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
Ingredients
- 300 grams spelt flour*
- 270 grams whole grain rye flour
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon dry yeast
- 500 ml 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 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
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Gina Miller says
Do you have a cookbook?
Alexandra Daum says
I do! You can read more about it here: https://www.occasionallyeggs.com/cookbook/
Alina says
Hi, I’m wondering if I can replace whole grain rye flour with lighter rye flour type 720? Thanks in advance for your answer!
Alexandra Daum says
Hi Alina, you can definitely use a lighter rye, no problem.
Melody says
Nice! Would it work to use einkorn instead of rye? It’s also a high protein, weak gluten flour.
Alexandra Daum says
Hi Melody, yes, I use einkorn a lot for this recipe and it works well for me.
Beth says
This bread turned out fantastic! I’ve been wanting to make my own bread for a while now after falling in love with bakery breads at my local market. I followed your recipe but used a touch of whole wheat flour since I have a big bag that I need to use up. I also followed your linked recipe for making the bread as a sandwich loaf rather than using the dutch oven for a round loaf. This will be my new staple bread!
Etsegenet says
I doubled the recipe and made it. It exactly looks like what is on the pic. Thank you so much.
Lionel says
Hi Alexandra!
Thanks for the great recipe~ my first batch is now just finishing its overnight rise!
I have Two questions:
I’m on a low sodium diet. So how much less salt can you get away with using in this recipe to still make the recipe work? (I read that salt’s needed to keep the yeast from overtaking the dough).
And secondly, I’ve used Fleishman’s traditional active dry yeast on my current batch. Can you also use quick rise on this recipe?
Thanks very much!!
Alexandra Daum says
Hi Lionel, I’ve never tried reducing the salt, but I think you could get away with cutting it in half. Please let me know how that goes if you try it. It does depend on the exact type of yeast – instant yeast will work fine, but rapid rise instant yeast will cause the dough to rise faster than described. With rapid rise, the proving time will be reduced and you’ll have to keep an eye on it, but if it’s normal quick (instant) yeast, then there’s no difference to the recipe. I hope this helps!
Rick says
Great recipe. Works well. I live in Asia where the evening temps are about 30°C. I’ve made this recipe 4 times and have cut back on the yeast to about 1/8 t. After about 10 hours the dough has slightly more than doubled and is bubbly. What I notice is after stretching and putting in baking pan for the second rise, even after 2 hours, the second rise is slight, maybe only 1/4 of original. Bread bakes up dense and excellent taste. Just curious to what extent your second rise usually is?
Alexandra Daum says
Hi Rick, the second rise is never as significant as the first for this bread, and I see more rise during baking rather than in the second prove. Thanks so much for your insights on making this in warmer temps!
Leah says
Made it once to nice results. The taste was great – but the bread came out somewhat flat and dense. I tried adding walnuts and sun-dried tomatoes and stirred them in right at the beginning – could this be the reason? Maybe I should have added them at a different stage?
Alexandra Daum says
Hi Leah, I recommend adding things like nuts after the bulk ferment, so fold them in before shaping and doing the second quick rise. This should help with the density issue but it is not a super open and light bread, so please keep that in mind. Good luck!
Ashleigh says
Utterly impressed with this recipe. Thought a no knead bread sounded too good to be true, but my bread came out amazing, fluffy and delicious!! I was expecting a dense bread and was pleasantly surprised, this was a lot lighter than I expected. A must try, and sooo easy, you cant gi too wrong.
FYI my oven seems to run cooler, so I cooked mine covered for an extra 10mins and then uncovered for an extra 15mins
Ashleigh says
Utterly impressed with this recipe. Thought a no knead bread sounded too good to be true, but my bread came out amazing, fluffy and delicious!! I was expecting a dense bread and was pleasantly surprised, this was a lot lighter than I expected. A must try, and sooo easy, you cant gi too wrong.
FYI my oven seems to run cooler, so I cooked mine covered for an extra 10mins and then uncovered for an extra 15mins
john says
Thanks a mill for this recipe Alexandra. My bread was continuing to rise nicely in the oven as it was cooking (i had a steam tray in the bottom), then it sort of collapsed a bit. Still very good and yeast bubble texture and it tasted terrrific and kept well.
i am thinking my dough mixture might have been a little too wet… they mention that on the internet.
wonder what you think?
kind regards from New Zealand – John
Alexandra Daum says
Hi John, sorry to hear this. It sounds more to me as though it’s overproved a bit, but it wouldn’t hurt to try a lower hydration level, which is less likely to have this issue in general. I do need to update this post with some more useful information, though – but I’d say that you could reduce the proving time a bit and (if you’re familiar with sourdough?) try a bit more shaping before baking the loaf, to prevent any air pockets.
Daisy Santiago says
Hi! I decided to make the sour dough starter and use it for the bread- you never mentioned how much of the starter you would use IF you had some. Can you please leave a suggestion? Thank you kindly, Daisy
Alexandra Daum says
Hi Daisy, I’d use 50-100g of active starter here, but I haven’t tried it yet with this exact recipe. Please let me know if you try it!
Hana McCarthy says
This is just a GREAT recipe! It’s so easy and forgiving. I’ve made it twice now and the flavor and fragrance are just fantastic. This second time I ran a bit short of spelt flour and added rye instead–that made for a wetter, stickier dough and I was worried about handling it too much and putting in too much flour when trying to shape it, Didn’t get much rise in the proofing basket. However all turned out just fine. I used a Breadtopia oblong clay cloche preheated to 450 F and the oven spring was great. Next time I’ll make sure to have the right amount of spelt flour on hand because I think it makes an easier-to-handle dough.
Nelle says
My bread is in the oven !!! I have made it a few times already and i love it. Cant wait for my bread to be ready. Should b 20 mins more.
Angela Tortu says
I too had bread that didnt rise. I have been making the Mark Bittman no knead bread for a couple years with great result. I did use the same yeast the other day to make focaccio and it seemed fine. I will try ot again with a different yeast and see how it goes
Alexandra Daum says
Hi Angela! It is important to note that a whole grain spelt/rye bread isn’t going to see the same rise during proofing that a white flour (or even standard wheat flour) no-knead bread will. It will rise, but not as significantly. Hope that helps!
Stig Mogensen says
Hi Alexandra,
This is an easy to make bread that delivers on amazing texture and flavor. It is as enjoyable warm with just butter and the base for any sandwich.
I have been baking it weekly for the past month, using a sourdough starter but kept the proportions of water and flour.
It has delivered every time and become the favorite of the family.
Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Br,
Stig
Madeline Armstrong says
Hi! Thanks for this recipe! I made it almost exactly to the letter, except I ran out of spelt flour so subbed a little bit of whole wheat to make it the right amount. I will say the dough wasn’t as wet / sticky as I am used to, and the bread didn’t get much rise even though I let it sit for 15 hours… I still really loved the result though, it’s a bit more dense and chewy but I kind of like my bread that way, haha! Thank you for the recipe, I’ll be trying more of yours!
Alexandra Daum says
I’m so glad you liked it, Madeline! Yes, the bread is a bit more dense due to the wholegrain flours and lower gluten content, but I like it that way too : )