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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Dominick Cardinale says
I make this regularly, sometimes weekly and my kids and myself love it. I also like to make bread with my sourdough starter that is very active. Can you recommend how I may be able to incorporate my starter into this recipe?? Should I use fed or unfed/discard starter??
Alexandra says
Hi there – I’d omit the yeast and use 150g active (fed) 100% hydration starter, and make it as a normal sourdough bread. Hope that helps!
Rita Ventura says
Hello Alexandra.
Can I use sprouted whole spelt flour instead?
Thank you =)
Rita
Alexandra says
Hi Rita, I have often made this with sprouted spelt flour and it works well : )
Lisa says
I used sprouted spelt flour (this may have been a mistake) instead of regular spelt flour and an organic rye flour in the amounts specified in the recipe. After about 16 hours of overnight rise it wasn’t as bubbly/shaggy as what I normally see for a no knead bread and doing the folds wasn’t an option. I just plopped the mess onto the parchment paper that had been dusted with flour and left it to rise for 90 minutes. Again, it didn’t rise so that I could notice. I baked it in a 5 quart Dutch oven as per the recipe, then removed it immediately from the Dutch oven and set it to cool on a rack for about 90 minutes. The crust is a nice darkish brown colour, the loaf is quite dense and the flavour is quite good. I live in British Columbia in a town that is at about 3300 feet elevation. The relative humidity has been about 35% which is about the same as the house humidity.
Alexandra says
Hi Lisa, I’m not sure if you’re looking for help here – but it sounds like either your space is quite chilly or the yeast wasn’t very active. The nature of the bread is denser, as it’s 100% whole grain. Elevation and humidity shouldn’t play a large role here, but temperature and the age of the yeast will. Hope that helps!
Sergey says
Hi Alexandra,
thank you for the recipe. Quick question – will it be OK to add some ground coriander or caraway seeds for that traditional flavor? Thanks!
Alexandra says
Yes, absolutely – though if you want a more traditional rye, you may prefer this recipe. Either way definitely okay to add coriander or caraway.
Tolu says
I keep coming back because it is the best recipe. My husband loves it too. I found out that I prefer it 100% Spelt flour as well but it tastes delicious both ways. Baking another loaf as I type. I added raisins and hemp seeds this time. Thank you so much for sharing this perfect recipe with us. God bless you
Donna says
Would this recipe work for making buns? What would you do differently to make buns? Thanks!
Alexandra says
Hi Donna! I recommend these overnight buns, it’s essentially the same recipe but formatted into buns instead.
emma spitzer says
Very easy and no need for a starter. Found this recipe needing to use up some rye flour and it was perfect. great flavour and super simple. Just need to get the right size dutch oven, mine was too big so the loaf was a bit flat!
Linda says
Hi, like many others, my dough did not rise a whole lot or get very bubbly after 15 hours. The dough felt very heavy and it was quite wet, not shaggy, and I measured your ingredients by scale and water by cup exactly. How do I know if the dough has enough water or not for a wet dough? Thanks.
Alexandra says
Hi Linda, based on your description I’d say you just need a warmer place for the dough to rise in. I wouldn’t recommend measuring (for any recipe) with part volume and part metric as that can skew things, but it sounds like you just need a longer rising time or a warmer spot so that the yeast can do its work.
Sally Kjaer says
Update, It looks good, tastes yummy, and has a nice crust, But it is a bit unbacked, I fear if I bake it further it will burn, what am I doing wrong Plz ? as this happens to my Danish Rugbrod also, just not baked through, do I need a higher oven temp.? I toast it and it works, however not ideal. Thank you
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Hi Sally! There are a couple of things you can do. For this kind of bread, and even more so for a dark rye, you need to wait until it’s completely cool (internally too) before slicing. That can mean up to 12 hours before cutting – if you slice before then, that’s when you’ll often end up with the kind of gummy, under-baked seeming interior. Or, if it is under-baked, I don’t recommend increasing the oven temp as it likely will burn then. Start with the listed temperature and then reduce it to 200C after 20 minutes, and give it an extra 10-15 minutes in the oven. I hope this helps!
Sally Kjaer says
Hi such an easy and delicious recipe thank you. I am not quite getting it right though ha, my dough dose not rise, this is my second time making this loaf, I am using active dry yeast, the dough sticks to my hands when I stretch it whoever I water my hands and it worked, stretching is a bit hard, and so I helped it to drop to a long line, then picked it up and folded, now I’m waiting and excited, will update 🙂
Rob says
Fantastic! I used bread flour and rye flour and, thinking I was going to make a boule, did a little extra folding after the 15-hour ferment. The dough never really firmed up, though, so I switched gears, sprinkled lots of cornmeal in a pyrex bowl, and threw it in the oven. No lid, but I dropped some ice in a cast iron pan to create steam. The crust was less intense than if I had a dutch oven (maybe I should have pushed the temp to 475). But the bread has great crumb and is delicious.
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!
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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
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!
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.