I love overnight bread. It’s much easier to make than normal homemade bread, without any kneading necessary – you just mix everything together in a bowl, let it sit overnight, and then bake it in the morning. This is a typical north German rye bread, dark and slightly sour.
The usual problem is that it’s usually baked in a dutch oven or lidded ceramic dish and involves some dough folding and sitting in a tea towel in the morning after it’s risen overnight, which I find detracts a bit from the simplicity of the method.
The dough rises a second time in the pan you bake it in, so you don’t need to worry about proper folding technique or anything like that. All you have to do is mix it the night before, dump it in a loaf pan, and bake it. No kneading, no folding, no special equipment.
Despite the lack of work that goes into this bread, the crust is surprisingly crispy, and the inside of the loaf is soft and tender. It also lasts longer than other homemade breads, and it keeps for at least a week sitting on the counter, wrapped well.
If you like the idea of rye bread but don’t want to go all the way to a dark rye, try this overnight spelt rye bread instead, or sourdough rye bread if you prefer a natural yeast version.
Please note that the darker photos are made with regular cocoa powder and yeast, and the lighter bread is made with sourdough starter and natural cacao. The step-by-step photos are sourdough, so if you want to see the steps for the yeast method, please watch the recipe video.
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Whole grain spelt flour: if you don’t have spelt flour, all-purpose makes an excellent substitution. Whole wheat flour can be used as well, but you’ll have to reduce the flour slightly or increase the water a bit to make up for the greater absorption.
- Rye flour: sometimes called dark rye flour, this should be whole grain rye, though light (sifted) rye flour can also be used.
- Rolled oats: the oats can be left out if you prefer – I often omit them – though it is better to increase the amount of flour used by a couple spoonfuls in this case as the oats do absorb a fair amount of water.
- Cocoa powder: make sure you’re using 100% cocoa powder, not hot cocoa drink powder. There shouldn’t be anything like sugar or milk powder in it.
- Yeast (dry or fresh) or active sourdough starter: traditional yeast (not quick rise) is ideal, but it doesn’t make that much of a difference. Active starter can be any starter made with a gluten-containing flour – rye, plain flour, spelt, and so on. There’s a recipe in my cookbook for rye sourdough starter.
- Add-ins: dried fruit, seeds, and nuts can be added to the dough as well. I recommend mixing it in after the bulk rise (overnight) before placing the dough into the tin to rise a second time. Raisins, dried cranberries, and sunflower seeds are my favourite additions. You can also top the loaf with seeds, which makes for a very pretty gift.
Step by Step
See the recipe card notes for instructions on how to make this into a sourdough loaf. The step-by-step photos show the sourdough method because the video shows it made with yeast, so in the interest of maximum information, I wanted to include both.
1. Add wet ingredients: add the water, maple syrup, and active starter to a large bowl. The starter should float. If using fresh yeast, add it now.
2. Mix: whisk to combine well.
3. Add dry ingredients: stir in the flours, oats, cocoa, and salt. Add the dry yeast now if using that method and stir into a shaggy dough.
4. Rise: cover with a plate, board, or tea towel, and set it into a room temperature, draft free place for about 12 hours.
5. Transfer: once the dough as risen, place it into a well greased or parchment lined bread tin. It will lose volume here.
6. Rise: cover the loaf with a tea towel and set it into a draft-free place to rise again for a couple of hours. The dough should be expanded but not quite doubled after this time.
7. Bake: bake the loaf for about 45 minutes, or until the bread sounds hollow when it’s tapped.
8. Cool and serve: cool the bread completely – at least six hours, preferably overnight – before slicing and serving.
Recipe Notes
Like most darker whole grain breads and sourdough loaves, this one needs to rest for a significant amount of time before slicing. The recipe states to let it cool completely – that may mean several hours or even overnight. If you want really nice clean slices I recommend letting the baked loaf sit overnight in a tea towel before slicing the following day.
If you want to make this into a boule, you’ll have to introduce some stretches and folds. I recommend 4 rounds, starting directly after mixing. After the dough has risen overnight, shape it as you usually would and place it into a well floured banneton. Bake in a dutch oven 30 minutes covered and another 15-20 minutes uncovered, at 230°C (450°F).
The dark colour and traditional dark rye flavour here come from the whole grain flours and cocoa powder. It’s not quite a German black bread, which I grew up with, but this style of rye bread is also very common in northern Germany (where I lived) and Scandinavia (though it is hard to find in Gothenburg). If you feel that the cocoa will make it too bitter – though that is kind of the point – you can leave it out, no problem.
How to Store
Storage: the bread keeps well, wrapped in a tea towel, for about a week. The crust will harden slightly but the middle will still be fresh. You can also use a bread bin or sealed container, but I don’t recommend storing this in a plastic bag.
Freezing: this loaf freezes spectacularly, and I highly recommend having some in the freezer at all times. Freeze the whole loaf or pre-slice and take out individual pieces to toast, but either way it’s well worth freezing some in an airtight container.
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Expert Tips
- Choose a good draft-free spot: I usually keep my dough in the oven with the door closed, no light needed, for the initial prove.
- Keep an eye on the dough the first time: you may need slightly less time if your starter is very active. The dough is finished the bulk proof when it’s approximately doubled in size.
- Don’t worry about overdoing it: the colour is harder to gauge because the loaf is so dark, but the outer crust should be quite hard and crisp when finished (it’s difficult to over-bake this bread).
- Serve with strong toppings: this is excellent with mirabelle jam, for example, something quite tart. We often have it with peanut butter but a sharp cheese is certainly more traditional.
- Refrigerate after shaping: if doing the sourdough method, it’s no problem to refrigerate the loaf for a few hours before baking. I recommend letting it rise at room temperature for an hour or so before refrigerating for the best results.
More Wholesome Bread Recipes
No Knead Honey and Oat Sourdough
Spelt Naan
Saffron Wreath Bread
Simple Spelt Bread
Einkorn Bread
If you make this Dark Rye Bread or any other bread recipes on Occasionally Eggs, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more OE, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, purchase the Occasionally Eggs cookbook, or subscribe for new posts via email.
Easy Overnight Dark Rye Bread
Ingredients
- 500 ml room temperature water
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup or honey
- 450 grams whole spelt flour
- 150 grams rye flour
- 60 grams rolled oats
- 25 grams cocoa powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon dry yeast** or 100g active starter see notes
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the water, maple syrup, and active starter or fresh yeast if using that option.
- Add the spelt, rye, oats, cocoa, and salt to the bowl. Add the dry yeast to the dry ingredients as well if that’s what you’re using. Stir with a wooden spoon to combine, mixing until no visible streaks remain.
- Cover the bowl with a lid, cutting board, or tea towel and let it sit for 12-15 hours at room temperature. It will at least double in size during this time.
- In the morning, grease* a 30 cm / 12 inch bread pan or line it with paper. Scrape the dough into the pan, and then press it down evenly (wet hands work well).
- Cover the dough with a clean dish towel. Let it rest again for 1-2 hours at room temperature.
- Heat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Once the oven is hot, place the bread on a middle rack and bake for 40-45 minutes. The crust will be hard and sound hollow when tapped once the bread is done baking.
- Remove it from the oven and place the pan on a metal rack to cool for 20-30 minutes before removing it from the pan to cool completely. The loaf will keep well for a week at room temperature, best stored in a cloth bag.
Video
Notes
* For American cup measurements, please click the pink link text above the ingredient list that says ‘American’.
Nutrition
Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.
This post was originally shared in October 2016. It has been updated most recently as of January 2023 with no changes to the recipe.
Caren Kelly says
I was wondering if I could bake this in my bread machine on the bake only cycle? It bakes for 1 hr.
Alexandra says
I’ve never tried in a bread machine but I think it might work. It might be a bit less crusty, but I’m sure it’d bake through!
Siobhan Maria says
I tried this for the first time and using bread flour, found that I needed more water in the mix. Baked it in a roasting dish and came out great. Tasting wise though I found it too salty and maybe too much cocoa powder but the texture and taste otherwise is wonderful. I did have the thought that perhaps I could throw some chopped plump prunes into this and it would make an excellent fruit loaf.
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Hi Siobhan! Yes, with bread flour you’d need a little more water as it absorbs more liquid. It’s always a good idea to adjust things – like the salt and cocoa – to your taste and I’m glad you like the bread otherwise : )
Rob says
This is a great recipe, Alexandra. Since I didn’t have a loaf pan, I wound up baking it in a pyrex cake pan. It looked like a German chocolate cake and tasted like a great German rye bread. Though I oiled the pan, it stuck to the sides. But who cares. It was delicious.
Cathy says
This recipe looks amazing….and even better than that, it looks easy! Right up my alley! Quick question, can I replace rye flour with ‘dark’ rye flour (Bob’s Red Mill)? Would this affect whether or not I use cocoa? Thank you!
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
You absolutely can, I encourage it! I usually use a home-milled rye for this recipe so it’s just the same as Bob’s, with all the germ included. Yes, please still add the cocoa if you want a loaf that’ll taste like a proper, slightly bitter dark rye. Dark rye flour means it’s 100% whole grain, but the cocoa is an integral part of the recipe : )
Emily says
Hi! Thank you for sharing your recipe!
I did it two times! First one, I followed all of your instructions and it came out really good! Second time, since I didn’t have a spelt flour, I replace it with a whole wheat flour. However, it didn’t come out well. It didn’t rise up well so the height of bread was low and the texture was not soft. How can I use whole wheat flour instead of the spelt flour? Thank you!
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Hi Emily, I’m afraid I haven’t tried it with whole wheat flour so I can’t give specific instructions on it. I’d suggest reducing the quantity slightly (by 3-4 tablespoons maybe) as whole wheat does tend to absorb more moisture than spelt. If your whole wheat flour has a very coarse grind, that would also make a big difference in terms of softness and rise. But I’d try reducing quantity a bit and go from there.
Jesse says
I have been baking this single bread recipe for my family for two years now. I will bake a few loaves at a time and share with others. I just received a thank you for our most recent batch shared. I wanted to share the thanks directly with you because I thought it might lift your spirits as it has mine.
“Your bread gift has created a change in me that will last the rest of my life. I realize this is a powerful statement, but it is true.
The back story: the first time I tried rye bread, I absolutely hated it. I tried it maybe one or two other times in my life with the same result.
But when you presented me with that beautiful loaf of rye bread, I knew that I would try rye once again –with a very open mind to match your generosity of this gift.
I was shocked beyond belief when I loved it. It is so flavorful, so moist, & obviously full of good ingredients. I have now eaten it 3 days in a row and I love it every single time.
Thank you for this gift. I am humbled to recognize that I may be closed minded about other food that I decided I didn’t like many years ago. So my mind has opened and my food choices will grow broader & richer due to you.”
* I like to press in sunflower seeds, pepitas, and oats on the top before sprinkling flour prior to the second rise time (once in the bread pan) – makes for a nice seedy crust and artisan look. I also often add 1 tbsp of caraway for that classic rye bread flavor.
I even gift this bread for birthdays and it always much appreciated. So hearty, healthy and delicious on its own when warm. THANK YOU!
E says
I’m using a sourdough starter instead of yeast – my dough looks like it’s pretty much doubled in size after 9h, do you think I should still wait the 24h? Thanks
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
No, I’d go ahead to the next step and shape/rise/bake instead of waiting if you’re seeing that fast of a rise with a strong starter.
Christie says
I totally flubbed this whole recipe. And yet it turned out beautifully! I wish I could show you the pictures. I used whole wheat Instead of spelt. I left out the cocoa and replaced it with all purpose flour. I accidentally used my wheat sourdough starter instead of my rye sourdough starter, so I just added the rye sourdough starter in addition. This morning the dough was so runny it looked like pancake batter. So I worked in about 3/4 cups of all purpose flour, put it in the pan and hope for the best. It just came out of the oven and it’s beautiful! Thanks for this versatile and easy recipe.
Amanda Flood says
Thanks for a firm favourite recipe. I make this regularly and the whole family loves it. I passed it on to my parents and it’s entered their weekly repertoire as well.
We have abandoned the cocoa. Reading the comments, you say it can be made with all rye as well – will definitely give that a go!
Michelle Lowrie says
Absolutely delicious
Esther Kamkar says
Greetings,
Doesn’t cocoa powder make this bread bitter?
The recipe does not require sweetened cocoa powder.
Best,
Esther
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
A dark rye is meant to be very slightly bitter and this is in keeping with that – cocoa is a traditional ingredient in this type of bread. Please don’t use sweetened cocoa powder (hot chocolate powder) as it will not suit the recipe. You can choose to leave the cocoa out if you prefer.
Andi Herman says
I’ve just made this bread (with a few adjustments) and it’s absolutely delicious!!
Here are the adjustments I made:
– I only had 300gm spelt flour so I substituted with a further 100gm all purpose flour
– I used the weight measurements rather than the volume measurements. I found the resulting dough quite dry and firm so I added in a bit of extra water (about 75mls) until it looked “shaggy” and wet
– I don’t have a bread loaf/tin so I baked in a pre-heated enamelware pot. 20 mins with the lid on and 20 with the lid off.
The result is amazing! Thanks so much for this recipe Alexandra 🙂
Claire says
I’ve made this loaf twice now; it’s so easy and delicious. I just use bread flour instead of spelt, and it works out perfectly. There’s no taste of any chocolate, it’s just dark and rich. I made a couple of extra bread rolls because my loaf tin was too small, which only took ~30mins to bake
Thea La O says
Want to try this recipe so badly! Although I can’t find any spelt flour at the moment… is there any way this can be done through rye flour alone?
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Could do! If you have any other flour like whole wheat or all-purpose, they can be used instead of spelt too! I have heard from readers who’ve made this with all rye and it’s worked, just the texture will be a bit different and it might not rise as much.
Suzanne Nelson says
We’re in the middle of a Covid-pocalypse here in NY, and I can’t stop baking. I wanted something to bring me back to Munich. Dark German sour rye? Okay. That’ll do.
I couldn’t possibly have prepared this recipe any more wrong (well, not wrong – but certainly not as written). I weighed all the ingredients out yesterday afternoon – I used my very young (listen – I didn’t know I needed to be an obsessive sourdough baking kinda girl until all of a sudden I was one, ok?) AP sourdough starter as the yeast with dark rye and light rye flours. I had no whole spelt. All rye it was. Whatever fancy Whole Foods cocoa powder and organic oats I had in the cabinet would do. I turned my oven on 200 and set it all inside a huge bowl to hang out overnight.
I have to be honest. It smelled like chocolate death. It didn’t smell good. I figured I’d ruined 600-ish grams of decent flour. The idea of a chocolate sour rye didn’t really entice me. But I stuck with it.
This morning, it hadn’t risen even a little bit. I decided to add some yeast, water, and subsequently more unmeasured rye flour in the stand mixer. Totally unorthodox, but whatever. It was like wallpaper paste, and trying to get it in a greased bowl to rise made me look like I just had to change a particularly bad diaper. It still smelled dreadful. God-awful. I cannot stress this enough. Did it ever rise? It absolutely did NOT. At this point, I had a vendetta against this weird dough. I was baking it no matter what.
I went the cast iron Dutch oven route, even though you called for a loaf pan. There was SO much dough. It wasn’t fitting in any loaf pan I own. Preheated the oven with my pot, floured the bottom, dumped in the dough, and prayed. It ended up in the oven for about 50 minutes till hollow.
Magically, it no longer smelled like a rotting heap of long-forgotten Cadbury eggs. It smelled like bread. It LOOKED like fancy bread. Instagram-worthy. It’s beautiful. I waited for it to cool (at least long enough to not blister the inside of my mouth), and BY GOD IT TASTED LIKE FANCY BREAD!
It’s so good. It is not chocolatey like the dough aroma might suggest. The loaf is over 2.5 lbs, and my husband and I have killed nearly half of it already. It was SO good with Miyoko’s cashew cheddar flavor pub “cheese.”
I see this being amazing with sauerkraut. Or jam. Or pretty much anything.
Moral of the story: trust the bread. Bread will never, ever betray you. Just keep baking. Everything will be fine.
I’ll make it again. Maybe I’ll even make it properly next time. I haven’t been feeling well this week (stomach issues – nothing COVID-related!) and haven’t been running while recovering. After discovering this recipe, I better up my mileage!
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
This comment made me lol. Happy you ended up liking the bread after all that! (Chocolate death, hilarious!)
Kath says
Is the yeast measurement really just 1/4 tsp? That seems way too little. Thanks
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Yes, 1/4 teaspoon is correct. It’s an overnight bread and requires much less yeast due to the long rising time.
Natalia says
hi! can i use ONLY rye flour?
thanks ; )
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Hi Natalia! I haven’t tried with all rye, but it should work, especially if you have a finely milled rye. If you try, please let me know how it turns out!
Susana says
Hi Alexandra,
I am a bit sad…the dough did not raise. I check the dry yeast -just in case-, it is OK. I followed the receipt as you stated. The only details was that I added sunflowers…but I do not think it should be the issue for not raising the dough….
Could you let me know your opinion?
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Sunflower seeds shouldn’t make a difference here – the only thing I can suggest is letting the dough rise longer for both rises to give it more time, then once it’s doubled each time, bake. I’m sorry not to be more help, I’ve never had a reader with the same problem.
Anna says
Hi, can I bake it in Dutch oven?
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
You can! Just be sure to use parchment, and you can follow the general instructions from this recipe on how to bake it.
Claudia Silva says
Dear Alexandra, I enjoy your recipes very much. This time I decided to try a version of this loaf, I like to make my own version of almost everything, special when I am confortable with the ingredients. I like dense breads and I like intense flavors, your recipe is so good and so easy to follow, thank you so much for sharing and for inspiring me.