French Peasant Bread

Friday, April 16, 2010

This simple, rustic bread was the perfect accompaniment to an Italian meal. It uses only five ingredients in the actual bread and had a fabulous chewy texture and nice flavor. My husband couldn't stop raving about how much he liked it and I've already made it four times in the last week and a half. Thanks to my friend Jenny for a great recipe!

(perfectly yummy and dripping with melted butter)


Click here for printable recipe.

The ingredients:
1 Tbs. dry, quick rising yeast
2 cups warm water (110-115 degrees)
1 Tbs. sugar
1 tsp. salt
4 cups all-purpose flour  (NOTE:  this will not be firm bread dough, but if the weather is humid and the dough is really sticky, you may need to add up to one extra cup of flour)
olive oil (for greasing the pan)
corn meal (for pan)
1/4 cup butter, melted (for brushing over top before and after baking)

Place yeast, water, sugar, and salt in warm bowl and stir until dissolved. Add flour and stir until blended, but do NOT knead.


Cover and let rise one hour or until double in size.  (NOTE:  I usually skip this first rising and still love the way it turns out!)  Flour hands, remove dough from the bowl and place in 2 roughly equal rounds on an oiled cookie sheet sprinkled with corn meal (dough may be sticky and not hold its shape well--that's okay.  It's not supposed to be pretty.)  Let rise an additional 20-30 minutes.

Brush the tops and sides of the rounds with melted butter and bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees and cook an additional 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and brush tops and sides of rounds again with melted butter. Serve warm. Enjoy!


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19 comments:

Kathy April 17, 2010 at 8:53 AM  

I do love hot, fresh, homemade bread! Looks delicious!

Julie April 17, 2010 at 2:11 PM  

A gorgeous loaf of bread. I love the simplicity.

Lyndas recipe box April 17, 2010 at 11:19 PM  

5 ingredients? Bookmarked! This bread looks addictive, as homemade bread always doe. I've got to try this. Thanks Lara.

Kathleen April 18, 2010 at 2:30 AM  

I am bookmarking this right now!

Katy ~ April 18, 2010 at 2:57 PM  

Dagnabit it. I wish I hadn't been so behind on my blogs. I've been needing a delicious and easy bread recipe (we're out of bread and I'm in between pay periods, grins). This is sooooo perfect. Maybe tomorrow as soon as I get off work I can rush and make this. It looks FABULOUS!!!! Thank you soooo much. Can't wait to try it! Hugs!

Kim April 18, 2010 at 3:49 PM  

I love the rustic breads like this one. I bet it would make some great bruschetta or even some awesome sandwiches.

Linzie April 18, 2010 at 6:21 PM  

Just made your bread and it taste's as good as it looks!!!!
Thanks Lara!!!

Unknown April 18, 2010 at 6:36 PM  

We just made this bread for dinner to go with our Chicken Corn Chowder, Absolutely delicious! Thank you so much for the recipe. Do you know if you can freeze the other loaf??
:) Shelley

Lara April 18, 2010 at 10:35 PM  

I'm so glad you enjoyed the bread Linzie and Shelley. As far as freezing it goes, I've never tried it, but imagine if you wrapped it up well it should be okay. My family gobbles up bread too fast to have the opportunity to freeze it. :)

Katy ~ April 19, 2010 at 3:04 PM  

I made this bread, and just as advertised, it's really really good. I'll be blogging it; I'm going to schedule it for 4/25, and will be linking to you. Thanks for a fabulous bread that we'll eat many times. This is a keeper!

Lara April 21, 2010 at 4:46 PM  

Yay, I'm so glad you enjoyed it Katy!

Christy June 28, 2010 at 8:54 PM  

I just made this bread. Easy and delicious! I've been making the basic "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day" recipe (http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/Artisan-Bread-In-Five-Minutes-A-Day.aspx the recipe is on page 4). Its texture is more dense. But yummy and easy, too! This is a nice change. I'll for sure be making it again. Thanks!

Barb,  January 31, 2011 at 2:27 AM  

Made this today for Sunday dinner. We all loved and devoured it. Could not be easier and was light and delicious. The only change I'd make next time is to watch the 2nd rising and bake as soon as it has doubled - 1 hr was a little too much and it deflated a little as I brushed the butter on before baking. Maybe 45 min next time. Thank you!

Anonymous,  March 14, 2011 at 2:44 PM  

I'm really new to this making my own bread thing. I've tried this recipe a couple of times and it is yummy! But my bread is always flat...any suggestions??

CrazyAgeLady January 14, 2012 at 6:42 PM  

Made this today using a packet of yeast and second rise of about 30 minutes. Flat but still tastes great. Definitely make again. Also made the Tomato Basil Soup to go with it.

K February 11, 2012 at 12:32 AM  

Made this bread to go with our lasagna tonight and it was delicious! Yummy! Will be making this again soon. It's just so easy!

K February 12, 2012 at 6:41 PM  

We are having this again tonight. It is just so easy! Love it!

Kerri September 26, 2012 at 7:07 AM  

Just baked it, its now partially eaten and every so crusty, buttery and good!
it has a great crust to it, but the middle loafy part isn't as dense as I'd like. However on a scale from 1-10, I give it a 8.5.

I don't think it will last more then a day! and I will definitely be making it again!!

Aleks,  September 8, 2013 at 1:39 PM  

I made this the other day and it turned out GREAT. I also used the second loaf a few days later to make some delicious French toast.

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My name is Lara and while I'm definitely not a gourmet cook, I do love preparing tasty, healthy meals for my family. Finding new recipes to try and sharing the ones we've already fallen in love with is a passion I've had since college and the reason why I've started this blog! With five kids, I'm usually in a hurry, so you'll find most of these recipes kid friendly and simple to make.

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