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.
6,418 Comments on “My Mother’s Peasant Bread: The Best Easiest Bread You Will Ever Make”
I have never made bread before but this sounds too good to pass up. Thank you for sharing! And thanks to your Mom as well! 🙂
This bread has become a staple in my household since I discovered this recipe about a year and a half ago! Making it yet again today, and thought I would leave a comment. It really is the easiest (and may very well be the tastiest) bread I have ever made. This was the first thing my husband ever baked, and even then, he nailed it. Fantastic recipe.
Wonderful to hear this, Finn! What a feat for your husband, too 🙂 Nothing makes me happier than when this bread turns out well for people. Thanks for writing in!
If I use bread pans how many will it make?
The whole recipe will not fit into one loaf pan. But, if you split the dough and bake it in two loaf pans, the loaves will be smallish. If you are up for it, I think the best move is to double the recipe and to bake it between three loaf pans. You can freeze the bread once it has baked.
How about using whole wheat flour in the recipe? I’m not gluten-free, but am trying to minimize my gluten intake and to use whole wheat or other flours when possible. Not a deal-breaker, because this bread looks so easy that I want to try it anyway. But if whole wheat flour will work, I’ll go that route. Thanks!
Hi Ann, I would suggest just substituting one cup of the all-purpose flour for one cup of whole wheat flour to start. You can, of course, make the whole batch whole wheat, but it will be denser and not as tasty. I find 1 cup whole wheat and 3 cups all-purpose flour to be a nice mix, and I do like 2 cups whole wheat and 2 cups a-p, too. It tastes best, of course, when all ap flour is used, but I understand wanting to use whole wheat flour when possible.
Thank You for this recipe! It is so easy and so scrumptious. I found the recipe last week, made it on Thursday and the bread was gone by Saturday night. My family loved it. I didn’t have small bowls, so I used my larger Pyrex bowls and the loaves turned out great. Not as round as yours, but inside just as light and airy. I made the bread again tonight to use as our bread this week. I am not a bread maker at all, and I am two for two with this recipe. Even though baking bread typically scares me, I am quick to try new things and tinker with recipes. I have read several of the comments on this recipe and thought I would try a little flavor. So I pinched off some of the dough and mixed in a touch of olive oil, a pinch of crushed rosemary, and a tad of minced garlic. I used a mini loaf pan. It was beyond amazing. That little loaf is gone already and the bread only came out of the oven about an hour ago. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Hi Amy! So sorry for the delay here. Wonderful to hear all of this. I’m glad the larger size Pyrex bowls worked out for you, and your mini loaf is making me drool — that would be such a nice treat next to a bowl of butternut squash soup…yum. I’m excited for fall 🙂
This is such a great recipe. I have tried to make bread before, biscuits, etc., but each attempt ended in failure. I had decided that while I can cook up a storm in the kitchen, baking is just not for me. I made this bread and it came out perfectly! Out of the oven, the outside was crisp and delicious while the inside was warm and soft. When it cooled, the outside gained a somewhat chewy texture (which I *love*) and the inside was spongy and soft, very resilient. This is home-made bread I could deck out with any number of spreads or toppings and it will hold up! Thank you for sharing this recipe! I have already made four loaves of the stuff since Sunday, and am already thinking of all the wonderful things I could do with this bread; rosemary and sea salt, jalapeno cheddar, raisin and cinnamon. Being able to make homemade bread for my family and friends is awesome, I may have to do runs of this stuff for Christmas gifts this year. Thanks again!
Wonderful to hear all of this, Jennifer! And I love the sound of all of your adaptations. This does make great gifts. Last winter a woman emailed me or commented here (I forget) telling me she bought something like 24 of these bowls when she happened to look online and find them selling for $1.99 a bowl. She gave all of her friends bowls with the recipe as Christmas gifts. Isn’t that great?
Oh, and as a note for other users, I used teflon bread pans for this recipe and while the loaves came out a bit smaller than a standard loaf, it worked perfectly well and because of the teflon (and prodigious amounts of butter) it rolled right out of the pan onto the cooling racks easily.
Question. I am fixing to make this as I type. Why can’t you use bleached all-purpose flour? Just curious 🙂
Rae, It’s not that you can’t use bleached ap flour, but I just don’t find that the bread turns out as well with bleached flour. Many commenters have had success with it, and if that’s all you’ve got, go for it. But for future reference, I suggest non bleached ap flour. I love all of the King Arthur flours in particular.
What is the difference in using All Purpose flour to Bleached All Purpise flour?
Hi Tiff,
I notice a difference in both flavor and texture. I am so used to using King Arthur all-purpose flour that when I tried bleached flour as an experiment, the peasant bread tasted completely differently to me. You can use it if it’s all you have, but I recommend unbleached all-purpose flour for the future. Hope that makes sense!
I found you recipe over a week ago. Made it love it and this is now the only bread we eat. I tripled the recipe and used a couple of large cans to bake it in and turned out great. Purfect for sandwiches. Do you know the calorie count on the bread? Just wondering, thanks so much to you and your mom for sharing.
Christine, hi! Sorry for the delay here. I was away last weekend, and I’m finally catching up. Wonderful to hear that you like this bread. I love the idea of baking it in cans — fun! Unfortunately, I do not know the calorie count on the bread? Do you use myfitnesspal.com? Someone recommended me that site as a source for checking recipes for calorie information. Hope that helps!
First, I adore this recipe. I tried flattening out one half, sprinkling cinnamon sugar, drizzling butter (who measures these things?) And rolling it up a la cinnamon roll. (Slooowly and with buttered hands) Baked beautifully. My 3 Littles and I ate it all up.
Second, myfitnesspal.Com does the job here for your nutritional information. The app on my phone allowed me to enter your URL and it did the rest, recognizing ingredients and measurements with minimal difficulty. There’s a function named “add recipe” that I am sure would help Liz.
Thank you for sharing this lovely recipe.
do you think it will work in a le creuset pan?
Hi Kerry, sorry for the delay! How big is the le creuset pan? and what shape? It certainly will, but you will have to grease it really well, and you might have to adjust how much dough you bake in it based on its shape.
You really need to be terse with your directions. Just tell us what to do, and not a word more. I’m exhausted reading this. Makes the easy bread recipe a big reading exercise in superfluous information.
God forbid you have to read something, troll.
It was a free recipe.
Thanks are in order, not your ridiculous rant.
Thank you so much for stepping in here, Matt. These sorts of comments are infuriating and useless. So appreciate your support!
This bread just came out of my oven. It looks so cool baked in my 443 Cinderella Bowl. Waiting for it to cool off so I can try. This was simple and if it tastes as good as it looks this will be my go to bread all the time. I have the set of four Cinderella Bowls, my mom bought them for me back in the late 70’s. I love them and have been using them for 35 plus years. Thanks for this recipe.
That is so awesome. I love that you have been using these bowls for 35 years. In the past year, I’ve bought two sets, and I love that they are used, and I love that I’ll have them forever and will eventually pass them on to my children. So much fun. Thanks for writing in!
Ok I just had a piece of this bread with my homemade chicken salad on it and let me tell you it is fantastic. It is so light and airy and just plain good. It is so easy too. This is my go to bread all the time now. Thanks so much for sharing.
So happy to hear this Pamela! Your chicken salad tartine sounds divine.
Just one small point, if you’ll indulge me. The Cinderella Pyrex bowls you refer to are the bowls with two different-sized handles, one used as a pour spout. These bowls without handles, while perfect for this recipe, are not Cinderella bowls. I really only say anything because the ones with handles would not work as well in creating this beautiful round loaf.
Hi Katie,
Thanks so much for writing in. Surprisingly, the cinderella bowls, despite the spaces for the handles, do create an amazing round loaf — there is something about the inside surface that is completely smooth whereas the other pyrex bowls I have (the 322) have sort of flattish bottoms, so the finished loaf actually isn’t as perfect as the cinderella ones. Does that make sense? Do you have the cinderella bowls? I would love to hear how they work out for you! Thanks again for writing in.
I am trying this for the first time today. I have two Pyrex Cinderella bowls 441, which is what I am using. Have you ever tried using the coloured Pyrex regular nesting bowls in the smallest size (401)? I only have one of the other kind, but it is a size 325, which is 2.5 litres.
oops, never mind! i see that Matt answered my exact question a few days ago. as i already have it rising in two 441’s i will try the 325 next time. thanks!!
Wonderful! Glad Matt’s comment was able to help you out. Hope the bread turned out well for you!
I admit that I was skeptical about this recipe (only in that I found it too good to be true). They had me convinced I needed a bread machine to make good bread, but this stuff is pretty much exactly what I’ve been craving in bread: crispy and tasty on the outside, soft and tasty on the inside. I was truly amazed that, considering how few ingredients are in this, how good it tasted. And it tasted really, really good! Actually a little reminiscent of the Portuguese rolls I grew up with, especially in taste!
Thanks so much for sharing! I’m making this all the time now 🙂
Wonderful to hear this, Anne! And I love a good Portuguese roll. So glad you’re making this all the time.
Just wanted to write to say great bread,I did the gluten free one wonderful.I love cooking and baking and
had to start 4 years ago with gluten free cooking for
my daughter. I have really have gotten the gluten cooking down except for the breads, but now, I can not
get over how good this is ,even cold.Thanks for sharing.
Wonderful to hear this, Susan! I have so many friends who have had to learn gluten-free cooking due to a family member, and I know it can be challenging. So glad the bread worked out for you.
Awesome, my husband is very finicky when it comes to bread and he loves it!
Hi there. I made your bread today for the first time. I think I was perhaps a little too scant with the flour because my dough was very wet. After the first rise when I was scraping I could tell it was much too wet so I tried stirring in some flour. It filled my loaf pan about halfway so I just baked it all in that. The bread came out ok but it is rather moist and dense, not light and airy like people said. Edible though, and quite tasty with some of my homemade jam spread on it, and I think it will make very good toast. I’m going to try again though, because it was very easy. Have you ever put molasses instead of sugar? My favorite bread is anadama bread, a traditional New England bread, and it’s made with molasses, whole wheat and cornmeal. I may try to make a no-knead anadama.
Hi Holly, So sorry for the delay here. It sounds as though you were just a little light on the flour — most people go overboard, so I appreciate you trying to use a light hand. Next time, I would just try to measure a little more aggressively than this time. And when the time comes, and you are ready to treat yourself to some new cooking gear, I highly recommend buying a scale — it makes baking so much faster!
I haven’t used molasses here, but I love anadama bread. You should totally try using molasses here. And definitely use some cornmeal in place of the flour — I often replace one cup of flour with one cup of cornmeal.
Thanks for the response! I plan on trying to use 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup oat flour, 1/2 cup of cornmeal and 2 cups white flour. I am hoping that will give me the ratio I want. I will let you know how it comes out! I plan on giving both the original and anadama versions a go on Friday.
Cool! That sounds like a healthful and flavorful combo — I love the crunch of cornmeal in dough.
I RAN ACROSS THIS PEASANT BREAD ON FACEBOOK. I THOUGHT, I CAN DO THIS BECAUSE IT LOOKS EASY. I TRIED IT AND GAVE THE FIRST BATCH TO MY NEIGHBOR, JUST TO SEE WHAT THEY WOULD SAY. THEY RANTED AND RAVED ABOUT IT SO MUCH. I JUST HAD TO MAKE ONE FOR MY WIFE AND I AND IT IS JUST WONDERFUL. THANK YOU, alexandracooks.com FOR THE RECIPE. OH, I HAVE NEVER BAKED BREAD IN MY WHOLE 68 YEARS, UNTIL NOW. THIS IS JUST GREAT!!!!!!! I LOVE IT!!!!!!!
Joe, this comment made my day! my year! I am so impressed that you took a stab at bread baking having never made it before. That is truly amazing. So many people are scared of using yeast. Isn’t giving bread the best gift? People think you are a magician. Thanks for writing in.
Hi! I am making this bread as I write this! I’m so excited about this recipe and can’t wait to try your gluten free recipe, too! I was just wondering if you ever tried to freeze a fresh loaf for future use? I know nothing taste as good as right out of the oven, but was wondering if I should try! Thanks again for this recipe!!
Hi Shawnee! I hope the loaves turn out well for you! And yes, re freezing. If you plan on using the bread for toast, just slice it up and wrap bundles in plastic wrap and then stick them in ziplock bags. If you plan on freezing for future dinner bread, cut the loaf in half or in quarters, and wrap and store the same way. Reheat before serving. Nothing is as good as fresh, but we freeze this bread all the time. I grew up with loaves of this bread in my freezer.
This may seem to be a couple of silly questions, seeing as I have the bread rising in the oven, but are you using Diamond kosher salt? I assumed you did and to compensate (I only have Morton’s) I reduced the amount by a little less than half. I hope it turns out okay, but if not it’s just some flour and yeast!
Second, the directions for the recipe state 1 tbs of sugar for the yeast prep, but in your video you use two tsps. Is this just an adjustment you’ve made or will it be negligible?
I am using Diamond kosher salt. Nice call on reducing the amount — it will turn out just fine. If you feel it tastes a little bland, just add a little more salt next time.
And thank you for pointing out that discrepancy — I just edited the recipe to say 2 or 3 teaspoons. My mother always does 1 tablespoon (which is 3 teaspoons), but I’ve cut it back to two teaspoons, and I can hardly notice a difference. My mother has a theory that a wee more sugar helps with the browning, so I think that’s why she does it. I don’t really care if the bread is brown or not, so I stick with 2. Hope that makes sense, and I hope the loaves turn out well for you!
The loaf came out beautifully, but next time I think I will do the full two tsp of salt just for a little more flavor. My daughter absolutely raved though, so maybe it’s just my personal taste.
Thank you for the timely response and your great instructions. I’ve used your blog a lot and every recipe has turned out wonderfully! Can’t wait to try out more!
Oh good, so happy to hear this! Thank you for your kind words. It means a lot.
How long do you bake it when you do some of it in muffin tins? I assume the small rolls take less time than the loaves? I just popped my first batch in the oven, can’t wait to taste it!
About 25 minutes. Use this as a guide: https://alexandracooks.com/2013/11/26/thyme-dinner-rolls/
Hope that helps!
AMAZING recipe. I’m currently waiting for my latest batch to rise. I made this last week for a religious gathering, and let tell ya, it was the talk of the room. Soft, buttery, and excellent to serve on the side of pot-roast. And yes, the next day it made excellent toast. This has officially went into my recipe box.
Wonderful to hear this, Elise! And yes, it is so good with things like pot roast. We’ve been making our way through a batch of chicken chili with loaves of peasant bread on the side. So good!
This looks amazing. Any thoughts on making this in a wheat-free version? I get headaches from anything with wheat, but the recipe looks amazing.
And I found the gluten-free option right after I sent this! Sorry! But thanks so much for the work you did to develop that! I am always so torn between the way I feel and the feeling of warm delicious homemade bread! 🙂
No worries! Glad you were able to find the gluten-free version. Hope it satisfies you the way warm homemade bread always should 🙂
So glad to have found this simple recipe! I’ve been using 1c graham and 3 cup whole wheat and it’s wonderful! Today I even added some seeds because I love bread with a little texture and crunch and it came out fabulous. We made grilled turkey and cheese with mustard on our vacation and it was excellent! I only wish I could find who on Facebook had posted the link so I could thank them.
Wonderful to hear this, Meghanne! I love a crunch in my bread, too. Millet is a fun addition.
I just have to say thank you so much. My house smells delicious. I brushed the top with butter and it’s so golden. Thank you, thank you!
Wonderful to hear this!
Have really been loving this. I cut the ingredients to 3/4 of the original and it fills my two small loaf pans perfectly. Family has literally been chasing me around the house to make it repeatedly (four loaves and 1 pyrex round casserole–also done at the 3/4 measurement) in TWO days!!
Just for something different, I was wondering if can it be made with other types of grain (rye, for example)?
Wonderful to hear this, Tibby! And so smart to scale the recipe back a bit — i’m going to try that.
I have not tried rye, but I would love to be able to make a simple, good rye loaf. My suggestion to these questions is always to start by subbing half of the white flour for a different flour, and then adjusting after that first batch. Hope that makes sense. Let me know if you have any luck!
I made this last night – fantastic! This is my new favorite bread recipe. I bake all of our bread – sandwich buns, tortillas, pretty much everything except croissants at this point (that’s coming), so something this easy and delicious is wonderful! Thank you!
Wonderful to hear this, Linda! Have you tried Nigella Lawson’s cheaters’ danish pastry dough? I have a recipe on my blog (I would link to it but i’m on a tablet, and it makes it complicated :)) and I made prosciutto and gruyere croissants that were pretty fantastic for being cheater ones. You could give it a go before you try the real thing? Just a thought.
https://alexandracooks.com/2013/03/12/processor-danish-pastry-cheese-danishes/
Thank you, Suzanne!