Overnight bread is a staple in my house and has been for years now. This version is a simplified recipe based off one of my most popular recipes, an overnight dark rye bread that’s common here in northern Europe.
Instead of including oats and cocoa powder to make it darker and denser, I’ve kept the ingredients list very short – just whole spelt flour, rye flour, water, salt, and yeast. Equal parts of spelt and rye give a great flavour without being overwhelming.
I killed my sourdough starter early on in the summer by leaving it in the sun and haven’t started a new one yet. We’re currently house hunting in the Netherlands and I don’t want to move it around too much, so for now, overnight bread is the best option. And it’s a good one, too.
Baking the bread in a heavy pot creates steam and results in a crusty loaf reminiscent of what you’ll see in just about every bakery here, especially when you use hearty flours like spelt and rye.
Most long ferment bread recipes will tell you that you need a Dutch oven or another heavy covered pot to make the breads, and you do if you want a crusty, bakery style bread like this one. But in general, you don’t.
In fact, this overnight spelt rye bread is great for sandwiches (see this post for instructions on how to do an overnight bread in a loaf pan). I’ve been making it in a normal bread pan since moving to Germany because I don’t have a heavy enamel pot here and it’s great. You don’t get the same crust necessarily but it still has a great flavour and it’s even easier.
Using parchment paper in the pot makes the process easier in a few ways. You don’t need to worry about catching a hand on the very hot inner edge as you drop the bread in, or sticking if your pot is old, not enamelled, or you’re just a little worried about it.
You also don’t need to flour a kitchen towel, which invariably sticks to the dough and refuses to wash out. If you have a banneton it’s great to let the dough rise in there, then place it on the paper before dropping that into the pot. Otherwise I usually put the paper in a bowl, then scoop the dough out onto that, then drop it into the hot Dutch oven.
I also have a no knead honey & oat sourdough recipe if you’re looking to branch out a bit. If you’re looking for a whole grain, healthier option to a standard no-knead bread, this easy overnight spelt rye bread is it. I’ve shared several bread recipes over the years and you guys always seem to like them (are there not so many alternative bread recipes out there?) so I hope you like this one just as much!
And wish us luck – we’re meeting with a realtor in Groningen tomorrow! Fingers crossed we find a house very soon.
Let’s connect! Tag me on instagram @occasionallyeggs and #occasionallyeggs so I can see what you’re making, and stay in touch via facebook, pinterest, and bloglovin.
Easy Overnight Spelt Rye Bread
Description
Ingredients
- 300 grams (2 cups) spelt flour*
- 270 grams (2 cups) whole grain rye flour
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon dry yeast
- 500 ml (2 cups) room temperature water
Instructions
- Combine the flours, salt, and yeast in a large bowl. Stir in the water until a shaggy looking dough forms. Cover with a plate or beeswax wrap and set on the counter to rest overnight, or for about 12 hours.300 grams (2 cups) spelt flour*, 270 grams (2 cups) whole grain rye flour, 2 teaspoons sea salt, ¼ teaspoon dry yeast, 500 ml (2 cups) room temperature water
- Once the dough has rested, it should have risen significantly and be quite bubbly. It will be soft. Use a spatula or your hands to stretch and fold it a few times in the bowl before placing onto a large square of parchment paper or in a well floured, lined banneton. Sprinkle flour over it and cover with a towel.
- Let the dough rise for another 30-60 minutes. Place a Dutch oven or other high-heat safe covered dish (e.g. pyrex) into the oven and heat to 230°C (450°F). Once the oven is hot, remove the dish and place the dough carefully into the hot pot.
- Bake the bread, covered, for 30 minutes. Uncover and reduce the heat to 200°C (400°F) and bake for an additional 15-25 minutes, or until the crust is golden. A darker crust will have a deeper flavour, so go by your personal preference.
- Let the bread cool completely on a wire rack before cutting. Slicing it while it's still hot will result in an unpleasant gummy texture. Store in a sealed container or tea towel for 3-5 days at room temperature.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.
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Hi Alexandra,
Thanks for posting such a great recipe, I’ve really enjoying trying it out and have been pleased with the results. I love the flavour and texture, but for some reason the bread doesn’t seem to be rising to the same amount as in your pictures. It gets about 2 inches high in the middle. I wondered if you could suggest how I could improve this. For example, would it be possible to use a loaf tin?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards,
Georgina.
Hi Georgina, that rise can come down to a number of factors, but I’m certain that you’ll get a good result using a loaf tin. I would follow the method outlined in this dark rye bread and you should end up with an excellent loaf.
Thanks Alexandra, I’ll try that!
Georgina.
Can you do this recipe with all spelt flour?
Hi Lissa, I haven’t tried it, but I don’t see why not. It should be a little easier to work with than the rye mixture.
Could you tell me what size bowl or cast iron pot I will need to bake this bread – thankyou.
Hi Imogen, I usually use a 24cm cast iron dutch oven.
I baked this bread in a large loaf pan for 50 minutes.
All the stages went smoothly. I allowed 15 hours ruse. 2 he second rise
Absolutely delicious bread
TYFS
Hi! I would like to try this recipe with instant yeast, do you think that would work and how much should I use?
Kind regards,
P.
Hi Pearl, you should be fine using the same amount of instant yeast for this recipe.
I made this but put it in a loaf pan. I think I misunderstood when I read to go to the dark rye for a loaf pan instructions – was I supposed to just make the dark rye or can this be made in a bread pan following the same cook time? It seemed a little Doughy in the centre still.. please let me know!
Hi Amelia, you were exactly right, you should be able to bake this recipe following the instructions for the loaf tin as outlined in the dark rye. You might need to bake a bit longer but my guess is that it needed to rest longer before slicing – for a whole grain rye I recommend at least eight hours of resting to avoid a gummy result when sliced. That being said, every oven is different so you might need to adjust the timing a bit in any case.
Good recipe, but not all flours will need the full 2 cups of water. I followed the directions as written. The dough was rather wet and didn’t rise as much as I expected in first ferment, although it was rather cool here overnight. I hoped it would rise more in 2nd ferment. Baked per instructions with parchment paper in Dutch oven, used full 25 minutes uncovered, and let fully cool, but bread was still more dense than expected and sticky. All of my ingredients were fresh. It tasted delicious and I will eat it all (toasted) and try again. Next time I will likely use less water (judging by feel) and/or bake longer.
Hi Carol, this is a rather high hydration bread and won’t rise in the same way as wheat flour bread will due to the almost half rye flour content (it will always be a little dense and sticky). If you want a more typical feeling loaf of bread, you can try my sourdough rye bread, also made with spelt flour – it has a much lower hydration level and it a lot easier to work with.
Thank you! I think my flours need slightly less water but it’s good to know that it is supposed to be a bit sticky. That concerned me more than the density, which I expected with so much rye. As I said it is delicious and will definitely join my bread baking rotation. I will try the sourdough rye too. Thank you for your blog and healthy recipes!
This looks incredible!!!! I’d love to try it with rye but my family doesn’t love rye unfortunately. I also have 226 g of spelt left right now. Could I use the spelt I have left, and maybe replace the rest plus the rye with a combo of whole wheat and buckwheat? Or maybe just whole wheat if buckwheat won’t work, I just thought the buckwheat might be nice if I’m not using rye. Also for the yeast, I only have active dry yeast. Is that the same or would I need to change any amounts? It looks amazing. I don’t usually like to change things too much so I was just curious!
Hi Jane, I think you could use a little bit of buckwheat (up to 10% total flour) and it would be okay. Buckwheat doesn’t contain any gluten but since whole wheat flour is higher in gluten, it should work out okay. The yeast will be fine 🙂
Thank you so much! I did what you sent and it turned out absolutely amazing. I would love to try it again doing spelt and rye, I’ll save it for me if my family doesn’t want it haha. I also definitely want to try more of your bread recipes after this (I’ve always been afraid to try sourdough but your recipes seem easy to follow!). You truly have a wonderful blog, making delicious and nutritious food so accessible, thanks for everything you do! 😊
Thanks so much Jane, I’m so glad the recipe worked out well for you! Here’s to more bread 😉
Please help!!!! 1/4 teaspoon dry yeast???? All other research says at least 1teaspoon for this quality flour? Is this right to be such a small amount???
Hi Hannah, 1/4 teaspoon is typical for an overnight bread, and appropriate here.
Delicious!
I used wholemeal spelt and added in sunflower seeds, fennel seeds, chopped pistachios & chopped dried apricots, but I can see this would be delicious plain as well.
Hi, do you think if I left this overnight & then baked in a bread machine would it still work. My partner needs a brrad with hardly any sodium as well. Unfortunately I’m up at 5.30am each morning for work & don’t really want to get up earlier. We are trying to find and make a healthy breadwith Rye and Spelt flour. Kind regards
Hi there, I’ve never tried it in a bread machine, but it might work. If you’re stretched for time you can also put the shaped loaf in the fridge, well covered, for up to 12 hours before baking.
Do you think sprouted spelt flour would work in place of the spelt flour? Appreciate this recipe, thank you!
Definitely! I first made it with sprouted spelt when I lived in Canada and it worked well.
Hi trying this for the first time..is it ok to let the dough sit in the fridge overnight? I live in the tropics and temperature can be at 35 deg C. Pls advice on method adjustments. Can’t wait to see and taste the outcome! Thanks!
Hi Charlene, when I’ve made this recipe in the summer (30+ degrees) I leave it out at room temp for an hour or two before refrigerating, and this has worked well for me in the past so I imagine it would work there even with the higher humidity. Hope this helps!
Second time making this recipe! Love it!