Overnight No-knead Bread (Vegan)

The morning arrived over the sleeping village. Drawn broke, splashing hues of grey that turned purple and yellow that turned gold as the Sun rose in the East. Retreating monsoon has been overly long. A clear sky after a long time felt like a rare sight.

 The Himalayas made an appearance after a long time and sight was majestic and mesmerizing.

A pleasant morning is no less than a celebration of myriad colours, sights, and sounds. Bees crowd the wildflowers and a constant hum is audible you pass by. 

A yellow bumblebee settles repeatedly on a yellow Dahlia perhaps by choice and is almost camouflaged.

Birds forage and their cacophony suffuses the air.  

While a  Rufous Sibia  quietly pecks the ripe pears.

The mellow Sun is soothing, healing and comforting.

In one corner of the kitchen counter, bread batter is covered and kept overnight. We check the batter of our overnight bread. It's bubbly and well risen. After giving it a vigorous stir, it is folded over in the mixing bowl itself and then transferred to the prepared pan. It is a high hydration dough and needs to be shaped with oiled hands once transferred to the prepared pan.

Make sure to sprinkle the greased pan generously with flour. You may also sprinkle the top of the loaf with wheat bran prior to baking.

Cold fermentation really helps dough develop flavor.

The bread is one of the most delicious breads. It has a very soft crumb.

We loved it with a generous spread of homemade peanut butter and Apricot Jam.

This is an amazing and very versatile loaf. You’ll love it with hot soup. It makes great sandwiches too!

Overnight No-knead Bread (Vegan)

Ingredients 

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 tablespoons raw unrefined sugar
• 1 ¾ teaspoon salt
• ¾ teaspoon instant yeast
• 2 cups cold water ( plus 1 tablespoon if the dough is too dry)
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil.
• 2 tablespoons bran

Instructions

1. The night before baking day, mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Add water and oil over the dry ingredients.
3. Stir the ingredients with a large spoon until thoroughly mixed.
4. Spray the top of the dough with oil. Cover with a plastic wrap.
5. Let the dough rise overnight (12 to 18 hours)
6. Grease one 8 ½ x 4 ½ inch loaf pan. Dust the greased pan generously with flour.
7. Stir the risen dough vigorously.
8. With an oiled spatula, with the dough still in the bowl, fold the dough over itself to form a loaf. This step develops tension and helps the dough to rise upwards uniformly.
9. Invert the dough into the prepared loaf pan, seam side down. With oiled hands,   press and shape  the dough, spreading it uniformly in the loaf pan.
10. Cover with a plastic wrap and let it rise and doubles, and crests over the lip of the pan.
11. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
12. Bake for 60 minutes or until the loaf turns golden brown. Tent with a foil if the top is getting too brown.
13. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack.
14. Slice when cold.

Note- If you are baking this bread in cold weather or even warm weather, let the batter sit on the kitchen counter overnight. If you are baking during summer, keep the batter in the refrigerator for about 18 hours.