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.
6,394 Comments on “My Mother’s Peasant Bread: The Best Easiest Bread You Will Ever Make”
I’ve just made the bread, they’re cooling on racks as I type. I proofed the yeast but the bread didn’t rise very much. I left it for 90 minutes for the first rise and 25 for the second. I thought it would poof up more during cooking but it didn’t seem to do much. Any ideas?
I think I followed your directions pretty closely but I did have to use one cup of whole wheat flour. Could that be the reason?
There is a chance that the whole wheat flour had something to do with the rising issues, but it sounds as though something else might be going on, too. Did you let them rise in a warm spot? And when you proofed the yeast, did it look foamy before you mixed it into the flour? Also, what size bowls did you use?
This bread is sooo fabulous!! and….. this bread did indeed change our lives!!!! It is so easy to make, and it makes the best toast I have ever eaten.. We no longer buy bread…I now keep loaves of this on hand at all times…It is just that easy…I make two batches at once and rather than dividing the dough in half, I bake each one in a 2.5 qt pyrex bowl which makes a nice size, large loaf of bread..I now bake bread once a week..I have to say, it keeps well too….Thank you for such a wonderful recipe!
Wonderful to hear this, Sandy! I have been making a double batch, too, and I bake half of it in a large bowl (2.5 qt bowl), which as you say makes a nice big size, and then I split the other half and bake it in two small bowls. So fun to share this recipe. Thanks for writing in!
I made your bread for the first time today! The making process went very well thanks to your very detailed instructions and videos and the bread looked great when I took it out of the oven, however, my bread turned out quite heavy and dense, not light and fluffy like I though it would be. Is it supposed to be dense? If not, what did I do wrong to cause this.
Thanks in advance 🙂
Marcia, hi, and thank you for your nice comment despite the troubles — sometimes people aren’t so kind 🙂 OK, what size bowls did you use to bake the bread? It’s possible that they were too big. And how did the second rise go? Was the dough above the rim or at the rim when you placed the bowls in the oven? I’m just rereading your comment — if the bread looked great when it came out of the oven, it’s possible that it wasn’t cooked enough. Did it kind of sink in the middle? If this is the case, I would suggest baking it for a few minutes longer. You can also bake it for five minutes or so out of the bowls to help it finish baking properly. Did you let it rest before cutting into it? That is key, too.
I had this same issue when I baked it for the first time yesterday. I used the 2.5 quart bowl and I think baking for a few minutes longer at 375 could have helped this perhaps. The videos were really helpful and I now feel brave enough to try again soon!
Yes, definitely try baking it a little bit longer if you are using the 2.5 qt bowl.That should help with sinking issues. Also, letting the bread rest before cutting is important. Let me know if you have any more questions before you try again!
I tried to make this twice and it turned out terrible both times. Fell completely flat in the oven after a beautiful rise. Not sure what went wrong.
Jyll — so sorry to hear this! Is your yeast new? And what size bowls are you using? And you did let it rise twice, right? And did you do the warm oven trick to let it rise? It’s possible that you got your oven too warm and that you in fact partially cooked the bread during the first rise.
I did everything you said – my yeast is new, I used two pyrex bowls that were 1.5 qt and I did a double rise. On the first batch of these I made, I did in fact cook the top of my bread during the second rise. I didn’t realize the bowls were collecting too much heat from the oven. But the second time around, I don’t know what happened. Is it possible my dough was too wet? It had no internal structure – or maybe not enough gas to rise. I’m going to try again – I’m determined to get the great results everyone else has!
It sounds as though you are doing everything right. I have one thought. Try buttering just one of those 1.5 qt bowls and placing 3/4 of the dough in that bowl after you punch down the dough after the first rise. When the dough creeps to the top or just above the rim, bake it as suggested. Place the rest of the dough in buttered ramekins or buttered muffin cups and bake them for about 20 to 25 minutes total. I’m just thinking the 1.5 qt bowl might be too big for half the dough and that you’ll get better rising/results if you bake off more dough in that size bowl. SOrry for the trouble. Hope the next batch turns out well!
I’m about ready to go punch mine! This is the 1st time I am making a rise bread. I have a Mississippi Pot Roast in the crock that will go perfect with the bread:)
Fun! Dying to hear how it turns out!
I’m so disappointed my bread did not stay risen after baking. But it tasted great!!!! I think maybe my bowls were too large. I’ll try again this weekend, thanks for the recipe.
oh no! what size bowls were you using?
Can you use pyrex loaf pans instead of the bowls? Maybe it’s silly, but I like the uniformity of size that you get using a loaf pan.
Absolutely! Don’t try to fit the whole batch in one pan though: use two loaf pans and split the dough in half for two smallish loaves; or double the recipe and use three loaf pans. Good luck!
My last rise is in process as I write this …. Hope it turns out … Will let you know. Looks like so far so good!!!!
Turned our perfect in the bigger Pyrex bowl I used… My smaller bowls are numbered 322.. Are these to small for dividing the batch?
No, the 322 are perfect! I love my 322s for dividing the dough into two loaves. But I’m glad you had success with the larger bowl. What size was that?
I think the size reads 352.. The bowl is so old it is hard to read on the bottom… But it was perfect for the whole batch..
Wonderful to hear this. Thanks for reporting back!
My Mom used to bake bread all the time and I think its time I got into it as I miss that warm bread experience. A good friend recommended your recipe saying he uses it all the time now with great results. My question is, can I put oatmeal into the recipe as I love oatmeal bread. I have all ingredients ready to bake and an 8 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ pyrex loaf pan, will that take the whole recipe?
Hi Christopher! I hope you got my email last night. So, yes on the oatmeal, just be sure to sub out some of the flour. Do you have a scale? Baking by weight makes these substitutions really easy. You want the wieght of the dry ingredients to be about 510 grams. With oats, too, I’m thinking you might want to soften them up with some hot water before adding them to the dough. I would suggest soaking 1 cup of oats with 1/2 cup hot water. Let that cool. Then mix up the remaining ingredients: 3 cups flour, 1 1/2 cups water, 2 tsp salt, 2 or 3 tsp sugar, 2 tsp yeast. Be sure that the oat mixture has cooled to room temperature before mixing it with the remaining ingredients because you could kill the yeast otherwise. And, don’t make the whole batch in the loaf pan — bake 3/4 in the loaf pab and then bake the rest off in ramekins or muffin tins. Hope that helps!
Hi Alexandra, Yes got your email, thanks. I don’t have scales but will experiment! I do have a pyrex bowl 322 1 Qt size and the next size up 323 1/5 Qts. Will let you know how it turns out. Thanks again.
Perfect — the 322 bowl will give you a nice dramatic tallish round, and the 323 will give you a squatter but no-less-delicious round. Hope it turns out well for you!
I love the peasant bread made at the local bakery but at $4+ a loaf I wanted to try my own hand at it. Have never tried a no knead bread but you sold me on trying it even though I was skeptical. I did not have the size bowl you mentioned….had a larger one. Thought about leaving all the dough in the bowl and baking it but decided to split it and put half the dough in a Pyrex bread pan, the other I left in the large bowl. This was probably a mistake. The bread in the bread pan rose nicely, the large bowl well let’s says it is cute and flat but delicious! I will definitely make more! The other thing I did was I used 1/2 cup of wheat bran and 1/2 cup of wheat germ substituting for a cup of flour. It was wonderful!
You are a good sport! Thanks so much for writing in with your experience. It definitely takes a little bit of practice learning what size bowl is right if you don’t have the ones I mentioned. Love the idea of adding wheat bran and germ. Your next loaves will be both beautiful and delicious, I am sure of it 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing a recipe from your mom. i love basic stuff like this and I have been looking for a simple bread recipe. I have been seriously disappointing in the wave of ‘artisan breads. Haven’t found them all to my liking. Sadly. I am excited to be trying yours tomorrow. Will let you know how I did. I have the small Pyrexes too. 🙂 The videos were really helpful and showing the bowls was even more so. Thanks- you did a great job with them and your kids are really cute.
Good luck with it! Hope it turns out well for you. Let me know if you have any questions along the way.
I just want to say Thank You for sharing this recipe; not only is the bread yummy, your tips for handling and testing yeast helped me reconcile a very strained relationship with bread making! I make this bread regularly at home and it’s always a big hit; one loaf is gone before it cools down.
So wonderful to hear this, Mara. So happy to hear you and bread making are on good terms 🙂 Is there anything like warm bread?
I made this bread yesterday and it was great!!!
Wonderful to hear this, Jan!
Hi Alexendra-
I have made this twice though I have not had success with the second rise. This has resulted in a fairly flat bread (end product is about 2.5 inches high and the second rise only reached only 1/2 of the way to the top of the 9-inch pyrex bowl).
I am using an active yeast and the first rise seems to go fine. I have waited as long as 2 hours for the second rise though I have not had success- any tips?
Great site (and pics) by the way!
Sorry to hear about your troubles with this Jerome! And thank you for your nice comment. OK, what is the actual size of the Pyrex bowl in volume (liters or quarts)? Is there a number like 322 or 323 on the bottom? I have a feeling the size of the bowl could be causing the issue. And when you are doing the first rise, are you doing it in a warm oven? I just want to make sure you aren’t in fact cooking the dough on the first rise. Let me know! We’ll get to the bottom of it.
Thx for the response- yes they are 323 pyrex bowls (1.5 L)
I am having a small dinner party this weekend and I am excited to make this bread. Only problem is my bowls aren’t oven proof. I do have a small dutch oven/casserole dish. Is it possible to make the bread in that vessel and still have an effective rise/baking?
Hi Rose! What size is the dutch oven? And what material? Would you be open to making dinner rolls baked in a muffin pan instead: These are always a hit: https://alexandracooks.com/2013/11/26/thyme-dinner-rolls/ Same recipe, just with the addition of thyme and a different baking vessel. If you are not up for this, let me know. We will find a way to make the vessels you have work 🙂
Thanks for the reply! my dish is about 4 lts. I don’t have a muffin tin, thanks to a failed venture into gluten free baking (oops), but I do have a silicon cake pan(about 25cm) if that is an option. My neighbour also volunteered her cast iron skillet but I had my doubts about that one 🙂
OK, I am worried that the 4 lts bowl will be too big, and you will have a really flat loaf as a result. The 25cm cake pan sounds more promising. You can follow the recipe as is and bake the bread in that pan, or you could make a faux focaccia with the dough, which is also really delicious and bakes well in that sort of pan. I would probably just bake half of the dough in that pan at a time. I would grease the pan well with butter, then proceed as follows: Plop half of the dough into prepared pan. Drizzle dough with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. 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 15 minutes at 375ºF, checking halfway to make sure it’s not too brown. Remove from pan and let cool on cooling rack.
Hope that helps! Let me know if this sounds ok or if you have any more questions!
I started baking a cake in my cake pan and forgot about the bread! SO i decided to try the dutch oven anyway, and it worked perfectly! I will be making this bread again, it was really lovely! Thank for your help and for the great recipe 🙂
Wonderful to hear this, Rose! Thanks so much for reporting back.
I have been trying different bread recipes for a while now trying to find one this good! It is heavenly and I have my families favorite bread now! Thank you so much!!!!!!
Yay! So happy to hear this, Brandie!
Hi Alexandria,
Late last year I posted re too dry a dough then apologised as it was my measuring. I wanted to tell you I have been baking your bread ever since and it is pure magic. My husbank loves it as well. Thank you so much.
I too, would be interested in the gluten free version as my daughter is a coeliac. Thank you
THanks so much for the update, Linda! So glad the recipe is working well now. And I will be sure to report back if I successfully make a gluten-free variation.
Fleischmann’s posted this:
Should recipes be adjusted for high altitudes?
Yes. But there are no exact rules for adjusting yeast breads at high altitudes. Altitude affects the ingredients and the entire breadmaking process. We suggest these general guidelines for baking above 3,000 feet.
Because atmospheric pressure is lower and leavening gases expand more quickly, yeast dough rises 25 to 50 percent faster at high altitudes. Begin checking the dough halfway through the rising time listed in the recipe. Continue to check frequently.
Flour tends to be drier and absorbs more liquid at high altitudes. Therefore, it is very important to store flour in an airtight container.
When mixing the dough, you may need less flour than called for in the recipe. To compensate, add flour slowly and work in only enough to make the dough easy to handle. Because recipes call for varying amounts of flour, there is no standard measurement for reducing flour.
If dough is slightly sticky during kneading, use greased instead of floured hands. This way, you won’t knead in too much flour
Dough dries out faster at high altitudes. To prevent drying, grease or lightly oil the exposed part of dough (whether in a bowl, on a board, or in a baking pan) and cover with greased plastic wrap instead of a towel.
Baking temperature and time should not change at high altitudes, but check for browning at the shorter time listed and use traditional doneness tests
Just as dough dries out faster at high altitudes, so does the finished product. Store cooled bread in airtight plastic wrap, bags, or containers.
If you are using a bread machine at high altitude, refer to the manufacturer’s instruction book. Since flour may dry out faster at high altitudes, you may need to adjust the ratio of liquid to flour. Experiment by reducing the amount of yeast, flour or sugar (yeast feeds on sugar), and/or adding liquid or a little gluten. Or try a shorter baking cycle, such as rapid bake, if available.
Thanks so much, Christine! Great info here.
Thank you both. I just made this bread at 600ft tonight and it was wonderful! But we have a new to us cabin at 8000 feet . I was wondering as I was baking it how I would adjust all my breads…. Nothing better than fresh bread!
It is the truth. There is nothing better than fresh bread!
Have u ever added olives to the dough?
No, but that sounds amazing! I love olive bread. If you experiment, report back! Lots of people have had success making variations of this recipe.
Hi..love this recipe:) have u ever used it for pizza ?
Kristin, actually I have! To me there is nothing as delicious as the Lahey pizza recipe (https://alexandracooks.com/2013/08/01/baking-steel-pizza-tomato-mozzarella-caramelized-onion-burrata/) but, when in a pinch, this make a pretty damn good pizza, and best of all, it can be ready to bake in about two hours. Several commenters have had success using it as pizza dough as well. Let me know if you need any other pointers.
Found this recipe last year and went bonkers with it, literally.
Ignore comments from people like that George person who complained you over-complicated. Perhaps to an experienced bread-maker, but not to us noobs…the extra tips & tricks are what helps make us scaredy-cats try breadmaking.
My fave variation is 3 parts whole wheat flour to 1 part white, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE that as a single person living alone, this recipe halves perfectly. My only regret is that I, too, have yet to come up with an edible gluten-free option for a friend with a sensitive tummy .
Love the new format and print/pdf options are great. Rock on!
Thanks so much jodi! I so appreciate your kind words. I am going to have to try the 3 cups whole wheat flour — I have not been good about using whole grain flours recently, and I really need to get back into it. I am going to experiment with a gluten-free version soon. I have some gluten-free flours on hand, and I’m heading to the market tomorrow for xanthum gum. I will report back!
Thank you again for your support!
My bread was a little doughy..Wonder what I could do next time, so it wont be like that or what did I do wrong? It was still very very good and easy recipe. It was my first time ever making bread, Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Christy! Sorry for the doughiness. What vessel did you use to bake the loaves in? And how did the rises go? Did you get a good rise the second time around?
This bread is just plain awesome. A HUGE plus is it’s soooooo easy to make, like literaly, you just mix the ingredients and wait for it to rise. It’s delicious and so soft like eating a cloud of deliciousness. A recipe i ‘ll definitely keep for life and teach to my future children, i’m not even joking. Thanks and cheers 😀
So happy to hear this, Georgo! It is such a fun one to teach to children. So easy, and I have yet to meet a child that doesn’t gobble this up. Thanks for writing in!
Thank you so much for sharing your mother’s wonderful recipe. Two beautiful, freshly baked loaves are sitting on my oven right now. Minus two slices. 🙂 They are delicious and the recipe seems to be very forgiving. I baked mine in two 1.5 qt corning-ware baking dishes that have flat bottoms and straight sides. The loaves did not seem increase to the right height on the second rise, but I popped them in the oven and they came out beautifully. Thank you also for your thorough directions and tutorials. You turned this beginner into a successful bread maker!
So happy to hear this, Stephanie! Good call on popping them in the oven when you did. I think where some people have run into trouble is letting the second rise go too long. So glad your vessels worked out for you! Thanks for writing in.
AK –
My husband and I tried your mom’s bread – oh how delicious – n ot bragging on myself – but the fact it was E A S Y (hardly any clean-up) and soooo good. – I had to cut it straight from the oven w/a glob of butter. My husband loved it for a break fast sandwich. Do you have a good recipe for cinnamin rolls? I am on FB and I can’t find you.
Question- You say to preheat oven to 425 before punching and separating, then say “set aside” for the second rise… that does not mean put back in oven (now at 425) for the second rise, right? I am doing my first rise in the oven as we speak (it’s cold here!) so I just needed to confirm- thanks! This looks great with soup for a freezing day
!
I have made your bread several times now and each time it seems to get better. I got your web site from gardenfork.com
Wonderful to hear this, John! I love gardenfork — along time ago now I did a little radio interview with them. It was fun.
I tried this bread for the first time and it was so easy and delicious. I added 1 tsp. minced onion and 1 tsp. dried dill for even more flavour. Amazing. Now I am going to try making an Easter bread variation.
Wonderful! Report back if you make an Easter bread variation. Would love to hear what you do.
Terrific and easy, thank you, my family loves you!!
Wonderful to hear this!
Just made my second batch its perfect, using a dryer mixture, I put too little flour in first time and I used full tablespoon of butter this time to grease each bowl, the loaves just fell out! I am so happy, will experiment with oats soon, wanted to get basic recipe right first.
Wonderful to hear this, Christopher! REport back on the oats variation. Would love to hear how it turns out.