My Mother’s Peasant Bread: The Best Easiest Bread You Will Ever Make
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This is the no-knead bread recipe my mother has been baking for 45 years. Start to finish, it can be ready in three hours. It bakes in well-buttered Pyrex bowls — no need to preheat a baking vessel for this recipe — and it emerges golden and crisp with a soft, tender crumb. 🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞
When I tell you that, if forced, I had to pick one and only one recipe to share with you that this — my mother’s peasant bread — would be it, I am serious. I would almost in fact be OK ending the blog after this very post, retiring altogether from the wonderful world of food blogging, resting assured that you all had this knowledge at hand. This bread might just change your life.
The reason I say this is simple. I whole-heartedly believe that if you know how to make bread you can throw one hell of a dinner party. And the reason for this is because people go insane over homemade bread. Not once have I served this bread to company without being asked, “Did you really make this?” And questioned: “You mean with a bread machine?” But always praised: “Is there anything more special than homemade bread?”
And upon tasting homemade bread, people act as if you’re some sort of culinary magician. I would even go so far as to say that with homemade bread on the table along with a few nice cheeses and a really good salad, the main course almost becomes superfluous. If you nail it, fantastic. If you don’t, you have more than enough treats to keep people happy all night long.
The Magic of the Peasant Bread
So what, you probably are wondering, makes this bread so special when there are so many wonderful homemade bread recipes out there? Again, the answer is simple. For one, it’s a no-knead bread. I know, I know. There are two wildly popular no-knead bread recipes out there.
But unlike the others, this is a no-knead bread that can be started at 4:00 pm and turned out onto the dinner table at 7:00 pm. It bakes in well-buttered Pyrex bowls — there is no pre-heating of the baking vessels in this recipe — and it emerges golden and crisp without any steam pans or water spritzes. This is not artisan bread, nor is it trying to be. It is peasant bread, spongy and moist with a most delectable buttery crust.
Genuinely, I would be proud to serve this bread at a dinner party attended by Jim Lahey, Mark Bittman, Peter Reinhart, Chad Robertson, Jeff Hertzberg, and Zoe Francois. It is a bread I hope you will all give a go, too, and then proudly serve at your next dinner party to guests who might ask where you’ve stashed away your bread machine. And when this happens, I hope you will all just smile and say, “Don’t be silly. This is just a simple peasant bread. Easy as pie. I’ll show you how to make it some day.”
Peasant Bread Variations
Once you master the peasant bread, you can make any bread your heart desires — this simple no-knead bread recipe is the foundation of many of the other bread recipes on this site, namely this hugely popular overnight refrigerator focaccia and this simple homemade pizza dough. It’s even the inspiration behind this simple pita bread recipe and these no-knead dinner rolls.
The below post is organized as follows:
- How to Make Peasant Bread, Step by Step
- The Best Way to Store Bread
- Peasant Bread Dinner Rolls
- Peasant Bread Sandwich Bread
- How to Add Seeds and Nuts to Bread Dough
- How to Make Gluten-Free Peasant Bread
- How to Coat the Loaves in Seeds
- How to use Whole Wheat Flour
- How to Bake the Peasant Bread in a Dutch Oven
Many more variations on the peasant bread can be found in my cookbook, Bread Toast Crumbs:
Bread Toast Crumbs
Love the peasant bread? There’s now a book filled with 40 simple bread recipes plus 70 recipes to use up every crumb of every loaf you bake.
How to Make Peasant Bread, Step by Step
First: You need yeast.
This is the yeast I buy exclusively: SAF Instant Yeast. Instant yeast can be whisked into the flour directly without any blooming or proofing. If you want to stick to active-dry yeast, there are instructions in the recipe notes on how to do so. Red Star yeast is great.
Whisk together flour, salt, sugar, and instant yeast. Add lukewarm water.
Mix until you have a sticky dough ball. Let it rise for 1.5 to 2 hours…
… or until it looks like this:
Punch down the dough using two forks.
Then split the dough down the middle again using the two forks.
Because this is a very wet dough, it must be baked in an oven-proof bowl. I am partial to the Pyrex 1L 322 size, but any similarly sized oven-proof bowl will work.
Butter the bowls well; then transfer half of the dough to each prepared bow.
Let the dough rise again until it crowns the rim of the bowl, about 30 minutes.
Transfer the bowls to the oven to bake:
This bread is irresistible when it’s freshly baked, but it also makes wonderful toast on subsequent mornings as well as the best grilled cheese and sandwiches of all kinds.
The Best Way to Store Bread
If you want to store the bread at room temperature for 3 to 4 days, I think the best method is in a ziplock bag. I’ve tried other eco-friendly options, but nothing seems to keep bread freshest — the crumb the softest — better than a ziplock bag. You can re-use the bags again and again.
If you intend to keep the bread for longer, I would freeze it. I often slice bread as soon as it cools completely, transfer the slices to a ziplock bag, then freeze. This way, I know the bread was frozen at its freshest.
A ziplock bag will not prevent the crust of bread from turning soft, which is why I suggest always reheating day-old bread. I use a toaster at breakfast for slices of bread, and I reheat half or quarter loaves in the oven at 350ºF for 15 to 20 minutes when serving for dinner.
Bread revives so beautifully in the oven or toaster.
No-Knead Dinner Rolls
To use the peasant bread dough to make rolls, simply divide the dough into smaller portions and place in a buttered muffin tin as in these No-Knead Thyme Dinner Rolls (pictured below). This recipe for no-knead buttermilk pull-apart rolls is also based on the peasant bread recipe.
No-Knead Sandwich Bread
To make sandwich bread, multiply the recipe below by 1.5 and bake the bread in two buttered 8.5×4.5-inch loaf pans. Made with half all-purpose flour and half King Arthur Sprouted Wheat Flour (no longer available unfortunately), these seed-coated sandwich loaves (pictured below) have a soft and light crumb.
How to Add Nuts and Seeds to Bread Dough
To add seeds and nuts (or dried fruit and cheese), simply stir them into the dry ingredients. This recipe for Quinoa-and-Flax Toasting Bread will offer guidance on how much to add.
How to Make a Gluten-Free Peasant Bread
Making gluten-free peasant bread (pictured below) isn’t as simple as swapping in gluten-free flour for wheat flour. But the process is still relatively simple — in fact, because there’s only one rise, many people find the gluten-free peasant bread recipe to be even simpler than the original. Find the recipe here: Gluten-Free Peasant Bread
How to Coat the Loaves in Seeds
To coat the peasant bread in seeds, as pictured below, simply coat the bowls with everything bagel seasoning or with dukkah or sesame seeds or whatever seed mix you wish. The seed-coated loaves look so beautiful, and it’s amazing how much the flavor of the coating permeates the loaves. Find the recipe here: Everything Bagel Seasoning Peasant Bread
How to Use Whole Wheat Flour
To use whole wheat flour in the peasant bread, simply replace as much as 50% of the all-purpose flour with your favorite whole wheat flour: I’ve been loving the Cairnsprings Mill Trailblazer stone-milled flour. With the Trailblazer, I can use up to 75% of it in the peasant bread, and it yields a beautiful, chewy texture as well as a lovely flavor and aroma.
When using whole wheat flour, you may have to use more or less water — there is no rule as to how much more or less, and it will take some trial and error to get right because all flours absorb water differently. When I use the Trailblazer flour, for example, I reduce the water by at least 50 grams.
If you’d like to learn more about whole wheat flour and stone-milled flours, read this: Easy Sourdough Bread (Whole Wheat-ish)
How to Bake the Peasant Bread in a Dutch Oven
If you’re looking for more of a crackling crusted boule (characteristic of a loaf of sourdough bread) as opposed to the buttery crispness of the peasant bread, you can bake the peasant bread dough in a preheated Dutch oven.
There are detailed instructions below the recipe in the notes section, but one thing to keep in mind before you begin is dough hydration. The peasant bread is a very high-hydration dough, meaning there is a lot of water relative to flour. Because baking the peasant bread in a Dutch oven will require some handling of the dough — to shape it into a round and to create some tension — you may want to reduce the water from the start. Consider holding back 20-30 grams of water to make the process more manageable for you.
My Mother’s Peasant Bread: The Best Easiest Bread You Will Ever Make
- Total Time: 2 hours 27 minutes
- Yield: 2 loaves
Description
Notes:
The bread:
This is a sticky, no-knead dough, so, some sort of baking vessel, such as pyrex bowls (you need two 1-qt bowls) or ramekins for mini loaves is required to bake this bread. See notes below the recipe for sources. You can use a bowl that is about 2 qt or 2 L in size to bake off the whole batch of dough (versus splitting the dough in half) but do not use this size for baking half of the dough — it is too big.
Peasant Bread Fans! There is a book: Bread Toast Crumbs, a loaf-to-crumb bread-baking book, filled with tips and tricks and answers to the many questions that have been asked over the years. In the book you will find 40 variations of the master peasant bread recipe + 70 recipes for using up the many loaves you will bake. Learn more about the book here or buy it here.
Ingredients
- 4 cups (512 g) unbleached all-purpose or bread flour
- 2 teaspoons (10 g) kosher salt
- 2 cups (454 g) lukewarm water (made by mixing 1.5 cups cold water with 0.5 cup boiling water)
- 2 teaspoons (8 g) sugar
- 2 teaspoons (8 g) instant yeast, I love SAF Instant Yeast, see notes below
- room temperature butter, about 2 tablespoons
Instructions
- Mixing the dough: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, sugar, and instant yeast (I love SAF Instant Yeast). Add the water. Mix until the flour is absorbed. (If you are using active dry yeast, see notes below.)
- Let it rise. Cover bowl with a tea towel or plastic wrap and set aside in a warm spot to rise for at least an hour. (In the winter or if you are letting the bread rise in a cool place, it might take as long as two hours to rise.) This is how to create a slightly warm spot for your bread to rise in: Turn the oven on at any temperature (350ºF or so) for one minute, then turn it off. Note: Do not allow the oven to get up to 300ºF, for example, and then heat at that setting for 1 minute — this will be too hot. Just let the oven preheat for a total of 1 minute — it likely won’t get above 100ºF. The goal is to just create a slightly warm environment for the bread.
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Grease two 1-qt or 1.5-qt oven-safe bowls (see notes below) with about a tablespoon of butter each. Using two forks, punch down your dough, scraping it from the sides of the bowl, which it will be clinging to. As you scrape it down try to pull the dough toward the center (see video below for guidance). You want to loosen the dough entirely from the sides of the bowl, and you want to make sure you’ve punched it down. Then, take your two forks and divide the dough into two equal portions — eye the center of the mass of dough, and starting from the center and working out, pull the dough apart with the two forks. Then scoop up each half and place into your prepared bowls. This part can be a little messy — the dough is very wet and will slip all over the place. Using small forks or forks with short tines makes this easier — my small salad forks work best; my dinner forks make it harder. It’s best to scoop it up fast and plop it in the bowl in one fell swoop. Some people like to use flexible, plastic dough scrapers for this step.
- Let the dough rise again for about 20 to 30 minutes on the countertop near the oven (or near a warm spot) or until it has risen to just below or above (depending on what size bowl you are using) the top of the bowls. (Note: Do not do the warm-oven trick for the second rise, and do not cover your bowls for the second rise. Simply set your bowls on top of your oven, so that they are in a warm spot. Twenty minutes in this spot usually is enough for my loaves.)
- Bake it. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375º and bake for 15 to 17 minutes longer. Remove from the oven and turn the loaves onto cooling racks. If you’ve greased the bowls well, the loaves should fall right out onto the cooling racks. If the loaves look a little pale and soft when you’ve turned them out onto your cooling racks, place the loaves into the oven (outside of their bowls) and let them bake for about 5 minutes longer. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before cutting.
Notes
- The bowls: The cheapest, most widely available 1-qt bowl is the Pyrex 322. Update: These bowls are becoming harder to find and more expensive. As a result, I’m suggesting this cheaper option: the Pyrex 3-piece set. You can split the dough in half as always (see recipe) and bake half in the 1-quart bowl and half in the 1.5 quart bowl. The loaves will not be the same shape, but they will be delicious nonetheless.
- Yeast: I buy SAF Instant Yeast in bulk from Amazon I store it in my fridge or freezer, and it lasts forever. If you are using the packets of yeast (the kind that come in the 3-fold packets), just go ahead and use a whole packet — It’s 2.25 teaspoons. I have made the bread with active dry, rapid rise, and instant yeast, and all varieties work. The beauty of instant yeast is that there is no need to “proof” it — you can add the yeast directly to the flour. I never use active-dry yeast anymore.
- If you have active-dry yeast on hand and want to use it, here’s how: In a small mixing bowl, dissolve the sugar into the water. Sprinkle the yeast over top. There is no need to stir it up. Let it stand for about 10 to 15 minutes or until the mixture is foamy and/or bubbling just a bit — this step will ensure that the yeast is active. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. When the yeast-water-sugar mixture is foamy, stir it up, and add it to the flour bowl. Mix until the flour is absorbed.
- Troubleshooting: You can find step-by-step video instruction here.
- Several commenters have had trouble with the second rise, and this seems to be caused by the shape of the bowl they are letting the dough rise in the second time around. Two hours for the second rise is too long. If you don’t have a 1-qt bowl, bake 3/4 of the dough in a loaf pan and bake the rest off in muffin tins or a popover pan. The second rise should take no more than 30 minutes.
- Also, you can use as many as 3 cups of whole wheat flour, but the texture changes considerably. I suggest trying with all all-purpose or bread flour to start and once you get the hang of it, start trying various combinations of whole wheat flour and/or other flours.
- The single most important step you can take to make this bread truly foolproof is to invest in a digital scale. This onecosts under $10. If you are not measuring by weight, do this: scoop flour into the measuring cup using a separate spoon or measuring cup; level off with a knife. The flour should be below the rim of the measuring cup.
- Here’s a printable version of this recipes that’s less wordy: Peasant Bread Recipe, Simplified
- How to Bake the Peasant Bread in a Dutch Oven: Preheat a Dutch Oven for 45 minutes at 450ºF. Dust a clean work surface with flour. After the first rise, turn the dough out onto the floured surface and shape it into a ball: I like to fold it envelope style from top to bottom, then side to side; then I flip it over and use the pinkie edges of my hands to pinch the dough underneath and create some tension. Transfer the dough to a sheet of parchment paper. Let rest for 20 minutes. If you feel your dough is spreading too much you can lift up the sheet of parchment paper, dough and all, and place it in a bowl of a similar size. After the 20 minutes, transfer the dough, parchment paper and all to the Dutch oven. Carefully cover it. Bake 30 minutes. Uncover. Bake 15 minutes more.
- To bake the peasant bread in a loaf pan: If you are using an 8.5×4.5-inch loaf pan or a 9×5-inch loaf pan, you can bake 3/4 of the dough in it; bake off the rest of the dough in ramekins or other small vessels … the mini loaves are so cute. You can also make 1.5x the recipe, and bake the bread in 2 loaf pans. If you have a large loaf pan, such as a 10×6-inch loaf pan, you can bake off the entire batch of dough in it. For loaf pans, bake at 375ºF for 45 minutes.
- How to Bake at Hight Altitude:
- First try the original recipe as written (preferably with a scale). You may not need to make any adjustments. One commenter, who lives at 9200 ft finds the original recipe to work just fine as is.
- If the original recipe doesn’t work, try adding a little bit more water because it rises fast and it is so dry: about a quarter cup for every 512 g of flour.
- Try decreasing the yeast to 1.5 teaspoons.
- If your dough is especially gooey, try decreasing the water by 1/4 cup. But, if you aren’t using a scale, my first suggestion would be to buy a scale and weigh the flour, and make the bread once as directed with the 2 cups water and 512 grams flour, etc.
- Punch the dough down twice before transferring it to the buttered Pyrex bowls. In other words, let it rise for 1-1.5 hours, punch it down, let it rise again for about an hour, punch it down, then transfer it to the buttered bowls.
- Variations:
- #1. Cornmeal. Substitute 1 cup of the flour with 1 cup of cornmeal. Proceed with the recipe as directed.
- #2. Faux focaccia. Instead of spreading butter in two Pyrex bowls in preparation for baking, butter one 9×9-inch glass baking dish and one Pyrex bowl or just butter one large 9×13-inch Pyrex baking dish. If using two vessels, divide the dough in half and place each half in prepared baking pan. If using only one large baking dish, place all of the dough in the dish. Drizzle dough with 1 tablespoon of olive oil (if using the small square pan) and 2 tablespoons of olive oil (if using the large one). Using your fingers, gently spread the dough out so that it fits the shape of the pan. Use your fingers to create dimples in the surface of the dough. Sprinkle surface with chopped rosemary and sea salt. Let rise for 20 to 30 minutes. Bake for 15 minutes at 425ºF and 17 minutes (or longer) at 375ºF. Remove from pan and let cool on cooling rack.
- #3. Thyme Dinner Rolls
- #4 Gluten-free
- #5. Everything Bagel Seasoning Bread. Simply coat the buttered bowls with Everything Bagel Seasoning.
- #6: Whole Wheat Peasant Bread. Use as much as 50% whole wheat flour.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 32 minutes
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
6,584 Comments on “My Mother’s Peasant Bread: The Best Easiest Bread You Will Ever Make”
I have pulled out my pyrex bowls and they only say microwave safe, NO Broiler NO stove top, Does it have to say Oven safe on the bowls that you are using? Thanks I was hoping to make this tomorrow.
Rebecca — I think you are safe! I just checked three of my Pyrex bowls and they all say exactly what yours says, and I have baked successfully with all of them. Good luck with it! Happy Thanksgiving!
What about a Dutch oven??? I’m drawing a blank on wether we have clear Pyrex bowls but I’d love to make this ! I
Amber — I think a Dutch oven will work, but the shape of the loaf will just be kind of different, which is totally OK, but just something to keep in mind. Also, unless you have a small Dutch oven, it might be a little too large for half of the dough. I would almost consider letting the whole batch of dough make its second rise in the Dutch oven. Or, try to use about 3/4 of the dough for the Dutch oven and then make mini loaves in ramekins or muffin tins. Just a thought. Hope that helps! Happy Thanksgiving!
This turned out soooo wonderful. I didn’t have any issues with it at all – from the directions to thie finishing of it. Thank you so much! I did learn that glass retained its heat very well so my hands got a bit of a zing….oops!
Sarah — SO happy to hear this…not about the hands, of course. I just want the bread to turn out this way for everyone!
I found this recipe on Pinterest about 2 weeks and after seeing how easy it looked to make, I decided to make it for my family on Thanksgiving. I followed the directions thoroughly (even though I was a little wary, especially with how bad my food turns out) and it was easier than I knew it would be! I started making it by 11 and at 2, it was out and looked exactly like the pictures. I’m totally saving this recipe and making more of this DELICIOUS bread for future events!!
HunterCorrina — I am SO happy to hear this. And I am so happy that it turned out well on Thanksgiving for your family…there is nothing worse than when things don’t turn out well for company even when the group may be as understanding as your family. I hope everyone loved it. Happy Thanksgiving!
I made this for the first time today, my first ever homemade bread since I was a child as a matter of fact, and I just wanted to cry because I forgot how good just yeasty dough smells, it brought me back to a good time.
I made one loaf in a glass loaf pan, and then 6 rolls in a metal muffin tin, and the rolls I topped with parsley…
they came out…
SOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!!!!!
I’ve been married about 3 1/2 weeks and my husband straight up did NOT believe me that this took so few (and cheap) of ingredients! I did not even have to bust out our new breadmaker, I might even just return it!!! I asked for a bread maker on our registry because (at 26) I have bad joints and cannot knead bread, I’ll be paying for it if I do, so this recipe just thrilled me that I saved my joints, the bread maker, and my dough! (pun totally intended) Thank you so so much!!!
Jana, I love it. I know, aren’t yeasty doughs amazing? And they can be so delicious for such little effort. Congrats on the recent wedding! Very exciting. I have another no-knead bread recipe that is also so delicious and easy. It’s more of a breakfast toasting bread. Here is the link. Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving!
WOW. My mom and I finished off one of these loaves tonight with our soup. AMAZING. I followed the recipe to a T and they turned out beautifully. Thank you SO MUCH! Adding this to my arsenal of go-to recipes. Thank your mom for me too! 😀
Meghan — you are SO welcome. So happy to hear that the loaves turned out well for you.
I’ve tried all kinds of bread recipes and this, by far, is the best and the easiest.
Maddie — So glad you liked it!
Made this today and it is amazing. Thank you for posting and thank your mum too. Definitely another keeper. 🙂
This was amazing bread! We had it as an appetizer for Thanksgiving with some dipping oil…HUGE hit! I followed the recipe as instructed and it was awesome. Thank you!!!!
Lucy T and Gentleblue Mom — SO happy to hear this. Seriously, music to my ears.
OMG!!!!
I have been searching for this sooooo simple to make and marvelous tasting bread
for years!
My test for this fresh out of the oven, fabulous bread, was spicy homemade bread dip..
It passed with flying colors.
I think my favorite part is the texture and crumb …. Perfect!
Thank you so much for passing it along…I’m now making my third loaf today.
P.S. I make one giant loaf in a 3 qt. glass baker …. Brush top with melted butter when it comes out of the oven and sprinkle with Parmesan. YUM!
Edie — I am SO happy to hear this. What is your spicy homemade bread dip? I think I could get into that…
Also, thanks so much for reporting back on the 3 qt glass baker — I think lots of people will be happy to hear that various-sized oven-proof baking dishes will work. Love the idea of butter and parmesan…amazing!
I don’t have a Pyrex brand bowl but I do have glass bowls from Crate and Barrel that are dishwasher and microwave safe. Do you know if these are safe to use to make this bread?
Julie W — I just tried googling to find some more information but I can’t seem to find a definitive answer. I would hate for you to use one of these bowls in the oven and have it crack on you, and the majority of the info I found online seemed to say that it had to say “oven safe” for it to be oven safe 🙁 I’m sorry. I wish I could lend you my Pyrex!
Made this tonight…never having attempted homemade bread before. The word “easy” caught my eye on Pinterest and it is WONDERFUL! Just wanted to say thank you for sharing this with us! My kids and hubby are raving!
Kellie — I’m so happy to hear this. Nothing is better than a happy, well-fed family 🙂
Love this recipe–looks nice and simple.
Yes, a packet of yeast is 2.25 teaspoons. I bought a yeast container from King Arthur Flour and it comes with a 2.25 tsp measuring spoon. So handy!
Lindsey — that is awesome! What a great stocking stuffer idea.
Do you think this dough would work in a regular sized metal loaf pan? So instead of splitting the dough, make one large loaf?
Elle — A regular sized metal loaf pan will work, but you will probably only need about 3/4 of the batter. Bake off the remaining batter in muffin tins or ramekins. Hope that helps!
Could you flavor this recipe with herbs and what not? My boyfriend and I love herb-y breads! I’ve never made bread before so…Just want to make sure!
Shawna — I have never tried any variations — can you believe it? — but thanks to the commenters, I know that you can. One commenter added a bit of fresh rosemary, a smaller bit of dried, some onion powder, and a touch of garlic powder; another added cheese and jalapenos. So, I think you can add whatever you like!
I saw that I had everything to make this on hand to make this so I decided to try it… Simply amazing! This was my first time ever making bread and I was so pleasantly surprised. For the record, I used about 3/4 of the dough in a metal loaf pan, and the rest of it I made into rolls (it made about 6 rolls in a regular muffin pan). Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
Stephanie — I am SO happy to hear this. And thanks for reporting back on the vessels you used — that’s helpful info for people who don’t have pyrex bowls to bake the bread in.
Thank you for this recipe!!! I just pulled the bread from the oven and the most amazing freshly-baked-bread-smell has filled our home. I made one loaf (Pyrex bowl) and four dinner rolls (ramekins) so we have rolls with dinner and toast for breakfast. Thank you to you and to your mother for sharing this recipe.
I should have added that I took the rolls from the oven after 20 minutes and left the loaf in by itself for the remainder of the cooking time.
Alex, so happy to hear this! Aren’t rolls for dinner the best? My mother-in-law is in town, and she’s making chicken noodle soup tonight, and I am making rolls…a perfect dinner!
How long would I bake the bread for if I was using ramekins for rolls rather than loaves?
Ann — I would say for at least 20 minutes, but not much longer. take a look after 20 minutes and if they look nice and golden, take them out and invert onto a cooling rack. If after you invert, you tap the bottom and it doesn’t sound too hollow, put the loaf back in the ramekin (or not actually — it’s fine directly on the rack) and bake for 5 more minutes or so. Hope that helps!
I found this little gem on pinterest, and I am currently putting it to the test using half whole wheat flour and white flour! Since there are 2 of us in my house, I cut the recipe in half to make one loaf. Currently it is in the 2nd rise stage and looking GOOD! Thanks for such a great tutorial!!
Liz, you are so welcome! I hope it turned out well for you. Glad to hear that the first half of the assembly process was a success!
I found this recipe on Pinterest and made it today. I baked my two loaves in BIG pyrex bowls– like 4 quart bowls- and while the loaves didn’t rise very high, we still had AMAZING bread with our spaghetti dinner tonight. I am about to go get a second batch rising to try baking in my Corningware casseroles to see if that gives me a taller loaf. I have a feeling that this is going to become one of those recipes I make all of the time.
Juli — I hope it is! Yeah, the shape of the dish definitely determines the height of the final loaf. if your Corningware dishes are narrower, then the loaves should rise higher, and if you have any ramekins, you can bake off mini loaves that will look like mini soufflees. SO happy to hear this turned out well for you!
Wondering if there is a way to convert this to sourdough or use my sourdough starter somehow in this recipe.
Linda, gosh, I am not knowledgeable enough to say, but I would hate for you to waste your starter on this recipe!
My dough was not wet at all…… I used 4 cups of flour, and the 2 cups of water, any ideas on what I did wrong? Am letting it rise right now but dough is very dry
Karimartin — several others have had this issue as well and it’s likely that your one cup is different than my one cup, which weighs about 4.5 oz. Everybody measures differently, which is why measuring by weight is ideal, but my suggestion for measuring with dry measuring cups is this: place measuring cup on counter; spoon flour into measuring cup with a spoon or 1/4- or 1/2-cup measuring cup; level off with a knife; never shake the cup. This way will produce scant cups that are more likely 4.5 oz. If your dough is dry, I would suggest adding a little bit of water and use the photos as a guide. I hope it turns out well for you! Are you letting it rise in a warm spot?
Alexandra – Thank you for this recipe, and for taking the time to spell it out with such detail! This was my first bread attempt and I made it tonight to accompany a roasted tomato soup. The crunchy, buttery bread was the perfect pair. My husband didn’t even notice that there wasn’t any meat on the table as he was too distracted by the bread. 🙂 A trick I will certainly try again!
For anyone else having issues with the dough being dry – Mine was also a bit more dry than I expected after weighing out flour and adding water. I used 9 ounces whole wheat flour, and 9 ounces all-purpose. I added 1 Tbs. + 1 tsp. of water to the dough before first rise, and it came out beautifully. Thanks Alexandra!
Julie — I am so happy to hear this. And thanks so much for offering a note about adding water if the dough isn’t wet enough. I should add a note to the recipe, too.
And doesn’t homemade bread do wonders? My husband is the same. Soup and bread is also my favorite meal. I have been craving tomato soup. Must make this menu soon. Thanks again for writing in 🙂
I just tried this recipe and it truly is as easy as you say and just delicious. It has a dense, moist texture and is just perfect paired with a hearty chili or a thick delicious soup! Thanks for posting!
Danielle — wonderful! I just want everyone to have these same exact results.
Try brushing butter on dough before baking, then sprinkle with a small amount of salt and chopped fresh thyme. Oh my this is good. I do this with homemade dinner rolls and everyone loves it.
Gabriele — sounds amazing, thanks!
Thanks so much for this little nugget of knowledge! I’ve made the bread twice already. I wanted to tell you that if there is a Costco nearby, they beat the amazon price by a lot. That same 32 oz package was $3.99 in Portland OR!!!
Meghan, so happy to hear this! And thanks for the tip on the yeast…awesome!
I am just about to put my bread into the oven. So far so good . . . and so easy. My dough was not rising as described and pictured. I did a search on some other no knead peasant breads and found that they are left to rise for up to 18 hours. So for my first rise I left it for 3.5 hours. It looked ok then, and my second rise was 1.5 hours. Still doesn’t look as high and bubbley as the pictures but I’m going to start baking. Any suggestions? Could it be the yeast?
Alicia — Sorry to hear about the slow-rise troubles. Did you do the test with the yeast in warm water and sugar before you added it to the flour mixture? If it bubbled as described, then the yeast should have been ok. The 18-hour rise, no-knead bread recipes have very little yeast — like 1/2 a teaspoon for about twice as much flour, so that is why such a long rise is required. That is definitely not necessary with this bread recipe. My only suggestion would be to test the yeast and to let the bread rise in a warm spot — did you do the oven trick for the rise? I hope the bread tasted good! It’s frustrating when things don’t move along as quickly as expected.
Im making this bread right now…. so excited to hear all the good reviews… lets just hope I dont mess it up lol thanks for the recipe! Im going to try and make a loaf. No bowls that are oven safe 🙁
Made this today and loved how it was done in about 4 hours. Turned out just like the pictures. Now I’m patiently waiting for it to cool down to cut a piece off.
Christina — SO happy to hear this. I hope it tasted as good as it looked 🙂