Now, he’s baking a loaf a week, and you’ll hear no complaints from me.

Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make this no-knead bread recipe:

• all-purpose flour (You can also use bread flour with no substitutions. I’ve also substituted up to 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour for the all-purpose flour with no changes to the hydration.)

• kosher salt

• active dry yeast

• warm water

• olive oil

That’s it!

In a measuring cup, combine warm water and a glug of olive oil. Whisk together the flour, yeast, and salt. Add the water to the dry ingredients and use a rubber spatula to stir the ingredients into a wet and shaggy dough. This takes me about 10 minutes from walking over to the pantry cabinets to covering the bowl of shaggy dough with plastic wrap.

Let’s talk about why letting dough rest overnight (we’re talking 12-18 hours!) is the secret to this no-knead bread’s magic (and why it makes you look like an artisan baker with minimal effort).

When you mix up the ingredients for the no-knead bread and just let them hang out overnight, something amazing happens: gluten development. Now, normally, to develop gluten (that stretchy, elastic network that gives bread its structure), you’d find yourself kneading the dough. But in this case, time does the hard work for you. As the dough sits, the gluten proteins naturally align and form bonds, creating a strong yet flexible dough. This slow fermentation also allows the yeast to work its magic, producing gas bubbles that get trapped in the dough, leading to that airy, open crumb that we all love in a good loaf of bread.

By letting the dough rest overnight, you’re giving it the time it needs to develop into the kind of bread that will make your friends and neighbors wonder if you’ve secretly gone to baking school. Plus, it means you get to wake up to dough that’s ready to bake into a gorgeous loaf— folding but no kneading required!

After resting overnight and letting all that gluten magic happen, it’s time to shape our soon-to-be gorgeous loaf. First things first, make sure the work surface is well-floured, like a snowy Texas winter day (if those existed!). Plop that sticky dough right on top and sprinkle a bit more flour on your hands—trust me, you’ll thank me later.

Now, gently fold the dough from north to south, and then from east to west, as if you’re giving it a snug little hug from all directions. Each fold adds a bit more structure and strength to our dough baby. The more folds, the tighter the dough will become. Once you’ve folded to your heart’s content, flip the dough over so the seams are tucked underneath. Using your floured hands, give the dough a little tuck here and there, coaxing it into a nice, tight ball. The dough is all set for its final rise before heading into the oven.

Tips for shaping very sticky dough:

Flour Your Work Surface and Hands Generously: Sticky dough, by its nature, is, well, sticky. To keep it from adhering to everything, sprinkle a good amount of flour on your work surface and your hands. This will create a barrier and make it easier to handle the dough.
Use a Bench Scraper: A rubber bench scraper is your best friend when dealing with sticky dough. Use it to help lift and fold the dough without tearing it. It can also be used to scrape up any dough that sticks to the surface.
Gently Shape the Dough: With floured hands, gently coax the dough into a rough shape—typically a round or oval. To do this, lightly pull and fold the dough edges towards the center, rotating the dough as you go to create a smooth, taut surface on top. The goal is to develop tension in the dough’s surface, which helps it hold its shape during the final rise.
Don’t Overwork the Dough: Unlike kneaded dough, you don’t want to overhandle sticky dough. The more you work it, the stickier it will become. Be gentle and patient. Please clear your hands of sticky dough if it’s piling up.
Final Tuck and Rest: Once you’ve folded and shaped the dough into a ball, flip it over so the seams are on the bottom. Tuck the dough edges underneath to form a tight, smooth ball. Then, let it rest and rise according to your recipe’s instructions.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F with the Dutch oven and lid warming inside and the oven warm. In the meantime, let the dough rest on a piece of floured parchment paper. This step is crucial because it allows the dough to develop a bit more structure and makes transferring it to the hot Dutch oven much easier. The parchment paper also ensures that the bread won’t stick to the Dutch oven, giving you a beautiful, effortless release. In short: splurge on these parchment paper sheets.

Once the oven and Dutch oven are preheated and piping hot, carefully lift the dough using the parchment paper and place it into the sizzling Dutch oven. Pot holders are key.

The magic of the Dutch oven lies in its ability to create a perfect baking environment for the bread. The heavy cast iron retains and radiates heat evenly, which helps in achieving a crisp, golden crust. Additionally, the enclosed space traps steam released from the dough, which helps to develop a beautifully airy crumb and a crust that’s both crunchy and well-browned. With the lid on for the first part of baking, you’ll get the steam effect, and once removed, you’ll get that perfectly caramelized crust. It’s a wonder, really.

Now the hardest part of baking this loaf is letting it rest just out of the oven. The resting period is actually an extension of the baking as the rest allows the loaf to cool to room temperature, releasing steam and setting the crumb. I know – the worst possible news.

I promise in no time, you can slice into your fresh (and still maybe just slightly warm) loaf and enjoy the fruits of your labor as a baker, scientist, and most recently, chief home bread baker.

NOTE: Key to this bread is an ovenproof pot with a tight-fitting oven-proof lid. I find that my dutch oven is great for this task but I also often bake this bread in my ceramic bread baker (which is at a much more reasonable price than a dutch oven if you plan to bake many loaves of bread).