How to Make Easy Overnight or Same Day Sourdough Bread

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This Easy Overnight Sourdough Bread has saved our little family on multiple occasions. It’s a great recipe for when you need bread the next day and you haven’t fed your starter!

How to be Organised With Sourdough

This bread recipe is for when the day comes that you skip a beat and forget to feed your starter. But we will get to that! It may seem strange that an article about last-minute breadmaking is talking about how to be organised with your starter, but I am boldly going there!

The distinguishing thing about sourdough bread is, to have it on hand, you do need to prepare for it days in advance. This is what makes it so beautiful and so healthy for you, so the time factor is utterly worth the extra effort and planning.

So I have learned to think ahead.

I have found a rhythm: Monday is “feed starter” day, Tuesday is “making dough” day, and Wednesday is “baking” day.  This happens every week.  It needs to, or my men don’t get lunch!

However, every now and then, a sourdough queen (or king) gets caught out and has forgotten to feed that starter.  This can set the whole week off course, which is a pain, especially if that queen has also run out of bread!

This Easy Overnight Sourdough Bread Recipe is a life-saver: you still get your sourdough bread health and taste benefits, but you can make it out of your sourdough discard! Which is a double win, because who wants to chuck that precious starter down the drain?

Not me.

This recipe has enabled me to keep up with my homemade bread obsession because, disclosure: we don’t buy bread anymore.  We have lived on sourdough bread for the last 3 years. This is a huge cost savings for us, as we go through about 3 loaves every week. 

But I would not have been able to stick to this goal if it wasn’t for my trusty ol’ overnight sourdough bread recipe.

How to make Easy Overnight Sourdough Bread

As I mentioned before, this recipe saves you a day and can be made using your sourdough discard. In fact it’s a great recipe to use when you need to feed your starter, far easier and more cost effective than pancakes or cookies!

The recipe is also less hands-on, because you do not have to perform the 4x stretch and folds.

PLUS, this Sourdough Recipe has a long overnight proof, so you get all those traditional sourdough benefits from the extended fermentation.

What Equipment do you need for this easy overnight sourdough loaf?

This sourdough loaf is made using cup-measures, so you do not need special digital scales (which I would definitely recommend for other sourdough recipes).

Therefore you simply need a medium sized mixing bowl, or even a 2-litre capacity Icecream tub, which is SO handy as you can just bung the lid on when you leave it overnight. Only use an ice-cream tub if it is made from plastic, otherwise the dough will stick and you won’t have a fun time the next morning!

The only other essential piece of equipment is a Dutch oven, and I use a black version of this one. This is what enables the amazing rise and distinctive crust of Sourdough Bread.

Easy Overnight Sourdough Bread Timeline:

The time to make this easy loaf is practically minimal. Just mix the dough, go to sleep, wake up, shape, and bake! That’s all there is to it. Easy-peasy!

OR if you get yourself sorted early enough, you COULD definitely mix the dough in the morning (at say, 7 am), leave it to rise for 6-8 hours. Then, it should be ready to bake by 3-5 ish!

The night before:

Mix starter, salt and warm water. Add flour and mix until it becomes a cohesive dough. Cover with a tea-towel or plastic wrap and leave for 8 hours or overnight on your bench.

The next morning:

Give yourself 1 hour from when you initially shape the dough. Set a timer for 1 hour so you do not miss putting the bread in the oven. That done, you can now shape your loaf.

Shaping technique

Turn the dough out onto the bench.  Stretch it out as far as it will go without tearing (almost as if you were making a pizza base). 

Fold the corners into the centre, creating a ball.  Turn it over to hide the seam. 

Using your hands, cup the dough and scrape it towards you across the bench, pulling the surface of the dough taut.  Turn the dough 90 degrees, and repeat.  Do this until you are happy with the tautness of the surface.

Prove for 1 hour

Line a shallow bowl or proving basket with a floured tea-towel then carefully transfer the dough, crust side down, into it.

Leave for 1 hour in a warm place to rise. Be careful not to over-prove at this point, as it affects how it rises in the oven.

While the dough is proving, preheat the oven to its highest setting and put in the casserole dish (or Dutch Oven) to heat up. This needs about 1 hour, so be sure to do this as soon as you have finished shaping the loaf.

Transfer and Bake

Place a sheet of baking paper over the proving basket, turn the whole thing over and whip back the tea-towel. You should find a lightly floured dough, crust-side up.

Score the dough. I have found that with a round loaf, just a single cross in the middle produces the best risen crust.

Holding the sides of the baking paper, transfer the dough to the heated Dutch Oven (it will be HOT, so be careful!)

Pop the lid on and bung it in the oven. Turn the temperature down to 200*C and bake 45 mins.

Easy Overnight Sourdough Tips for the Perfect Loaf

• Do not put too much liquid in the dough. If the mixture is looking a bit wet, add a little bit more flour. The texture of the dough should be spongy and buoyant, not gluey or sticky. If the mixture is too wet, it will end up a flat pancake! (believe me, I’ve been there WAY too many times!)
• Do not over-prove. If it is a warmer time of year, leave it overnight in a cooler spot, or make it later in the evening. If it proves for too long, you will end up with a flat pancake.
• Keep an eye on it after you have shaped the dough. If it is warmer, it may not take the full hour to be ready to bake. If that is the case, put it in the oven as soon as it has warmed up.