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”
Thank you for this simple and amazing bread recipe. I made the dinner rolls and my family could not stop eating them. I will be making these again soon!
Great to hear, Paula! Thanks for writing 🙂
Love this recipe! Make it all the time! Is there a way to make it vegan? I make it for my students for the last class of the semester and I have some vegans. Thanks!
Yes! You can use vegan “buttery” sticks — that’s what my vegan friend uses. Or room temp (as in not melted) coconut oil.
I love this recipe. So easy. Have already made four loaves. Planning on making more all summer long here in Louisiana.
Great to hear, Ellen! Thanks for writing 🙂
This is a mainstay in our house, but your dough and bread end up a little different than mine. Mine is firmer after the first rise and ends up denser with less crumb. How do I get it close to yours?
Hi! Are you using a scale to measure? And what type of flour are you using?
I’ve never used a scale for this recipe. I have one, but not always the patience! I’ll try that next time though, thank you!
For flour, we just use the 365 brand All Purpose Flour.
Yeah, try the scale! It will help give you a baseline: if the dough you mix turns out dry using the gram measurements listed, then you’ll need to add more water next time around; if it’s too wet, you’ll need to use less water. Once you pinpoint the magic ratio of water to flour given the flour you are using (which is fine by the way), then you’ll be able to replicate it every time.
Every attempt at making bread over the years has mostly been a failure. Always too dense, over proofed, etc… until now. I am impressed with this recipe! I used 2 1/2 cups Typo “00” all-purpose flour and ended up using less than 1 cup local whole wheat flour to get 512g. I only had active yeast which I proofed and had to add about 1/3 cup more water.
Everything went well, 2nd rise didn’t go to top of bowl but I had 1.5qt bowls. Baked 17 mins and didn’t have that nice golden crackly top like yours. Mine was more of a pale dull beige color all over, very matte looking. Rather unappetizing. Taste and inner texture was great but NO crispy crackly crust 😞
Any thoughts as to why my crust was so dull and lacked crispness? I used plenty of good butter and even the inner part that was in the bowl was matte and lacked that crispness.
Hi Em! Great to hear you are liking the recipe.
I would pick up a bag of King Arthur Baking bread flour once you run out of your 00 flour. I think that will make the difference. I might consider making one batch with 100% bread flour first; then use a mix of bread flour and whole wheat flour once you have a baseline of how the recipe works with 100% bread flour.
I think the pale crust you are getting is due to the 00 flour. Unlike KAF bread flour, which contains a little bit of malt which helps with browning, 00 flour does not, and as a result, it doesn’t brown well. You’ll get better oven spring, too, with the bread flour, though because you are using 1.5 quart bowls, the loaves won’t appear as large as they do in the photos in this post. Hope that helps!
Thanks for getting back to me! Interesting about the 00 flour, I would expect that to be of better quality overall (europeans far less tolerant of pesticides & glyphosates to which I’m sensitive). I eat mostly gluten free (sensitive to gluten, not celiac) but any recipe for GF bread has been a disaster so I occasionally “cheat” and eat real bread. I saw your GF peasant bread recipe. I might try that – although just for the record, C4C flour is mostly starch which is highly glycemic and very unhealthy (no nutrition) – which is why you get the fluffy, light texture. I usually make my own GF mix with whole grain flours but that would alter the texture of the bread. But I digress 🙂 I’ll try the peasant bread with the KA flour at some point. Fwiw, the taste was very good! Thanks again!
I made this bread recipe today in a loaf pan and OMG it was delicious!!! Thank you!!!!!
I made this bread, and it’s very delicious! It’s quick and easy, and I now have it taped to the inside of the cupboard so that I don’t have to go looking for it. Thanks for the great recipe!
Great to hear, Karen! Thanks for writing 🙂
In the oven now @375. Such an easy recipe, thank you for such clear instructions and hints! I have no doubt this will be immensely enjoyed at dinner tonight. I do wonder if there is a way to turn this into a sourdough discard bread?
You can! Simply use as much discard as you want; then subtract the appropriate amount by weight flour and water. For example, if you use 100 grams starter, use 50 grams less water and flour each. Make sense?
Yes! Thank you so very much for your quick response! I will try this within the next couple weeks and let you know how it turns out! Thank you again! Eileen
Top notch white bread! I made it last night. So easy to make and my husband woke me up from sleep, later, telling me, “Save that recipe! It’s perfect.”
🤣🤣🤣 I love this so much. Great to hear. Thanks for writing 🙂
Can a pryex 1.5 casserole dish with flat bottom be used instead of a bowl?
Yes! But do you have two of them or just one?
Hello – I love all your recipes, this one included!
I just wanted to let you know, in case you are unaware, that your website has become difficult to use due to the ads that are constantly changing and flashing and whatnot. They cause your content to be laggy and it’s hard to scroll down as you have to wait for the ads to refresh first. I know you need ads as a revenue stream but I wish they was a way we could support your differently so we could have an easier website experience. I would totally pay a subscription fee to have access to your site.
Anyway, I couldn’t figure another place to send you feedback. Feel free to delete this post after you read it as it’s not a recipe review.
Love your work so much.
It was my first time making bread and this came out wonderfully! This gave me some confidence to try other bread recipes, and I can’t wait to try the other recipes on your website. I hope you keep this website going- it has great instructions and resources. Thank you for all the care you put into it! The videos, photos and step-by-step instructions are very helpful. You’re very gifted in teaching.
Great to hear, Nina! And thank you for your kind words. Means a lot 🙂
I am new to sourdough bread making and wanted to make sure I will make the substitutions correctly: Can I make this with sourdough discard and/or with fresh starter? Either way, do I eliminate the yeast and take off 50 grams of flour and 50 grams of water from the total?
Thank you!
Hi and yes! I’d use starter as opposed to discard. And yes, if you use 100 grams of starter, eliminate the yeast and take off 50 grams of flour and 50 grams of water from the total. The rises will take longer of course.
I’ve made this bread several times and get tons and tons of compliments. Thanks!
Great to hear, Beth! Thanks for writing 🙂
The fauxcoccia twist was DELICIOUS! I love your regular focaccia recipe, but this is nice in a crunch. Soooo good!
Great to hear! Thanks so much for writing 🙂
Excellent bread! I used King Arthur Bread Flour and Fleischmann’s Instant Dry Yeast. 1st rise 1 hour, 15 minutes. 2nd rise 30 minutes. Followed instructions other than 1st rise. Wonderful taste and texture, way better than breads I have spent days making. I will be making this bread again and again.
Great to hear Don! Thanks so much for writing and sharing these notes 🙂
Hello. I’ve made this bread recipe numerous times to rave reviews especially when coated with toasted sesame seeds. I recently made garlic confit and wonder if I can use the roughly chopped garlic in the dough before rising and be successful. I’d really appreciate your guidance. Thank you so much
Hello. I’ve made this bread recipe numerous times to rave reviews especially when coated with toasted sesame seeds. I recently made garlic confit and wonder if I can use the roughly chopped garlic in the dough before rising and be successful. I’d really appreciate your guidance. Thank you so much
Yes, absolutely! I have a roasted garlic variation in my cookbook Bread Toast Crumbs. Use as much of the confit as you can tolerate — I love garlic so nothing could be too garlicky for me.
Would love to know how you made the garlic confit if you feel like sharing!
Thanks so much for this recipe! I have always wanted to make homemade bread but was scared. This recipe was not only easy but delicious! I was wondering is there a way to add cheese to the recipe and how would I do it?
Great to hear! And yes, you can add cubed or grated cheese right to the bowl of flour — after you whisk together the flour, salt, sugar, and yeast, add the cheese and toss to distribute. I have a few variations of cheese bread in my cookbook Bread Toast Crumbs.
In your recipe “homemade ricotta” you suggested to save the whey to make bread. When I clicked on the “BREAD” it brought me to this page. Here there is no suggestion to use whey.
Could you kindly confirm if this means I would replace the water for whey?
Yes! Be sure the whey has cooled down to room temperature or cooler — hot liquid kills yeast.
Also: the bread will brown more quickly, so keep an eye on it. I’d check after 10 minutes and lower the temperature then if it’s browning nicely.
Finally, you may want to consider reducing the amount of salt bc whey will be somewhat seasoned.
So I uh am a little lets say…i feel a little like cake does in the oven. Anywa I forgot to do the second rise and only let it sit until the oven was preheated, (which couldnt have been too long) How bad is this bread going to be?
I can’t seem to find an actual oven safe Pyrex mixing bowl that can be baked in over 350°. I’m going to use my glass loaf pans and hopefully achieve a similar taste and texture, just without the round shape.
I have never had an issue baking Pyrex and I’ve used all varieties from vintage to brand new. Glass loaf pans work fine, too, but you might consider making a larger sized loaf by using 1.5 times the ingredients.
I’m so looking forward to making this Peasant Bread. I’m wondering if this bread baked in a bowl is a good bread to serve dips from.
Yes!
I just made this peasant bread. I’m amazed at how well it worked even though I only had whole meal flour!! Also I never made a decent loaf before and this was so so easy. Tasty and a wonderful texture. I want to make it again ! Only problem is now I just want to eat bread all the time. Wonderful. Thankyou
Great to hear, Helen! Love reading all of this. Thanks so much for writing 🙂
Can’t wait to try this recipe!! Unfortunately I just discovered the yeast I had is expired. 🙁
Any substitutions I could use?
I’d just try the yeast you have… sprinkle it over the lukewarm water with the sugar, and see if it foams up in 15/20 minutes. If it does, you’re good to go. Yeast lasts an incredibly long time.
Hi Alexandra have just made this again! I wonder is it possible to bake in the air fryer? it would save me having the oven on so long !!
thanks
Helen
I know people have done this successfully! I have not, so I can’t speak from experience, but I’d give it a shot at the same time/temperatures indicated in the recipe.
This was amazing… and I am a food snob (especially bread). After my first bite I ordered your book. I came today and me and my foodie husband poured over every page, oohing and hanging the entire time! We can’t wait to make our first meal tomorrow! I have another batch of bread in the oven right now!
Awww it’s so nice to read this!! Thank you so much for ordering my book and writing and sharing all of this… means a lot 💕💕
Hi Alexandra, I have been enjoying many of your recipes for a long time now – thank you so much! I am wondering if I could adapt this peasant bread recipe for use with sourdough starter instead of yeast? Have you ever tried this? If so, could you share some tips? If not, do you have any suggestions if I try?
Thank you!
Hi and yes! Simply add 100 grams of starter and omit the yeast. The rises of course will take much longer, but if you are familiar with the sourdough process, this will be natural.
I have made this Peasant Bread several times and love it!
Great to hear, Linda!
I have made this bread so many times and it is always absolutely delicious. I have made it many ways but now I am wondering if I can make cinnamon raisin bread using this recipe ?
Hi! I have a variation of this bread in my cookbook Bread Toast Crumbs. I think if you googled it, you’ll probably be able to find the recipe online somewhere.