Grandma’s No Knead Olive Bread

Every time I bake a loaf of bread like this one, I cry. Rest in peace to my grandma whom was my best friend that I lost on Nov 13, 2020. I shared her bread recipe on TikTok in 2021 and 15 million+ views later it became a trend all over the world. This olive bread is crispy on the outside but warm soft and chewy on the inside. My grandma would call this “peasant bread “because it was so simple to make and no measurements were required. Back home everything we make is “to taste” or we look at the consistency. We were raised with using our coffee mugs as measuring spoons and life was so good that way. Every single person in the world can make bread with this recipe. If you are capable of adding 5 ingredients to a bowl and stirring it up, you are capable of making bread. It is so easy and delicious. This recipe makes 1 loaf but feel free to double it.

No knead olive bread

themodernnonna

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Prep Time 12 hrs

Cook Time 1 hr 30 mins

Total Time 13 hrs 30 mins

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 3 cups all-purpose flour 413 grams (whole-wheat works too)
• 1 teaspoon salt 5 grams
• ½ teaspoon active dry yeast 2 grams
• 1 ¾ cups warm water 400ml
• ½ cup chopped pitted olives 90 grams

Instructions

 

• Mix all of your ingredients in a really big bowl until you have a very sticky dough. Cover it and let it rise at room temp overnight, place your dough ball somewhere away from drafts that could be in your microwave, in a cupboard, or in your cold oven.
• The following day you can uncover it and flour your counter. Pour your dough out and flour it on top as well.
• You don’t need to KNEAD it you can just move it around until you have a really nice and soft dough that is no longer sticky. You can flour your loaf a little bit more if it still sticks to your hands.
• Place your loaf into ANY oven safe dish lined with parchment paper. Lid on, and place it in your cold oven (not pre-heated).
• Turn on your oven to 450F and bake for 30 minutes. 30 minutes later uncover it and bake for another 25-30 minutes or less (bread goes in, oven gets turned on, and timer starts right away).
• Bread is done once it’s nice and light and golden on each side. Let it cool 5-10 minutes and dig in. You can let it cool and cover it or wrap it up and store the bread on the counter. It will always be the best eaten the same day.

Notes

I was taught to bake based on consistency and to be honest we neve measured back home. My grandma would use our coffee cups and adjust as needed so please add a little bit of water at a time until you have a very thick and sticky dough. If your dough is too dry you can add a touch more water, and if your dough is too wet you can add a touch more flour before you leave it to rise overnight. Please always level off your flour with a knife before adding it to your bowl to have more precise measurements. I have not tried baking with foil if you don’t have a lid but it should absolutely work. You can absolutely leave out the olives to make this plain as that’s my grandmas original version. Olives, herbs, or any fillings are all up to you.

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