No-Knead Sourdough Bread

by Feasting At Home

An easy Sourdough Bread recipe that rises overnight and bakes in the morning.

No-Knead Sourdough Bread

  • Servings: 1 loaf

This recipe for No-Knead Sourdough Bread is perfect for those who love the tangy taste of sourdough but don’t want to put in too much effort. The dough rises overnight and bakes in the morning, making it a simple and flexible recipe that can be adapted to your needs.

Ingredients

  • 4 cups organic white bread flour
  • 2 tsp fine sea salt
  • 1 7/8 cups filtered water
  • 1/3 cup sourdough starter (fed 8-10 hours earlier)
  • Rice flour or extra flour for dusting
  • Seeds for flavoring: fennel seeds, anise seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds, caraway seeds, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, dill seeds, celery seeds, nigella seeds (optional, but tasty)


Other optional additions:

  • Substitute 1/2 cup rye flour, spelt or whole wheat flour or other whole-grain flour for 1/2 cup of the white bread flour
  • Add seeds and/or whole spices (fennel, caraway, onion seeds, dill seeds, chia, hemp, flax)
  • Once you get the hang of the dough, try adding roasted garlic, nuts, dried fruit, cheeses, or olives.

Directions

  • 8-10 hours before mixing your dough, feed your sourdough starter, leaving it out on the counter.
  • Weigh the flour in a medium bowl. Then add salt, spices, seeds. Mix starter and water in a small bowl until cloudy and well mixed. Pour starter-water into flour incorporating all the flour using a fork or wood spoon. It should be a thick, shaggy, heavy, sticky dough. Mix for about 1 minute – it will be hard to mix, sticky, shaggy. Don’t worry about tidy dough here, just get the flour all mixed in and cover with a wet kitchen towel and let rest 15 minutes.
  • Do the first set of stretch and folds. With one wet hand pull the dough from one side and stretch it upward, then fold it up and over to the center of the dough. Turn the bowl and repeat, stretching and folding from the side, up over the middle, repeat for about 30 seconds or until the dough gets firm and resists. This helps strengthen the gluten. Cover, rest, and repeat the process 15 minutes later.
  • Proof overnight, at room temp. Cover with plastic or wax wrap or a damp kitchen towel (to keep the moisture in) and place it on your kitchen counter for 8-12 hours.
  • Check the dough in the morning. The dough should have flattened, expanded, with a slight springy dome to the top. It won’t necessarily double in size ( maybe 1.5 -1.75 times bigger) but will have expanded. Do the POKE TEST: With a floured finger, poke into the dough. If it indents easily, and mostly springs back to original shape, it has probably risen enough. If it feels firm or very hard to indent, let it rise longer. If it feels loose, runny, or indents too easily and doesn’t spring back, it is most likely over-proofed (bake it anyways).
  • Line a high-sided bowl with parchment. This brand of parchment does not stick to the bread- but if you are unsure about yours, spray oil your parchment lightly before putting the dough in it.
  • 2nd Set of STRETCH and SHAPE: Loosen the dough from the all edges of a bowl with using your wet fingers, a wet spatula or wet plastic dough scraper, sliding down the sides of the bowl. With both wet hands, carefully pull the dough straight up, in the middle and lift it, stretching straight up in the air- about 1-2 feet and place it back down, gently folding it on top of itself. This first stretch, the dough may feel quite loose and runny. This is OK. It should firm up as it stretches and folds. After the first stretch, give the bowl a quarter turn, wait 30-60 seconds, wet your hands again and stretch it up high again, folding over itself in the bowl. Wait 30-60 seconds. Then, the third time you lift and stretch, you will lift it all the way into your parchment-lined bowl, folding over itself like you’ve been doing. Sprinkle top with seeds and flour (get the sides too) gently rubbing it to even coat – and add seeds if you like.
  • FINAL RISE and PREHEAT OVEN: Place the bowl in the refrigerator for one hour uncovered which will firm up the bread, make scoring easier and help boost “oven spring”. It won’t rise in the fridge. You could also keep it in the fridge for 3-4 hours if you want to bake later. Preheat the oven (for 1 FULL hour) to 500F with your dutch oven inside and lid on.
  • SCORE & BAKE: When ready to bake, place dough by the stove. Pull out the dutch oven, close the oven, remove lid. Score the bread in the bowl, using a very sharp knife, lame, or razor blade, score the dough swiftly and deeply, at a 45-degree angle, 3/4- 1-inch deep. One deep slash is just fine. Or criss-cross, or crescent shape. You want to score where you want the dough to puff out from. You can also cut with kitchen scissors. Carefully lift the parchment by the corners and place both bread and parchment directly into the dutch oven. Cover quickly.
  • BAKE. Place in the middle of the oven for 20 mins with convection on, 25 minutes w/no convection. Remove lid and it should be puffed and just lightly golden. Lower heat to 450 F, Continue baking 10- 15 minutes until deeply golden and internal temp reaches 202- 208F.
  • COOL: It will smell heavenly. Remove from the dutch oven, let it cool 1 hour on a rack or tilted up on its side, before slicing so you don’t let the steam out and don’t smash it- be patient. This is the hardest part. Take a picture! Feel proud. You did it!

  • This recipe is quite flexible and can be adapted to your needs. Feel free to experiment with different types of flour, seeds, and other additions to make it your own.