Totally inspired by Bakingqueen74, who has been baking in her slow cooker since forever, and then reminded, poked and prodded into actually giving it a go by the colourful bread recipes that Bootstrapcook has been posting. 

I love the no knead method, and I can stir it all together and just leave it to do its thing, so I went with that. This used up the flours I had hanging around. I am tempted to do a rye version too, and a cinnamon and raisin.

1 x 3.5 litre slow cooker, lined with enough non stick baking parchment that the edges poke out (helps to form a handle to lift the bread out)
2 cups strong bread flour, white or wholemeal
2 cups plain flour
2 tbs olive oil
1.5 tsp salt
1 7g sachet of yeast
2-2.5 cups tap hot water (if it’s too dry, add the half cup of water a bit at a time.)
100g juicy black olives, de-stoned and roughly chopped
1-2 tbs finely chopped coriander leaves (non essential)
1-2 tbs crispy onions (non essential)

Put the flour in a large bowl.
Put the yeast on one side, and the salt on another side of the flour.
Pour in the 2 cups of water, and the oil.
Mix really well with a spoon, or a spatula, or a dinner knife, or your hands if you want, until all the flour has gone, and the olive pieces are all mixed through.
Cover with cling film and leave to rise. Mine took about an hour or so in a warm kitchen.

Once it’s doubled in size, line your slow cooker with non stick baking parchment, and put on high to preheat.

Tip the dough out onto a floured surface. It might be pourable, it might be a less sticky dough, but whatever it is, DO NOT PANIC. It will still bread.

I use an old bank card as a dough scraper, and work and fold the flour into the dough, until it comes together into a smooth ball or oval shape, depending on your slow cooker shape. Oil your hands if you like, as that will also stop the dough sticking too much to you. You can even use two old bank or store cards, if you really don’t want to touch the dough.

Pop the ball of dough into the slow cooker. Leave it on high, and put the lid on.
Set a timer for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
When the timer goes off, gently lift the bread out using oven gloves, and turn it over to cook the other side for another 30 minutes.

I put the whole loaf into a 200C oven for 10 minutes to get a golden colour on it too, but you don’t have to.  It is a very tender, soft loaf, and quite addictive.