This simple overnight spelt rye bread is made with just 5 ingredients, including water and salt. It’s a basic bread with an excellent flavour thanks to a long fermentation time and no need for a sourdough starter.
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
This simple overnight spelt rye bread is made with just 5 ingredients, including water and salt. It's a basic bread with an excellent flavour thanks to a long fermentation time and no need for a sourdough starter.
Ingredients
- 300 grams / 2 cups spelt flour*
- 270 grams / 2 cups whole grain rye flour
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- 1/4 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 for 12-16 hours.
- 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 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 230C / 450F. 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 200C / 400F 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
• Storing the bread wrapped in a tea towel will keep the crust from softening after a day. This bread does keep longer than normal yeasted bread before becoming stale but will quickly go bad if left in a warm, humid environment.
* You can use either light or whole grain spelt flour, both work well.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
16Serving Size:
1 sliceAmount Per Serving: Calories: 108Total Fat: 1gSodium: 267mgCarbohydrates: 23gFiber: 4gSugar: 1gProtein: 4g
This data is provided by a calculator and is a rough estimation of the nutritional information in this recipe.
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Aurelia says
I love It! It looks amazing and I can’t wait to try it thanks for all the amazing recipes Alexandra, every time I open your website I get excited when I see a new recipe.
Good luck with your house hunt in Groningen! The Netherlands are a great place to live once you actually find a place yo stay!
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Thank you, that makes me so happy to hear! And thank you for your good wishes 🙂
Annie says
I cannot wait to try this! I was just thinking of starting up a sourdough starter but it just seemed like too much commitment at the moment. Thank you!
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
I totally get that! You’re so welcome, I hope you love it 🙂
Daphne says
So the hardest part of this recipe turned out to be waiting for the bread to be cooled down so we could try it 🙂
It’s so amazing how a not very attractive blob of sticky dough turns into such a beautiful and tasty loaf of bread! Mine looked almost exactly the same as yours. I didn’t have a fancy Dutch oven, so I baked it in a pie dish and just covered it with a baking sheet. Maybe the crust could be a bit more crunchy, but it was already really good. I’ll definitely be making this again!
Also, good luck with your house hunt in Groningen! I’m a Dutchie, currently living in Belgium and I know how hard it can be to find a nice and affordable house in the Netherlands. It should be easier up north, but I guess Groningen is quite a popular city, even though it is so far away from everything (or that’s how we perceive it ;).
All the best from Belgium!
Daphne
Simon says
Hi Alexandra, this bread looks delicious. I was wondering, since I am very fond of the taste of sourdough, if I could use sourdough in this recipe. I guess in order to do that I would have combine it to the water before stirring with the flours. But then would you change the resting time or anything else?
Thanks, I love your web site and recipes.
(I hope the comment is not too confusing since english is not my first langage).
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Hi Simon, thanks for your note – I would recommend following the amounts and instructions in a similar recipe I have for this overnight dark rye bread if you’d like to try this as a sourdough. I’m afraid I killed my starter a little while back and can’t try it myself but I think it would work well. Thank you so much and I hope you love the bread!
Simon says
Thanks! I’ll try it today!
Maria says
Looks so yummy!
Can I use this recipe in bread machine/maker?
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Hi Maria – this recipe won’t work in a bread machine. As you don’t have to knead it, and it has alternate steps to a normal bread, it’ll only work mixed in a regular bowl and baked in the oven. Hope that helps!
Amy Heise says
Just made this beautiful loaf of bread! It is absolutely delicious. I baked mine with a few pumpkin seeds on top and drizzled some wild honey over the top when I took it out of the oven. Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
Julie Slifko says
Hi! Just checking that it’s really only only 1/4 teaspoon of active dry yeast as opposed to the normal 2 1/4, packet sized measurement? (And I’m really wondering why that little? ☺️)
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
It’s correct, don’t worry! That’s a standard amount for an overnight bread as it has such a long proofing time.
Jim Banks says
Thank you for this recipe! My wife lived in Germany for nearly a decade, and loves the kind of bread she used to get there. A German friend sent her some boxes of pre-mixed dry “dinkelbrot mit roggen”, but I wanted to see if I could make it completely on my own. I modified your recipe by adding some syrup and nonfat dry milk powder, and baked it in a 10×5″ loaf pan with some advice from the King Arthur flour site. Results: my wife said “that’s good German bread!” One thing I’ll do next time is maybe not fold it so much after the overnight rise so the loaf is a little bit taller.
Dawn says
Hi,
Just wondering if I could make it with all whole spelt? I don’t have rye flour. I’m in Manitoba and it’s currently very humid. My winter spelt bread recipe has been giving me much grief! I’m looking for another recipe to try!
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Hi Dawn! I made this recipe all last summer when I was back home in Manitoba visiting my family and it worked great even in the typical hot humid weather. All whole spelt will work really well. You might just want to add an extra couple tablespoons of flour to help balance out the humidity. Hope it works well for you!
john clark says
Hi Alexandra, this is john from NZ. i followed the instructions and am trying to bake the bread now in pyrex casserole.
i left the mixture for about 12-14 hours and it was a very wet sludge. after i did the second part and put it in the banneton – it just sludged around and didnt rise much. i had to almost pour it into the casserole and then spend a long time washing the banneton to get rid of runny wet mixrure stuck everywhere.
1/4 tsp of yeast seems like quite a small amount of yeast – but i have never made bread like this before.
should the mix be drier and able to be handled like normal dough or is it supposed to be so wet?
also how much should it rise -mine seems to have hardly risen at all? also should it rise while being baked? otherwise i fear i am going to have a very thick heavy wet dense bread.
thanks for any advice
john
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Hi John – it sounds to me like either we have some big flour differences or there’s a chance your yeast wasn’t very active. I’ve made this bread both in Canada and in Europe for many years, though, and have never had problems as you’ve described. The dough should be wetter than normal yeasted dough, but it should rise significantly during the first rise. It should rise a lot again while being baked (which is why I’m thinking maybe a yeast problem?). The reason it uses so little yeast is due to the long rise time and is a standard amount for an overnight bread. If you’re not getting an approximately doubled dough with lots of bubbles after the overnight rise, I think the problem is likely due to a dead or under active yeast. Do you keep your yeast refrigerated? It can spoil quite quickly in warm and humid weather.
scott says
Hi there,
I had a similar problem. The recipe calls for “dry yeast” Does that mean “active dry yeast” or “instant yeast”? I’ve had lots of success making a similar recipe with “instant yeast” but because the recipe only said “dry yeast” I thought it might mean “dry active yeast” so that’s what I used but the rise was minimal ….
Which is the correct yeast? Active dry or instant?
thanks
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Hi Scott, I most often use traditional yeast as it’s hard to find instant yeast here, but the recipe has been tested with instant, traditional, and fresh, with no variation on my end in terms of rise. If you feel that yours isn’t rising quickly enough, you can try instant.
Rads says
Looks delicious. Two questions before I try it. 1. Can I replace whole wheat flour instead of spelt. 2. Can I bake in regular oven as I don’t have Dutch oven.
TIA
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Hi there! Yes, you can sub whole wheat flour. A Dutch oven is a covered cast iron baking dish, not an oven – but you can bake the bread in a regular loaf tin (see instructions for that here).
Sophie says
Hi Alexandra. Do you think this method would work with the following ingredients, but with a quarter of the yeast? This recipe is an adaptation of Nigella’s Norwegian Mountain Bread, and our daily staple (until discovering your website of course!):
250 ml water
250 ml unsweetened almond milk
2 tsp easy bake yeast (1 x 7g sachet)
200g wholemeal flour
100g rye flour
50g spelt flour
75g other flour (or more rye/spelt)
50g porridge oats
6 tablespoons mixed seeds: e.g. sunflower, pumpkin, flax
1 tablespoon salt
Would love to hear your thoughts!
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
I think that would work very well indeed. I often take regular breads and simply reduce the yeast to use this method, it’s worked for me every time without fail. And I often make a loaf similar to that one as part of my weekly rotation, but as an overnight rise, and it’s great.
Maeve says
I’d just like to say a huge thank you for this delicious bread. My husband was searching for a spelt and rye bread recipe and this is, head and shoulders, far above anything else we found! We’ve been making bread for many years and this is such an easy and delicious loaf, it had quickly become a family favourite.
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
I am so happy to hear that, Maeve, that’s wonderful that you’re enjoying it so much! Thank you for your kind comment : )
Fiona says
Looking forward to trying this overnight bread!
I have adapted a recipe using different gluten free flours. I wondered if you have tried using this recipe but with gluten free flour. (I usually have to use an egg for GF bread) Thank you!
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Hi Fiona, I’m so happy to hear that! I haven’t tried to make this gluten free, but I recommend this recipe if you’re going for a GF loaf. It does use a starter but it might be possible to make it with yeast as an overnight bread.
Jennifer Patterson says
Could I bake this in a regular loaf pan? Would that change the baking times or anything like that?
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
You sure can! The instructions will be the same as for my dark rye bread recipe, with a lower temperature to start and no need to preheat the pan. Hope this helps!
Jane says
Oh wow, the best bread. What a fabulous recipe. The proving time was a few hours longer for me, but out of the oven came a dense, moist, fragrant loaf that my family loved. I’m really pleased about being able to bake it using organic flours for maximum nutrition. Thank you so much, Alexandra.
Greg says
My dough was still super sticky after rising 15 hours… Although it rose well. I tried to mix it with my hands but it just became these sticky dough gloves.
The pulling and twisting actions described here were not gong to happen..
I added more flour at this point as it seemed something was wrong.
The dough went from sticky to hard. I am letting it rise now but I am sure I did something wrong even though I generally follow recipes meticulously.
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Sorry to hear you had some trouble with this recipe, Greg – it is a fairly sticky dough. I’m going to make a video in the next while to outline the process more carefully, I hope that’ll help! You can also try wetting your hands when working with the dough as adding significantly more flour after the bulk rise will cause some problems.
Daniel M says
Thanks for the great and easy recipe. This was my first time ever baking bread, and it came out perfectly!
Jenine says
Such a simple recipe for those of us who are still practicing the art of baking loaves at this level.. I may have overproofed my dough.. it is now in the oven and I am awaiting the unmistakably desirable aroma and the long anticipated crunch of a perfectly cooked and cooled loaf of bread… I hope I will not be too disappointment at my result. ….ahhh well…If so I can go on looking lovingly at your images until Iam ready to try again. I am wondering too if you could tell me if you use US measurements in your recipes as here in Australia we use the metric system and this can severely put measurements out.. allthough it mainly affects tablespoons, I believe and I would like to try some of your other recipes..thanks for your lovely images and tested recipes..
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
I hope the bread worked out for you! I prefer metric for my own baking (I’m German/Canadian) but everything is tested with both grams and cups to ensure accuracy – I don’t use a converter or anything as they’re totally inaccurate.
Nicole says
Is it okay to let it proof longer? I was thinking of prepping it this morning but then wouldn’t bake it until tomorrow morning, meaning about 24 hours of proofing.
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
For sure! Just keep it in a cooler place, not on top of a heater or anything like that. A cool spot in the house or even the fridge, if don’t have anywhere that isn’t warm, will be good.
Katerina Chapman says
What temperature is needed for overnight rising? As living in NZ our houses are pretty cold in autumn.
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Room temperature, whatever that is for you, should be fine. I often leave this to rise in my unheated entrance in the winter here in northern Europe (under 10C), or at about 18C overnight in the kitchen, and it works well no matter what. If it’s very cold it might just take a bit longer to double in size.
jr says
Any chance you’d post videos or more photos of the process? It seems so easy but we tried it twice with no luck (both times it ended up not rising in the dutch oven at all) and there must be something we are doing very wrong…
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
I’m afraid that I can’t get yeast right now, like many others, but I’m happy to help troubleshoot! In future I’ll share more process shots. The most likely issue I can think of is that either the bread is underproved or your oven isn’t reaching a high enough temperature. Is the dough doubled in size? Do you have an oven thermometre? Sometimes it can help to let your Dutch oven really heat up to screaming hot – try keeping it in the oven for half an hour at full temperature before adding the dough to it and see if that makes a difference : )
jr says
Thanks for the response!
it has doubled in size as far as we can tell at least in the first rise in the bowl. It did not rise a lot in the basket though!
We did keep the dutch oven in the oven for 30 minutes at 450F, so temperature was probably not the problem 🙂 But good idea to get an oven proof thermometer so we know better how reliable our oven is.
We were wondering if maybe we should have worked the dough a bit more, it seems that other breads stretch and fold rye a lot more aggressively than what we read from your recipe to build up a bit more strength into the dough. How did your stretch&fold technique look?
Thanks!
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
I think the trouble might lie in the different baking method. This recipe is specifically developed with beginners in mind who don’t know how to stretch and fold and that’s why it’s baked in a loaf tin (so it can rise again before baking, makes it a bit easier than the Dutch oven method). If I were to bake this as an artisan bread, I’d do a series of 6 stretches and folds over the course of two hours before the bulk fermentation and then shape with as much tension as possible before the second rise in my banneton. I haven’t tried this and unfortunately don’t have the flour needed to do so, but I think if you want to make a nice boule, that’s how you’d have to do it. It is a very sticky dough though so you might have to mess around with it a bit so make it more appropriate for this style of baking. If you try it again this way, please let me know!
Talia Rose says
Hi Alexandra
Thank you for your wonderful recipe. I have my first loaf baking in the oven now. I’ve used all spelt flour as I wasn’t able to purchase any Rye, and so far it looks beautiful.
I wondered if you have at any point sliced the loaf and frozen slices to eat later. As I alone will be eating the bread, I won’t be able to eat it all before it undoubtedly goes stale. Any tips here would be appreciated 🙂
Thank you
Monika says
Some variations on the recipe, for those of you wanting more ideas …
Firstly, thank you so much for sharing! There’s no way I’m going to babysit a sourdough starter, so this is a great option. I’ve made it several times now, and have played with the recipe and conditions a bit, so I thought I’d share my results.
I find that adding 1/2 cup of organic white flour helps a lot (dough is firmer, although still sticky). Watch the second proofing carefully (I find my dough needs 45 – 60 min). I warm the dutch oven in the oven at 475F and then turn it down to 450 when I put the dough it in, (… next time I’m going to try 500F). I find putting course cornmeal at the bottom, and then an extra piece of parchment paper on top of that ensures the bottom is never over-done). I cook it at the 400 F temp for 22-23 min (anything less than that and my bottom is under cooked). I use only 1tsp of salt, and add 1/2 tsp of maple syrup to the water before I put it in.
I would also love to see the folding technique – that’s the one part I’m not sure about.
Thanks again!
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Thanks for your comment and tips, Monika. I’ll try to put a video together for this recipe sometime soon showing how I do the stretches and folds – and we’re putting together a whole series of posts about the sourdough process over at Baked in the near future that might help. Essentially, you just take a handful of dough from the outside, then stretch up and in toward the centre and fold it over. Turn the bowl a quarter turn and repeat.
Natalie says
Can I use fresh yeast instead , what amount and how to prepare it before adding.
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Use a pea-sized amount of fresh and mix it with the water before mixing the dough.
Charlie says
Hi, once I’ve taken it out of the oven should I transfer it from the pot to a wire rack immediately or let it cool in the pot a while? Had issues trying to remove bread from tins too early before so don’t want to make the same mistake!
Thanks,
Charlie
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Hi Charlie – good question. I recommend letting it cool 15 minutes in the pot before removing to a wire rack, but it can cool a bit longer in the pot if the pot is still screaming hot.
Charlie says
Thanks Alexandra! Bread turned out ok though quite flat and the parchment paper stuck to it so we had to cut off the bottom! Should I have floured or greased the paper first?
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
I’ve never had trouble with my parchment sticking – must be variation between brands or something – but I think greasing it would do the trick!
Geraldine says
Hi Alexandra! This recipe looks amazing and would love to try. Just wondering if spelt flour can be replaced with buckwheat flour instead? Don’t have any spelt flour with me at the moment..
Hope to hear from you soon! 🙂
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Hi Geraldine! Unfortunately since buckwheat is gluten-free, it won’t work well as a 1:1 substitute for spelt in this recipe. I’d recommend going with another glutenous flour like more rye, regular wheat, kamut, einkorn, etc.
Geraldine says
Oh I see, thanks for the tip! Else it would have been disastrous if I went ahead! I’m guessing regular Wholemeal flour will work in replacing spelt then? Any adjustments of measurements / water ratio used if that’s the case?
Thank you!
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Yes, that’ll be fine. I don’t think you’ll have to change the measurements at all in that case if you’re weighing (I assume you are?) and everything should turn out well!
Geraldine says
Oh yes another question, is it possible to make half of this recipe by cutting all the ingredients in half? 😅
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Hah yes, that’ll be fine.
Lorna Bower says
I baked this today in a loaf pan. I allowed it to rise the full 16 hrs in the bowl and 2 hrs in the pan. While the flavour is good, it didn’t rise the way it should have. Would the high altitude in Calgary, Canada affect this? Should I use more yeast the next time? Love the simplicity of this recipe so will keep trying.
Also, I measured the flours on a scale and then spooned them into a measuring cup to see how close they were. It seemed as if I was using quite a bit more flour when weighing. Could this be why it didn’t rise as much? Even when covered the bread seemed a bit dry on the top.
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Hi Lorna, the altitude might be affecting your loaf. I first tested this back home in Manitoba, so the altitude of course isn’t as high as near the mountains, but higher than here in the Netherlands. I’m guessing your yeast was fresh? The dry air in your higher altitude area can cause the dough to dry out faster, so for a long rise bread like this you may want to increase the liquid a bit.
150g spelt flour per cup is correct for the conversion. This recipe is well over 80% hydration so it definitely shouldn’t be dry – if anything, a bit too wet. Some flour tends to suck up a lot of moisture so you might want to add a touch more water depending on the mill (fineness) and brand of flour you’re using. Just to be sure, did you use spelt and rye, or switch in any AP or bread flour?
Lorna Bower says
Thank you so much for your response. I made this a second time using the cup measurements. I used dark rye and spelt flour and my yeast is fresh. It turned out okay but didn’t rise too much, and it never did get bubbly. I think it does need more water. Would an extra quarter cup of water be too much to add?
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
No, I’d go ahead and add another quarter cup to make up for the elevation. I think it’ll be what’s needed.
Maggie says
Hi Alexandra, I wanted to try but I’m a novice at bread making and wanted to ask about possible substitutions and advice.
– Would it be okay to use einkorn flour instead of rye? Would it be 1:1 substitution?
– I was thinking about adding ground flaxseed for additional fiber – do you have any experience with adding it to breads? What ratio of spelt:einkorn:flax would you recommend?
– I don’t have a dutch oven, only a small loaf pan that holds about 1L of volume – how should I cut the recipe to make sure it fits? By 3? (I’m so bad at math, so thank you for including grams)
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Hi Maggie! I’ll answer in bullet form too. I hope this helps!
– Yes, you can absolutely use einkorn. It’s a great sub for rye and you can do 1:1. The flavour will be fantastic.
– I wouldn’t recommend adding ground flax the first time you make it because it’ll soak up a lot of the water. I’m not sure how much you’d have to increase the liquid content to make up for it so I’d leave that be for the time being and experiment a bit more later on – I’m thinking a couple tablespoons flax and increase the water by an equivalent amount would be fine, but I can’t guarantee it.
– You can cut the recipe by half for that size pan, I’d say. Here’s the measurements you’ll need:
150g spelt flour
135g einkorn flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon dry yeast (a bit awkward, I know, but a little more is also fine)
250ml water
And I imagine your baking time will be more like 30 minutes, but just check to see how the crust is looking after half an hour.
Maggie says
Thank you very much for the advice, I really appreciate it!