Give us this day our daily bread.
Matthew 6:11

Herbed Peasant Bread Recipe. April 10, 2024.

Coming in from a long session in the garden, the smell of homemade bread fills the air with a sense of goodness and peace. The dough I had put to set last night is now baking, tantalizing my mind with thoughts of that first piece of hot bread spread with good butter. Now I am hungry for this filling sustenance that has no earthly replacement. Bread is the soul-satisfying, comfort food of the world. The magic of yeast, flour, and water is as old as time and continues to make the planet spin with countless variations all over the world. For years, I had a recipe for homemade bread baked in a bowl, but somewhere along the way, it disappeared. Eventually, a new one showed up that was even simpler to make.

My new best bread-in-a-bowl recipe comes straight from the Victoria Magazine archives. There is no kneading involved. It has minimal ingredients. It is tasty and filling. Everyone loves it and declares it’s their favorite. I now make it for holidays as well, and it’s one of the first things gone. I have modified the herbed peasant bread recipe a bit from the original recipe here, which doesn’t have herbs. If there are leftovers, no need to worry because this makes good sandwiches and toast as well.

Prep Time:15

Cook Time:40

Needs to sit overnight:1

Ingredients

4 1/2 cups bread flour (all-purpose is fine too)
1 tbsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp yeast
2 1/4 cups warm water (about 100 degrees)
1 tsp dried parsley optional
1 tsp dried thyme optional
1 tsp dried basil optional
1 tsp dried rosemary optional

Instructions

Put all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
Add the 2 14/ cups of warm water.
Stir the ingredients until mixed.
I know I said this is no-knead, but I do knead the dough at this point a few times to incorporate any flour left in the bowl. If your dough is completely mixed, then skip this step.
Cover the dough in a bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit overnight and up to 24 hours.
After your dough has sat overnight, it should have risen significantly and have some bubbles in it. The dough will be loose and sticky.
Remove the dough and form it into a ball, and set it on parchment paper.
Cover the ball of dough with plastic wrap and let it sit for 2 hours more. I like to dust my dough with flour at this point to keep the plastic from sticking.
Near the end of the 2 hours turn the oven on to 500 degrees and place a 4-6 quart dutch oven in it to heat up.
Remove the plastic wrap from the dough.
If desired, dust the dough with flour and score with a knife.
Using oven mitts, remove the hot Dutch oven from the oven and set it in your baking area for the moment.
Next, very carefully lift the edges of the parchment paper with your dough still on it and set it in the dutch oven.
Cover the Dutch oven with a lid and put it back in the 500-degree oven for 40-45 minutes. Remove the lid in the last 15 minutes of baking.
Remove the bread from the oven when brown on top and done.
Let cool for a few minutes and Enjoy!