No-Knead Overnight Bread

This No-Knead Overnight Bread is the busy mom's (or dad's) answer to homemade bread! 5 minutes of prep, 5 ingredients, let it sit overnight, and bake it the next morning.

You read that right -- just a few simple ingredients and a few minutes of work creates a loaf of rustic, crusty, and flavorful homemade bread!

I didn't believe that bread making could be this easy without a bread machine, but when I heard about it I was so curious that I had to give it a try instantly. Imagine my surprise when it turned out delicious!

This was not an intended blog post, but I just had to share. Plus, there's a fun story behind the recipe.

A few weeks ago, I needed to take care of a quick banking issue for The Seasoned Mom's accounts. So I picked up my phone, called the Wells Fargo 1-800 number, and expected to reach an individual at a call center in a foreign country. Instead, I was connected with a nice man whose name I never caught. While he was assisting me with my banking issue, he initiated some friendly conversation.

Noticing "The Seasoned Mom" as the name on the account, he asked me what kind of business I am running and where I am located. I explained the blog to him, and I told him that I live in Central Virginia -- not far from Charlottesville. He sounded very excited, and told me that his brother graduated from UVA, he graduated from William & Mary, and his son graduated from Virginia Tech. He then asked me if I ever share bread recipes. I responded "no," and explained that I have many quick bread recipes on my site, but that yeast bread recipes are just too time consuming and involve too many steps for a busy mom like me.

Wrong answer! This avid-bread-baker-Wells-Fargo-employee insisted that he had just the recipe for me, which he called No-Knead Overnight Bread. I grabbed my pen and wrote down his instructions. He assured me that even I could handle this one. And he was right!

I followed his directions and the resulting loaf of rustic Honey Whole Wheat bread was perfect...and more importantly, it was perfectly EASY! No kneading, no rolling, no fancy pans required...just stirring together a ball of dough and letting it sit before baking creates a simple but delicious treat. That's serious multi-tasking at its best: banking and recipe sharing all in one 5 minute phone call!

Here's how you do it:

Print Pin

No-Knead Overnight Bread

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Servings 6

Author The Seasoned Mom

Ingredients

• 6 cups flour whole wheat or combination
• 3 cups warm water
• 1 packet yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon honey

Instructions

• Place warm water in a bowl and add yeast. Allow to sit for a few minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, and honey. Pour water/yeast mixture into flour mixture and stir until well combined.
• Drizzle your hands with olive oil and form dough into a ball. Cover dough and place in refrigerator overnight.
• The next day, preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place dutch oven inside the heating oven until it is also hot.
• Remove dough ball from refrigerator, drizzle with olive oil, and place in warm dutch oven, cover, and bake for about 30 minutes. Remove lid and bake for an additional 15 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through.

Note: For this recipe, I used one of my Le Creuset Dutch Ovens (like this one).

I don't have any other yeast bread recipes on here (as I mentioned above!), but you can try these other delicious baked goods...which are also quick on time!

Easy Glazed Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

Monkey Bread Muffins

Carrot Cake Breakfast Bread

Healthy Strawberry Breakfast Bread