A Spoon Full of Lovin' · June 2026
Peasant Bread
A wonderfully easy, no-knead bread baked in buttered Pyrex bowls
I found this recipe in Bread Toast Crumbs by Alexandra Stafford, and it is one of my absolute favorites. Ali has a wonderful site at alexandracooks.com and an awesome YouTube channel — she is an inspiration to all of us! I have tweaked the recipe a bit to suit my family and kitchen, but I highly recommend her and all of her recipes. This bread is great, easy, and the results are absolutely beautiful.
Ingredients
- 512g unbleached all-purpose or bread flour
- 10g kosher salt
- 8g sugar
- 8g SAF Instant Yeast
- 50g Melange Pour Le Pain
- 454g distilled water at 78°F
- Softened butter (for the bowls)
- Rice flour (for dusting)
- Melted butter (for brushing)
- 2 — 1½ pint Pyrex 441 Baking Bowls (can be found on eBay) or one 9½ x 4½ bread pan
Instructions
Mix the Dry Ingredients
Whisk together the flour, salt, sugar, instant yeast, and Melange Pour Le Pain in a large bowl.
Add the Water
Slowly add the distilled water at 78°F and mix thoroughly until all dry ingredients are fully absorbed.
First Rise
Cover the bowl with a towel and let rise in a proofer until doubled in size — usually about an hour or so.
Prepare the Bowls
Generously butter your Pyrex baking bowls. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
Divide & Second Rise
Once the dough has doubled, divide it in half and place each half into a buttered baking bowl. Dust the tops with rice flour. Cover with towels and return to the proofer for another 30 minutes or so, until the dough is rising slightly above the edge of the bowl.
Bake
Brush melted butter over the tops of the risen dough. Bake at 425°F for 15 minutes. Then reduce the oven to 375°F, turn the bread if it is browning more on one side, and bake for another 15 minutes or so until the tops are a beautiful golden brown.
Robin's Tips & Variations
- The Pyrex 441 1½ pint baking bowls are key to getting that beautiful round shape — check eBay if you can't find them locally. If you can't find them, a 9½ x 4½ bread pan works just fine.
- Distilled water at exactly 78°F gives the yeast the best environment to activate properly.
- SAF Instant Yeast is Robin's preferred yeast for consistent, reliable results.
- Don't skip the rice flour dusting on top — it gives the crust a lovely texture.
- This recipe is inspired by Alexandra Stafford's Bread Toast Crumbs. Visit her site at alexandracooks.com for more wonderful recipes and her YouTube channel for video tutorials.
Stay tuned . . . more recipes to come . . . I'm looking for the best of the best to share with you!
If you make this, I'd love to hear how it turned out. Drop me a note on the blog page. Happy cooking — with a spoon full of lovin'!