My Mother’s Peasant Bread: The Best Easiest Bread You Will Ever Make
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This is the no-knead bread recipe my mother has been baking for 45 years. Start to finish, it can be ready in three hours. It bakes in well-buttered Pyrex bowls — no need to preheat a baking vessel for this recipe — and it emerges golden and crisp with a soft, tender crumb. 🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞
When I tell you that, if forced, I had to pick one and only one recipe to share with you that this — my mother’s peasant bread — would be it, I am serious. I would almost in fact be OK ending the blog after this very post, retiring altogether from the wonderful world of food blogging, resting assured that you all had this knowledge at hand. This bread might just change your life.
The reason I say this is simple. I whole-heartedly believe that if you know how to make bread you can throw one hell of a dinner party. And the reason for this is because people go insane over homemade bread. Not once have I served this bread to company without being asked, “Did you really make this?” And questioned: “You mean with a bread machine?” But always praised: “Is there anything more special than homemade bread?”
And upon tasting homemade bread, people act as if you’re some sort of culinary magician. I would even go so far as to say that with homemade bread on the table along with a few nice cheeses and a really good salad, the main course almost becomes superfluous. If you nail it, fantastic. If you don’t, you have more than enough treats to keep people happy all night long.
The Magic of the Peasant Bread
So what, you probably are wondering, makes this bread so special when there are so many wonderful homemade bread recipes out there? Again, the answer is simple. For one, it’s a no-knead bread. I know, I know. There are two wildly popular no-knead bread recipes out there.
But unlike the others, this is a no-knead bread that can be started at 4:00 pm and turned out onto the dinner table at 7:00 pm. It bakes in well-buttered Pyrex bowls — there is no pre-heating of the baking vessels in this recipe — and it emerges golden and crisp without any steam pans or water spritzes. This is not artisan bread, nor is it trying to be. It is peasant bread, spongy and moist with a most delectable buttery crust.
Genuinely, I would be proud to serve this bread at a dinner party attended by Jim Lahey, Mark Bittman, Peter Reinhart, Chad Robertson, Jeff Hertzberg, and Zoe Francois. It is a bread I hope you will all give a go, too, and then proudly serve at your next dinner party to guests who might ask where you’ve stashed away your bread machine. And when this happens, I hope you will all just smile and say, “Don’t be silly. This is just a simple peasant bread. Easy as pie. I’ll show you how to make it some day.”
Peasant Bread Variations
Once you master the peasant bread, you can make any bread your heart desires — this simple no-knead bread recipe is the foundation of many of the other bread recipes on this site, namely this hugely popular overnight refrigerator focaccia and this simple homemade pizza dough. It’s even the inspiration behind this simple pita bread recipe and these no-knead dinner rolls.
The below post is organized as follows:
- How to Make Peasant Bread, Step by Step
- The Best Way to Store Bread
- Peasant Bread Dinner Rolls
- Peasant Bread Sandwich Bread
- How to Add Seeds and Nuts to Bread Dough
- How to Make Gluten-Free Peasant Bread
- How to Coat the Loaves in Seeds
- How to use Whole Wheat Flour
- How to Bake the Peasant Bread in a Dutch Oven
Many more variations on the peasant bread can be found in my cookbook, Bread Toast Crumbs:
Bread Toast Crumbs
Love the peasant bread? There’s now a book filled with 40 simple bread recipes plus 70 recipes to use up every crumb of every loaf you bake.
How to Make Peasant Bread, Step by Step
First: You need yeast.
This is the yeast I buy exclusively: SAF Instant Yeast. Instant yeast can be whisked into the flour directly without any blooming or proofing. If you want to stick to active-dry yeast, there are instructions in the recipe notes on how to do so. Red Star yeast is great.
Whisk together flour, salt, sugar, and instant yeast. Add lukewarm water.
Mix until you have a sticky dough ball. Let it rise for 1.5 to 2 hours…
… or until it looks like this:
Punch down the dough using two forks.
Then split the dough down the middle again using the two forks.
Because this is a very wet dough, it must be baked in an oven-proof bowl. I am partial to the Pyrex 1L 322 size, but any similarly sized oven-proof bowl will work.
Butter the bowls well; then transfer half of the dough to each prepared bow.
Let the dough rise again until it crowns the rim of the bowl, about 30 minutes.
Transfer the bowls to the oven to bake:
This bread is irresistible when it’s freshly baked, but it also makes wonderful toast on subsequent mornings as well as the best grilled cheese and sandwiches of all kinds.
The Best Way to Store Bread
If you want to store the bread at room temperature for 3 to 4 days, I think the best method is in a ziplock bag. I’ve tried other eco-friendly options, but nothing seems to keep bread freshest — the crumb the softest — better than a ziplock bag. You can re-use the bags again and again.
If you intend to keep the bread for longer, I would freeze it. I often slice bread as soon as it cools completely, transfer the slices to a ziplock bag, then freeze. This way, I know the bread was frozen at its freshest.
A ziplock bag will not prevent the crust of bread from turning soft, which is why I suggest always reheating day-old bread. I use a toaster at breakfast for slices of bread, and I reheat half or quarter loaves in the oven at 350ºF for 15 to 20 minutes when serving for dinner.
Bread revives so beautifully in the oven or toaster.
No-Knead Dinner Rolls
To use the peasant bread dough to make rolls, simply divide the dough into smaller portions and place in a buttered muffin tin as in these No-Knead Thyme Dinner Rolls (pictured below). This recipe for no-knead buttermilk pull-apart rolls is also based on the peasant bread recipe.
No-Knead Sandwich Bread
To make sandwich bread, multiply the recipe below by 1.5 and bake the bread in two buttered 8.5×4.5-inch loaf pans. Made with half all-purpose flour and half King Arthur Sprouted Wheat Flour (no longer available unfortunately), these seed-coated sandwich loaves (pictured below) have a soft and light crumb.
How to Add Nuts and Seeds to Bread Dough
To add seeds and nuts (or dried fruit and cheese), simply stir them into the dry ingredients. This recipe for Quinoa-and-Flax Toasting Bread will offer guidance on how much to add.
How to Make a Gluten-Free Peasant Bread
Making gluten-free peasant bread (pictured below) isn’t as simple as swapping in gluten-free flour for wheat flour. But the process is still relatively simple — in fact, because there’s only one rise, many people find the gluten-free peasant bread recipe to be even simpler than the original. Find the recipe here: Gluten-Free Peasant Bread
How to Coat the Loaves in Seeds
To coat the peasant bread in seeds, as pictured below, simply coat the bowls with everything bagel seasoning or with dukkah or sesame seeds or whatever seed mix you wish. The seed-coated loaves look so beautiful, and it’s amazing how much the flavor of the coating permeates the loaves. Find the recipe here: Everything Bagel Seasoning Peasant Bread
How to Use Whole Wheat Flour
To use whole wheat flour in the peasant bread, simply replace as much as 50% of the all-purpose flour with your favorite whole wheat flour: I’ve been loving the Cairnsprings Mill Trailblazer stone-milled flour. With the Trailblazer, I can use up to 75% of it in the peasant bread, and it yields a beautiful, chewy texture as well as a lovely flavor and aroma.
When using whole wheat flour, you may have to use more or less water — there is no rule as to how much more or less, and it will take some trial and error to get right because all flours absorb water differently. When I use the Trailblazer flour, for example, I reduce the water by at least 50 grams.
If you’d like to learn more about whole wheat flour and stone-milled flours, read this: Easy Sourdough Bread (Whole Wheat-ish)
How to Bake the Peasant Bread in a Dutch Oven
If you’re looking for more of a crackling crusted boule (characteristic of a loaf of sourdough bread) as opposed to the buttery crispness of the peasant bread, you can bake the peasant bread dough in a preheated Dutch oven. I love my Lodge Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron Double Dutch Oven which I’ve been using for years! The Lodge is a great value at around $49, but if you like the idea of making an oblong-shaped peasant loaf, I can’t recommend the Challenger Bread Pan enough, which costs $299. The placement of the handles makes for easy removal and closure of the lid, and it creates beautiful, crusty loaves every time.
There are detailed instructions below the recipe in the notes section, but one thing to keep in mind before you begin is dough hydration. The peasant bread is a very high-hydration dough, meaning there is a lot of water relative to flour. Because baking the peasant bread in a Dutch oven will require some handling of the dough — to shape it into a round and to create some tension — you may want to reduce the water from the start. Consider holding back 20-30 grams of water to make the process more manageable for you.
My Mother’s Peasant Bread: The Best Easiest Bread You Will Ever Make
- Total Time: 2 hours 27 minutes
- Yield: 2 loaves
Description
Notes:
The bread:
This is a sticky, no-knead dough, so, some sort of baking vessel, such as pyrex bowls (you need two 1-qt bowls) or ramekins for mini loaves is required to bake this bread. See notes below the recipe for sources. You can use a bowl that is about 2 qt or 2 L in size to bake off the whole batch of dough (versus splitting the dough in half) but do not use this size for baking half of the dough — it is too big.
Peasant Bread Fans! There is a book: Bread Toast Crumbs, a loaf-to-crumb bread-baking book, filled with tips and tricks and answers to the many questions that have been asked over the years. In the book you will find 40 variations of the master peasant bread recipe + 70 recipes for using up the many loaves you will bake. Learn more about the book here or buy it here.
Ingredients
- 4 cups (512 g) unbleached all-purpose or bread flour
- 2 teaspoons (10 g) kosher salt
- 2 cups (454 g) lukewarm water (made by mixing 1.5 cups cold water with 0.5 cup boiling water)
- 2 teaspoons (8 g) sugar
- 2 teaspoons (8 g) instant yeast, I love SAF Instant Yeast, see notes below
- room temperature butter, about 2 tablespoons
Instructions
- Mixing the dough: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, sugar, and instant yeast (I love SAF Instant Yeast). Add the water. Mix until the flour is absorbed. (If you are using active dry yeast, see notes below.)
- Let it rise. Cover bowl with a tea towel or plastic wrap and set aside in a warm spot to rise for at least an hour. (In the winter or if you are letting the bread rise in a cool place, it might take as long as two hours to rise.) This is how to create a slightly warm spot for your bread to rise in: Turn the oven on at any temperature (350ºF or so) for one minute, then turn it off. Note: Do not allow the oven to get up to 300ºF, for example, and then heat at that setting for 1 minute — this will be too hot. Just let the oven preheat for a total of 1 minute — it likely won’t get above 100ºF. The goal is to just create a slightly warm environment for the bread.
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Grease two 1-qt or 1.5-qt oven-safe bowls (see notes below) with about a tablespoon of butter each. Using two forks, punch down your dough, scraping it from the sides of the bowl, which it will be clinging to. As you scrape it down try to pull the dough toward the center (see video below for guidance). You want to loosen the dough entirely from the sides of the bowl, and you want to make sure you’ve punched it down. Then, take your two forks and divide the dough into two equal portions — eye the center of the mass of dough, and starting from the center and working out, pull the dough apart with the two forks. Then scoop up each half and place into your prepared bowls. This part can be a little messy — the dough is very wet and will slip all over the place. Using small forks or forks with short tines makes this easier — my small salad forks work best; my dinner forks make it harder. It’s best to scoop it up fast and plop it in the bowl in one fell swoop. Some people like to use flexible, plastic dough scrapers for this step.
- Let the dough rise again for about 20 to 30 minutes on the countertop near the oven (or near a warm spot) or until it has risen to just below or above (depending on what size bowl you are using) the top of the bowls. (Note: Do not do the warm-oven trick for the second rise, and do not cover your bowls for the second rise. Simply set your bowls on top of your oven, so that they are in a warm spot. Twenty minutes in this spot usually is enough for my loaves.)
- Bake it. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375º and bake for 15 to 17 minutes longer. Remove from the oven and turn the loaves onto cooling racks. If you’ve greased the bowls well, the loaves should fall right out onto the cooling racks. If the loaves look a little pale and soft when you’ve turned them out onto your cooling racks, place the loaves into the oven (outside of their bowls) and let them bake for about 5 minutes longer. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before cutting.
Notes
- The bowls: The cheapest, most widely available 1-qt bowl is the Pyrex 322. Update: These bowls are becoming harder to find and more expensive. As a result, I’m suggesting this cheaper option: the Pyrex 3-piece set. You can split the dough in half as always (see recipe) and bake half in the 1-quart bowl and half in the 1.5 quart bowl. The loaves will not be the same shape, but they will be delicious nonetheless.
- Yeast: I buy SAF Instant Yeast in bulk from Amazon I store it in my fridge or freezer, and it lasts forever. If you are using the packets of yeast (the kind that come in the 3-fold packets), just go ahead and use a whole packet — It’s 2.25 teaspoons. I have made the bread with active dry, rapid rise, and instant yeast, and all varieties work. The beauty of instant yeast is that there is no need to “proof” it — you can add the yeast directly to the flour. I never use active-dry yeast anymore.
- If you have active-dry yeast on hand and want to use it, here’s how: In a small mixing bowl, dissolve the sugar into the water. Sprinkle the yeast over top. There is no need to stir it up. Let it stand for about 10 to 15 minutes or until the mixture is foamy and/or bubbling just a bit — this step will ensure that the yeast is active. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. When the yeast-water-sugar mixture is foamy, stir it up, and add it to the flour bowl. Mix until the flour is absorbed.
- Troubleshooting: You can find step-by-step video instruction here.
- Several commenters have had trouble with the second rise, and this seems to be caused by the shape of the bowl they are letting the dough rise in the second time around. Two hours for the second rise is too long. If you don’t have a 1-qt bowl, bake 3/4 of the dough in a loaf pan and bake the rest off in muffin tins or a popover pan. The second rise should take no more than 30 minutes.
- Also, you can use as many as 3 cups of whole wheat flour, but the texture changes considerably. I suggest trying with all all-purpose or bread flour to start and once you get the hang of it, start trying various combinations of whole wheat flour and/or other flours.
- The single most important step you can take to make this bread truly foolproof is to invest in a digital scale. This onecosts under $10. If you are not measuring by weight, do this: scoop flour into the measuring cup using a separate spoon or measuring cup; level off with a knife. The flour should be below the rim of the measuring cup.
- Here’s a printable version of this recipes that’s less wordy: Peasant Bread Recipe, Simplified
- How to Bake the Peasant Bread in a Dutch Oven: Preheat a Dutch Oven for 45 minutes at 450ºF. Dust a clean work surface with flour. After the first rise, turn the dough out onto the floured surface and shape it into a ball: I like to fold it envelope style from top to bottom, then side to side; then I flip it over and use the pinkie edges of my hands to pinch the dough underneath and create some tension. Transfer the dough to a sheet of parchment paper. Let rest for 20 minutes. If you feel your dough is spreading too much you can lift up the sheet of parchment paper, dough and all, and place it in a bowl of a similar size. After the 20 minutes, transfer the dough, parchment paper and all to the Dutch oven. Carefully cover it. Bake 30 minutes. Uncover. Bake 15 minutes more.
- To bake the peasant bread in a loaf pan: If you are using an 8.5×4.5-inch loaf pan or a 9×5-inch loaf pan, you can bake 3/4 of the dough in it; bake off the rest of the dough in ramekins or other small vessels … the mini loaves are so cute. You can also make 1.5x the recipe, and bake the bread in 2 loaf pans. If you have a large loaf pan, such as a 10×6-inch loaf pan, you can bake off the entire batch of dough in it. For loaf pans, bake at 375ºF for 45 minutes.
- How to Bake at Hight Altitude:
- First try the original recipe as written (preferably with a scale). You may not need to make any adjustments. One commenter, who lives at 9200 ft finds the original recipe to work just fine as is.
- If the original recipe doesn’t work, try adding a little bit more water because it rises fast and it is so dry: about a quarter cup for every 512 g of flour.
- Try decreasing the yeast to 1.5 teaspoons.
- If your dough is especially gooey, try decreasing the water by 1/4 cup. But, if you aren’t using a scale, my first suggestion would be to buy a scale and weigh the flour, and make the bread once as directed with the 2 cups water and 512 grams flour, etc.
- Punch the dough down twice before transferring it to the buttered Pyrex bowls. In other words, let it rise for 1-1.5 hours, punch it down, let it rise again for about an hour, punch it down, then transfer it to the buttered bowls.
- Variations:
- #1. Cornmeal. Substitute 1 cup of the flour with 1 cup of cornmeal. Proceed with the recipe as directed.
- #2. Faux focaccia. Instead of spreading butter in two Pyrex bowls in preparation for baking, butter one 9×9-inch glass baking dish and one Pyrex bowl or just butter one large 9×13-inch Pyrex baking dish. If using two vessels, divide the dough in half and place each half in prepared baking pan. If using only one large baking dish, place all of the dough in the dish. Drizzle dough with 1 tablespoon of olive oil (if using the small square pan) and 2 tablespoons of olive oil (if using the large one). Using your fingers, gently spread the dough out so that it fits the shape of the pan. Use your fingers to create dimples in the surface of the dough. Sprinkle surface with chopped rosemary and sea salt. Let rise for 20 to 30 minutes. Bake for 15 minutes at 425ºF and 17 minutes (or longer) at 375ºF. Remove from pan and let cool on cooling rack.
- #3. Thyme Dinner Rolls
- #4 Gluten-free
- #5. Everything Bagel Seasoning Bread. Simply coat the buttered bowls with Everything Bagel Seasoning.
- #6: Whole Wheat Peasant Bread. Use as much as 50% whole wheat flour.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 32 minutes
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
6,615 Comments on “My Mother’s Peasant Bread: The Best Easiest Bread You Will Ever Make”
I can’t thank you enough for this recipe because everyone thinks I’m a brilliant bread maker. I feel like a total cheat every time I take loaves to a party because it takes so little time to make and gets so many swoons.
So nice to read this 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks for sharing 💕💕💕
I’ve made this several times now. I love the ease as well as the taste. I’ve started using half white while wheat flour. I’ve also started making the recipe and a half version so I can use 2 loaf pans. My only issue is, although I’ve been letting it rise for 2 hours then 1 hour in the pans my loaves just aren’t very tall. Any suggestions?
Hi! It’s likely bc of the whole wheat flour, which will make for a denser, less lofty loaf. Have you tried making the bread with 100% bread flour?
I will make the next batch using all white and see what happens. It never gets higher than the pan.
OK! Also: what size pan are you using? If it’s larger than 1-qt, that could be the issue, too… the bread won’t look as lofty in a 1.5 qt bowl or a larger bowl.
So delicious. Who knew making fresh bread was so easy! I can’t wait to try some of the variations. I substituted sugar with honey.
Great to hear, Ron! Thanks for writing.
Hi! May I know the baking temperature for this bread? I’m not able to find it, please reply, tia 🙂
425F for 15 minutes. 375F for 17-20 minutes more.
This recipe is 👍👍, I used 1 larger Pyrex bowl and extended the bake time a by about 10 minutes. The next time I’m going to use sour dough discard and instant yeast for the sourdough flavor .
Great to hear, Cindy! Thanks for writing 🙂
I made this recipe last night with KAF bread flour. The taste is quite good but it is a bit “stretchy” (my husband’s comment. It will be great for toast! I am thinking I will try with AP flour. Any other suggestions?
I usually bake breads that require a bit of kneading and they come out light and fluffy.
Update: This is the only bread I have ever made that gets better with age. It is amazing to me that it tastes better the 2nd day and keeps so well for several days.
I did make it again with 1/2 AP flour and 1/2 bread flour and I think it turned out better. I am looking forward to trying many different variations.
So nice to read this, Marie! Thanks for writing and sharing this 🙂
Pretty tasty
I love homemade bread, but in the past haven’t had much luck with it. This Peasant Bread recipe has changed all that. After it cools and I cut it, I’m always wondering if it’ll be baked all the way through…. every time it comes out perfectly baked! I get more compliments on how good it is, and within a couple of days the loaves are gone!
Thank you so much for sharing. I even shared the Gluten Free version with my daughter. Looking forward to trying some more of your recipes.
So nice to read all of this, MaryBeth! Thank you for writing and thanks for spreading the peasant bread love to your daughter and beyond 🙂 🙂 🙂
Hi, I made this the other night and it turned out great. My second rise did however take about an hour. I did my first in the oven following your directions as it is cold in my house.
That can happen in the winter Heather. Are you using 1-qt bowls?
Yes, Thank you so much for the recipe! Everyone loves it. I’ve been having cherry and blueberry preserves with butter on a toasted slice for breakfast the last few days. My sister is going to try a gluten free version.
Oh that sounds so good! Great to hear. And good luck to your sister as well 🙂
I love the bread recipe. It is the easiest bread that I have ever made. I love the texture and my family just loves it.
Great to hear, Linda! Thanks for writing 🙂
My apologies. I missed posting a comment. Love, love, love this recipe. I had made your focaccia recipe earlier and we loved it! Just tried this recipe after Christmas and shared it (the bread and recipe) with several people who also loved it! I have made it a couple of times and the last 2 times, I used the whey from the ricotta I had made earlier in the day. The bread turned out fabulous. Definitely a winner! Am going to try the brioche cinnamon buns tonight for tomorrow’s breakfast. Can’t wait!!!!! Thanks for sharing!
Susan
So nice to read all of this, Susan! Isn’t fun using the whey? I love the flavor and color it lends. The cinnamon buns are a family favorite. Hope you love them!
Okay, this recipe is fantastic! My daughter told me if I made this on the Great British Baking Show, I’d get a Hollywood Handshake! But seriously, thank you for this amazing recipe!
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Love this so much. Thanks for writing!
Hands down. Still the best bread I’ve ever made and I’ve been making this for YEARS. 10/10.
So nice to read this, Victoria 🙂 🙂 🙂
One of my New Year goals is to perfect baking gluten free bread. I did not realize you had a totally separate recipe for GF Peasant bread. And my new quick rising yeast I got from Amazon did NOT rise. I even left it overnight. But I still baked it. It was just a lump. Well, 3 lumps actually. Until something works with GF methods I only make half a recipe. So glad I did. I ate a bit of it but it was really not bread (sadly) – my fault for not reading all the way through to see how to “test” your yeast. So many mistakes. Well, the lovely birds and seagulls will now get a nice treat as the remaining bits are on my back lawn. No worries! I will try again this week. Thank you for the GF recipe I should have looked around a bit before proceeding. Wish me luck!
?? Want to try it! I’m not a bread maker by any means. But my son eats Hannaford baguette’s everyday. And I know there’s ingredients that he does not to be to be eating every day. So I really want to have my own recipe to make for him. Could this recipe be made into a baguette recipe, or do you have a baguette recipe. He likes SOFT baguettes. TY! (tried searching on your site, but could not locate one). Love how you write about mom is peasant bread recipe :-).
?? Want to try it! I’m not a bread maker by any means. But my son eats Hannaford baguette’s everyday. And I know there’s ingredients that he does not to be to be eating every day. So I really want to have my own recipe to make for him. Could this recipe be made into a baguette recipe, or do you have a baguette recipe. He likes SOFT baguettes. TY! (tried searching on your site, but could not locate one). Love how you write about your Mom’s peasant bread recipe :-).
I think this dough will be too wet to shape into baguettes unfortunately. I would start with this focaccia recipe. It’s soft and delicious and so easy. I know your son will approve 🙂 I don’t have a baguette recipe on the blog.
I was looking for a bread recipe that used all purpose flour because I was too lazy to run to the store to get bread flour. I stumbled across this one and I’m glad I did. It was so easy and even more delicious! My husband doesn’t like crusty bread so this bread filled the bill. Thank you for the detailed instructions as they made it simple to follow. This will definitely go into my recipe rotation. Thank you, thank you!
Great to hear, Jo-Ellen! Thanks for writing.
Hi Ali–
I can’t wait to bake your Mom’s peasant bread, but I’m wondering if I could make just one loaf (I have one Pyrex 442 1.5 liter bowl)? Would it work if I multiply the gram weight of the ingredients by .75 for this size bowl? I realize I may be making things more complicated than they need to be, it’s just bread after all!
Thanks tons for your advice!!!
That should work, Laurie! Go for it 🙂 🙂 🙂
Not only is this the best tasting bread, the recipe is foolproof. I went to make it again today, while we’re having another classic winter storm (I live in Buffalo, need I say more?) The lights flickered after I put the loaves in to bake, but I didn’t think anything of it. I went back in to reduce the temperature on the oven for the second baking, only to find that the oven went off with the brief power outage and my bread had been sitting in a rapidly cooling oven ( 138 when I went back in). I freaked and thought it’s totally ruined now. I knew it probably hadn’t been at temperature for too long, since it was only a few minutes after I put it in that the lights had flickered. I decided I’d try and rescue it and reset the oven for 425, set the timer for t0 minutes, and then reset the oven at 375 for 15 minutes. Other than overflowing the bowl a bit, the loaves came out as fresh and delicious as ever! One final tip – I use butter spread to coat the pans – it still gives it that buttery flavor, but is really easy to grease the pans. Love this recipe!
Great tip about the butter spread! Thanks so much for writing and sharing all of this, Nancy. It is indeed a forgiving recipe.
Incidentally, I was at a hockey tournament in Syracuse over the weekend, and I bumped into some people from Buffalo who were preparing to spend an extra day (or two) in Syracuse due to the travel ban back home because of the impending snow! Crazy! Hope you had a cozy weekend 🙂
Not sure what I am doing wrong. I’ve weighed all ingredients and I end up with soup and never a ball.
Hi Sandra! What type of flour are you using? And do you live in a very humid environment?
Hello. Thank you for replying. Before I received your reply, I tried bread flour and the recipe worked perfectly.
Great to hear, Sandra!
My new favorite bread. Best ever grilled cheese and toast bread. So easy to make 😀😊
Yay! I agree: best grilled cheese bread 🙂
Could I add dried blueberries to this recipe? If so, how would you do it?
Sure! I’d start with maybe 1/2 cup? Mix them in with the flour.
You think they would do okay when the dough needs to rise a couple of times? I had a thought to mix the blueberries in right before I transfer the dough into the loaf pan for the last rise. You are the professional though so I will listen to what you say!
Yep! Mix them right into the flour 🙂
Update – my mom loved the blueberry added in. I’ve been making the plain bread for her for over a year which she loves as well. If I make the blueberry again I’m thinking about adding turbinado sugar on top of the loaf. I’m also thinking about doing another flavor, dried cranberries with orange extract. I’ll do a 1/2 cup of cranberries, do you think adding 1/2 tsp. of extract would be okay?
Great to hear, Abbie! Thanks so much for writing. And yes, 1/2 teaspoon of extract would be fine 🙂
Easy to make & Bake!
Great to hear, Janice!
I am very new to baking bread (and baking in general honestly never been very good at it) This recipe was perfect for me and this is my 3rd time making it! My bread has turned out amazing and it made me feel really proud! Thank you for sharing this!! 🥰❤️🍞
Great to hear, Brittany! Thanks so much for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂
Hello: Would this type of 1 qt Pyrex glass bowl worrk to bake the peasant bread?
Sorry, my prior post did not contain the Pyrex bowl picture as I cannot get it to copy. I am referring to the standard glass Pryex storage bowls that come with lids. Would a 1qt one work to bake the Peasant Bread?
Yes! That will work.
Wondering, would Pyrex pie pans work for baking this bread?
Yes! The shape will be different; flavor will be the same.
I used Cairn Mills flour, Trailblazer, with a couple TBSP of buckwheat and sesame seeds on top. One loaf in a well buttered medium dutch oven, 430º for 20 minutes –remove lid — bake 20 more minutes.
I normally do stretch & fold and this dough responded well to two quick S&F about 15 minutes apart.
Flavor and crumb are excellent, especially warm out of the pan and soaked in butter.
I bake bread regularly but sometimes run out energy or time. I wasn’t at all sure that a process this quick would be worth it — but it is! I also look forward to tweaking the ingredients.
So wonderful to read all of this, Carl! Thanks so much for taking the time to write and share these notes. I am such a fan of Cairnspring Mills flours — the flavor is outstanding. Great to hear about the stretch and folds, too 🙂
Wanted to dip my toe into the bread making world, but wanted something easy to start. This is a WINNER! So simple but more importantly DELICIOUS! We will be making this on a regular basis moving forward. Thank you for sharing!
Great to hear, Stacia! Thanks for writing 🙂 🙂 : )
Can you freeze the dough?
Yes! After the first rise, ball up the dough; then freeze it whole or divide it in half, ball up each half then freeze each half.
This bread is hands down the best we’ve ever had for a relatively quick prep time. I usually make it at least once a week now. I can’t wait to try the quinoa toasted option, which I plan on baking with white whole wheat flour and also add some flax and sesame seeds to.
Could you please provide nutrition information and serving size or point me to the location on your blog? I didn’t see it anywhere or in the comments.
Thank you! 😊
Great to hear, Diana! I love the quinoa-flax version. I do not have nutritional info on my blog, but here’s a great site that can help you calculate: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076