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”
Can you freeze the dough or do both halves need to be baked? It’s only my husband And me.
Deniese, I haven’t tried freezing before baking yet but I think it’s worth a shot. I would freeze one half immediately after punching it down after the first rise. Then, bring it to room temperature and let it rise in the buttered bowl to the proper height before baking. I can’t say it will work for sure — I have been meaning to try this myself for ages — and I would love to hear how it turns out if you do!
I have made this bread twice and my family loves it. Can I double this recipe?
The first time I made it I put in pyrex bowls. The second time I made it I put the dough in a regular loaf pan and a baby loaf pan. I liked baking it in the loaf pans best.
Please let me know if I can double this recipe.
Thanks for the great recipe!
Margaret
Hi Margaret — sorry for the delay here! Yes, the recipe can be doubled. Just follow the recipe instructions exactly the same but with double the amount of everything. A double recipe (just fyi) can be divided into thirds and baked in three standard loaf pans. Works perfectly!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe Alexandra! I read through it (twice!) and watched a couple of your helpful videos. Although I didn’t have the same size pyrex bowls as you use (mine are about 2 quart) I followed your instructions to the “T” with a couple of exceptions. 1- my glass bowls were bigger so I added to your recipe by half (6 cups of flour, 1.5 T sugar, etc). I followed your yeast directions and 2- I also added about a cup of finely grated room temp asiago cheese to the flour which meant I had to add a couple extra Tablespoons of water to get the texture your videos showed. When I presented my beautiful peasant bread to my neighbors that invited us for dinner, it was love at first bite! Perfect! Thanks again! Btw, your tip of having the dough rise for 1.5-2 hours was spot on. Mine was almost out of the bowl at just shy of two hours. The second rise was only 20 minutes.
Gail — wonderful to hear this! And nice call making a 1.5 times batch — that is the key to getting the right rise out of bigger bowls. LOVE the idea of adding Asiago. I am so trying that. Sounds absolutely divine. Thanks so much for writing. Glad the bread was a success.
Has anyone tried this recipe with Almond flour?
I haven’t but I have finally made a successful gluten-free loaf — blogging about it this week!
This bread is specTACular. Just want you to know that you are being thought of with much gratitude every time I make your recipe. The twinkle in my DH’s eye and exclamations from my children are my reward 🙂
I am so happy to hear this, Lisa! I know, there is nothing better than seeing those faces, those twinkles, those exclamations. Thanks for writing in!
I am Gluten Free but I LOVE bread. I would love to know if anyone tried it with GF flour and how it turned out. I’m going to try it when I have time. Thanks for the recipe.
Tina, I have finally made a successful gluten-free loaf — blogging about it this week! It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty good. Would love to hear your thoughts if you get around to trying it.
Could you use any salt, as we don’t have kosher salt here just sea salt and Himalayan salt??
Yes, absolutely, any number of salts will work in this recipe. Tell me, is your himalayan salt coarser? If so, I would maybe add two heaping teaspoons or just adjust the amount of salt to how you have had to with other recipes. What do you typically do? Do you have to add more or less Himalayan salt when a recipe calls for kosher or table salt?
Just wondering if anyone has tried to make this bread with less or no salt. Husband is kidney patient and can not have much salt. The two teaspoons o salt add 4800 mg of sodium to the bread. Not certain how big the loaf would be….but if 10 servings that would still be 480 mgs. Of sodium.
Michele, you can definitely make it without salt, but I worry it will be a little bland. But if sodium is a concern, definitely leave it out. And you can always serve it with salted butter for those who are not worried about salt.
And there’s quite a bit of salt in the butter as well, so there’s that too…
You could also leave that out… (what a shame) 😉
Hi I was just wondering does it have to be baked in glass pyrex bowls? I would love to make this but I only have stainlees steel bowls.
You can bake the bread in anything really, but there is something about the pyrex that creates a nice crust. What size are your stainless steel bowls. And what brand? I’ve been wanting to experiment with stainless steel bowls.
Oh, well then that settles it. The crust is the best part. I will get the pyrex bowls. I want to make this for my son. He loves bread. Thank so much for the recipe and the videos were very helpful. Especially the one scraping the bowl and folding over the dough. I had an idea of what you meant but a visual is so much more helpful.
So happy to help! Let me know if there is anything else. Good luck with it!
I am happy to report that my bowls arrived from Amazon. As soon as they were out of the box I started making the bread. It was very easy and my son loved it. He had 2 thick slices with his dinner. I always know what he liked best on his plate because it its the first thing he eats. And that bread was gone. He even wanted more! He asked for it toasted this mornig with peanutbutter and honey. Now he wants to know if we can add grains to it. His favorite bread is 9 grain whole wheat. He loves all the little seeds and stuff. I told him we can try it some time and see how it comes out. It was so cute how happy he was eating his bread. He said it was better then the fresh baked bread we get at the restaurant. I have a feeling that I will be making this all the time. Good thing I bought 4 bowls to make some for Thanksgiving.
So happy to hear this! And how cute that your son likes grains…wish I could get my children to do the same 🙂
Hello there, I have made this several times with your faux-focaccia edit. It is simply wonderful and a real ‘crowd pleaser’! I love it so much I have shared it on my blog! Thanks for sharing, it is really wonderful!
Wonderful to hear this!
I tried this bread twice this weekend and while the loaves did rise perfectly on the first and second rise, they did not continue to rise at all during the actual baking time. In fact they seemed to deflate a little once I put them in the oven. I love the simplicity of the recipe and the texture was good as well as the taste, but the loaves were not at all tall and rounded on top. I’m wondering if putting the loaves in the warm oven for the second rise causes them to deflate when removing them from the oven to wait for the oven to get to 425 degrees for baking. Should I have left them on the cupboard for the second rise rather than putting them in the oven to rise? Aside from that I followed the directions exactly as given. Thank you for this recipe.
I had the same problem. My bread deflated some after the second raise and did not puff in the oven to match your photos.
Pat, hi, so sorry to hear about the deflating! Are you letting the dough rise in the oven for the second rise? If so, read the comment I just left (below) for Shauna. It sounds as though the loaves might be rising too much before entering the oven, which are making them fragile and causing them to collapse.
If you are not letting them rise in the oven, give me a few more details: is the first rise going OK? And what size bowls are you using?
Hi Shauna,
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you! I just looked at the recipe, and I can’t believe I don’t make a note of this, but I never place the loaves in the oven to rise for the second rise. I only do the warm oven trick for the first rise. It sounds as though you are doing everything right, and I think if you let the loaves sit on the counter (or near the oven or near a warm spot) for 20 minutes while the oven preheats, you won’t have the deflating issue. I have definitely experienced deflating when I have let loaves rise too much during the second rise, which causes them to be fragile and to ultimately collapse in the oven rather than spring up. I hope you give this another go! I think you will have complete success next time around. Let me know if there is anything else.
This is the BEST recipe!! At our house we go through 3-4 loaves a week!! I make a recipe and a half for two 1.5 quart bowls (or two 8×4 inch pyrex loaf pans) Big, beautiful loaves eery time. It is AMAZING toasted, with butter and cinnamon sugar, and is wonderful for grilled cheese sandwiches (or open-face “melts”) Thanks for a great recipe!
Yay! Makes me so happy to hear this. Also, you named off all of our favorite uses for this bread: cinnamon toast in the morning; grilled cheese for lunch; open-face melts for dinner/lunch. so funny 😉
After many, many failed attempts with bread machine bread, you have reignited my faith that I CAN make homemade bread! I was a little apprehensive after mixing the water in with the other ingredients and the dough was a little dry – – I added a few dribbles of warm tap water to get it moist and was certain that was going to be the breads demise. But no! Both loaves turned out great, fantastic! I had to go get my husband from the other room when I was pulling them out of the oven to watch – it was a BIG DEAL! And so delicious! Thank you, thank you for this simple but amazing recipe! And the videos were also very helpful, as well. Just finished about a half a loaf of bread along with my homemade eggplant parm – delish!
Oh my, homemade eggplant parm sounds SO good right now. So happy to hear that both loaves turned out well and that you were able to adjust the consistency with a little bit of water and that you are now a bread baker…hooray!
I have to make at least 4 loaves of this per week, we all love it! My only question is what are the instructions for the dinner rolls? I don’t know if it’s my browser or if it got cut off on this page, but it just says “#3 Thyme Dinner rolls” and nothing else?
So happy to hear this, Trina! The Thyme dinner rolls should be linked to this post: https://alexandracooks.com/2013/11/26/thyme-dinner-rolls/ It’s just an easy dinner roll adaptation of the recipe. Did you print out the recipe maybe?
btw, your children are adorable…
…sometimes. I am ready for winter to be over, as are they. It’s hard being stuck indoors for so many months.
Are you leaning towards peasant bread? I hope so! It’s so easy and so good.
This is delicious and so easy! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I am eating a slice as I type this. 🙂
Bread turned out great, next time probably a few more minutes in the oven. Toasted with farm fresh scrams this morning. yum…
Yum! We are big scrambled egg eaters here and love them spread onto this toast. Hope the bread turns out better next time.
Sorry, this is NOT the easiest bread to make. Indian fry bread is. Only 4 ingredients: here is the recipe:
1 cup flour (gluten free would be fine)
salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 cup milk (non dairy would be fine)
Stir 10 minutes, knead, let it sit at least 1/2 hour. Pull apart in two walnut sized pieces, (you’ll have about 6 or 7 of these) stretch it out and then deep fry. Use coconut oil or other healthy oil. They taste like unsweetened doughnuts, and are SO GOOD! No butter necessary, you could eat with jam, though.
Yum, sounds amazing, thanks!
FIRST TIME making bread ever… It took a bit of courage, but I read through the recipe like 3 times and mustered up the courage to try this.
It turned out PERFECTLY! I was so happy! 🙂
Thank you for the recipe, it was super easy and I can’t wait to try other kinds of breads next! woo hoo 🙂
Yay!! SO happy to hear this!
you’re not going to believe this, but i’ve made this recipe three (3) times, and have been omitting the second rise!
AND the bread has turned out so delicious anyway!
i put about 1/3 or so into an 7×7 (small square casserole) pan so i get one loaf of something like a round ciabatta-type loaf , then i put the rest into a regular glass loaf pan (9×5).
i’m almost afraid to try the second rise now, since i’ve had such good results without it. (i prefer a more hearty style bread anyway (vs supermarket “air bread” type loaves) and this recipe is fantastic for me – without the second rise.
by the way, i usually manage to finish off the small round loaf in one night… it’s that delicious! (i plan on soup and sandwiches, then i just can’t resist having some bread and cheese as a snack later.)
Wonderful to hear this kali! Well, maybe you are on to something! Most people have trouble with the second rise anyway — I should just tell them to skip it. So happy you have had success with so many various vessels. Love the idea of making a small loaf — I would eat it in one sitting 🙂 Thanks for writing in!
I pinned this recipe a while ago, and finally made it tonight. OH MY GOSH! It turned out fantastic! My husband said “I have a problem. I can’t stop eating this bread”! It was delicious, and truly is the easiest bread I have ever made. It was made and cooked to perfection in about 2 1/2 hours. Since my hubby & I are empty nester’s…we have the two loaves to ourselves, and will be having toast with it tomorrow morning. Thank you so much for the videos on how to make the bread. I watched them all before making it. They were excellent! I will be making this bread over & over again. THANK YOU!
Wonderful to hear this Cindi! I know, it is impossible not to attack it when it is freshly baked especially when you are hungry. I could live on bread and butter! Thank you for writing in!
Another great warm spot to raise your bread? Your dryer! LOL
Truthfully! I have done this in the past. I just throw in a load of towels, dry them, take them out and put in my bread. I do put a kitchen towel down to ‘cradle the bowl’ and to keep it warm. My older dryer had a neat sweater rack that you could put into it. It was a great flat surface to sit the bowl.
So funny, Micki! I love it. Great tip!
I couldn’t wait to try this bread! Unfortunately the bread did not rise in the 30 min time the second time! Obviously my fault since most others have had great success…..can you give me any pointers? The yeast was purchased over the weekend so I assume it is ok. It rose fine the first time. It is rapid rise yeast so I added to the flour mixture. Help!! I love bread and really want it to work for me!
UPDATE-it tasted awesome! It had a nice texture, was just not as “tall” as pictured.
Melyssa — so sorry for the delay in getting back to you — I’ve been out of town. Glad to hear that it tasted awesome, but we can still brainstorm a little bit. What size bowls are you using? Let’s start there — that’s usually the culprit. Even if they are as small as 1.5 L, the loaf will not appear to be as tall. Let me know! I’ll keep thinking.
When I tell you that this recipe/method is foolproof, I am not lying. Never have I had my recipe results come so close to the displayed images, particularly with regards to other recipes I’ve found on pinterest! When I added the yeast-water mixture to the dry ingredients, I was a little scared at first, thinking there wasn’t enough liquid. But then I continued to stir, & everything came together just like it showed it would in the picture! Glad I didn’t add any extra water, might’ve compromised the results. Anyone who has hestitation about making this recipe, I am here to tell you to not, because this Is the kind of thing that will make you question why you ever purchased store bought bread. The whole process took less than 4hr! Thank you for a simply incredible & unique way to make homemade bread! This was my first attempt EVER at making homemade bread, and it could not have been more of a delicious one!
Christy, so happy to hear this! Thank you so much for reporting back with your results. Amazing to hear that this was your first bread attempt! Awesome.
Thanks for getting back to me….I went back and re-read your steps and this time I saw that you used smaller bowls! Mine are 2qt…so I ordered some 1 qt bowls and will try that! I will let you know…..
Wonderful! I’m excited for your bowls to arrive — the dough will rise dramatically above the rim and look so pretty!
This recipe was so simple and came out beautifully! Thank you so much for posting it and for including the videos, they were incredibly helpful.
wonderful to hear this, Katie!
What is the reason bleached must not be used? I really want to try this but only have bleached flour. I’ve never really paid attention to that, same flour I always use to make bread.
Geraldine, when I made this bread, I used bleached all purpose flour because that’s all I had. It turned out fabulous!
Wonderful to hear this, Cindi! I should clarify the note.
Geraldine — I just find the taste to be a little off when I used bleached flour. Glad Cindi chimed in — others have had success with bleached flour, too.
Hi:) I found this recipe tonight and I can’t wait to try it tomorrow. Thanks for sharing it and making the very helpful videos. I love the table that you are making the bread on:)
Hope it turned out well, Robyn!
I have made this bread three times now and didnt realize that I forgot the plastic wrap on the 2nd and 3rd attempts but everything turned out OK. I also tried deleting the 2nd rise (like I had read on here) and I found that the bread still turned out but it was more dense than the ones where I did allow for the second rise. Has anyone tried adding any type of grain yet? What about raisins and cinnamon?
Hi Melanie! Sorry for just getting to this. I haven’t experimented too much with variations, but i do love adding a cup of cornmeal in place of one cup of flour, so you might be able to do the same with another grain. Several commenters have had success with cinnamon and raisins. Go for it!