I love bread.
A lot.
I love fresh-out-of-the-oven-butter-melted-on-top-cannot-eat-enough bread.
[is your mouth watering yet?]
I also was blessed with a mama who made most of the bread we ate.
Yes, spoiled, I know.
And then? Then she started grinding her own flour. Not with a mortar and pestle.
But maybe still a little bit crazy.
It’s so crazy-awesome, that I decided to join the fun.
I hit up Craigslist to find one of these beauties listed on the cheap–
along with 100 pounds of wheat berries the seller threw in as well.
huzzah!
But well, that whole making and baking thing…
As much as I want to have fresh bread on my to-do list every week,
I get a little overwhelmed sometimes by the task.
…which happens to be enhanced by the toddler running around.
That was until I made…
{lazy} overnight whole wheat Cheese bread
5 minutes of prep the night before means that fresh-out-of-the-oven bread is on the menu for dinner the following evening. You ready?
- 3 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon yeast
- 1 1/2 cups water
- [1 cup shredded cheese – I used freshly shredded Dubliner Cheese from Trader Joe’s]
- other mixins: nuts, cranberries, raisins, flax seed
Grab a bowl and mix all the ingredients–except the cheese/mixins–together with a spatula. It’ll be goopy and sticky–just go with it. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a corner on your counter.
Forget about it.
Go to sleep.
Enjoy the next day: ignore the bread!
Let that bowl of stickiness sit at room temperature for at least 12 hours–or just count back from dinner 1.5 hours. Turn your oven to 450°F and place a covered dish that can withstand the heat inside. I used a ceramic Corningware dish, but you could use cast iron–as long as it doesn’t have a plastic knob and it has a cover. When the oven gets hot, set the timer for 35 minutes.
While the oven is warming up getting ridiculously hot—with your dish inside–dump 1/3 cup of flour on a flat service. Pull out the dough from the bowl and shape into a ball-ish shape–folding the shredded cheese or other mix-ins. It’ll still be sticky and goopy: that is okay.
Place the dough back into the bowl and let it sit until your timer goes off.
Go take a nap.
Remove the hot dish from the oven–carefully!–and plop the dough into the hot dish.
Plop is a good word to describe it–I think you’ll agree.
Also random: does anyone else call a casserole a “hotdish?”
My husband makes fun of me every time I say it. How rude.
Place the dish back in the oven for 30 minutes with the cover on, then remove the cover for 10 minutes.
Allow to cool slightly before removing bread from the dish: it’s hot!
Then slice.
And eat.
[And if you’re nice, share.]
enjoy!
I’d love to hear what mixins you try! And how it turns out — keep me posted!
UPDATE: I’ve had a few questions regarding which type of casserole dish to use! I suggest cast iron or ceramic/stoneware. {Just be sure to check their maximum temperature limits!}
A few cast iron favorites:
Le Creuset Enameled Cast-Iron 3-1/2-Quart Round French Oven, Cherry
Staub 5.5 Quart Round Cocotte
A few ceramic favorites:
CorningWare French White 2-1/2-Quart Round Casserole Dish with Glass Cover
Rachael Ray Stoneware 2-3/4-Quart Covered Bubble and Brown Casserround Casserole, Red
-xoxo
Um. This both shows your crazy domestic skills and your true wisconsin colors.
I need this bread stat.
Or my desire for comfort food + lazyness!! bahaha!!
ummmmm we seriously need to coordinate our Wisconsin/Chicago-area visits ASAP.
xoxo
this looks awesome! Going to try it. Thanks!
let me know if you have any questions!!
Mmm…YUM!! Trying this today! :)
You won’t be sorry!! let me know what you add to it!
Totally trying this soon!!! (As in…as soon as I can get the store and restock my whole wheat flour stash!). And I also say hotdish and get make fun of all the time…I still think it makes more sense than casserole!
oh Kacia.
this is so so very dangerous! i have a feeling bread will be in our house all the time now!
I make my own bread too, though I draw the line at grinding my own wheat. I love the yeasty smell of bread dough as it is rising. I love the feel on my hands as I knead it. And I love the taste. I make bread every week. Soon I will be making it at least twice a week. We are going through more and more bread. Bread baking is actually on my to-do for today. Yay!
I know we all draw our sanity lines right?! I am surely not about to criticize or anything negative like that. But… I promise that grinding your own wheat is not as complicated as it sounds. I’m so lazy when it comes to anything kitchen:) I use the dry container of the vitamix, and I get can grind 2 cups of grains in 1 minute with barely any clean-up afterward (no complicated parts/machinery to keep up with). Merry breadbaking, fresh ground wheat or no!
First of all, I’m pretty sure bread (or any other carb) is my love language. So, this spoke to my heart. And my stomach.
Secondly, my husband would be so impressed. Gonna have to make it happen soon!
Thanks for your practicality. And for being adorable.
Love.
This sounds good. Do you think it would work in a kitchen that is either chilly, or hot when the wood stove is going? Love the pix of H on the side!
I would never in a million years think I was capable of making my own bread, but I’m going to try this because it sounds like I could actually accomplish it without screwing up. How exciting!
you totally can do it, Joanna!!! keep me posted on how it goes!!
When we discovered that our middle child is allergic to soy, I had to start making all of our own bread. I am not a good cook at all, but after the first try of making sandwich bread I was surprised at how incredibly easy it was. Like, seriously! Why don’t more people make their own bread? Why does it have this stigma of being so hard?
I know! I’ve often wondered that!! And i think it’s because it’s usually so time consuming!
And really? just so few people do it!! sadly!
This looks sooooo good!
Let me know if you try it!!
oh my goodness. salivating.
making this tonight.
I made it – I love it!! Can’t wait to try some different varieties! Thank you so much for posting this recipe!!!
This sounds so yummy, I want to start a loaf tonight to enjoy tomorrow!! I need to know if you use fast rise yeast? Thanks for sharing!
Hi Debra! I emailed you – did you get it?
Head’s up: Your Facebook sidebar covers up the quantities of ingredients .
Gathering all the ingredients now to make this for tomorrow’s dinner. Mmmm! Thanks for the recipe!
This looks great. I’m wondering if you can let me know about how big your dish is that you cook it in? Maybe you could link to something similar, say on Amazon? I want to try this, but I get all nervous if I don’t know I’m using the right thing. Thanks!
Hey Amy!! I just added a few favorites! Hopefully this helps – let me know if you still have questions! oxo!
SO GOOD!! I’ve made two loaves of this bread so far. I made one with freshly-grated pecorino romano cheese and it it fantastic. I just pulled another out of the oven; this one I made with sharp Tillamook cheddar, and it smells lovely. I can see this recipe easily becoming my go-to daily bread. Thank you!
*it IS fantastic.
: )
oh GOOD!!! That seriously makes my heart so happy, Georgia!! I did golden raisins and fresh nutmeg and cinnamon–great for breakfast or french toast!
That sounds like a winning combo. I’ll try it. Just thought I’d follow up and tell you that this I keep a loaf of this bread on-hand pretty steadily now. Today I’m making it with toasted sesame, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds and slivered almonds. I have friends who want to make it now too. Thank you again.
Hey!
I will be trying this bread tomorrow. I have all the ingredients, only missing the pot. Does anybody know if I can cover the dish with aluminium foil? I am not going to the city anytime soon, so if any of you has any idea, let me know.
Vivi
Hi Vivi! I think you could! But I would try to put the tinfoil on all the way to the bottom of the pot– the important thing is to keep the heat in! And be CAREFUL putting the tinfoil on! that pot will be HOT after heating in the oven!!