My Mother’s Peasant Bread: The Best Easiest Bread You Will Ever Make
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
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.
6,402 Comments on “My Mother’s Peasant Bread: The Best Easiest Bread You Will Ever Make”
Ran across this recipe on TikTok today while I had beef stew cooking in the crockpot. Having everything on hand I couldn’t resist making this and it was a huge hit! My 6 year old daughter thanked me at least 10 times for making this bread. I had no idea bread could be so simple and it cuts all the junk that’s filled in store bought. Thank you so much!!!
So great to hear this, Dani! How sweet about your daughter 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks so much for writing.
My wife sent me this recipe via TikTok.
Finding inexpensive 1qt oven safe pyrex bowls online is not an easy task.
Founf Anchor Hocking 1.5qt bowls for $9 each on amazon.
So we went resale shopping instead.
Found two of the Pyrex 322 1qt bowls for $4 and and got lucky and found a vintage 1940’s era Pyrex Flameware (light blue) 1qt bowl to boot.
We made the bread today and it was MAGNIFICENT !
Thank you so much for sharing !!
That is awesome! Nice work hunting down those Pyrex 322’s and the vintage flameware — I love those old patterns. Great to hear the bread was a success, too. Thanks so much for writing.
Great bread
Great to hear, Mark!
I just started making this again using your 2 bowls method. I love this bread and your unique method. So great for sandwiches and so fast to make. The bowls make the nicest little loaves as well. Is there anything i can be doing with these to have a little extra fun with it? Do you ever shape it into the ball shape for the pyrex bowls? Score the top? Dust the top with flour? Stretch and fold the dough while rising at any point?
Btw if i wanted to stretch and fold, do i do that at the first rise initially and keep the rising time the same? For example in my kitchen it took 1 hour to double in size. Would i just stretch and fold after first 30 minutes, and then just give it only 30 more minutes? Or do you have to wait after the final fold, for it to then double in size again? Because when you stretch and fold it degasses the dough partially or fully. Thanks! Please let me know some clever or creative things to do with this amazing and modest bread. I have been making it and using it as sandwich bread. Not interested in using my pullman pan because lately i just really like the shape of the bread in the bowls!
Hi! I have never tried stretching and folding this, but it’s worth a shot: I would use wet hands because the dough will be very very sticky. I think you will have to let the first rise go a teensy bit longer because as you note, the stretch and folds will degas it. If you love this recipe, you might love my cookbook, Bread Toast Crumbs, which includes 40 variations of this recipe!
Can’t wait to try this!
Except, I don’t have oven-safe bowls. Can I use two regular loaf pans instead?
Yes! You can bake the entire loaf in a large loaf pan (10×5 inches). Otherwise, you can do 1.5 times the recipe and bake it in two standard loaf pans.
Hi! I love this recipe and have used it many times over the years (especially love it with everything bagel seasoning)!
Quick q – if using the 2 bowl method, can you refrigerate and cook the next day for freshness?
Yes! Always deflate the dough before storing it. And be sure to store the bread in a large enough vessel because it will continue to rise in the fridge. Also, an airtight-ish vessel is ideal to prevent a hard crust from forming on the top layer of the dough.
Great to hear all of this 🙂
I looked back and have saved most of your newsletter emails since at least mid-2010. Best intentions but life got in the way and I have never cooked any of the recipes … until this bread yesterday. I’ve made bread before that extended family members liked but they went CRAZY for this bread! Their comments were so much like your narrative – right down to whether I had used a bread machine! Exceeded my expectations (too good to be true – Not!). Made it in one batch due to bowl size and it came out perfectly, right down to the crunch sound when slicing. Thank you for sharing this with everyone and enriching our kitchens. They are asking for it to be garlic herb bread for Italian night – so I may experiment.
So fun to read this, Gail! Thanks so much for writing and sharing… love the bread machine comment 🙂 🙂 🙂 Too funny. A garlic and herb variation will be delicious and perfect for Italian night. Happy holidays to you and your family!
I made this today and it’s AMAZING (and so easy)! I originally saw your TikTok but I missed seeing you mention the baking temp so I Googled it and found your awesome website! I have the Pyrex bowls and they worked perfectly. This will definitely be my go-to bread recipe from now on. Thanks for sharing!!
So great to hear all of this, Lisa! I’m so glad you googled it, because others haven’t realized that the recipe exists outside of TikTok or IG — I always link to the recipe! Thanks so much for writing. So glad you enjoyed the bread 🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞
Thank you for sharing this bread !!! My family is in love with it and barely let it cool down before eating it up. Just a Mom dabbling into recipes and they always don’t come out right, but not this one. Hit it right on the nose. Everyone, please try it, you won’t regret it.
Happy Holiday All!
So wonderful to hear all of this, Elizabeth! Thanks so much for writing. Happy holidays to you as well!
I discovered this recipe 2 weeks ago and have made it 5 times in that two weeks. Served it twice for company and they insisted on the recipe as well. My new variation on baking is to divide it into 4-5 good size ramekins (about the size of a soup ramekin) with straight sides. It bakes like it was baked in a can. Then when we slice it the slices are all even and the same size. It’s the best toasted bread ever and reminds me of English Muffin bread – except better!
Absolutely love this recipe!
So wonderful to hear this, Miriam!! I love baking it in small ramekins as well, and I love the shape of a flat-bottomed loaf. Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes. Happy New Year!
I have been making this bread for years and I LOVE it! Question for you Ali: Have you ever tried letting it rise overnight? I want to include it in our Christmas brunch but I want to sleep in a little haha 🙂
Hi! I am so, so sorry for the delay here … got caught up in the holiday madness.
You can do an overnight rise, but you’ll need to cut back the yeast to about 1/2 teaspoon. Keep in mind, the second rise will take longer, so just plan ahead — it might be more like 1-2 hours as opposed to about 30 minutes.
Hope that helps, and I hope you had a wonderful holiday season!! Happy New Year!
I’ve made this a couple times now and it’s always a crowd favorite. But I don’t find my dough is wet and sticky like yours is, could that be my altitude? It rises some but not as much as it should and I find the dough dry. If it’s not due to my altitude (cause I have no idea what mine is lol), would a 1/4 cup more water help with that? Thank you for the great recipe!
Hi! Apologies for the delay here. Question: are you using a scale to measure? Regardless, I would look at the video for reference in regard to dough texture, and yes, you can either use more water or less flour. Hope that helps! Happy baking 🙂
I saw this recipe on Instagram Reels. I wanted to give it a try because it required no kneading, it seemed fairly easy and totally delicious. We gave it a taste test with my boyfriend and I think he said “this is really good” over 5 times. He even said that it was one of the best breads he has ever eaten and couldn’t really believe when I told him how easy it was. The taste test then turned out to us eating half of the whole bread. It was very good especially fresh from the oven (after cooling down)
I love that now I have the option to ditch the unwanted ingredients in store-bought bread without putting in so much effort.
Thank you for sharing this recipe <3 Love from Istanbul
So wonderful to hear this, Sezin! Thanks so much for writing. Great to hear your boyfriend approved, too 🙂 Happy happy New Year to you!
I made my second loaves of your Peasant bread last night. This recipe is easy to make & the bread is the most delicious bread I’ve ever tasted. I’ve been using Trader Joe’s Organic all purpose flour. Thank you so much for the recipe & looking forward to purchasing your cookbook.
So nice to hear this, Lori! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes. Happy baking and happy New Year!
Mine just didn’t work right! I had noticed that the dough seemed drier than whats in your video but decided to soldier on just to see if that instinct was right. The taste was fab but it came out so so dense. I’ll have to try a little higher hydration and maybe longer rise times?
Are you using a scale to measure? It’s likely due to using more than 512 grams of flour. Did you make any other changes? How long was each of the rises?
Hi! I know you’re probably celebrating Christmas with your family so you might not see this…I don’t have a kitchen scale and did 4 cups of leveled flour (most positive I did 4, even though my 4 year was trying to take over the kitchen while I was “counting.”) Really runny though. So just kept adding flour until it wasn’t as runny but it’s not as “formed” as your picture is once you were done mixing. I probably added more than a cup. Correct amount of liquid I am sure. Like how can someone mess up this? Lol! Has it ever been successful when you or anyone added much more flour than called for?? Crossing fingers. My family is hangry.
Hi Ashley! Apologies for the delay here. You were right to add more flour to get the dough more “formed”. How did it turn out? Out of curiosity what type of flour did you use? As in: what brand, and was it all-purpose or bread? Sorry for the trouble here … no fun when you have a hangry family to feed. Happy New Year!
First time making. I halved the recipe and boy I wish I didn’t. My spouse and son devoured it in one evening!
Great to hear, Sheila! Thanks for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂
First, this is an amazingly simple bread recipe. The first batch I made, I used real butter for the bowls. Wonderful! The crust was a nice golden color and super crisp! For Christmas, having a vegan daughter, I used a vegan butter for the bowls. Although the breads were still wonderful, there was little color and the crust was firm, not crispy. I also wanted something a kettle different so on my second batch for Christmas, I added 1/2 cup brown sugar and a generous amount of cinnamon. I baked it in a single loaf, with the bowl dusted with cinnamon sugar. I also dusted the top of the loaf with cinnamon sugar. When I sliced and plated it, I drizzled a cinnamon glaze on top and placed the remaining glaze in a small bowl for additional icing. Simply delightful! Thank you for a wonderful recipe!
Wow, wonderful to hear all of this Sally! (Except of course about the vegan butter that didn’t brown … bummer!) Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes regarding the brown sugar and cinnamon and glaze, all of which sound absolutely incredible. Happy happy baking! And happy New Year, too!
First bread I’ve ever made! I love how easy this was, and delicious. This recipe is such a confidence booster, and now I can’t wait to try all the variations. It’s a tough decision between the faux focaccia and the oat bread next!
Great to hear this, Miranda! Thanks so much for writing. Happy baking and happy New Year!
OMGOODNESS!! I BAKED BREAD! I am NOT a baker of bread. I can cook anything, but baking has always been so intimidating. I made this and it was AMAZING! My husband, daughter and I finished off a loaf in 24 hours. The second one I added some “everything bagel” seasoning to the top. I sliced the 2 day old bread and warmed it a bit in the oven and buttered it to serve with our prime rib Christmas dinner. I will never buy store bought bread again-it was THAT easy and absolutely delicious. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
YAY 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉 So wonderful to read all of this, Jamie 🙂 🙂 🙂 I love the addition of everything bagel seasoning here … so good. Your dinner sounds lovely. Thanks so much for writing and happy New Year!
This was simple and one my second batch I put them in loaf pans that turned out great but short so I may make one loaf and see
Great to hear, Elise! If you have a 10×5 loaf pan (or even a 9×5 loaf pan), you can get away with baking the whole batch of dough in one pan.
Perfect every time and so easy to make! Fresh bread makes any meal better.
Great to hear this, Ara 🙂 🙂 🙂
This bread is awesome! And so simple and quick! I can make a couple batches in the mornings and share with my family in the afternoon! Thanks for sharing! My whole family loves it!!
Great to hear, Jeanne! Thanks so much for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂
I made this bread today and it’s everything promised! I’ve tried a few other similar recipes with not so great results. This one was a winner and it’s the only one I’ll be making from now on. I gave my neighbor one of the loaves and she called me not too long after to say they’d worked their way through more than half the loaf because they couldn’t stop eating it.
Awww, I love this so much 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks so much for writing and sharing. Great to hear the bread was a success. I love sharing this bread with friends and neighbors as well. Happy New Year!
would oil work in the bowls for those who cannot have dairy?
Unfortunately, oil does not work. You can use vegan buttery sticks if you are looking for a nondairy option. Hope that helps!
Wow– this bread! Can’t wait to make the focaccia next!
Woohoo!! Great to hear!!
So easy to make and absolutely delicious. I would use salted butter for the bowls and just a tad more salt in the recipe but not much. So yummy. My family devoured it! Thank you for sharing!!!!
I am a salt fiend, so all of this makes perfect sense to me! Thanks for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂 Happy baking and happy New Year!
Delicious. Thank you for sharing. Can you freeze the dough? I had enough for two loaves but only need one. Wondering if I can freeze the dough to use later.
Yes, you can! I freeze it after the first rise: deflate it, divide it, transfer it to a storage vessel. Freeze immediately.
Is it suppose to be airy? or more dense?. I made it and it was a little bit on the dense side. Otherwise it was delicious.
Hi! It definitely has a moist crumb, but it shouldn’t be too dense. Questions: are you using a scale to measure? And did both of the rises go OK?
I have a convection setting on my oven and tend to use that – how should I amend the directions here?
Hi Liz,
I would keep the baking temp and time mostly the same. If the bread is browning too quickly due to the convection setting, you can lower the temperature by 25 degrees or so.
Hello! When using a dutch oven, do you cook the bread at 450F as well, or is that just to preheat the dutch oven?
Hi Anie! Yes, you also cook the bread at 450ºF. Not sure if you saw this note below the recipe, so I’m pasting it here:
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.