My Mother’s Peasant Bread: The Best Easiest Bread You Will Ever Make
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This is the no-knead bread recipe my mother has been baking for 45 years. Start to finish, it can be ready in three hours. It bakes in well-buttered Pyrex bowls — no need to preheat a baking vessel for this recipe — and it emerges golden and crisp with a soft, tender crumb. 🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞
When I tell you that, if forced, I had to pick one and only one recipe to share with you that this — my mother’s peasant bread — would be it, I am serious. I would almost in fact be OK ending the blog after this very post, retiring altogether from the wonderful world of food blogging, resting assured that you all had this knowledge at hand. This bread might just change your life.
The reason I say this is simple. I whole-heartedly believe that if you know how to make bread you can throw one hell of a dinner party. And the reason for this is because people go insane over homemade bread. Not once have I served this bread to company without being asked, “Did you really make this?” And questioned: “You mean with a bread machine?” But always praised: “Is there anything more special than homemade bread?”
And upon tasting homemade bread, people act as if you’re some sort of culinary magician. I would even go so far as to say that with homemade bread on the table along with a few nice cheeses and a really good salad, the main course almost becomes superfluous. If you nail it, fantastic. If you don’t, you have more than enough treats to keep people happy all night long.
The Magic of the Peasant Bread
So what, you probably are wondering, makes this bread so special when there are so many wonderful bread recipes out there? Again, the answer is simple. For one, it’s a no-knead bread. I know, I know. There are two wildly popular no-knead bread recipes out there.
But unlike the others, this is a no-knead bread that can be started at 4:00pm and turned out onto the dinner table at 7:00pm. It bakes in well-buttered Pyrex bowls — there is no pre-heating of the baking vessels in this recipe — and it emerges golden and crisp without any steam pans or water spritzes. This is not artisan bread, nor is it trying to be. It is peasant bread, spongy and moist with a most-delectable buttery crust.
Genuinely, I would be proud to serve this bread at a dinner party attended by Jim Lahey, Mark Bittman, Peter Reinhart, Chad Robertson, Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. It is a bread I hope you will all give a go, too, and then proudly serve at your next dinner party to guests who might ask where you’ve stashed away your bread machine. And when this happens, I hope you will all just smile and say, “Don’t be silly. This is just a simple peasant bread. Easy as pie. I’ll show you how to make it some day.”
Peasant Bread Variations
Once you master the peasant bread, you can make any bread your heart desires — this simple no-knead bread recipe is the foundation of many of the other bread recipes on this site, namely this hugely popular overnight refrigerator focaccia and this simple homemade pizza dough. It’s even the inspiration behind this sourdough focaccia and this sourdough sandwich bread and this simple pita bread recipe.
The below post is organized as follows:
- How to Make Peasant Bread, Step by Step
- The Best Way to Store Bread
- Peasant Bread Dinner Rolls
- Peasant Bread Sandwich Bread
- How to Add Seeds and Nuts to Bread Dough
- How to Make Gluten-Free Peasant Bread
- How to Coat the Loaves in Seeds
- How to use Whole Wheat Flour
- How to Bake the Peasant Bread in a Dutch Oven
Many more variations on the peasant bread can be found in my cookbook, Bread Toast Crumbs:
Bread Toast Crumbs
Love the peasant bread? There’s now a book filled with 40 simple bread recipes plus 70 recipes to use up every crumb of every loaf you bake.
How to Make Peasant Bread, Step by Step
First: You need yeast.
This is the yeast I buy exclusively: SAF Instant Yeast. Instant yeast can be whisked into the flour directly without any blooming or proofing. If you want to stick to active-dry yeast, there are instructions in the recipe notes on how to do so. Red Star yeast is great.
Whisk together flour, salt, sugar, and instant yeast. Add lukewarm water.
Mix until you have a sticky dough ball. Let it rise for 1.5 to 2 hours…
… or until it looks like this:
Punch down the dough using two forks.
Then split the dough down the middle again using the two forks.
Because this is a very wet dough, it must be baked in an oven-proof bowl. I am partial to the Pyrex 1L 322 size, but any similarly sized oven-proof bowl will work.
Butter the bowls well; then transfer half of the dough to each prepared bow.
Let the dough rise again until it crowns the rim of the bowl, about 30 minutes.
Transfer the bowls to the oven to bake:
This bread is irresistible when it’s freshly baked, but it also makes wonderful toast on subsequent mornings as well as the best grilled cheese. It’s also my favorite bread to use for these egg salad sandwiches and for this no-tuna “tuna” salad.
The Best Way to Store Bread
If you want to store the bread at room temperature for 3 to 4 days, I think the best method is in a ziplock bag. I’ve tried other eco-friendly options, but nothing seems to keep bread freshest — the crumb the softest — better than a ziplock bag. You can re-use the bags again and again.
If you intend to keep the bread for longer, I would freeze it. I often slice bread as soon as it cools completely, transfer the slices to a ziplock bag, then freeze. This way, I know the bread was frozen at its freshest.
A ziplock bag will not prevent the crust of bread from turning soft, which is why I suggest always reheating day-old bread. I use a toaster at breakfast for slices of bread, and I reheat half or quarter loaves in the oven at 350ºF for 15 to 20 minutes when serving for dinner.
Bread revives so beautifully in the oven or toaster.
No-Knead Dinner Rolls
To use the peasant bread dough to make rolls, simply divide the dough into smaller portions and place in a buttered muffin tin as in these No-Knead Thyme Dinner Rolls (pictured above). This recipe for no-knead buttermilk pull-apart rolls is also based on the peasant bread as are these brioche pull-apart rolls.
No-Knead Sandwich Bread
To make sandwich bread, multiply the recipe below by 1.5 and bake the bread in two buttered 8.5×4.5-inch loaf pans.
Made with half all-purpose flour and half King Arthur Sprouted Wheat Flour, these seed-coated sandwich loaves (pictured above) have a soft and light crumb. I really like KAF’s sprouted wheat flour, which is made from white whole wheat berries that, when sprouted, yield a creamy, sweet, milder-tasting flour. You can use 100% all-purpose or bread flour for an even lighter loaf or your favorite whole wheat flour in place of the sprouted wheat flour.
How to Add Nuts and Seeds to Bread Dough
To add seeds and nuts (or dried fruit and cheese), simply stir them into the dry ingredients. This recipe for Quinoa-and-Flax Toasting Bread will offer guidance on how much to add.
How to Make a Gluten-Free Peasant Bread
Making gluten-free peasant bread (pictured above) unfortunately isn’t as simple as swapping in gluten-free flour for the wheat flour. But the process and recipe is still super simple — in fact, because there’s only one rise, many people find the gluten-free peasant bread to be even simpler than the original. Find the recipe here: Gluten-Free Peasant Bread
How to Coat the Loaves in Seeds
To coat the peasant bread in seeds, as pictured above, simply coat the bowls with everything bagel seasoning or with dukkah or sesame seeds or whatever seed mix you wish. The seed-coated loaves look so beautiful, and it’s amazing how much the flavor of the coating permeates the loaves. Find the recipe here: Everything Bagel Seasoning Peasant Bread
How to Use Whole Wheat Flour
To use whole wheat flour in the peasant bread, simply replace as much as 50% of the all-purpose flour with your favorite whole wheat flour: I like KAF’s sprouted wheat flour, and I’ve been loving the Cairnsprings Mill Trailblazer stone-milled flour. With the Trailblazer, I can use up to 75% of it in the peasant bread, and it yields a beautiful, chewy texture as well as a lovely flavor and aroma.
When using whole wheat flour, you may have to use more or less water — there is no rule as to how much more or less, and it will take some trial and error to get right because all flours absorb water differently. When I use KAF sprouted wheat flour, for example, I don’t change the water amount at all. When I use the Trailblazer flour, on the other hand, I reduce the water by at least 50 grams.
If you’d like to learn more about whole wheat flour and stone-milled flours, read this: Easy Sourdough Bread (Whole Wheat-ish)
How to Bake the Peasant Bread in a Dutch Oven
If you’re looking for more of a crackling crusted boule (characteristic of a loaf of sourdough bread) as opposed to the buttery crispness of the peasant bread, you can bake the peasant bread dough in a preheated Dutch oven.
There are detailed instructions below the recipe in the notes section, but one thing to keep in mind before you begin is dough hydration. The peasant bread is a very high hydration dough, meaning there is a lot of water relative to flour. Because baking the peasant bread in a Dutch oven will require some handling of the dough — to shape it into a round and to create some tension — you may want to reduce the water from the start. Consider holding back 20-30 grams of water to make the process more manageable for you.
My Mother’s Peasant Bread: The Best Easiest Bread You Will Ever Make
- Total Time: 2 hours 27 minutes
- Yield: 2 loaves
Description
Notes:
The bread:
This is a sticky, no-knead dough, so, some sort of baking vessel, such as pyrex bowls (you need two 1-qt bowls) or ramekins for mini loaves is required to bake this bread. See notes below the recipe for sources. You can use a bowl that is about 2 qt or 2 L in size to bake off the whole batch of dough (versus splitting the dough in half) but do not use this size for baking half of the dough — it is too big.
Peasant Bread Fans! There is now a book: Bread Toast Crumbs, a loaf-to-crumb bread baking book, filled with tips and tricks and answers to the many questions that have been asked over the years. In the book you will find 40 variations of the master peasant bread recipe + 70 recipes for using up the many loaves you will bake. Learn more about the book here or buy it here.
Ingredients
- 4 cups (512 g) unbleached all-purpose or bread flour
- 2 teaspoons (10 g) kosher salt
- 2 cups (454 g) lukewarm water (made by mixing 1.5 cups cold water with 0.5 cup boiling water)
- 2 teaspoons (8 g) sugar
- 2 teaspoons (8 g) instant yeast, I love SAF Instant Yeast, see notes below
- room temperature butter, about 2 tablespoons
Instructions
- Mixing the dough: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, sugar, and instant yeast (I love SAF Instant Yeast). Add the water. Mix until the flour is absorbed. (If you are using active dry yeast, see notes below.)
- Let it rise. Cover bowl with a tea towel or plastic wrap and set aside in a warm spot to rise for at least an hour. (In the winter or if you are letting the bread rise in a cool place, it might take as long as two hours to rise.) This is how to create a slightly warm spot for your bread to rise in: Turn the oven on at any temperature (350ºF or so) for one minute, then turn it off. Note: Do not allow the oven to get up to 300ºF, for example, and then heat at that setting for 1 minute — this will be too hot. Just let the oven preheat for a total of 1 minute — it likely won’t get above 100ºF. The goal is to just create a slightly warm environment for the bread.
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Grease two 1-qt or 1.5-qt oven-safe bowls (see notes below) with about a tablespoon of butter each. Using two forks, punch down your dough, scraping it from the sides of the bowl, which it will be clinging to. As you scrape it down try to pull the dough toward the center (see video below for guidance). You want to loosen the dough entirely from the sides of the bowl, and you want to make sure you’ve punched it down. Then, take your two forks and divide the dough into two equal portions — eye the center of the mass of dough, and starting from the center and working out, pull the dough apart with the two forks. Then scoop up each half and place into your prepared bowls. This part can be a little messy — the dough is very wet and will slip all over the place. Using small forks or forks with short tines makes this easier — my small salad forks work best; my dinner forks make it harder. It’s best to scoop it up fast and plop it in the bowl in one fell swoop. Some people like to use flexible, plastic dough scrapers for this step.
- Let the dough rise again for about 20 to 30 minutes on the countertop near the oven (or near a warm spot) or until it has risen to just below or above (depending on what size bowl you are using) the top of the bowls. (Note: Do not do the warm-oven trick for the second rise, and do not cover your bowls for the second rise. Simply set your bowls on top of your oven, so that they are in a warm spot. Twenty minutes in this spot usually is enough for my loaves.)
- Bake it. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375º and bake for 15 to 17 minutes longer. Remove from the oven and turn the loaves onto cooling racks. If you’ve greased the bowls well, the loaves should fall right out onto the cooling racks. If the loaves look a little pale and soft when you’ve turned them out onto your cooling racks, place the loaves into the oven (outside of their bowls) and let them bake for about 5 minutes longer. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before cutting.
Notes
- The bowls: The cheapest, most widely available 1-qt bowl is the Pyrex 322. Update: These bowls are becoming harder to find and more expensive. As a result, I’m suggesting this cheaper option: the Pyrex 3-piece set. You can split the dough in half as always (see recipe) and bake half in the 1-quart bowl and half in the 1.5 quart bowl. The loaves will not be the same shape, but they will be delicious nonetheless.
- Yeast: I buy SAF Instant Yeast in bulk from Amazon I store it in my fridge or freezer, and it lasts forever. If you are using the packets of yeast (the kind that come in the 3-fold packets), just go ahead and use a whole packet — It’s 2.25 teaspoons. I have made the bread with active dry, rapid rise, and instant yeast, and all varieties work. The beauty of instant yeast is that there is no need to “proof” it — you can add the yeast directly to the flour. I never use active-dry yeast anymore.
- If you have active-dry yeast on hand and want to use it, here’s how: In a small mixing bowl, dissolve the sugar into the water. Sprinkle the yeast over top. There is no need to stir it up. Let it stand for about 10 to 15 minutes or until the mixture is foamy and/or bubbling just a bit — this step will ensure that the yeast is active. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. When the yeast-water-sugar mixture is foamy, stir it up, and add it to the flour bowl. Mix until the flour is absorbed.
- Troubleshooting: You can find step-by-step video instruction here.
- Several commenters have had trouble with the second rise, and this seems to be caused by the shape of the bowl they are letting the dough rise in the second time around. Two hours for the second rise is too long. If you don’t have a 1-qt bowl, bake 3/4 of the dough in a loaf pan and bake the rest off in muffin tins or a popover pan. The second rise should take no more than 30 minutes.
- Also, you can use as many as 3 cups of whole wheat flour, but the texture changes considerably. I suggest trying with all all-purpose or bread flour to start and once you get the hang of it, start trying various combinations of whole wheat flour and/or other flours.
- The single most important step you can take to make this bread truly foolproof is to invest in a digital scale. This one costs under $10. If you are not measuring by weight, do this: scoop flour into the measuring cup using a separate spoon or measuring cup; level off with a knife. The flour should be below the rim of the measuring cup.
- Here’s a printable version of this recipes that’s less wordy: Peasant Bread Recipe, Simplified
- How to Bake the Peasant Bread in a Dutch Oven: Preheat a Dutch Oven for 45 minutes at 450ºF. Dust a clean work surface with flour. After the first rise, turn the dough out onto the floured surface and shape it into a ball: I like to fold it envelope style from top to bottom, then side to side; then I flip it over and use the pinkie edges of my hands to pinch the dough underneath and create some tension. Transfer the dough to a sheet of parchment paper. Let rest for 20 minutes. If you feel your dough is spreading too much you can lift up the sheet of parchment paper, dough and all, and place it in a bowl of a similar size. After the 20 minutes, transfer the dough, parchment paper and all to the Dutch oven. Carefully cover it. Bake 30 minutes. Uncover. Bake 15 minutes more.
- To bake the peasant bread in a loaf pan: If you are using an 8.5×4.5-inch loaf pan or a 9×5-inch loaf pan, you can bake 3/4 of the dough in it; bake off the rest of the dough in ramekins or other small vessels … the mini loaves are so cute. You can also make 1.5x the recipe, and bake the bread in 2 loaf pans. If you have a large loaf pan, such as a 10×6-inch loaf pan, you can bake off the entire batch of dough in it. For loaf pans, bake at 375ºF for 45 minutes.
- How to Bake at Hight Altitude:
- First try the original recipe as written (preferably with a scale). You may not need to make any adjustments. One commenter, who lives at 9200 ft finds the original recipe to work just fine as is.
- If the original recipe doesn’t work, try adding a little bit more water because it rises fast and it is so dry: about a quarter cup for every 512 g of flour.
- Try decreasing the yeast to 1.5 teaspoons.
- If your dough is especially gooey, try decreasing the water by 1/4 cup. But, if you aren’t using a scale, my first suggestion would be to buy a scale and weigh the flour, and make the bread once as directed with the 2 cups water and 512 grams flour, etc.
- Punch the dough down twice before transferring it to the buttered Pyrex bowls. In other words, let it rise for 1-1.5 hours, punch it down, let it rise again for about an hour, punch it down, then transfer it to the buttered bowls.
- Variations:
- #1. Cornmeal. Substitute 1 cup of the flour with 1 cup of cornmeal. Proceed with the recipe as directed.
- #2. Faux focaccia. Instead of spreading butter in two Pyrex bowls in preparation for baking, butter one 9×9-inch glass baking dish and one Pyrex bowl or just butter one large 9×13-inch Pyrex baking dish. If using two vessels, divide the dough in half and place each half in prepared baking pan. If using only one large baking dish, place all of the dough in the dish. Drizzle dough with 1 tablespoon of olive oil (if using the small square pan) and 2 tablespoons of olive oil (if using the large one). Using your fingers, gently spread the dough out so that it fits the shape of the pan. Use your fingers to create dimples in the surface of the dough. Sprinkle surface with chopped rosemary and sea salt. Let rise for 20 to 30 minutes. Bake for 15 minutes at 425ºF and 17 minutes (or longer) at 375ºF. Remove from pan and let cool on cooling rack.
- #3. Thyme Dinner Rolls
- #4 Gluten-free
- #5. Everything Bagel Seasoning Bread. Simply coat the buttered bowls with Everything Bagel Seasoning. Watch a how-to on Instagram Stories here.
- #6: Whole Wheat Peasant Bread. Use as much as 50% whole wheat flour. I like King Arthur Flour’s white whole wheat flour (see this post) or sprouted wheat flour (see this post).
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 32 minutes
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
6,352 Comments on “My Mother’s Peasant Bread: The Best Easiest Bread You Will Ever Make”
I am so glad I found your recipe for this wonderful bread. The instructions were easy to follow & thanks for the videos of how the process should be. this is my second time to make the bread. Each time has been perfect. My husband loves it. I have even shared a loaf with friends . I tell them how I got the recipe & how they to can make wonderful homemade bread.
Thanks to you for sharing a wonderful secret. I have been so afraid to try so many recipes but yours was so easy . Step by step of a how to achieve wonderful delicious bread. Again Thank you for sharing
Yay!! So wonderful to hear this.
Instead of “scant” cups of flour how about figuring out exactly how much 4 scant cups is? Is it 31/2, 33/4? Wouldn’t it make it easier to measure correct amount? I always kind of sift flour into cup and level it off. Haven’t made the bread yet but thinking about it. I’ve made bread for years but not a no knead one.
Hi Jen,
Actually 3.5 cups or 3.75 cups is about as vague as scant cups — this is why I encourage all bread bakers to use a scale. 512 g is always 512 g. Using a scale removes all human error. If you want to get into bread baking, I highly recommend using a scale.
Thank goodness you are recommending using a scale. Digital scales are so accurate and make life so much easier. Every table I check for the equivalent in grams for American cup measures they are different. You don’t know who to believe and you are possibly wasting expensive ingredients.
I’ve made this bread twice now & I never noticed it said scant cups. I use 4 cups before sifting & it turned out great both times
I just found this on Facebook. Too late to make it tonight but it’s definitely on the list for tomorrow morning.
I’ve never tried “oven on/oven off” for first rise. I just put it in the oven with the light on.
Nice! Hope it works out 🙂
Has anyone tried using stainless steel bowls? I do not own any Pyrex pieces. Thank you
I have not, but many people have with success — any oven-safe vessel will work; be sure to grease it well.
I don’t know how anyone can use this website. there is too much stuff on it. it won’t load and keeps reloading. it is awful.
I love baking bread ( I tell people it;s my new hobby, I’ll be 80 in March 2018) and I also share it with my neighbors. I haven’t tried your recipe but like the idea of baking in pyrex bowls. Recently I have been baking my sour-dough in stainless steel pans (with stainless steel handles). Have you tried turning this recipe into sandwich bread and baking in a loaf pan? I’m also looking for a good recipe for sandwich rolls similar to franz’s outdoor buns.
Hi Paul, You’re hilarious, loved your comment 🙂 I do make this into sandwich bread: simply use 1.5 x the recipe and add 1/3 cup oil to the mix. Bake at 375 for 40 to 45 minutes. You can use this dough to make hamburger buns, too.
Just made this! I’ve never ever made bread bread before. I’ve made at least 2 dozen banana breads in the past few years, but never BREAD.
I did not have a big round baking bowl. I used two mini Pyrex bowls and then a glass loaf pan.
Bread got stuck a teeny bit to the loaf on the bottom but not noticeable.
Delicious and super easy! Will be making this again. And maybe investing in a nice baking bowl…. ????
So happy to hear this, Amy!
I have tried many no-knead bread recipes and this is definitely the best! Made my first loaf this morning and will be making many more. This is my go to bread recipe from now on. Clear and detailed instructions and great tips.
So happy to hear this, Elizabeth!
Hi Ali,
So I’ve made your bread about four times now and it seems that the 2 cups water is never enough to get the wet dough as in your instructions. Can it be because I’m measuring out 4 cups vs. 512g?
Love everything you post, many of your recipes are now family favorites! Thanks for the help! -Seta
Hi Seta, So happy to hear you are baking the bread! Yeah, it sounds as though you need to use a lighter hand when measuring the flour. But yes, if you had a scale, it would make it so easy … and since it sounds as though you are getting into it, I can’t recommend you investing in one enough. The one I have cost $13 on Amazon. Let me know if there is anything else!
Oh good! First time making it this morning and my dough was a little dry so I added more warm water so it looks like the pic. I love making bread but am so bad at it! I am really hoping this will work for me. And yes, I will go get a scale since it seems I am being heavy handed with the flour also……thanks!
Nice! Happy to hear all of this, Romelle!
Just made this today and wow!! I learned so much from your write up first, too. Question though, what’s the best way to store the big loaf? I doubles the recipe and made two smaller ones (1q) and one 2q. Gave away one smallnone, ate the other with soup for dinner, but now I need to store the large loaf. Does it freeze well? How long will it keep on the counter? Thanks!
hi, fellow-peasant-bread-baker here. it freezes AWESOME. i slice them thick and saran wrap each slice then put the whole thing in a freezer safe container (for me, freezer ziploc). i take out a slice, nuke it (1 min was a bit too long for me), and then make a single serving of french toast. but before i made the french toast i tasted it and the nuked bread tasted pretty good as well.
oops, can’t edit. wanna add, i think if you toast the nuked bread, it’ll be just as good as fresh.
Great to hear this, Tina — thanks for chiming in!
Hi Stefanie! As Tina noted, it freezes beautifully. I essentially do the same thing, but I wrap 4 or 5 slices together at once and freeze the bundle. If you want to freeze this with the intention of warming up for dinner, you can cut the loaf into quarters and freeze the quarters (or whatever size you wish).
We love this receipt. We add 1/3 cup Grated Asiago cheese just before putting in oven to cook. The cheese melts and the flavor goes inside about and inch. We cut up and freeze thin to medium slices for later. Put it in the toaster oven for 5 mins frozen and it comes out delicious. Thanks for sharing.
Yum! I love Asiago. This sounds delicious!
I make this bread every few months and it’s perfect every time! In fact, I have some dough on it’s first rise right now. I only have one baking bowl but I usually do a loaf in the bowl and the other in a loaf pan and it works great (and also means I have some bread that fits in my toaster!) Thank you so much for posting this 🙂
So happy to hear this, Sophie!
If you wanted to create a whole grain bread (I have a grain mill to grind my own flour), how would you do it?
I love to bake bread but I prefer whole grain. Have you tried doing this recipe with whole wheat flour?
Thank you
Hi Ciel! I’ve had my eye on a grain mill for about half a year now … haven’t bit the bullet, but I’m tempted. I have never used home-milled flour, but I have use locally milled stone-milled flour (high extraction all-purpose flour), and I find I have the best results when I use a mix of half stone-milled, half conventional. You’re probably looking to use all home-milled flour, and my suggestion is, unfortunately, to just give it a go! I don’t know how the home-milled flour absorbs water differently than conventional flour, but you may have to adjust the amount of water. This is a very high-hydration dough (94%) — not sure if that helps at all. Please report back. As I said, I’ve been hoping to get a mill sometime soon, and I’m hoping to experiment with some longer slower rises, which I think might be important when using home-milled flour. Report back if you experiment. Good luck!
Hi Alexandra. I made this bread yesterday but it didn’t rise enough on the second rise. The bread was on the hob and not rising (cold kitchen) so I ended up heating my ovens up below, turning them off and opening the doors. Had to leave them for an hour in which time they rose to within an inch of the one litre bowls. They were still good after baking but I wonder should I leave them longer for the first rise? I’m trying again today.
Hi Jan, Very interesting. So, did the first rise go well? I find especially in the winter, the rises take much longer: the first rise may take 1.5 to 2 hours. The second may take close to an hour, but after an hour, the dough should definitely be crowning the rim of the bowl.
Questions: For the first rise, did you do the oven trick? And if so, the oven wasn’t too hot, right? Some people have made the mistake of waiting for the oven to get up to a certain temperature, heating the oven for 1 minute at that temperature, then sticking the dough in the oven to rise, which ends up partially cooking it and therefore killing the yeast.
Are you using a scale to measure the flour? I ask only because when people don’t, sometimes the dough is stiffer because they use more flour, which then causes the rise to take longer.
Good luck today! Let me know if you have any other questions.
Hi. I used the oven trick but it wasn’t too hot. I think I’ll try the longer time for the first rise and yes I always use my trusty digital scales. I’ll let you know how the next batch goes.
Thanks for your reply.
Regards
Jan
Wonderful, please report back!
I read about a good trick for helping dough rise in the winter and have had great success with it. Put your bowl of dough into the microwave and next to it a large mug of just boiled water. Close the door. Usually an hour’s rise is enough.
Great tip! Thanks for sending/sharing 🙂
Hi
Very much looking forward to trying this bread. I just wanted to say I’m a pyrex finatic and collector. The round bowls you’re using are not referred to as Cinderella bowls . The cindies have pour spout handles on each side . Unless I read the post wrong . Thanks for such a great recipe!! Can’t waif to test it out .
*wait*
Hope you like it, Vicki! I love my Pyrex, too 🙂
I noticed you mentioned that one cup of corn meal could be used. I am wondering if I swap out two cups of masa for the flour?
I have two things I want to bake today but have limited flour thought if I could do this it would help me achieve my goal. LOL
haha, I love it 🙂 You can always try … you may have to adjust the water quantity. I would just add the water slowly — you may not need all of it. Add the water, mixing every so often as you add, and refer to the pictures as a guide for consistency. The dough should be wet and sticky but able to hold together in a ball.
Do you have a weat free cook book please L sheach
Hi, I’d like to be able to bake bread first thing in the morning for breakfast. Have you tried making the dough the day before (through the first rise?) , refrigerating overnight, and do 2nd rise in the morning? Or I’m wondering if it will rise somewhat over night in the fridge?
I have! After the first rise, punch it down, cover the bowl, stick it in the fridge. Just keep in mind that the second rise in the morning, may take longer because the dough is cold— once I divide the dough into the buttered bowls, I give it as long as it needs to crown the rim, then I bake it. The method works like a charm and tastes especially delicious!
Watching your segment now on Channel 25 (Potluck). I only have 1 large pyrex bowl. Can I cook the entire batch in one bowl? If so, how would I alter the cooking time? Can’t wait to try it.
Yay! How large is the bowl? If it’s at least 2 quarts, you’re good to go! Just bake it a little bit longer — at least 10 more minutes at 375 or until it’s golden all around.
I made this bread today:. For some odd reason I don’t have much luck with yeast breads, but I persevere & keep making other yeast recipes. My husband is use to the…”I’m NEVER making yeast recipe EVER”. Today, my life changed! I’m a baker type person, the more complicated the recipe, the better a challenge. Reason I was hesitant to try this recipe: 1st – YEAST; 2nd – TOO SIMPLE. End result: I’m now a convert to yeast & simplicity! This bread recipe is amazing, simple AND easy to make. Thank you for the conversion!!
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Love the recipe, made it at least ten times with AP flour, but the other day decided to try it with bread flour for the first time because I realized I had some in the cupboard so why not? But it didn’t come out the same at all! The dough was much drier and hardly rose at all, even though I did everything else just as I always do. I went ahead and baked it anyway, and it came out just OK, good enough for toast! Any thoughts on what went wrong? … I’m just curious because I think I’ll stick to the AP flour from now on! In fact have another batch on second rise right now waiting to go into the oven! Thanks for an amazing recipe that everyone loves and that makes me look like a real breadmaker!
anyone tried this with a gluten free mixed flour?
Here are my Pyrex bowl sizes: I have one 1-liter bowl, one 1.5-liter bowl, and two 2.5-liter bowls. Please tell me which combination of bowls would work best. Thank you!
OK, you can either bake the whole thing in the 2.5 liter bowl… just be sure to bake it longer, like at least 10 minutes to 15 minutes or until it’s golden all around.
Or you can divide the dough in half and bake one half in the 1-liter bowl, and one half in the 1.5 liter bowl. It will be a good experiment because you’ll see how it will look as though the one in the 1-liter bowl is rising more, but it’s really just relative to the bowl.
Good luck!
I oiled my hands to transfer the dough.
The bread was really good and very easy to make.
I’ll be making it again.
To say I am a novice at cooking and baking is an understatement. I cannot express how proud I was when I this bread came out of the oven smelling and tasting delicious! Thank you for the time you took to explain each step. Such a great success! Looking forward to trying more recipes.
So happy to hear this, Beth!
Don’t use coconut oil to grease your bowls…
Ah, I was just wondering about subbing coconut oil for the butter. What happened?
I’ve gotten a little obsessed with this bread – I made this version once, bought your cookbook, and in two weeks have blown through three recipes from the book and another batch of the original, this time with bread flour. A question – if one wanted to make two more traditional loaf-pan-loaves (sandwich bread?), would it work to do everything basically the same, but use two 8.5×4.5 loaf pans rather than two quart bowls? Thanks!
I had the same question!
Thanks for commenting! It made me see the comment I had missed 🙂
Megan, somehow I missed your comment … so sorry!
First, thanks so much for buying my book … it means the world!
Second: for loaf pans, I do 1.5 times the recipe, using about 2.5 tsp yeast. I also add about 1/3 cup of oil, like grapeseed or something neutral, which makes for a softer crumb, but you don’t have to do this. I bake the loaves at 375 for about 45 to 50 minutes or until golden.
Hope that helps!
Absolutely fantastic bread! Thank you so much.
This is the easiest, best bread ever. We love it! I use a new heating pad (just for my kitchen)set on low for the rise. Works perfect for me.