Place dough ball in slow cooker overnight & wake up to a yummy delight the next day

Let's be honest. Homemade bread is not really that difficult to make, especially if you know the science behind things like yeast, sugar and salt. But just because it doesn't take a chef to make it doesn't mean it can't be a pain. You've got to assemble the dough, work the dough, let it rise — and all of that is before it ever even hits the heat.

Not with this dough, though. Well okay, you do have to assemble it first. But that takes mere minutes, and then it all comes together on its own. Honestly. It sits overnight while you're sleeping — so you don't even really realize it's rising — then you just fold it all up, pop it into the slow cooker, and let the slow cooker do the rest of the work.

Slow cooker bread with Italian seasoning
Servings: 1 loaf of bread
Prep time: 9 hrs (includes rising time)
Cook time: 4 hrs
Total time: 13 hrs

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 package active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups room temperature water
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions
1. Combine the flour and yeast in a large bowl.

Add the water and stir to bring dough together.

It will be very stringy and hard to pull together. That's okay; it's not meant to resemble a ball or loaf at this point.

Keep stirring and mixing until no flour is left on the sides of the bowl, and it's been thoroughly combined with the water, as pictured below.

2. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and let rise overnight, or 8 to 13 hours.

Dust your hands and a work surface with flour.

Dump the dough onto the flour.

Separate into two, and roll into small loaf shapes. Place loaf back in the bowl.

Cover with a towel again and let rise for another hour.

3. Line a 6-quart slow cooker with parchment paper. Place one dough loaf in the slow cooker. There won't be enough room for both, so leave one to cook later.

4. Drizzle loaf with olive oil.

Sprinkle with Italian seasoning, salt and black pepper.

5. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours, or until bread is firm on the outside and sounds slightly hollow when it's tapped.

Slice and serve!