Easy Homeschool Idea for All Ages: Baking Overnight Bread
Chef Po (3yo) loves tackling simple cooking and baking tasks any time she can. The older she gets, the more excited I am that I get to show her how to do Real Life Things like cooking and self-sufficiency. The baby/toddler stage was cute and all, but I’m loving having a child who can start trying and learning more “advanced” things like cooking something simple from start to finish. She's riiight on the cusp of being able to follow a recipe without it devolving into food play and exploration (an important step in its own right, but like... I just wanna eat some bread already dammit!)
When I moved to the new house in early 2022, I bought myself a French Oven (an enameled Dutch Oven) as a housewarming gift to myself. I've never worked with cast iron before and now I can't believe I went so long without it! I recently discovered the joys of no-knead overnight dutch oven bread and WOW. It's actually amazing. My haughty ass thought it was "bread making" for people who don't know how to make bread uNlIkE mE wHo kN0wS eV3rYtHiNg *hair flip.* Of course I’m kidding, but I really did think it was a “lesser” bread making technique because of the no-knead thing. So I was stunned to read this post from Serious Eats all about what’s really going on with no-knead bread and learn that as it turns out, there is actual science involved!!!
In addition to delicious bread with less effort, I will also be eating a slice of humble pie. Overnight no-knead bread is delicious “real” bread. It’s also a really great low maintenance way to introduce baking to your child(ren). There are minimal ingredients and it’s mostly hands off. It can be adapted for pretty much any age bracket too! Pre-k & Kinder can help you pour and mix the ingredients and you can talk to older kids about how the overnight dough works. (Read the linked article from Serious Eats to learn more for yourself!)
Po and I have gotten into the habit of making it once a week. It needs about 12-18 hours of resting time (this is actually the opposite of rest time because the dough is hard at work!) so we mix it up around 5:30pm and bake it at 8:30am the next day to enjoy hot out of the oven! It’s also incredibly easy to adapt with various flavors depending on the season. I make a spicy Jalapeño Cheddar version for myself, but Po likes to keep it classic without any add ins (but topped with butter and strawberry jam of course!)
Overnight No-Knead French Oven Bread
Ingredients
- 3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and yeast.
- Slowly stir in warm water and mix until all the ingredients are thoroughly combined.
- Cover with beeswax wrap (or plastic wrap if that's all you have) and a clean tea towel and allow it to rise at room temperature for 12-18 hours. I found that the 15 hour mark is the sweet spot for me.
- When you're ready to bake, gently punch down the dough and shape into a ball as much as you can. It will still be sticky at this point, so flour your hands first if needed. Lay out the dough on a parchment paper big enough to fit into your French Oven. Lift the dough using the edges of the parchment paper and place in a clean bowl to keep its shape. Set aside for 30 mins and move on to the next step while it's resting.
- While the dough is resting, preheat the oven to 450 and place your French Oven inside to heat it up. Once the dough is ready to bake, carefully remove the French Oven from the oven and place the dough inside on the parchment paper. Cover with the lid and (using potholders!) place back into the oven.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes covered, then remove the lid and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes to get the top nice and crispy. Allow it to cool for 10 minutes inside the French Oven, then lift the parchment out and let it cool down on a cooling rack for an additional hour or until completely cooled. Slice and serve!
- Store any leftover slices in an airtight container once they're completely cooled for up to 3-4 days. If you can't eat it all before then, pop the slices in the freezer for up to 3 months.