My Mother’s Peasant Bread: The Best Easiest Bread You Will Ever Make
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This is the no-knead bread recipe my mother has been baking for 45 years. Start to finish, it can be ready in three hours. It bakes in well-buttered Pyrex bowls — no need to preheat a baking vessel for this recipe — and it emerges golden and crisp with a soft, tender crumb. 🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞
When I tell you that, if forced, I had to pick one and only one recipe to share with you that this — my mother’s peasant bread — would be it, I am serious. I would almost in fact be OK ending the blog after this very post, retiring altogether from the wonderful world of food blogging, resting assured that you all had this knowledge at hand. This bread might just change your life.
The reason I say this is simple. I whole-heartedly believe that if you know how to make bread you can throw one hell of a dinner party. And the reason for this is because people go insane over homemade bread. Not once have I served this bread to company without being asked, “Did you really make this?” And questioned: “You mean with a bread machine?” But always praised: “Is there anything more special than homemade bread?”
And upon tasting homemade bread, people act as if you’re some sort of culinary magician. I would even go so far as to say that with homemade bread on the table along with a few nice cheeses and a really good salad, the main course almost becomes superfluous. If you nail it, fantastic. If you don’t, you have more than enough treats to keep people happy all night long.
The Magic of the Peasant Bread
So what, you probably are wondering, makes this bread so special when there are so many wonderful bread recipes out there? Again, the answer is simple. For one, it’s a no-knead bread. I know, I know. There are two wildly popular no-knead bread recipes out there.
But unlike the others, this is a no-knead bread that can be started at 4:00pm and turned out onto the dinner table at 7:00pm. It bakes in well-buttered Pyrex bowls — there is no pre-heating of the baking vessels in this recipe — and it emerges golden and crisp without any steam pans or water spritzes. This is not artisan bread, nor is it trying to be. It is peasant bread, spongy and moist with a most-delectable buttery crust.
Genuinely, I would be proud to serve this bread at a dinner party attended by Jim Lahey, Mark Bittman, Peter Reinhart, Chad Robertson, Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. It is a bread I hope you will all give a go, too, and then proudly serve at your next dinner party to guests who might ask where you’ve stashed away your bread machine. And when this happens, I hope you will all just smile and say, “Don’t be silly. This is just a simple peasant bread. Easy as pie. I’ll show you how to make it some day.”
Peasant Bread Variations
Once you master the peasant bread, you can make any bread your heart desires — this simple no-knead bread recipe is the foundation of many of the other bread recipes on this site, namely this hugely popular overnight refrigerator focaccia and this simple homemade pizza dough. It’s even the inspiration behind this sourdough focaccia and this sourdough sandwich bread and this simple pita bread recipe.
The below post is organized as follows:
- How to Make Peasant Bread, Step by Step
- The Best Way to Store Bread
- Peasant Bread Dinner Rolls
- Peasant Bread Sandwich Bread
- How to Add Seeds and Nuts to Bread Dough
- How to Make Gluten-Free Peasant Bread
- How to Coat the Loaves in Seeds
- How to use Whole Wheat Flour
- How to Bake the Peasant Bread in a Dutch Oven
Many more variations on the peasant bread can be found in my cookbook, Bread Toast Crumbs:
Bread Toast Crumbs
Love the peasant bread? There’s now a book filled with 40 simple bread recipes plus 70 recipes to use up every crumb of every loaf you bake.
How to Make Peasant Bread, Step by Step
First: You need yeast.
This is the yeast I buy exclusively: SAF Instant Yeast. Instant yeast can be whisked into the flour directly without any blooming or proofing. If you want to stick to active-dry yeast, there are instructions in the recipe notes on how to do so. Red Star yeast is great.
Whisk together flour, salt, sugar, and instant yeast. Add lukewarm water.
Mix until you have a sticky dough ball. Let it rise for 1.5 to 2 hours…
… or until it looks like this:
Punch down the dough using two forks.
Then split the dough down the middle again using the two forks.
Because this is a very wet dough, it must be baked in an oven-proof bowl. I am partial to the Pyrex 1L 322 size, but any similarly sized oven-proof bowl will work.
Butter the bowls well; then transfer half of the dough to each prepared bow.
Let the dough rise again until it crowns the rim of the bowl, about 30 minutes.
Transfer the bowls to the oven to bake:
This bread is irresistible when it’s freshly baked, but it also makes wonderful toast on subsequent mornings as well as the best grilled cheese. It’s also my favorite bread to use for these egg salad sandwiches and for this no-tuna “tuna” salad.
The Best Way to Store Bread
If you want to store the bread at room temperature for 3 to 4 days, I think the best method is in a ziplock bag. I’ve tried other eco-friendly options, but nothing seems to keep bread freshest — the crumb the softest — better than a ziplock bag. You can re-use the bags again and again.
If you intend to keep the bread for longer, I would freeze it. I often slice bread as soon as it cools completely, transfer the slices to a ziplock bag, then freeze. This way, I know the bread was frozen at its freshest.
A ziplock bag will not prevent the crust of bread from turning soft, which is why I suggest always reheating day-old bread. I use a toaster at breakfast for slices of bread, and I reheat half or quarter loaves in the oven at 350ºF for 15 to 20 minutes when serving for dinner.
Bread revives so beautifully in the oven or toaster.
No-Knead Dinner Rolls
To use the peasant bread dough to make rolls, simply divide the dough into smaller portions and place in a buttered muffin tin as in these No-Knead Thyme Dinner Rolls (pictured above). This recipe for no-knead buttermilk pull-apart rolls is also based on the peasant bread as are these brioche pull-apart rolls.
No-Knead Sandwich Bread
To make sandwich bread, multiply the recipe below by 1.5 and bake the bread in two buttered 8.5×4.5-inch loaf pans.
Made with half all-purpose flour and half King Arthur Sprouted Wheat Flour, these seed-coated sandwich loaves (pictured above) have a soft and light crumb. I really like KAF’s sprouted wheat flour, which is made from white whole wheat berries that, when sprouted, yield a creamy, sweet, milder-tasting flour. You can use 100% all-purpose or bread flour for an even lighter loaf or your favorite whole wheat flour in place of the sprouted wheat flour.
How to Add Nuts and Seeds to Bread Dough
To add seeds and nuts (or dried fruit and cheese), simply stir them into the dry ingredients. This recipe for Quinoa-and-Flax Toasting Bread will offer guidance on how much to add.
How to Make a Gluten-Free Peasant Bread
Making gluten-free peasant bread (pictured above) unfortunately isn’t as simple as swapping in gluten-free flour for the wheat flour. But the process and recipe is still super simple — in fact, because there’s only one rise, many people find the gluten-free peasant bread to be even simpler than the original. Find the recipe here: Gluten-Free Peasant Bread
How to Coat the Loaves in Seeds
To coat the peasant bread in seeds, as pictured above, simply coat the bowls with everything bagel seasoning or with dukkah or sesame seeds or whatever seed mix you wish. The seed-coated loaves look so beautiful, and it’s amazing how much the flavor of the coating permeates the loaves. Find the recipe here: Everything Bagel Seasoning Peasant Bread
How to Use Whole Wheat Flour
To use whole wheat flour in the peasant bread, simply replace as much as 50% of the all-purpose flour with your favorite whole wheat flour: I like KAF’s sprouted wheat flour, and I’ve been loving the Cairnsprings Mill Trailblazer stone-milled flour. With the Trailblazer, I can use up to 75% of it in the peasant bread, and it yields a beautiful, chewy texture as well as a lovely flavor and aroma.
When using whole wheat flour, you may have to use more or less water — there is no rule as to how much more or less, and it will take some trial and error to get right because all flours absorb water differently. When I use KAF sprouted wheat flour, for example, I don’t change the water amount at all. When I use the Trailblazer flour, on the other hand, I reduce the water by at least 50 grams.
If you’d like to learn more about whole wheat flour and stone-milled flours, read this: Easy Sourdough Bread (Whole Wheat-ish)
How to Bake the Peasant Bread in a Dutch Oven
If you’re looking for more of a crackling crusted boule (characteristic of a loaf of sourdough bread) as opposed to the buttery crispness of the peasant bread, you can bake the peasant bread dough in a preheated Dutch oven.
There are detailed instructions below the recipe in the notes section, but one thing to keep in mind before you begin is dough hydration. The peasant bread is a very high hydration dough, meaning there is a lot of water relative to flour. Because baking the peasant bread in a Dutch oven will require some handling of the dough — to shape it into a round and to create some tension — you may want to reduce the water from the start. Consider holding back 20-30 grams of water to make the process more manageable for you.
My Mother’s Peasant Bread: The Best Easiest Bread You Will Ever Make
- Total Time: 2 hours 27 minutes
- Yield: 2 loaves
Description
Notes:
The bread:
This is a sticky, no-knead dough, so, some sort of baking vessel, such as pyrex bowls (you need two 1-qt bowls) or ramekins for mini loaves is required to bake this bread. See notes below the recipe for sources. You can use a bowl that is about 2 qt or 2 L in size to bake off the whole batch of dough (versus splitting the dough in half) but do not use this size for baking half of the dough — it is too big.
Peasant Bread Fans! There is now a book: Bread Toast Crumbs, a loaf-to-crumb bread baking book, filled with tips and tricks and answers to the many questions that have been asked over the years. In the book you will find 40 variations of the master peasant bread recipe + 70 recipes for using up the many loaves you will bake. Learn more about the book here or buy it here.
Ingredients
- 4 cups (512 g) unbleached all-purpose or bread flour
- 2 teaspoons (10 g) kosher salt
- 2 cups (454 g) lukewarm water (made by mixing 1.5 cups cold water with 0.5 cup boiling water)
- 2 teaspoons (8 g) sugar
- 2 teaspoons (8 g) instant yeast, I love SAF Instant Yeast, see notes below
- room temperature butter, about 2 tablespoons
Instructions
- Mixing the dough: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, sugar, and instant yeast (I love SAF Instant Yeast). Add the water. Mix until the flour is absorbed. (If you are using active dry yeast, see notes below.)
- Let it rise. Cover bowl with a tea towel or plastic wrap and set aside in a warm spot to rise for at least an hour. (In the winter or if you are letting the bread rise in a cool place, it might take as long as two hours to rise.) This is how to create a slightly warm spot for your bread to rise in: Turn the oven on at any temperature (350ºF or so) for one minute, then turn it off. Note: Do not allow the oven to get up to 300ºF, for example, and then heat at that setting for 1 minute — this will be too hot. Just let the oven preheat for a total of 1 minute — it likely won’t get above 100ºF. The goal is to just create a slightly warm environment for the bread.
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Grease two 1-qt or 1.5-qt oven-safe bowls (see notes below) with about a tablespoon of butter each. Using two forks, punch down your dough, scraping it from the sides of the bowl, which it will be clinging to. As you scrape it down try to pull the dough toward the center (see video below for guidance). You want to loosen the dough entirely from the sides of the bowl, and you want to make sure you’ve punched it down. Then, take your two forks and divide the dough into two equal portions — eye the center of the mass of dough, and starting from the center and working out, pull the dough apart with the two forks. Then scoop up each half and place into your prepared bowls. This part can be a little messy — the dough is very wet and will slip all over the place. Using small forks or forks with short tines makes this easier — my small salad forks work best; my dinner forks make it harder. It’s best to scoop it up fast and plop it in the bowl in one fell swoop. Some people like to use flexible, plastic dough scrapers for this step.
- Let the dough rise again for about 20 to 30 minutes on the countertop near the oven (or near a warm spot) or until it has risen to just below or above (depending on what size bowl you are using) the top of the bowls. (Note: Do not do the warm-oven trick for the second rise, and do not cover your bowls for the second rise. Simply set your bowls on top of your oven, so that they are in a warm spot. Twenty minutes in this spot usually is enough for my loaves.)
- Bake it. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375º and bake for 15 to 17 minutes longer. Remove from the oven and turn the loaves onto cooling racks. If you’ve greased the bowls well, the loaves should fall right out onto the cooling racks. If the loaves look a little pale and soft when you’ve turned them out onto your cooling racks, place the loaves into the oven (outside of their bowls) and let them bake for about 5 minutes longer. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before cutting.
Notes
- The bowls: The cheapest, most widely available 1-qt bowl is the Pyrex 322. Update: These bowls are becoming harder to find and more expensive. As a result, I’m suggesting this cheaper option: the Pyrex 3-piece set. You can split the dough in half as always (see recipe) and bake half in the 1-quart bowl and half in the 1.5 quart bowl. The loaves will not be the same shape, but they will be delicious nonetheless.
- Yeast: I buy SAF Instant Yeast in bulk from Amazon I store it in my fridge or freezer, and it lasts forever. If you are using the packets of yeast (the kind that come in the 3-fold packets), just go ahead and use a whole packet — It’s 2.25 teaspoons. I have made the bread with active dry, rapid rise, and instant yeast, and all varieties work. The beauty of instant yeast is that there is no need to “proof” it — you can add the yeast directly to the flour. I never use active-dry yeast anymore.
- If you have active-dry yeast on hand and want to use it, here’s how: In a small mixing bowl, dissolve the sugar into the water. Sprinkle the yeast over top. There is no need to stir it up. Let it stand for about 10 to 15 minutes or until the mixture is foamy and/or bubbling just a bit — this step will ensure that the yeast is active. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. When the yeast-water-sugar mixture is foamy, stir it up, and add it to the flour bowl. Mix until the flour is absorbed.
- Troubleshooting: You can find step-by-step video instruction here.
- Several commenters have had trouble with the second rise, and this seems to be caused by the shape of the bowl they are letting the dough rise in the second time around. Two hours for the second rise is too long. If you don’t have a 1-qt bowl, bake 3/4 of the dough in a loaf pan and bake the rest off in muffin tins or a popover pan. The second rise should take no more than 30 minutes.
- Also, you can use as many as 3 cups of whole wheat flour, but the texture changes considerably. I suggest trying with all all-purpose or bread flour to start and once you get the hang of it, start trying various combinations of whole wheat flour and/or other flours.
- The single most important step you can take to make this bread truly foolproof is to invest in a digital scale. This one costs under $10. If you are not measuring by weight, do this: scoop flour into the measuring cup using a separate spoon or measuring cup; level off with a knife. The flour should be below the rim of the measuring cup.
- Here’s a printable version of this recipes that’s less wordy: Peasant Bread Recipe, Simplified
- How to Bake the Peasant Bread in a Dutch Oven: Preheat a Dutch Oven for 45 minutes at 450ºF. Dust a clean work surface with flour. After the first rise, turn the dough out onto the floured surface and shape it into a ball: I like to fold it envelope style from top to bottom, then side to side; then I flip it over and use the pinkie edges of my hands to pinch the dough underneath and create some tension. Transfer the dough to a sheet of parchment paper. Let rest for 20 minutes. If you feel your dough is spreading too much you can lift up the sheet of parchment paper, dough and all, and place it in a bowl of a similar size. After the 20 minutes, transfer the dough, parchment paper and all to the Dutch oven. Carefully cover it. Bake 30 minutes. Uncover. Bake 15 minutes more.
- To bake the peasant bread in a loaf pan: If you are using an 8.5×4.5-inch loaf pan or a 9×5-inch loaf pan, you can bake 3/4 of the dough in it; bake off the rest of the dough in ramekins or other small vessels … the mini loaves are so cute. You can also make 1.5x the recipe, and bake the bread in 2 loaf pans. If you have a large loaf pan, such as a 10×6-inch loaf pan, you can bake off the entire batch of dough in it. For loaf pans, bake at 375ºF for 45 minutes.
- How to Bake at Hight Altitude:
- First try the original recipe as written (preferably with a scale). You may not need to make any adjustments. One commenter, who lives at 9200 ft finds the original recipe to work just fine as is.
- If the original recipe doesn’t work, try adding a little bit more water because it rises fast and it is so dry: about a quarter cup for every 512 g of flour.
- Try decreasing the yeast to 1.5 teaspoons.
- If your dough is especially gooey, try decreasing the water by 1/4 cup. But, if you aren’t using a scale, my first suggestion would be to buy a scale and weigh the flour, and make the bread once as directed with the 2 cups water and 512 grams flour, etc.
- Punch the dough down twice before transferring it to the buttered Pyrex bowls. In other words, let it rise for 1-1.5 hours, punch it down, let it rise again for about an hour, punch it down, then transfer it to the buttered bowls.
- Variations:
- #1. Cornmeal. Substitute 1 cup of the flour with 1 cup of cornmeal. Proceed with the recipe as directed.
- #2. Faux focaccia. Instead of spreading butter in two Pyrex bowls in preparation for baking, butter one 9×9-inch glass baking dish and one Pyrex bowl or just butter one large 9×13-inch Pyrex baking dish. If using two vessels, divide the dough in half and place each half in prepared baking pan. If using only one large baking dish, place all of the dough in the dish. Drizzle dough with 1 tablespoon of olive oil (if using the small square pan) and 2 tablespoons of olive oil (if using the large one). Using your fingers, gently spread the dough out so that it fits the shape of the pan. Use your fingers to create dimples in the surface of the dough. Sprinkle surface with chopped rosemary and sea salt. Let rise for 20 to 30 minutes. Bake for 15 minutes at 425ºF and 17 minutes (or longer) at 375ºF. Remove from pan and let cool on cooling rack.
- #3. Thyme Dinner Rolls
- #4 Gluten-free
- #5. Everything Bagel Seasoning Bread. Simply coat the buttered bowls with Everything Bagel Seasoning. Watch a how-to on Instagram Stories here.
- #6: Whole Wheat Peasant Bread. Use as much as 50% whole wheat flour. I like King Arthur Flour’s white whole wheat flour (see this post) or sprouted wheat flour (see this post).
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 32 minutes
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
6,417 Comments on “My Mother’s Peasant Bread: The Best Easiest Bread You Will Ever Make”
Just made this bread and had a slice. It is awesome! I know my sons will love it when they get home tonight! So easy to make that it’s hard to believe it could taste so good! Thank you so much!
Yay!
Hi, I just took the bread out of the oven. It smells so good in here. I wanted to make 2 full sized breads so I mixed it in the biggest pyrex bowl, 4 qt bowl ( I have 2 sets of the pyrex mixing bowls, it’s a 4 piece set that I picked up at BJ’s wholesale club.) I baked each one in the 2.5 qt bowl. They look beautiful. Waiting patiently for them to cool so I can taste them. I want to say thanks for sharing this recipe. It couldn’t be easier and am looking forward to the great reviews from my family:)
Wonderful to hear this, Robin! Hope you received those great reviews…it’s always a hit around here 🙂
Hi again:) I’ve made this bread twice and it was amazing both times:) everyone loved it! Thanks again for sharing it:)
Yay! Wonderful to hear this.
Sometime this past winter I found this recipe by pure accident. I’ve made it several times now and my wife kids go crazy for it. This is especially good paired with a nice broccoli cheese soup. Oh, and you are dead on accurate about this bread making great grilled cheese sandwiches. I like making bread and this is my favorite.
Wonderful to hear this, Terry! You wouldn’t want to share your recipe for broccoli cheese soup, would you? Sounds so good. I’ve never made it. So happy you approve of the grilled cheese sandwiches, too.
I just made this in a cast iron skillet… it is beyond AMAZING!!!
wonderful to hear this! I need to try my cast iron skillet.
I have made this bread several times and it has turned out so beautiful, I would never had tried to make bread had I not come across your recipe! Thank you for sharing with us!
wonderful to hear this, Melinda! Nothing makes me happier.
If I wanted to add anything like oatmeal or flax is it possible with this bread and when should I add it?
I would add it with the other dry ingredients (assuming you’re talking about dry oatmeal). I’ve made this with flax, mixing it with the flour etc., and it turned out wonderfully! (If you add cooked oatmeal, I would add it with the water-yeast mixture.) Enjoy!
i make this bread on about a monthly basis and everyone loves it in our house. In fact i have to hide it before dinner because a whole loaf will be gone and then nobody wants to eat anything else. Making it tonight for a small dinner party and im sure it will all be gone by tomorrow. thank you for posting this recipe, and my hubby thanx you too
Where did you buy the cool fish that you use to hold salt? I want one of those. Awesome recipe. I have made it many times & it doesn’t last very long in my house. A+!!!
DB — So sorry for this late reply!! My husband brought the fish home from a high school trip to Mexico. I found it in his room from his house growing up and stole it. I love it. If you google “Mexican story pottery,” you’ll find similar things.
So glad you like the bread!
Do I cover for the second rise? I’d doesn’t seem to be rising.
No need to cover the second rise. What size bowls are you using? Just stick it in the oven after 30 minutes. Hope it turned out well for you!
Alexandra,
I’ve never made this bread before and I’m starting to panic a little now that I’m on the second rise. I did have to use 3 cups wheat/to 1 cup white (only because I ran out of all purpose). It definitely changed the consistency and doesn’t seemed to have rised very much on the first 1 1/2 hours. I’m on the second 30 minute rise and nervous that it just isn’t going to work out. Any suggestions when you using wheat (which I prefer)?
Oh no, Annie, how did it turn out? I imagine quite dense? Next time, I would let the first rise go until you can see that it has really risen and looks quite light. Whole wheat flour definitely is a little less forgiving than white. Did you do the warm oven trick to help the first rise along? Sorry for the trouble 🙁
Can I add other stuff to this receipe like oatmeal or flax seed etc and when should I add it
I would replace some of the flour with oatmeal, if you want to do that, and add the flax in with the rest of the dry ingredients.
I made this incredible bread for dinner tonight and it was simply amazing! Since I was serving it with Spaghetti, I added 1 cup of Italian Blend shredded cheese to the dough (before the first rise). It was heavenly 🙂 My son just kept going on and on about how good it was! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe!!
Also good with finely chopped garlic or minced garlic.
On a very low sodium diet…would this recipe work lowering the salt amount or eliminating it altogether?
Cindy, so sorry for the delay here! I think you could reduce the salt or eliminate it, but I think it will taste blander. Also, I have read that salt keeps yeast from going out of control, so you might have poofier loaves, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but you might want to keep an eye on the rising times.
I will certainly try this out! Homemade bread….here I come! Thank you!
I love this recipe! I have 2 loafs in the oven now. This time I mixed cinnamon and raisins into the flour before adding wet ingredients and then sprinkled cinnamon sugar on top before baking. Smells so good! Oh, and I made 1 1/2 recipes so I would have 2 full loaf pans. Can’t wait to eat it! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Wonderful to hear this, Mary! You are amazing. So creative. I need to try this this weekend. Fun!
If I make up the recipe as directed and cut the dough into 2 halves, do I have to bake up both halves right away or can I save one of the halves for another day?
Mari, you can save half of the dough but you will need to stick it in the freezer. On baking day, bring it to room temperature in an oiled bowl. Then transfer it to a buttered oven-safe bowl for its final rise. Does that make sense? What I caution against is transferring the frozen dough directly to the buttered bowl because water eventually accumulates and can cause sticking issues.
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe AK. Today I made it in the cast iron Dutch camp oven pot for the first time. We had the cob oven alight and warm from a vegetarian workshop this morning and it was just too good an opportunity not to bake bread.
I made your recipe using whole meal flour with 1 cup of white flour and yes, it was scrumptious. I think the neighbours are envious! I’m sure they can smell the warm bread wafting in their windows.
So happy to hear this! And how fun that you do vegetarian workshops. I would love to hear more!
Upon second rising do I need to cover the dough? Dish towel sticks!
No need to cover on second rise!
Upon second rise do I need to cover the dough? Tea towel sticks!
My dough was little wetter,didn’t divide easy like video.must have used too much water,or too humid here today?been rainy.I didn’t have 1.5 bowl,so put 3\4 dough in 1.5 pyrex loaf pan,other 1\4 in 1 qt. Bowl.hope works. Can you brush egg wash for soft crust instead of crunchy crust? I tried once before with partial wheat flour,but didn’t like it so dense,so used regular bread flour this time.
Turned out fine ,egg milk wash gave nice color on top! Could’ve risen higher 2nd time..but still normal.I didn’t wait more than 30 min 2 nd rise..tastes great! Nice chunky kinda texture inside which I love.didn’t want fine crumb rainbow type bread!lol.nice crunch but not too hard on crust.spread with butter and put tea towel over while cooling to keep crust on softer side.I’ve tried several bread recipes lately,this is the Only one that never fails! Pretty forgiving recipe too.TYSM for posting this recipe!!!!!
So wonderful to hear all of this Sue! And sorry for the delay in getting back to you! We moved over the weekend, and it has just been kind of crazy. Love all of your variations. SO happy the bread works out for you.
Could this be done in a square or rectangular pirex dish ?
It could then be cooked in a toaster oven.
(The hight of the loaf is the issue with the round bowl.
Yes, absolutely. Not sure what size pan you are planning on using, but to give you an idea, this dough recipe does not fit into a single loaf pan, so depending on the size of the pan you are using, only fill it 3/4 with dough to prevent spillage. You can bake off any remaining dough in ramekins or muffin cups.
I just did something new with this recipe – my 5th batch! I added one cup of instant oats and two tsp. of chia seeds in the beginning with the other dry ingredients. I just pulled them out of the oven – they turned out and they have such a great flavor! Healthy, too!
Wonderful to hear this, Melanie! I’m definitely trying this next time. I absolutely adore the flavor of oats in bread, and I have an enormous batch of chia seeds in my freezer that MUST start getting use 🙂 Thanks so much for writing in.
I read that you said you should sub the oats for a cup of flour – I didn’t do that so the bread is a bit dense, but still tastes good. I will keep it at 4 cups total next time, versus five.
Do you have to change the cooking time or temp if you are using muffin pans??
Just cook them for a little bit less: 15 minutes at 425, and probably 10 minutes at 375. They might need more time, but check after 10 minutes.
Can you make this into rolls? Maybe after you punch it down the first time, separate it into muffin pan and let rise again?
Hi Sarah! Yes, here is an example: https://alexandracooks.com/2013/11/26/thyme-dinner-rolls/
What would the substitution be if you used some whole wheat???? Help!
The loaf in the oven is half white whole wheat. Sometimes, I find with wheat flour, that I need to add a bit more water.
I used active yeast and first rise went as you pictured. Second rise wasn’t successful 🙁 I followed the directions EXACTLY.
Oh no! What size bowls are you using? That is typically the issue. How did it end up baking?
Luckily, I had the exact same bowl you used in the demo. The other was just a tiny bit bigger. It turned out fine and the taste was great, it was just shorter than expected haha.
Ok, cool, still kind of a bummer though! A few thoughts: Is your kitchen cold? I let the dough rise on top of the oven for the second rise so they have a slightly warm spot. Also, if you just stick the bowls in the oven after 30 minutes of rising — even if the dough doesn’t look as if it has budged — it should rise above the rim while baking.
Perhaps it was the temp of the kitchen. I did let it rise on the stovetop, but it’s been hot here this week and the air conditioning would have been on during that time. I will try it again in the next few days and let you know how it goes!
Awesome! I hope it turns out better next time around!
This was so easy! Thank you. My bread was a bit spongy, is there a way to correct this to get a more “store bought bread” consistency?
Thank you!
I am just using the big Pyrex bowl, not separating it into two bowls. I plan to try the corn meal recipe next time.
I love the flavor of a cup of cornmeal in place of one cup of flour. If you can get your hands on two small Pyrex bowls, that might help reduce the sponginess a bit, too.
Hi Katherine,
The bread definitely is on the spongy side. I think that’s kind of the nature of something that rises quickly and doesn’t require kneading. That said, if you are willing to slow down the process a bit, there are tricks for making the crumb lighter. You can cut back on the yeast and let the dough rise more slowly, doing part of the rise in the fridge even. If you are interested, let me know — I will try to work on more precise instructions. So glad you found the process easy!
I was wondering if just making half the dough would work… I have the smaller bowl too.
Using 1 1/2 C of white flour and 1/2 C of corn meal ( I liked the flavor of that too)…
Or… Can the dough be frozen? Or should I make all dough, cook one smaller loaf at a time and can I freeze the second loaf?
Soooo many questions!
-Katherine
I am interested in hearing about a tweak on the original recipe for less spongy bread. I would also like to know if the recipe can be halved to make one loaf in the smaller pyrex bowl.
Thank you!
Yes, recipe definitely can be halved!
How much are you willing to tweak? Would you be willing to mix the dough at night for instance? And bake the following day? Let me know! I have some ideas, but I don’t want to mess too much with the simplicity of the recipe, if that makes sense.
I would be willing to mix dough in the night before baking.
Today I halved the recipe using one cup all purpose and 1/2 cup whole wheat & 1/2 cup cornmeal. It is delicious!
I just love the simplicity of it… Please let me know your recommendation on the slower rise for more crumby consistency.
Thank you!
Katherine, I will be in touch. Let me try a few things and get back to you. So happy you like this!
Tried your peasant bread Wednesday. Wow, It was delicious and really easy. It was so good I’m making it for Mother’s Day dinner. It will go really good with my Chicken Marsala. Would like to know if anyone has tried to make this diabetic friendly. Thought I’d experiment but if there are some recipes already tried I’d be greatful.
Hi Deborah — I am not familiar with making diabetic-friendly recipes. Would I need to do more than just cut back on the sugar here? Or does the flour makeup need to be altered too? Let me know. I’d be happy to make a modified recipe!
Hi Alexandra!
I have been saving money by making this recipe for about 6 months i think and I never thought i’d be able to bake bread! IN this economy you have to save where you can.
So some things have altered and i have a few questions.
Here’s the story. I have been using the packets. the red one didn’t work so well but the blue one.. the fastest fleishman’s yeast works well and i just put it in with the flour. In fact i put all the ingredients in, mix it up with my hands put it in the oven as suggested. wait as long as i can… (usually 2 hrs but at least one) break it up with my hands and put it into the buttered bowls (i bought on amazon as suggested). Baking also as suggested.
I shop at Trader Joe’s and they sell flour but only carry yeast in the fall – isn’t that silly? So i clicked your link and ordered the yeast you use. I’ve made the bread twice. It doesn’t rise like yours and tastes funny. Kind of like bad beer which means it’s yeast.
I am an impatient baker – which is why i don’t bake, or cook much. So i always search for the fastest easiest recipe i can. That said i have NOT done the yeast proofing step. If i do it will the taste of the yeast be less?
Also i’m not getting the same bubbles in the bread like the pic anymore.
Next time i make it i’ll do the proofing… do you think it will help? Any other ideas?
I haven’t been doing the proofing because usually i make the bread when i’m hungry and i just can’t wait to get that sucker out of the oven!
But these have been awful.
Thanks from a novice baker…
Susan this is so bizarre! Question: did you order the SAF instant yeast or the Red Star Active Dry. I have never had any issues with either of those. I almost wonder if you got a bad batch of yeast or something?!
I am determined to get your loaves back to how they were when you first started! And you haven’t changed anything else, right? Like the flour?
Hi Alexandra!
Thanks the first batch with the new yeast was with Trader Joe’s all purpose unbleached flour. The second was with some bulk flour i got at a health food store. I usually use trader joe’s flour or other unbleached.
I bought the saf yeast. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001CXUHW/ref=oh_details_o03_s02_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I had been eyeballing the ingredients so for these two i used measuring cups etc. There wasn’t enough water called for to get it to be covered. I used the called for water amount for the first batch and it was more like a biscuit. The second i added more water cause it just wouldn’t wet all the flour.
I’ll try again – who knows thrid time will be a charm?
What is the best way to wrap the bread so that it doesn’t get stale? I am single and that’s a lot of bread.
So sorry for the delay here! I tuck the loaves in a ziplock bag. You can freeze the bread whole or sliced. I like to wrap bundles of five slices in plastic wrap and tuck the bundle in a ziplock. Then I take out the small bundles as I need them. Thaw at room temperature. This bread makes great toast.