No-Knead Whole Wheat Dutch Oven Bread (Overnight Rise)
This beginner-friendly no-knead whole wheat bread is a riff on my overnight no-knead white bread (a favorite of The Practical Kitchen readers!) and bakes into a rustic loaf with a golden-brown, crackling crust. Inside, you'll find a dense yet tender crumb with a nutty-yet-mild whole wheat flavor. Baked in a Dutch oven, it delivers a warm, inviting aroma and hearty slices perfect for making sandwiches or slathering with homemade butter.
Ingredients
- 290 grams all-purpose flour
- 210 whole wheat flour (or white whole wheat flour)
- 10 grams diamond crystal kosher salt (see notes for other types of salt)
- 2 grams instant yeast (use 1 gram if very warm in your kitchen)
- 425 grams cool water
Instructions
- Mix. Combine dry ingredients both flours, salt, and yeast together in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients for the water. Pour the water into the middle of the dry ingredients and mix until well combined. It will be shaggy and messy. That's okay.
- Long rise. Cover the bowl and set it aside at room temp to rest for 18-20 hours. You're looking for the dough to double or triple in size with a flat, bubbly top. Depending on the ambient temperature in your kitchen, the dough may be ready a little before the 18 hour mark, or be fine slightly past the 20 hour mark.
- Shape. Use a bowl scraper or your fingers to gently release the top edge of the dough from the bowl, pulling it into the center. Generously flour a clean countertop and turn the dough out onto the counter. Lightly flour the top of the dough just enough to prevent it from sticking to your hands. Fold the edges of the dough across the middle to pull it into a round shape with the edges pinched together on top. Flip the loaf over so the seam side is underneath. Cup your hands around it and lightly lift and rotate the ball of dough against the counter, tucking the dough underneath itself as you go to create surface tension on top. Dust with more flour as needed during shaping to prevent sticking.
- Rest. Crumple a piece of parchment paper into a ball. Flatten it out, then crumple and flatten it out again. Use a bench scraper to lift the ball of dough onto the flattened piece of crumpled parchment paper. Dust the surface of the dough lightly with flour, cover it with a clean dish towel, and let it rise for 1-2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 450°F with a covered Dutch oven inside during the final 30 minutes of rise time.
- Score and bake. Score the top of the loaf. Then, carefully remove the Dutch oven from the oven. Take the lid off and set it aside. Gather the corners of the parchment paper together, pick the dough up, and place it inside the Dutch oven. Put the lid back on the Dutch oven.
- Bake. Place the Dutch oven inside the oven and bake the bread with the lid on for 30 minutes (don't peek!), then remove the lid and bake another 10-15 minutes until deeply golden brown on top.
- Cool. Transfer the fully baked loaf to a cooling rack and let cool completely before slicing.
RECIPE NOTES
- This is a great base recipe for adding lots of fun spices, herbs, cheese, seeds, and more. Adding anything wet like peppers, raw onions, olives, etc. will add moisture to the dough and disrupt the gluten network while adding too many dry ingredients can also can affect the dough's hydration. I recommend adding no more than 50 grams of additional flavorings/ingredients/mixins to this dough. That's about 10% by baker's percentage (10% of the total weight of the flour).
- Gluten firms up in the fridge; if you find the sticky dough is too hard to handle at room temperature, you can pop it in the fridge prior to baking. It will be much easier to shape while it's cold. Let it rest at room temperature for an additional hour after shaping and before baking.
- For a long, cold rise, refrigerate the dough immediately after mixing or after at least 12 hours at room temperature. It will be fine in the fridge for up to 5 days!
- Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt is half as salty as other brands of salt by volume, so make sure you're measuring salt by weight! If you're using a different type or brand of salt and measuring by volume, cut the amount of salt in half.
- This is best eaten within the first 3-4 days after baking. You can store it at room temperature for 5-7 days. Storing it in an airtight container like a large resealable bag works well, though the crust will soften due to trapped moisture.
- A cloth bag, brown paper bag, or a bread box with a controlled air vent will help the bread retain moisture while preserving the crunchy crust. Do not refrigerate bread; the fridge temperature will make it go stale even faster.
- To freeze this whole wheat bread whole, let it cool completely, then wrap it well with plastic wrap and place inside an airtight bag. Defrost at room temperature, then spritz the outside with water and pop it in a 350°F oven for 10-20 minutes.
- You can also slice the loaf before freezing. Place in a plastic bag with as much air pressed out as possible. Reheat from frozen in a toaster.