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.
6,374 Comments on “My Mother’s Peasant Bread: The Best Easiest Bread You Will Ever Make”
I did every step in recipe. I did not skip anything. The final rise is taking so long. It has been 5 hours now and finally its ready to put in the oven lol. Next time i will use rapid rise instead of active dry yeast. I cant wait until its done baking. Though it took a long time to rise i will be making this again and again. Thank you for sharing.
oh no! Ok, honestly, the second rise should take no more than 30 minutes. What size bowl are you using?
I love this recipe! I normally do bread in the bread machine but have started branching out. Can you refrigerate or freeze half the dough so as to only bake half the recipe at the time of making the dough? I baked off the whole recipe and it is too much for a single person. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Michele, I haven’t tried this, but I have frozen other doughs, so I think this might work. If you feel like experimenting, I suggest this: freezing half of the dough after the first rise. So, after the first rise, punch down the dough, split it, wrap one in plastic wrap and stick in the freezer, proceed with the recipe with the other half. The only reason I say freezer as opposed to fridge is because I think the dough will continue to rise in the fridge. When you want to bake that frozen loaf, I would take it out of the freezer and let it sit out at room temp for about an hour or so and then place it in your greased bowl — I worry if you stick it directly into your greased bowl that it might absorb all of the butter and then you might run into sticking issues. Hope that helps!
I’m fired up to try this recipe, but all I have is bleached flour. Can this be used instead of unbleached? I really don’t know what the difference is between the two unless it would change the texture. Do I need to make a run to the store?
No! Just use the bleached! Many commenters have had success using bleached. I just fine that unbleached produces a nicer texture. Good luck with it! Let me know if there is anything else.
I am super glad that I took a moment to read about your recipe. Your picture hooked me! My family LOVES bread, so I thought it would be a nice surprise to make it from scratch, which I have never before thought possible. With that being said, I am absolutely shocked! My breads turned out PERFECTLY!!! Your instructions were easily understood and the videos were an added bonus. It’s nice to be able to see how it’s done. I actually mistakenly used 1.5L Pyrex bowls my first time, and the only “problem” was the second rise didn’t look like it was working. I wasn’t sure if I needed to cover the bowls, so I did. But, it didn’t matter a bit. I waited 30 minutes and cooked them as instructed and perfection! I am making them now for the second time in the correct size bowls and can’t wait! I have 8 kids and a husband that loves bread so it doesn’t even hit the dinner table. As soon as they are cut, they mysteriously disappear. I feel like a master bread maker. LOL!! Thank you a million times for posting this amazing bread recipe. I will now buy the huge package of yeast(never had in my home before), and make sure I always have enough flour in my pantry. I can’t wait to try some variations with the flavor. Thanks again!!!! 🙂
Oh my gosh you are amazing! 8 children! I love it. We have three, and we’d love to have one more, but we shall see. Thanks so much for writing in and sharing your experience. Wonderful to hear all of this. And yes, bulk yeast = amazing.
I am going to try this with the gluten-free flour recipe I used with your crazy cakes!!! I’ll let you know how it turns out! Pinning it now! 🙂
Brittani, please report back! Which cake did you make with gluten-free flour? And what is your favorite gluten-free flour? Would love to know.
Sorry! Just saw this! I made the “crazy cake” or “depression cake” with my gluten-free flour and it was AMAZING. The flour mix is: 2c. rice flour (I like to use 1c. white and 1 c. brown), 1/3 c. tapioca starch. 2/3 c. potato starch, 1 tsp. xanthan gum. It’s amazing, and I’ve been able to use it with any mix I’ve made. In cake, I added an extra 1/2 tsp. of the leavening agent in the cake (can’t remember if it was baking powder or soda) just to help it rise a bit. I am going to make the bread today, I’ll let you know how it turns out!
Awesome to hear this! Thank you SO much for sharing your gluten-free flour mix. That is so kind of you. I need to make that cake! So many people are looking for satisfying gluten-free treats.
Maybe I’m a bit dim, but I don’t know what ‘all purpose flour’ is. I have plain flour, strong bread flour and self-raising flour in my cupboard. Can you tell me which to try?
Bread looks wonderful and I want to bake it this weekend, as a change to my usual Irish soda bread.
Thanks
Not dim at all. Labels are different everywhere. I think your plain flour is probably all-purpose flour, but since you have bread flour on hand, I recommend that. Let me know if you have any other questions!
i just wanted to tell you that i’ve been using your peasant bread recipe for a while now and it has become SUCH a staple in our home. i make a batch 2-3 times/week, using 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 AP flour. my kids ADORE it, and call it “momma bread.” my son even tells his friends that his momma makes the best bread in the WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD. i’m so grateful you shared it with us!
Yay! Nothing makes me happier than to hear this. Momma Bread…so cute! love it. Thanks so much for writing in!
HI 🙂
I just made this bread for the first time since finding your recipe… I was looking for a easy pizza dough recipe and found this bread recipe instead.
The bred is amazing and so simple… I am taking it, to my mothers for dinner in a few minutes.
First time bread maker, and a so, so cooker, as my nieces, like to tell me. They prefer grandmas cooking, of course… My house smells like a french bakery cafe…YUMMYYY!!!!!
THANK YOU
Rob T.-M.
Haha, nothing like the little ones to shatter your confidence in the kitchen! My children constantly say, “I don’t like this” before even tasting things…so annoying! So happy the bread turned out well for you. Hope the rest of the fam likes it too. Thanks for writing in!
I started reading through the 1000 replies (you’re so good to answer them all!!) and I wonder if anyone has used sourdough starter instead of yeast?
Hi Pat, I have not used a sourdough starter, but several commenters have with great success. Good luck with it! Do you need guidance re measurements/weight/percentage of starter? Or will you kind of go by feel/eye?
Hi Pat,
First of all, Alexandra, this looks delightful. I have attempted several recipes of sourdough to fail when I ran across this recipe.
Secondly, Pat, I am curious to know if you tried it with sourdough starter and if so how did it turn out. I think I’m going to give this a try tomorrow replacing one cup of starter for the commercial yeast. Let me know how yours turned/turns out.
I am SOOO happy and thankful for this recipe. Just to follow up yesterdays post. I 1/2 the recipe and used 1 cup of my sourdough starter here. I did everything else to the “T”. My bread turned out amazing! After many failures at different sourdough recipes, I’m sticking with this one. It had such a nice subtle but most present sourdough flavor. Thank you Alexandra for your recipe. <3
Holy Moly…I just made bread for the first time…and I was successful! I love your blog and you made this process so easy. Thank you!!!!!!!
Yay! So happy to hear this! I wish everyone would find the process so easy…still trying to add tips to make the process foolproof.
HI! Found this recipe about a week ago and finally got around to trying it out today. Everything went great except that my bread stuck to the pans/bowls. I used the amount of butter called for but it still got stuck, especially on the bottom. Otherwise it seems wonderful (haven’t tried it yet, it’s still cooling). I guess I’ll have to try more butter next time.
Hey! Sorry to hear about the sticking. What kind of bowls/pans were you using? I definitely am generous with the butter, but it sounds as though you were, too. Maybe just a wee more next time? Hope you like it!
Took your advice and went ahead and used the bleached flour I already had on hand. Made the bread last night and it turned out awesome! Our grandson ate dinner with us tonight and I brought out the second loaf. He said it’s definitely a keeper. Have added this recipe to my Thanksgiving menu as we’ll have lots of family here then. Can’t wait to get their reaction. Thanks for sharing your mother’s recipe!
Oh yay, so happy to hear this, Janet! It is definitely a crowd pleaser. Hope it’s a hit at your Thanksgiving!
My 18-year-old daughter found this recipe and texted me about it. I tried it yesterday and took a loaf to my mom. We have all agreed that this is incredible, and Meghan and I that it is easy to make. Mom is going to try making it soon. I will have to keep Meghan and Mom separate, though, as this is good enough to slap your grandmother away from the table! Thanks!!
Haha, I love it. So happy to hear this!
So I live in a very rural area… I have looked at the very small stores available to me and could only find a 2 liter round glass bowl… I was really wanting to find the smaller ones. So, should I divide the dough still? Change anything?? I am a beginner at this…
Monica, hi! I think you should split the dough unevenly: place 3/4 of the dough in the well-greased 2-L bowl; and then bake off the rest in ramekins or muffin tins. Does that make sense? You can split the dough evenly if you would like, but the finished loaf will be much smaller than what you see in the pictures here. Hope that makes sense!
Have a 2nd batch in the oven. The first batch turned out yummy, even if I used my 2L bowls. Will try smaller bowls with this time.
I need to make this 2nd batch within a week as my almost 4 yr great-nephew ate over one loaf by himself. He kept coming in and asking for more bread and was very sad when it was gone. This was over 2 days time. So, I promised him more next time he was here.
Now I am looking for ways to change it up. Perhaps adding cheese and spices for an italian loaf, etc.
Also, thanks for the videos. I didn’t watch them the first time through, but I still enjoyed them when I did watch them. Loved your kids 🙂
Ohhh, what a good boy! My son is the same way with this bread. When it is warm and fresh, is there anything better? So many commenters have experimented with so many different seasonings and cheeses, so don’t hesitate to be creative! I need to start getting more creative. Glad you liked the videos…chaos 🙂
just made this awesome bread. I’m loving it. easy, peasy to make! so glad u introduced me to bread making. Looking forward to a thick slice tomorrow morning with butter and raspberry jam. thanks ! I’m in Connecticut – come over and share with me !
Would love to! Where? I grew up in Wallingford. So happy to hear you like the bread!
Just discovered your wonderful site! Made the bread … How can just water and flour tastes so good! Can this be made in a convection oven as well as the regular oven? Is there a difference?
Yay! So happy to hear this. I know, right? So simple yet so delicious. I do not have much experience with convection ovens, but from what I know, they tend to cook foods faster and things like cakes cook much faster in convection than in regular ovens. Do you have a convection oven? Or a convection setting on your oven? My worry is that the top of this bread will brown too quickly on convection before the bottom part finishes cooking. Hope that helps!
This was so easy and SO good! It almost has a sourdough taste to it. My family loved it so much we ate a whole loaf the first night…I took the second one to my mom’s house. I have a batch going for dinner tonight. I think I’m going to try it with rye and use it for patty melts.
Oh yum! Please report back on how the rye flour works…my husband is obsessed with these corned beef sandwiches topped with slaw on rye from a deli in our town. Would love to make him a homemade loaf of rye!
Hi! I’m attempting this bread for the first time (just about to go into the oven). I didn’t have these small bowls, so I split it into 2 loaf pans. I was thinking the next time I might just leave it in one batch, and put it in one of my 2.5Q Pyrex dishes. Would this work? Make a bigger loaf? What are your thoughts? Thanks!
Heather, hi! Your timing couldn’t be more perfect. For all the years I have been making this peasant bread, not once did I attempt to leave the dough in one batch and bake it whole in a larger bowl until 2 nights ago. I used a 2.5qt Pyrex, and it baked off beautifully! I am going to blog about this soon. Out of curiosity, does your Pyrex bowl have a number on the bottom? The one I used was 443. I love the shape of the finished loaf!
Very good timing on my part! I don’t have the set that includes the 443. I have several of the 475 casseroles, including one that looks just like this: https://www.flickr.com/photos/14030043@N05/5988276337/
As well as a set of mixing bowls that look just like this: [link no longer active]
My collection is still at the early stages, but I hope to one day have a collection like this: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/452752568760463530/
I’m going to try another batch today (the last batch is gone already!), and maybe sub in some whole white wheat flour. I’ll let you know how it goes!
OMG, LOVE all of these Pyrex pics. I am majorly covetting that collection on Pinterest! In that picture, second shelf, all the way to the right — I just bought on Ebay a 4-bowl nesting set (Cindarella bowls, I think they’re called?) — and I love them: use the 441 for small loaves and the 443 for one large loaf. LOVE the 475 — I think I need to spend some time on Ebay today 🙂 Definitely report back on the next batch. Would love to hear. It’s nice with a cup of cornmeal in place of one cup of flour, too. Thanks so much for writing in and sharing all of these wonderful links! Happy Baking!
Ooops, hit the wrong reply button! Feel free to delete the one under Sam’s post!
I have to tell you that I am now a full-blown Peasant Bread junkie! Over the last week, I have made several loaves. Made some for my boss (for Boss’s Day), so I might just be her favorite person ever! I have found that the loaves I like best are made in either a Pyrex 402 (1.5qt, gets a good rise) or my Anchor Hocking 1.5qt loaf dishes. I leave it as one loaf, instead of splitting, and they turn out big and beautiful! And I did make one with some whole white wheat flour mixed in, but my favorite is definitely unbleached AP! Thanks so much for this recipe! I think I’ll go whip up another batch!
I made this bread and followed the recipe to a tee, however it was a very chewy texture. I cooked it a little longer as I wanted the top to brown but even then, very chewy texture. Could it have been that I didn’t actually cook it long enough? Also, my 2nd rise pretty much didn’t happen. I used a 2 litre bowl.
Sam, did you split the dough and bake half in one 2L bowl? Or did you bake the whole batch in the 2L bowl? The bread definitely has a chewy texture, but it’s also light and soft — from what you are describing, the bread sounds a little dense? No matter what size bowl you use, the total baking time should be about 32-33 minutes. Were you using Pyrex?
I have to tell you that I am now a full-blown Peasant Bread junkie! Over the last week, I have made several loaves. Made some for my boss (for Boss’s Day), so I might just be her favorite person ever! I have found that the loaves I like best are made in either a Pyrex 402 (1.5qt, gets a good rise) or my Anchor Hocking 1.5qt loaf dishes. I leave it as one loaf, instead of splitting, and they turn out big and beautiful! And I did make one with some whole white wheat flour mixed in, but my favorite is definitely unbleached AP! Thanks so much for this recipe! I think I’ll go whip up another batch!
Good work re Boss’s Day! So happy to hear you have had success with the peasant bread. And thanks so much for the tip on baking the whole batch in the 1.5 qt bowl — I bet the rise above the rim is dramatic! Going to try that. Need to add these tips to the notes. Happy Baking!
I am not sure what happened, but this was a flop. The first rising was great. After 30 minutes of the second rising, it was not quite as high as it should have been. I gave our another 30 minutes. It was close. Baked it. It came out pretty flat. Maybe it will make good bread pudding.
Julia, I suspect it was the bowl you were using: what size was it? If the bowl was too large, the loaves definitely will be flat.
Just made this now and house smells sooooogood! It was really straightforward! I can’t wait to try other blends. Thanks for posting!
yay! So happy to hear this!
I’m trying this out in one bowl (2.5l) as well. What was the adjusted baking time on that?
Chrissy, hi! Sorry for this late response. So, you are not going to split the dough, right? If so, just let the whole batch make its second rise in the buttered 2.5L bowl, and don’t adjust the baking time. This is what I do these days: 15 minutes at 425ºF; 17 minutes at 375ºF. Second rise, too, just take about 30 minutes — it’s ok to let it go a little bit longer, but no matter how high it is, I would stick it in the oven after 45 minutes at the latest. Hope that makes sense!
I found this website about a week or so ago..I bake a lot and am always eager to try new recipes. I went out and bought a set of stacking Anchor Hocking bowls (cheaper than pyrex) specifically to use with this! i have had pyrex in the past and broke my bowls through the years.. I love crockery, so used my antiques for dough instead of buying new pyrex.. one is 1 L, the second is 1.5 L.. I used 3 1/2 c. all-purpose and 1/2 c. whole wheat. my only mistake is that I dipped the flour with the measuring cup instead of filling it with a spoon, as you instructed. My dough looked a little stiffer than yours. The dough was still an inch or so below the bowl’s edge @ 30 minutes, so i gave it another 10 minutes to rise. Mine did not rise as high in the oven as yours did, but did have a nice airy crumb. All in all, I was very pleased with the loaves, despite my disappointment that they did not rise as nicely as yours. I have that problem across the board with my breads.. i don’t know if i have a cold kitchen or use too much flour or knead it improperly or WHAT,.. but I manage to (usually..LOL!) make decent bread and i just keep on trying! My goal in life is to make a high, light loaf of bread…LOL!
I will definitely be making this again!
I had to come back and update you…. This bread was FABULOUS! my smaller loaf stuck a tiny bit on the very bottom, but not bad.. The crumb was very open, light and evenly distributed…. Soooo good! I had added perhaps a half teaspoon extra salt because I had used some whole wheat flour, and I like a little more salt in my bread than most recipes call for… I love the crunchiness to the bottom crust… LOVE it! I will add this to my bank of bread recipes that I rotate through.. THANK YOU!
Leslie, I’m so happy to hear all of this! It does sound as though you may be adding a teensy bit more flour than I do, but I don’t think that would affect things too drastically. Next time, maybe just try going a little lighter with the flour, and when you are ready to acquire a kitchen gadget, I highly recommend a scale! It will revolutionize baking for you. It’s so easy to just stand over a scale and dump a bag of flour into a bowl. And it will help take the guessing game out of measuring. But in any case, I am so happy you had success with the recipe, and you are not the only one that likes their bread salty: I do too. That said, too much salt can hamper rising — salt can actually kill yeast, so that could be a part of your rising issues, too. Thanks for writing in!
Thank you so much for posting this recipe. You are right, it is the easiest bread to make. And so forgiving. My A/P flour was bleached, but I used it anyway. My yeast had an expired date, but I used it anyway, because it still frothed, took it 15min though. I didn’t have the right size pyrex bowls, they were too big. So I used my two square 1.5L corning ware dishes. My bread came out perfectly. I was amazed! And I really loved how the square shape cut beautifully into slices. The taste was fantastic, and the best part was my whole house smelled heavenly. Thank you a thousand times, I will probably never buy store bought again. LOL! P.S. This made the best toast for breakfast, a great sandwich for lunch, and was perfect with our pot roast for dinner. God bless you! :))
You are so so welcome. Nothing makes me happier than to read all of this. Thanks for writing in. We eat this bread all day in my house, too. Happy Baking! 🙂
Wow! I made this for my 100 year old health food nut father-in-law and he loved it! No ww flour in it, either. I froze half and it rose just fine when I needed it. Scary how easy this is and to have on hand. Thanks.
Awesome to hear about the freezing. I must try that soon. Glad it was so easy and approved by the 100-year-old health-food nut…amazing!
Not sure if I commented or not before, but my family deemed this bread WAY too good to be a peasant bread, and that’s how it’s come to be known as Royal Bread in my house. Thanks for such an easy and delicious recipe!
Haha, I love it. Yes, it is treated as Royal Bread here, too — always admired, never fails to please 🙂
I used active dry yeast let it rise 2 hours punched down and divided covered to rise second time for 30 mins it was no where near top of bowls, my yeast was. New jar with an expiration date of June 2015 I am continuing to let 2nd rise I used ur mothers way in the oven, also why can u not use bleached flour thanks my mouth is watering for this bread but I do not think it is going to look like the pics. Also can u use a mixer with dough hooks to mix
Bleached flour has a different (lower, I think) gluten content and so it doesn’t react with the yeast as well. You CAN use it, the result is just not as good.
I used a mixer with a dough hook just fine.
thank you for your input here. I didn’t know that about the gluten content in bleached flour. Very interesting. And you are absolutely right — you can use bleached flour, but the results won’t be as good.
Gin — what size bowls are you using? I think that is the issue with the second rise. And you can definitely use a mixer but why bother when you can use a spoon and only have to rinse a spoon? This recipe is meant to be super easy 🙂 I’m not trying to create more work for you…not that using a stand mixer is work, but it somehow seems like more effort.
WOW! This bread is wonderful!! I have always had a favorite bread recipe, never fails, is always good, but this Peasant Bread recipe surpasses it! (Really, it does make sense for the name, too, since peasants or even pioneers had the basics of yeast, flour, salt, butter, and water). My husband found the recipe two days ago and I am so glad we made it this afternoon! The dough raised beautifully the first time, but didn’t seem to rise as high as your pictures in the bowls. Delicious! Thanks for sharing!!!
Yay, so happy to hear this! I think the issue with the rising is probably due to the size of the bowl. What size are you using?
Hi! This recipe looks amazing! I don’t have oven-safe Pyrex bowls, though. Can I use a non-stick metal loaf pan? I also believe I have a glass meatloaf pan, if that will work better. And can I cut the entire recipe in half to make just one smaller loaf with similar results?
Thanks so much for sharing this,
~Robyn
Robyn, yes on the nonstick metal loaf pans or the glass loaf pan — just be sure to grease both well with butter, especially in the corners. I have never cut the recipe in half, but other commenters have with success. A half recipe will fit into a single loaf pan, but it might not rise as high as the rim during the secong rise — just a heads up. After you punch down the dough, place it in yout buttered loaf pan, and after 30 minutes or so, stick it in the oven regardless of how high it has risen. Hope that makes sense!
I just got around to making this for the first time tonight and I LOVED it! The texture is so soft and light. I’m looking forward to trying this as french toast or dipped into flavored olive oils. It seems like it would absorb all of the flavors really nicely. I’ll be making this on a regular basis from now on, thanks!!! 🙂
Hi, Alexandra!
I’m a new reader to your blog and tried this bread recipe today! What fun it was! This was the first time I’ve ever made ANY bread that didn’t come out of a tube (Pillsbury) or via a Bread Machine Mix in an actual Bread Machine.
Here’s my first ever real bread baking adventure summarized for your reading pleasure (lol):
1. I wasn’t 100% successful but what I did achieve was two beautiful loaves when I pulled the Pyrex bowls out of the oven. Unfortunately, my loaves didn’t tumble out onto the cooling rack. I had to use a butter knife to loosen the loaves and then got about 3/4 of a loaf to fall out of each bowl. Totally my fault. I didn’t use butter to grease the bowls (as I didn’t have any in the house — SHAME!). I used coconut oil instead (and lots of it). I figured it would be a good substitute. I was wrong. Very wrong!
I will attempt my next two loaves after I get some butter from the grocery store. 🙂
2. THE GOOD NEWS is that what I did make was DELICIOUS! My sweet hubby devoured (and I mean that in the literal sense of that word) 90% of the two 3/4 loaves that I had on my cooling rack. The bread cooled for about 10 minutes and then he was begging me for slice after slice after slice. Quite a compliment actually as he is a VERY PICKY EATER!!!!
NOTE: I was able to pry the “stuck” outer crust from the inside of the Pyrex bowls with a butter knife and that crust was crunchy and delicious! (I ate it all up. Yummy!) I like the crunchy crust and my hubby loves the soft crumb inside! He saved up all his crusty scraps for me to munch on. lol 🙂
I will let you know how my next attempt turns out once I actually have butter to use. 🙂
Thanks for such a great recipe!
Warmest regards,
Patti 🙂 <3
Hi Patti!
You are funny. Thanks so much for writing in and sharing your adventure! It’s funny how different fats don’t work as well as butter in terms of creating that non-stick surface. Someone else tried coconut oil without success and others have tried olive oil without success. Definitely try again when you have some butter on hand. I, too, love those crunchy crusts! It sounds as though you and your husband make a perfect peasant bread-eating pair 🙂 And sometime, try making a grilled cheese with the day oil bread…delicious! Thanks for writing in!
My pleasure! I will definitely stock up on tons of real butter when I go grocery shopping next week! I’ll be sure to let you know how my next attempt (with the butter!) works out!
I’ll definitely try making some grilled cheesies with the day old bread, too. (If I can successfully hide one of the loaves from my sweet hubby so the bread can actually make it to one day old! lol) Sweet hubby and I lurve, lurve, lurve grilled cheese sandwiches. Mmmmmm. Mmmmmm. Just thinking about grilled cheesies makes my mouth water. And…it’s the perfect time of year fro grilled cheesies and homemade tomato soup! Perfect!!!
Best wishes for a lovely rest of the week to you and your family!
Warmest regards & blessings,
Patti 🙂 <3
You are hilarious. I lurve lurve lurve your comments. Hope you’ve been making some yummy grilled cheesies! Tis the season!
Thank you for the recipe and sharing all the comments with us….have not made,but will try tonite..ty