Easy Make Ahead No knead Overnight Sourdough Bread

Sourdough aka what I like to call the OG of all breads! It’s slightly tangy and sour but in a good tantalizing tastebuds way. Fresh out of the oven you can smell notes of a premium aged cheese and sweet honey followed by the toothsome chewy crust 😋. Let’s just say you will be hooked within the first bite.

Ok maybe I went a bit far on sourdough description there😂 but I mean flavor noaside look 👀 at how beautiful the crust and ear aka bread bunny looks! Along with the artisan scoring. You definitely can get super fancy with the scoring. I am still working on my scoring skills. 

Sourdough was on my bucklist of breads for some time. Not just for flavor or health but the art of it! Something about making bread from wild yeast and bacteria in your area. Now to be clear this is the good bacteria like in yogurt, cheese, kimchi, saukrauet, etc. which makes sourdough great for those more sensitive to gluten. It also helps lower the glycemic load for those with diabetes. You can have virtually the same white loaf of bread one sourdough other commercial yeast and see a big difference in your blood sugar levels. Me being a food nerd finds this is awesome you can make bread more nutritious and delicious! A two for one deal!!! 👏 

The only hurdle I saw was the maintenance of sourdough. I was struggling to find a no knead recipe and there was all theseb rules on when to feed the starter and fold the dough etc. I was getting annoyed when I saw no knead … but multiple folding sessions. Folding is rather simple but I who has time to fold every half hour for 3 hours straight. Not me that’s for sure. 

Making modifications to my no knead dutch oven bread yeast version I came up with a low maintenance way to make sourdough overnight with no folding wat so ever (aside from final shaping). 

Day 1: Feed the Starter

• The day before baking usually find sometime in morning or before lunch to feed your starter. Second option feed starter before bed then in the morning add dough ingredients and let rise for 8 hours or in fridge for longer 10-48 hours.
• Around 6-12 hours ( I normally go for 8) after feeding,  mix starter in with remaining flour, water, and salt. Let rise overnight options:
  1.  At room temp 8 hours
  2. Rise on counter for 2-3 hours before placing in fridge
  3.  Place directly into fridge after mixing. 
• Note: Dough can stay in the fridge for 2 days. It will get more tangy with time.

Day 2

• Divide and Shape
  1. Option 1, make one large loaf ( must bake in Dutch oven, option 2 divide dough in half (~450g each) my preferred method works great on pizza stone, or into thirds (~315g each). I like making my loaf oval shaped but round loaves come out beautiful too. See dough shaping picture about for long loaf.
• Final Rise
  1. The loaves typically will proof room temp from the fridge in 2-3 hours or 1-1.5 hours if dough was at room temperature until double in size.
  2. Around 45 minutes before baking heat the oven to 450F with pizza stone, sheet pan, or Dutch oven inside on the second to bottom rack.
• Bake the Dough
  1. Smaller loaves: Bake on pizza stone at 450F for 20-25 minutes. Dutch oven typically 20 minutes covered and then another 5-10 minutes uncovered.
  2. One large loaf: Bake in a Dutch oven at 450 F for 30 minutes and 10 minutes uncovered. 
  3. Let cool on cooling rack for 2-3 hrs. After cooling store in paper bag or wrap loosely I. Foil after cutting. You can also freeze the loaves. 
• Note:
  1. Whole grain flour like rye, whole wheat, spelt can be subbed in recipe at for 100% of white flour just note texture will be dense and you will need to increase water to 2 tsp per cup of whole grain flour used
  2. Favorite ratio is 100-150 grams rye or spelt with 350 grams bread flour. Gives you the flavor of whole grains but still lift and chew from bread flour.