Hello guys! Today I’m here to share another exciting recipe with you, and that is “The Homemade Peasant Bread” recipe. This is one of the best bread recipes out there. The best thing about this recipe is that you don’t have to knead the dough to make bread out of it. And believe me! This is one of the finest bread recipes that are super easy to follow as well.
Homemade Peasant Bread
There is nothing more special than a loaf of homemade bread, as people go crazy over it. You can serve this bread any time on your table. You can present it at breakfast. This tasty peasant bread can also be best served at a dinner party.
This amazing bread will surely earn you praise from everyone on the table. If you plan to make this for a dinner party, then be ready for the questions like where did you buy this delicious bread? Or if you actually made this bread by yourself? You are going to be overwhelmed by the response 😉
No-knead Peasant Bread
The most remarkable thing about this recipe is that you don’t have to indulge in the hard work of kneading its dough to get finely baked peasant bread.
This recipe is quite simple and quick. You can even start this recipe even 3 – 4 hours before dinner and still be able to present the superbly baked tasty bread right on time.
There is no need to preheat the oven or baking pan for this recipe. You don’t even need any water spritzes or steam pans.
All you need is Pyrex bowls well-coated with butter. Using the simplest ingredients, you’ll make this soft, spongy, delicate, and delicious peasant bread with a beautiful golden crust.
How to make Peasant Bread
Ingredients
- 4 cups of unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 2 tsp Kosher Salt or 1&1/2 tsp of Table Salt
- 2 tsp of Sugar
- 2 tsp of Instant Yeast or Active-Dry Yeast
- 2 cups of Lukewarm Water
- About 2 tbsp of unsalted butter for greasing the pans
Instructions
- Take a large mixing bowl. In the bowl, add flour, sugar, salt, and instant yeast. Mix them well. Now add the lukewarm water and mix it well until a nice dough is formed.
- If you are using Active-Dry yeast, then dissolve sugar into the lukewarm water and sprinkle active-dry yeast over it. No need to mix it. Let it rest for 10 – 15 minutes. In a large bowl, mix the flour and salt and set aside. When the yeast-sugar water gets foamy, mix it well, and pour this yeast-sugar water into the flour. Mix well until the dough is formed.
- Now cover the bowl with a dishtowel or plastic wrap and set it aside in a warm place. Let the dough rest until it gets doubled in size. This will take at least one hour for the dough to rise completely. If you place the bowl in a cool place, the dough will take almost 2 hours to rise.
- Turn on the oven at a high temperature, like 350ºF or so, just for one minute, and then turn it off. This is a simple trick to create a slightly warm environment for the peasant bread.
- Now preheat the baking oven to 425ºF. Take two small Pyrex bowls, about 1 qt or 1.5 qt in size. Grease them well with unsalted butter.
- Punch down your dough and scrape it from the sides of the bowl with the help of two forks. Deflate the dough from the sides of the bowl and pull it towards the center to form a rough ball.
- Now divide the dough into two equal parts using forks from the center. Transfer each half of the dough into the butter-coated Pyrex bowls. If the dough is too wet and sticky to handle with forks, then grease your hands with oil and transfer the two halves into the baking bowls using your hands.
- Set the baking bowls aside on the countertop near the oven or any other warm place. Let the dough rise again for about 20 – 30 minutes. Remember not to cover the dough while leaving it to rise again. Remember, do not use the warm-oven trick for the second time. Just place the bowls near the oven or the top of it.
- Place the bread in the preheated oven at 425ºF and bake it for 15 minutes. Then reduce the heat to 375ºF and bake it for another 17-20 minutes.
- Now take the baking bowls out of the oven. Remove the bread loaves from the bowls and place them on the cooling rack. Bread loaves fall out on the cooling rack quickly if the baking bowls are well-greased with butter in the beginning.
- If the bread loaves are a bit soft and pale rather than golden-brown, then place the bread loaves directly into the baking oven (without baking bowls) and bake them again for 5 minutes. Baking the bread again will give it a beautiful golden crust.
- Take the bread loaves out of the oven and let them cool for 10 minutes before cutting.
How to store the Peasant Bread?
There are many eco-friendly methods to store the bread, but nothing seems to be better than using a ziplock bag. Ziplock bags can be used well to store the peasant bread for 3 – 4 days at room temperature. Ziplock bags keep the bread fresh, soft, and crumby as well.
If you want to store the bread for a longer period, then cut the bread as soon as it gets cooled after coming out of the baking oven. Place the bread pieces into the ziplock bags and store them in the freezer.
Although the ziplock bag stores the bread well and retains its freshness, it does not prevent the crust of bread from getting soft and losing its crispness. The best solution for this is to reheat the bread.
If you have stored the bread as slices, then the best way to reheat it is by toasting the bread slices in the toaster. But if you have stored the bread into halves or quarters, then reheat the bread loaves in the oven at 350ºF for 15 – 20 minutes.
If you liked this recipe, please check these bread recipes:
Homemade Brioche French Bread Recipe
