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.
6,417 Comments on “My Mother’s Peasant Bread: The Best Easiest Bread You Will Ever Make”
Thank you for this very easy and delicious recipe. The step by step video was a plus. The bread turned out perfect.
wonderful to hear this!
First time making bread. I only had a 2qt pyrex dish, so I made the full batch into one loaf. I used Bread Flour, and Graham Flour, as I try to save my AP flour for cookies and whatnot. All I can say is OH MY GOODNESS. It was so easy and so good, my husband has told me that I am to have a constant supply of bread for him from now on! I wasn’t sure how good it would work, since we live in a travel trailer, and use the propane oven, but it filled the trailer with such a wonderful smell, and the bread was so soft on the inside, and crunchy on the outside, it was wonderful!
So happy to hear this, Amber! I know, once you make it once, you’ll get countless requests for it. So happy it worked out for you in the 2 qt Pyrex — that’s awesome — as well as in your propane oven…you are amazing. Thanks so much for writing in. Happy Holidays!
I love making bread and have gotten out of the habit of doing so, but since seeing your recipe I’m looking forward to trying it out. I’ve done the artisan breads with the no-knead too, and yes, it can be a bit much with heating pans and adding water for steam etc.
One thing that I typically do with wet dough though is use a rubber spatula in scraping the bowls or in dividing dough also as it doesn’t stick that much and it’s much easier to get all the dough out of the container. Thank you for the great share! 🙂
Great tip, Misty, thanks! Let me know if you have any questions with this recipe.
WHEN PEOPLE GIVE RECIPES TO TRY THEY SEEM TO PUT MORE, LOL, LIKE THIS BREAD I WANT TO MAKE ONE LOAF, BEING THE FIRST TIME MAKING THIS I THINK ONE LOAF WILL DO INSTEAD OF ME MESSING UP 2 LOAVES, SO DO I JUST CUT THE INGRED, IN HALF TO MAKE ONE LOAF
Yes! just cut in half to make one loaf. Good luck with it!
Great recipe — I only just noticed your source — pretty sure more than one edition of this book was on my grammy’s shelf! 🙂
Melissa — so funny! My mother is a huge fan of all of the Junior League cookbooks. So funny. Happy New Year!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe with all the pictures etc. I made it yesterday with 400g brown bread flour and 110g white bread flour. It made one loaf in a 1 litre pyrex and 6 “rolls” in a large muffin pan. It was easy and delicious. Now to experiment with different proportions of flour and the addition of herbs, cheese etc. Thanks for giving me the confidence to whip up some bread to take for New Year.
So happy to hear this Kirsten! I’m impressed with your high ratio of whole wheat flour (that’s brown flour, right?) — you are inspiring me to use some healthier flours in this new year 🙂 Happy 2014!
I tried this out 2 weeks ago and am hooked. I will no longer be purchasing bread, but will bake my own each weekend. I am also making 4 loaves ( 2 tonight, and 2 tomorrow morning) to bring to Christmas dinner. I can’t wait for the family to eat it and then to tell them I MADE IT! *GRIN*….THANK YOU AND THANK YOUR MOM!!
Yay! So happy to hear this Maryanne! I know, is there anything more satisfying than bringing someone homemade bread and answering YES to the question: Did you make this? Happy 2014!
My first time ever making bread. The explicit instructions and videos have me the confidence to try it! My dough was not nearly as wet as yours but it turned out amazing! I may have made a mistake but I will be making this regularly from now on! Thank you so much for sharing!
You are so welcome! Hope the next batch turns out even better.
Wonderful recipe. I love it!! I saw one poster who lives in a travel trailer who made it and loved it.. I too live in an RV and have made it several times and it always comes out great.. I just printed the recipe and instructions.. purchased the pyrex bowls and yeast, measured out the flour and salt into a pretty container and wrapped the whole kit and kaboodle up as a homey Christmas gift for my daughter.. she loves to cook and bake cookies and cupcakes but she’s a little afraid of bread so this will give her the confidence to go for it! thank you so much for posting this lovely and tasty recipe!
Oh Lena, what a wonderful gift! It makes me so happy to hear this! I am sure your daughter loved that gift. Thank you for sharing. Happy 2014!
Wonderful recipe. I love it!! I saw one poster who lives in a travel trailer who made it and loved it.. I too live in an RV and have made it several times and it always comes out great.. I just printed the recipe and instructions.. purchased the pyrex bowls and yeast, measured out the flour and salt into a pretty container and wrapped the whole kit and kaboodle up as a homey Christmas gift for my daughter.. she loves to cook and bake cookies and cupcakes but she’s a little afraid of bread so this will give her the confidence to go for it! thank you so much for posting this lovely and tasty recipe!
I just made your bread recipe and can’t wait for it to come out of the oven. I was wondering though……my dough after mixing seemed drier than what you described and it didn’t seem to rise as high when I baked it. Did I use too much flour?
Dawn — it is possible that you measured your flour with a slightly heavier hand than mine. Did you use a scale or measuring cups? What kind of flour? And what bowls did you use to bake the bread? If you used a bigger bowl, the dough will not rise as high.
Made this bread again this weekend and this time I weighed my flour and it turned out PERFECT!! My husband has been telling everyone he knows about this bread!! We made ham and cheese panninis and it was SOOO GOOD! Thank you for sharing this recipe. Dawn
I absolutely cannot wait to try this recipe! My hubby loves it when i make homemade stuff. i only have 1 Pyrex bowl, but i do own a Pyrex bread loaf pan, and a Pyrex meatloaf pan. They will be 2 different sizes, but thats okay. 🙂
Every Christmas my sister makes crab dip & serves it in a hollowed-out sourdough bread bowl. This year she was away, so I made the dip and served it with your peasant bread. What a hit it was! My Mom said I’m not allowed to buy any more store-bought bread, I have to make it from now on. LOL When I tried your recipe I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. Although the recipe is so easy i probably won’t mind. Thank you so much for the extra poundage around our mid-sections. YUMMY!
Kathy — this is awesome! Wonderful to hear all of this. I can’t believe I’ve never thought to do this. Fun! I know what I’ll be serving for our Super Bowl party…thanks!
Does the shape of the Pyrex bowl make a difference? I have waited months for Christmas to get my bowls to make this recipe. The bowls have straight sides not the curved. Will they work?
Brenda — so sorry I am only just seeing this. As long as the sides don’t slope inwards at all, the bowls should be just fine. Be sure to grease the bowls very well with butter. That is the key to flavor, crisp crust and easy removal. Good luck with it!
To start, this looks amazing. I can’t wait to try it out!
I do fear messing up, though, so can I please ask a few questions before I start on this adventure?
1. Kosher salt? Is that any different than table salt?
2. Do you think this would work in a silicone pan?
3. Is metal better, or glass to bake the bread in?
i make bread lots. plain white, 50/50 white and multigrain, potato sourdough (native nz paraoa rewena) seems to me that the ratios here are maybe a bit off.
my basic bread recipe is…
2 cups of lukewarm water,
1 tspn of bread yeast,
1 tspn of sugar,
1 tspn of table salt,
4cups of flour,
thats the basic recipe. i’ve cooked this in bread mach and put the ingredients into the bucket in the above order – with settings for 3lb loaf. also in either a pyrex bowl or bread tin in an oven. all 100% successful. variations that i use… 1 cup of milk or cream and 1 cup of hot water to balance temp out. the ratio of flour to water is usually 2:1. 2 cups of white flour and 2 cups of multigrain is our fav. light neading on a floured countertop, and left to rise in a warm place in the greased bowl or tin that i’m going to cook it in, usually in a slightly pre-heated oven until it roughly doubles. bake for 350F for 1hour. or higher temp (400-450F) if you want a crispier/chewyer crust. i’ve even used a 500ml can of room temp lager beer instead of water. dark beer tends to make the bread bitter. adjust flour or water so the dough is not too wet. if its a bit wet when turning it out the neading on the floured countertop will dry it up a bit.
Thank you for sharing your recipe, Jack.
Sorry I’m just getting to this Danyelle!
1. Table salt will be fine; Maybe use two scant teaspoons or 1.75 teaspoons versus 2 because table salt is a little saltier than kosher.
2. I have never tried silicone, but I say go for it — people have used all sorts of vessels with success for this recipe.
3. I don’t think it matters but there is something about the small glass (vintage Pyrex is the best) bowls that really makes a nice crust. That said, I have baked the bread in metal loaf tins many times, and that works just fine, too.
Happy 2014! Hope that helps. Let me know if there is anything else!
I have made this bread several times since stumbling upon this recipe..This bread is easy and oh-so-good! I love trying out new bread recipes and this one is a keeper!
Wonderful to hear this!
Wow this recipe is so easy and turned out fantastic!!!! Thank you!!!
Wonderful to hear this!
I just made this bread and I think my yeast is bad. The bread is about half the size of what it should be and is doughy and dense in the middle. I have the same brand yeast, but I opened it in October and its for bread machines. The yeast wasn’t as foamy as your picture. I think this explains why one or two of my other most recent bread making adventures have been disappointing. Also I store my yeast in the fridge and have not let it warm up before using in recipes. sigh, still so much to learn! Thanks for this recipe, hoping it will work out better next time because it looks so good!
I think the problem must be that the yeast is specific for bread machines. I have never used bread machine yeast, so I can’t say for sure, but I think that might be the issue. And if it didn’t foam properly, that might be a sign, too. What size bowls did you use? It’s possible that the bowls were too big which would prevent the dough from rising as high. Hope it works out better for you next time!
Ali, do the pyrex bowls have to be the clear ones? Are there pyrex bowls that can’t be used for this like the ‘milk glass’ ones? I went on Etsy to look at pyrex because I like the retro ones and there are a lot of them but most of them aren’t the clear bowls! Going to be bread making real soon! XO Laurie!
The retro, non-clear ones are perfect! My favorite is the #441 for baking small loaves, and the #443 for making one large loaf. I don’t know about the milk glass ones, but now I’m intrigued. I’ll have to do some research on that. I hope you do find some vintage pyrex for the bread…the bowls make me so happy! Happy 2014, Laurie!! xox
I have to tell you how amazing this recipe has been for me! thank you! I make it as often as I can and always get compliments (included the rare mother-in-law compliment!) it has been perfect every time. I don’t have pyrex bowls so I have made it in a stoneware bowl as well as in 2 metal loaf pans. The crust is amazing in the stoneware, but I love the standard loaf shape for sandwiches. This will forever be a staple in my home!
Haha, amazing! What a feat (re mother-in-law)! So happy to hear this. What brand stoneware bowls are you using?
I am so glad I found your recipe. I used to make pizza dough (eons ago) but for some reason, never tried just a simple bread. I love your detailed instructions – the videos were so helpful, too! I made it today with beef vegetable soup and I have decided I will never make soup or stew again without this bread! I can’t wait to try the Thyme dinner rolls, too. Thank you SO much for sharing your recipe. 🙂
Oh yum! I love beef vegetable soup. The thyme dinner rolls are delish and so easy, too. So happy the videos were helpful!
Made this today in metal loaf pans. It is absolutely delicious and came out perfectly. Thank you so much for the great instructions and especially the videos. As someone who doesn’t cook much and never bakes they were really helpful. Looking forward to making this bread again in glass bowls when I get some. Thank you 🙂
wonderful to hear this! Glad the videos were helpful.
Made this bread with the exact ingredients you specified and I am in love! The added bonus was your cheat sheet for letting the dough rise correctly and most importantly the trick with the hot water and yeast. I’ve been having trouble with my bread not rising and after multiple attempts to make it work I was ready to give up. Thank you for saving break baking for me, it’s one of my favorites.
You are so welcome! So happy to read all of this. Happy baking!
I have been looking for a simple bread recipe to try.. I made this tonight and it turned out absolutely wonderful.. I already can’t wait for toast in the morning! … can’t wait to try the thyme rolls… Thanks for the fantastic post!
yay! Wonderful to hear this. It makes wonderful toast and awesome grilled cheese. Happy Baking!
Thank you so much for posting your Peasant Bread recipe and videos. I have been wanting to make this for several days since I found you, so today I did! I baked 2 loaves in two Pyrex #402 (1 1/2 qt.) bowls. I have only one Cinderella bowl, a #444, which is of course too large! I’d love to have the three smaller ones in my Amish pattern, but they are kind of expensive to buy online because of the cost of postage. Anyway, I wanted to tell you that my house smelled wonderful with fresh bread baking, just like when my mom and dad baked bread. He was a professional baker. I could hardly wait to eat some. I love the crispy crust and the soft inside. Buttered and covered in clover honey, I had such a yummy treat! I’ll be making this over and over!
P.S. I think Laurie F. is referring to most all Pyrex bowls, other than the clear ones. They appear like milk glass on the inside. Happy New Year!
I just made this for the first time today. I have been wanting to for some time but I haven’t been able to get my hands on the right sized bowls. I still haven’t but I did have a 2 1/2 qt bowl, so I just made 1 loaf in the larger bowl. It’s very delicious bread. I’m just wondering if you have any tips or tricks for making the larger loaf. Mine turned out a bit dense.
Also, I want to thank you so much for sharing this recipe. We don’t have much money left in our household after paying bills, so grocery shopping is very difficult. Bread is something that we have been having to pass on buying lately because we just don’t have enough. When I came across your recipe, I knew it would be affordable to have bread in the house again, since I had all the ingredients in my pantry already. Thanks to you, we are able to have bread in our home again. My son is so excited to try it in the morning, since it was still rising when he went to sleep. I really can’t thank you enough, this recipe will come in so handy, especially when we hit harder times this winter.
What would happen if you used bleached all purpose flour? That is all I have on hand….thank you!
Can I use a regular bread pan for this or just a bowl??
Found this while searching for a quick, no-knead bread – as it’s such a cold day I wanted an excuse to crank up the oven, and I’ve never made bread before so I didn’t want to try something too detailed. It just came out of the oven and is scrumptious! The kids adore it. I love how the buttered bowl means such a crunchy, yummy crust. My oldest has already requested that I bake this again.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! It’s very newbie friendly, and I am very grateful for your tips and the breakdown for each step – especially the yeast step and the tip about warming the oven for the first rise. Happy new year!
I make bread quite often, but had never tried a recipe like this one.. Hurried out to purchase my bowls and a couple of hours later we had delicious bread to go with our Veggie Soup… and you are right.. it makes great Grilled Cheese. Thank you!
Hi, I was just given your recipe to try but my husband is pre-diabetic and cannot have white flour. Do you have suggestions for swapping out the white flour for wheat or rye or sourdough?
Thank you.
Hi Patti, You can make the bread with 100% whole wheat flour, but it will be on the dense side. It really does best with white unbleached all-purpose or bread flour. It comes out fairly well with 1/2 whole wheat flour, too, but I’m not sure if that’s ok with your husband. Several commenters have written in to say that they have made it with 100% whole wheat flour and that they really liked it, so I don’t want to discourage you, but I also don’t want to mislead you. Hope that helps! Also, this recipe is more involved, but I have a friend in VA who makes beautiful whole wheat loaves of bread: https://katiethisdell.com/tag/white-whole-wheat-flour/