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 homemade 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 4:00 pm and turned out onto the dinner table at 7:00 pm. 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 simple pita bread recipe and these no-knead dinner rolls.
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 and sandwiches of all kinds.
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 below). This recipe for no-knead buttermilk pull-apart rolls is also based on the peasant bread recipe.
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 (no longer available unfortunately), these seed-coated sandwich loaves (pictured below) have a soft and light crumb.
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 below) isn’t as simple as swapping in gluten-free flour for wheat flour. But the process is still relatively simple — in fact, because there’s only one rise, many people find the gluten-free peasant bread recipe 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 below, 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’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 the Trailblazer flour, for example, 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. I love my Lodge Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron Double Dutch Oven which I’ve been using for years! The Lodge is a great value at around $49, but if you like the idea of making an oblong-shaped peasant loaf, I can’t recommend the Challenger Bread Pan enough, which costs $299. The placement of the handles makes for easy removal and closure of the lid, and it creates beautiful, crusty loaves every time.
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 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 onecosts 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.
- #6: Whole Wheat Peasant Bread. Use as much as 50% whole wheat flour.
- 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.
6,615 Comments on “My Mother’s Peasant Bread: The Best Easiest Bread You Will Ever Make”
Hooray! At long last- the recipe! Thanks, mom!
I love this bread! My daughter would like me to make it every day! ha ha Thank you so much for sharing, this will be kept with the recipe I use all the time. Do you think this is a good bread to use in a stromboli. I normally use frozen dough from the store, but I thought this recipe would be perfect for it. Have you ever cooked it with meats and cheese? Thank you again for sharing!
Thanks for sharing I am going to make this tomorrow.
Thank you for this recipe! I have made it several times. It is my favorite bread recipe. I love how simple it is, I love the flavor, I love the texture!
Yay! Makes me so happy 🙂
Thank you so much for this recipe. I’m 59 ,never even thought about making bread until I had a piece of my friends Peasant bread. I told her I bet it would be great grilled in a pan. She gave me the rest of the bread,it was great grilled the next morning (like I imagined) .I asked for the recipe and have made it at least 6 times. Every time it came out perfect. I usually top 6 cloves of garlic to one of the loaf’s. Thank you.
Hello Alexandra!! I tried this for the first time last night Oct 14th 2015. I “nailed” it!! I did not need the video— I just used all your comments and photos to guide me and I did every step exactly as suggested. I did the water for the yeast as you said and I let the rise happen just as you directed in oven and then on top. I followed closely and yet it was very easy and enjoyable to make. That sure is a “live” dough! THIS is the BEST bread by far! It is now adopted into our family as favorite and I will ~never~ buy a store bought loaf of bread again. These simple ingredients are far superior to the “long list” found on even “bakery fresh” store breads where they bake in store ovens!! After cooling I did place the loaf and partial loaf in separate large zip lock bags and—— they are just as moist and fresh today!! I stored them inside the microwave! Will have this with some Italian Soup tonight. THANK YOU A MILLION TIMES for caring to share your Mom’s recipe!!!!!!!!! I am thankful I found it! I hope this reaches you!! I am so appreciative and “it really is a no fail” if you follow the directions–you could not have done more than if you actually baked it for us!!
Cathie, I’m so happy to hear this! Thanks so much for writing in. So true about the list of ingredients on store-bought breads — worrisome, right? I hope your soup was delicious.
This is by far the best recipe I have ever used. I didn’t change a thing!
Yay! So happy to hear this, Katie!
If it wasn’t 1:00 AM I would get up and make this right now.
Hahah, I pin so many recipies when its too late to be cooking and I really should be asleep 🙂 I am making this right now and it has come together very nicely. Only have 1 bowl I can use so the other half of the dough is in muffin tins as rolls. So excited! Thanks a ton for an awesome tutorial 🙂
Yay!! so happy, Sarah 🙂 Now, go get some sleep 🙂
Love how it bakes in a Pyrex like that. You captured great photos through the oven.
This is awesome! I love that it’s baked in pyrex bowls! It looks like such a delicious fresh loaf of bread! Thanks so much for sharing.
This sounds wonderful. I love no-knead breads but the planning that needs to be involved in it keeps me from making them more often. Have you tried baking this in a dutch oven just as Lahey’s bread? I love the crust I get from this method, maybe I could combine them?
Lena and Dorothea — I haven’t tried baking this bread in a dutch oven because it so wet and difficult to maneuver — even more so than the Lahey bread — that I fear it would just spread out into a flat-shaped disk versus a nice boule-shaped round. The taste I am sure would be very similar as far as the inside goes. If you have any pyrex or small oven-safe bowls, my suggestion would be to just try the simple method — letting the dough make its second rise in a well-buttered pyrex bowl — because it’s just so easy, and I promise you will love that buttery crust!
Hi, I absolutely LOVE this recipe but tried to make the thyme dinner rolls and failed miserably. They were so tough and chewy they were totally inedible. Help! Do you think it’s an issue of not rising enough, or maybe manipulating them into the muffin tin developed too much gluten? Thanks for any advice you can give!
I actually love kneading bread, I find it really therapeutic, but this looks so good! I think my pyrex bowls are my favourite thing in the kitchen.
This bread is wonderful! Love how it’s baked in the bowls! A definite must try!
Wow, what a nice mother you have!
This looks delicious!
I love your bread recipes. I never want to make the no knead bread bc of the planning but I will try this one!
Someone else dropped this question already but I have the same, can you bake it in anything else besides the pyrex bowls?
Thanks for another great post:-)
I make this recipe in loaf pans every time I make it. It is a huge hit at every cook out and dinner I take it to. I currently have 7 loaves on the 2nd rise at the moment!
Enjoy
So awesome! Love that you have 7 loaves on the rise. I have been making it in loaf pans all summer as well — perfect for sandwiches.
Can I make this in a 3 Liter Pyrex bowl? It’s the only one I have so deciding between that and my Dutch oven. Thanks for any insight!
Yes, absolutely, go for it!
I have a glass bread pan… would that work for this dough? I just don’t have pyrex bowls, and my other casserole pans are flat bottomed and round. I also have metal bread pans… what do you think? It’s just bread and flour and yeast, not the end of the world.
It appears that bread flour can be equally substituted?
I make the dutch oven bread all the time, but I live alone, so 1/2 of it always goes hard before I can eat it all. I don’t buy bread at all anymore!
I love what you say about other people and the breadmaking. I am a goddess to some of my friends. One man, whose wife is very sick, has me make them special loaves for family gatherings. He wants to PAY me, but there is NO WAY, I could take money for it.
Hope you have time to get to my q’s.
JB
Joleen — hi! I answered some of your question below (above? in response to Jamie’s questions as well) but I think the glass loaf pan will work, you’ll just have to use your judgement about how much of the dough to place in it — I think the whole batch will be too much, but half a batch won’t be enough.
Yes, bread flour can be equally substituted.
You are sweet to make bread for that family. I am sure they are very touched by your generosity.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
the lady who said one loaf of the cast iron pan bread is too much for her, i make them all the time and they freeze well. i always make two at the same time and freeze one.
Wonderful to hear this, Judi. Thanks for writing in.
Put half of the bread in plastic bags in the freezer and just defrost it as you need it. You might want to slice it first.
I have been dreaming about this bread since you posted a picture of it and then said you couldn’t give us the recipe! I was so excited to see it posted now, but like Joleen I do not own glass Pyrex bowls. I don’t think I even own any oven proof bowls. Since I live in a small place with very little cupboard storage I don’t have anywhere to store more bowls if I wanted to buy them. 🙁 I’m wondering what else I could possibly bake this in so I can try it!!
Jamie & Jolene — Ok, so, while I’ve never tried this, I am sure you could bake the bread in traditional loaf pans. Do you have any of those? What’s nice about oven-proof bowls — and they don’t have to be made by Pyrex — is the nice shape that the bowls produce. The shape of the loaf makes it feel more appropriate for serving for dinner versus breakfast or lunch, though the flavor of the loaf will be affected little depending on what vessel it is baked in. The only thing I worry about is that I think a standard loaf pan will be bigger than one of the 1 qt bowls that I bake the loaves in. So, I think if you divide the dough in half, it won’t be enough to fill one pan, but if you put all of the dough in, I think it will be too much. You’ll have to use your judgement — don’t fill the pan more than half way up with dough. You can also make mini loaves — perfect for soup — by filling ramekins halfway up with dough. I hope that helps. Remember to grease whatever baking pan you use liberally with butter or you will have trouble removing the bread from the pan. Hope that helps. Good luck with it. Let me know if you have any more questions.
Homemade moist bread with a buttery crust is all I needed to hear. Yum! Thanks for sharing!
It looks absolutely lovely. I’m intrigued.
Lori — you will love it!
My bread fell after I put it in the oven. It rose good both times but deflated at some point in the first 10 minutes. Any ideas?? The crust was still really good, it was just denser that I think it should be.
Vicky — Sorry to hear about the bread falling. Let’s see, how long did you let the dough rise for the second time before sticking it in the oven? And was the dough below or above the rim of the bowl? Sometimes, if I let the bread rise too long so that it’s almost spilling out of the bowl, it falls when it bakes. But, if this didn’t happen with you, then I can’t say for sure. Just so I can get a full picture and try to brainstorm solutions, what kind of yeast did you use? And how long did the dough rise the first time around? It’s such a bummer when things don’t turn out as you hope. I hope you give it another try!
Thanks for sharing this! I made it tonight and it looks wonderful. Can’t wait to cut into it for breakfast tomorrow. It didn’t rise as much as yours the second rise, but our house is cold right now. I’ll have to try your mom’s oven rise trick next time. We love Lahey’s method, but this was so much faster!
Emily — I hope you enjoyed the peasant bread for breakfast. The oven-rise trick works wonder. And, I need to make a note of this in the recipe, but I usually place the loaves on top of the oven for the second rise — that always helps speed up the rise as well as helps make the dough rise higher.
My rising trick is to use a heating pad. Like one you would use for an injury or stiff back. I just try to wrap it around the bowl, or put it in a cooler or something. Keeps a steady low temperature. But I will try the oven trick. How many times do you need to turn it on for one minute to keep the temp up for the two hours?
Thank you so much for this recipe! I love making fresh bread, but I don’t want to have to remember to start it in the morning or the day before. I started making this during my son’s nap time and we enjoyed it for dinner that evening along with your keftedes. It was a wonderful dinner.
Alex — SO happy to hear this. I’m glad you had success with the recipe. And that you made keftedes too! My mother would be beaming.
I tried making this tonight. Your pictures are so good I can almost smell your loaves. Unfortunately, mine didn’t turn out anywhere near as lovely as yours. I don’t know what I did wrong. I’m going to try again tomorrow I suppose.
Amber, so sorry to hear this. It’s always disappointing when recipes don’t turn out as you hope. A couple questions: what kind of yeast did you use? And how did the first rise go — did the dough at least double in bulk before you punched it down?
I had a similar result. the first rise was great, put it in buttered pyrex bowl, let it rise again, but when I pulled it from oven, it had deflated, was dense and heavy, almost impossible to cut with serrated bread knife. Very disappointing.
oh no! Did you do the second rise in the oven? Don’t. Just do the second rise in a relatively warm spot. And don’t cover it. In 20 minutes or so, it will be ready for the oven. I think the deflating happens when people let the second rise go too long.
Hi! I am making this right now and am excited! First time bread maker and your pictures are so helpful. I am not getting my dough to rise as high as yours on the second rising time. I wonder what I could have done wrong? I didn’t use the preheat oven trick, so maybe it is not warm enough for the bread to rise?
I am currently moving it to the top of the preheated oven and letting rise an additional twenty minutes to get it hopefully a bit higher, but please let me know any tips I might have missed! Will update when the bread is done!! Thanks!
Tamsen — Hi! I am just in the process of responding to people regarding bread issues, so I hope this gets you in time! I meant to make a note, but I do let my dough rise the second time on top of the oven — I don’t do the preheated oven trick for the second rise because I only have one oven.
As long as the dough is just below the top of the baking vessel, you should be fine. It will rise more by the heat of the preheated oven. About what size are your baking vessels? If they are larger than mine, then the dough definitely doesn’t need to be above the rim before you stick it in the oven.
If you have the time and patience, try waiting a little bit longer — maybe 15 minutes or so after you’ve placed the bread on top of the oven. I think in colder weather, it does take longer for bread to rise.
Please do send an update! I so hope it turns out well for you!
Have tried unsuccessfully three times. Finally on the last attempt it did not fall while baking. But loaves are lumpy and heavy. I baked in Pyrex bowl that you described smaller loaf weighs eighteen oz. two cups of water will not absorb four cups of flour. Added one fourth more, but still stiff. Is this bread supposed be like this? Doesn’t look like yours.
Hi Joan,
Sorry for the trouble here! The dough is definitely on the wet side — dough shouldn’t be stiff. Are you packing the cups of flour tightly? If you are not using a scale, I recommend using scant cups. The youtube videos at the end of the post might help give you some guidance on how the dough should look.
Hi! Just took out of the oven, and next time I will probably let it rise longer, but it still smells amazing! Thanks for the fun baking day, and hopefully my loaves will turn out more like your beautiful ones next time! 🙂
Tamsen — So glad you had fun with the recipe. I hope it tasted as good as it smelled…looks aren’t everything 🙂
It’s like a giant muffin! Genius, really genius.
O.M.G. This is delicious. Have just finished making and tasting. I followed your instructions exactly (even rose it in the oven and did the 2nd rising on top of the cooker while the oven was heating) and It smells heavenly with the butter greasing the bowls. Very light and love the crisp crust. Thank you so much for posting this recipe!
Carolyn! SO happy to hear this. I just want this recipe to work out for everybody as it has for you. It is one of my favorites. So glad you like it too.
Looks Great…what size ramekins would you suggest, how many and at what
temperature and how long would you bake? Thanks.
Julie — This is a guess, and I’m basing this off of the photo in the lentil soup post, but it looks as though I divided the dough in half and baked half of the dough in ramekins and half in a bowl, so if you are going to bake off all of the dough in ramekins, I would say you need about 10 to 12 4-oz ramekins. I would bake them for 10 minutes at 425, and then reduce the heat to 375 and bake them for probably about 15 minutes more, but start checking them after about 10 minutes after you turn the temp down. They shouldn’t take as long to bake as the full loaves (about 32 min) but they probably need about 25 min. Hope that helps!
Made the bread last night and used my 2 metal loaf pans. You were right about the size being a little large for the recipe, but I actually prefer that the loaves are a little smaller. It turned out great, the crust was nice, and the middle was soft. I cut the first one a little too soon, and smushed it up a bit, but by this morning, they were firm and easy to cut.
I used your mom’s oven trick for the first rise. It didn’t feel all that warm in there, so I turned the oven light on, and that did the trick.
I like this better because I can give one loaf away and be a hero, and keep one for myself! I am going to experiment with cheese, rosemary, whole cloves of garlic, olives, jalepenos, etc… not all at once. Or maybe…
Anyway, thanks for your help.
Joleen — So happy to hear that this works in metal loaf pans, despite the issue with the size. Maybe (and I know you said you like the small size) you could multiply the recipe by 1.5 sometime and see if that quantity fills up the pan a little better? Please report back on all of your variations…or all of them at once 🙂
I also bake it in metal, tin, and glass loaf pans..i usually do 3 to 4 batches at a time. The recipe is enough for the loaf pans I use. I have made this 4 times now (currently working on a 5th as im.typing this) everyone loves it! Thanks for a great recipe
You are so welcome! It makes me so happy to read this. I’m so impressed by the quantity you can bake at one time. I often double up, too — it’s the same amount of work, and then you are set for days. So happy to hear this has been a bit for you.
I just made this bread, and it is delicious! BUT I will be making it again soon because my dough was not wet the way yours was for some reason, and didn’t rise all that much. It still turned out good enough to eat and we definitely will eat it, but I must have done something wrong when it came to the yeast? Not sure, but I’ll make another attempt!
Melissa, SO glad you liked it and are willing to make another attempt… it kills me when recipes don’t work out for my readers. What kind of yeast are you using? I am going to make a note of this, too, but if you are buying yeast in those three-fold packets, go ahead and just use a whole packet — I use two teaspoons (as opposes to 2.25, which is the amount in each packet) but I use Red Star active dry, and two teaspoons always is enough for me. Did you do the “blooming” step, where you let the yeast and sugar stand for about 15 minutes in lukewarm water? Also, it definitely helps to be patient with the first rise — the better the dough rises the first time around, the better it will rise on it’s second rise. Did you let it rise in a warm spot like the oven? Let me know, and I’ll try to brainstorm a little more.
Oh my goodness i just made this — and it was AMAZING! i have never made my own bread before but this was the best i have ever tasted….! <3
Steph — I can’t tell you how happy this makes me! As I said to Carolyn, I just want everybody to have the same results as you. It is such a good/easy/delicious recipe to know.
Can this recipe be halved? I only have one Pyrex bowl…
Nina — I haven’t tried it, but it probably could. When you do the first rise, make sure you place the dough in a small enough mixing bowl — if the bowl is too large, I think it might cause some problems. Otherwise, I think it should work. Good luck with it!
I have done this recipe twice now, each time halving it. It worked just fine. I think the yeast was a little short the second time, since I used what was in the envelope both times. So maybe it did not rise QUITE as high the second time. It is cooling and I will cut tomorrow. This time instead of butter I sprayed the bowl with Bakers Joy and the loaf fell out of the bowl very nicely and the loaf is not as greasy and is dairy free.
I just want to thank you for taking the time to post such great pictures and also for the very detailed explanations! I have made Naan bread before and love it but that is my extent of “bread” making. Your post made me think that I could actually do it. I made the bread last night and it turned out great. My dough was not wet at all at first, maybe I measured out my flour a little heavy. Next time I will weigh it. I just added a little more water to achieve the right consistency and it worked. The family, and I’m sad to say my Labradoodle who is large enough to reach the counter and helped herself to some, loved it. Your site is one of my favorites. Thanks again for all of your hard work and attention to detail. It is much appreciated.
Jamie — You are so welcome. I can’t tell you how happy comments such as yours make me feel. And great job on improvising with more water — I think many people (myself included sometimes) are afraid to experiment. I am so happy you and the family including the Labradoodle enjoyed the bread. I seriously grew up eating this bread, and I want everybody to have success with it. Thank you for writing in.
Want to make these for Xmas gifts. How long will they stay fresh? Bread is delicious!!
Marti — SO happy to hear that you like the bread. Unfortunately, the bread really is best the day it is made. That said, it makes wonderful toast, so if you made it a day in advance, I don’t think anyone would be disappointed. I wouldn’t make it much farther in advance than 1 day. I’m starting to think about gifts for Xmas, too… bread is always a treat.
I wonder if Rapid Rise yeast would be okay in this…I want to make it today and that is all the yeast I have.
should the water temp be around 110 degrees or 120-130 degrees
Marie — I think rapid rise yeast will work just fine. I am pretty sure that I have used it in the past — I have a huge bag of Red Star yeast in my freezer, so that’s what I’ve been using for months now — and it works just as well. If you are using those packets (those three-fold packets) just use one whole packet as opposed to trying to measure out two teaspoons from the packet. As for temperature, I never use my thermometer any more because it is so unreliable. I made a note of this in the recipe, but this is my trick for getting 2 cups of lukewarm water: measure 1.5 cups of cold water into a bowl. Boil water (I use a kettle) and pour 1/2 cup hot water into the bowl. Stir it up. This is the perfect temperature, I find, for adding the sugar and the yeast together to make sure it’s active. Hope that helps!
I tried the bread tonight and I loved it. It was so delicious. I did the water as you said then checked the temp. It was about 110. Great recipe. Thanks so much for sharing. These ingredients are about what I put in my bread maker. But I got more satisfaction with this. Thanks again.
Marie — you are amazing! Thank you for checking the temperature. Do you have a recommendation for a good thermometer? So glad you liked the bread and that it brought satisfaction.
Don’t know if you are still reading these posts, but you asked about a good thermometer. My husband brought me home one from work that is a laser thermometer. You just point it at whatever you want to get a temp on. You can point it at tap water as it comes out of the tap and get an accurate temperature. It’s awesome!!!!!! He works in pressure pumping in the oil and gas fields, not sure why they use them, something to do with the temp and cement. Not sure where to find them, but I’ll bet Amazon has something similar!!!!!
I need one of these, Tracey! Adding to my Amazon wishlist. Thank you. This is a great idea.