They say a man can’t live by bread alone … but this woman sure could! When I was in junior high, I would come home after school and my sister and I would devour an entire loaf of white Wonder bread together. We’d take the crust off each slice, and then wad the white part into a dense ball with our hands before eating it. So now you know one of my weird quirks (some day I’ll tell you how I used to eat M&Ms). Now as an adult, I prefer breads with more grain and texture than the light and fluffy, not-so-good-for-you Wonder bread. So when I came across this no knead peasant bread recipe at Alexandra Cooks, I just had to test it out in my kitchen. (Recipe at end of post.)
I love mouth-watering yeast breads fresh out of the oven, and when I found out this particular bread required no kneading … well that was just the icing on the cake! Or should I say, the butter on the bread?
I decided to be a bit creative and bake the bread in a variety of vessels.
Mmm. Fresh out of the oven golden goodness!
Does anything smell as wonderful as fresh baked bread? I don’t think so!
These little morsels were baked in ramekins and brushed with butter after coming out of the oven.
No Knead Peasant Bread is a simple bread originating in Europe.
After mixing the dough and letting it rise, you divide it into common bowls for baking.
I love its golden color and simple shape.
The flavor and texture is so comforting. Perfect for serving with soup or salad.
Honestly, I loved snacking on the small ones that were baked in ramekins.
No Knead Peasant Bread is so much better than the wadded-into-a-ball Wonder bread I ate as a kid!
Although it’s called No Knead Peasant Bread, I think it’s good enough to serve your finest guests!
No Knead Peasant Bread
4 cups all-purpose flour (not bleached flour)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 cups lukewarm water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
Dissolve sugar in the water in a small bowl. Sprinkle yeast over top (no need to stir) and let it stand for about 15 minutes or until mixture starts to bubble up. Meanwhile, whisk together flour and salt in a large bowl. After the yeast mixture becomes foamy, stir it up and add to the flour mixture. Stir until the flour is absorbed into the liquid.
Cover bowl with a tea towel and set aside in a warm spot to rise for at 1.5 hours.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease two 1 or 1.5 quart oven-safe bowls with about a tablespoon of butter each. Or, you can do like I did and divide some of the dough evenly between one 1.5 quart bowl and several greased ramekins. Punch down your dough, and then scrape it from the sides of the bowl, which takes a little finessing. Take two forks and divide the dough into two equal portions. The dough will be wet, not dry like dough that you knead. Scoop up each half and place into your prepared bowls. Again, this takes a little finessing since the dough is wet and sticky. Let the dough rise again in a warm spot for about 30 minutes.
Bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees, then reduce heat to 375 degrees and bake for about 15 minutes more. Remove from oven and turn loaves onto cooling racks. Let cool for approximately 10 minutes before cutting. Enjoy!
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Hi! I'm Jennifer and I'm happy to have you here! I live where the suburbs meet the country, which affords me the best of both worlds. Come along on my journey where I share decorating, cooking, gardening and more as it relates to both city and rural life. 
YUM! It looks delicious and I like the no kneading part. The smaller ramekin ones are cute. Thanks for sharing the recipe and I hope you have a lovely day.
Oh how perfect! Just have to try these. Thank you for sharing!
Pinning, and FYI we used to wad up our white bread too. It was awful if a tiny bit of crust made it into the ball cuz it just didn’t squish up as good.
your photos are always so great…most professional. Please share with me what camera you use or recommend for a beginner.
Oh, this looks wonderful, and I love how easy it is!! Looking at your beautiful pix, I can almost smell the warm bread aroma!
As for your white bread dough balls, that’s what my husband used as bait when he went fishing as a kid Ha!
Love these no knead breads. I use one from the Internet and it is rustic and delicious. Google chef John’s ciabatta bread he has a really funny you tube tutorial. I love that you made some smaller ones, perfect for personal size servings.
Can’t wait to make this! Question on the flour – I need to use unbleached all purpose flour? Any idea what would happen if I used all purpose but BLEACHED flour?
i make this bread turns out fine with all purpose flour but i find it needs 3 cups water..
Your beautiful photos have awakened my senses and I could almost smell the aroma from the freshly baked bread. I too as a child could devour an entire loaf of ” Wonder” white bread ( was there any other of kind) smothered in butter in one sitting. Oh those were the days…
Oh my goodness, this looks heavenly! Bread is definitely one of my weaknesses, too : )
I have a favorite no knead recipe, but this looks even easier and sounds delicious. I’m trying this tomorrow for sure. Thanks Jennifer!
Looks yummy! I am definitely pinning!
Oh there is nothing that smells better than homemade bread fresh out of the oven. I so miss a really good piece of bread! Since going Gluten free over a year ago there is no GF bread that comes close to real “bread”. I’m going to try to make this use GF flour and see how it turns out. Thanks for stopping by and liking my hearts I made! I love the colors on your porch, our house is yellow and I”ve been looking for the perfect pink and you have it… would you care to share the color? I understand if you don’t want to, but is some day you find a small chip of your door frame missing, it wasn’t me!
I’ve made this my go-to bread recipe the last few months. I don’t eat bread, and if I buy it, no one else eats it enough to warrant having around. So I just make half of this recipe, and it all gets eaten! Plus, it’s easy and so much better than store-bought. Just made it yesterday. Great with a bowl of soup or stew!
I am excited to try this! I love baking but haven’t mastered homemade bread baking at altitude yet. Any tips or suggestions? Anyone tried this recipe around close to 9,500 ft?
I have made this bread twice and am failing miserably with the second rise….the bread i have made is delicious in flavour, excellent texture but flat. boo..can anyone help me?
problem i found with this recipe is the amount of water ..i need use 3 cups every time turns out perfect..i am a baker by trade so i knew it needed more water..maybe you need make sure its stays warm while rising..
I wanted to give a little insight to the “Man cannot live by bread alone” phrase. Maybe you already know the background but if not…. It’s actually scripture and it means that food and material things are not enough for man. We have an eternal spirit, one that Christ came, lived and died for. We cannot live by bread alone, we need Him. He is our answer for eternal life.
My loaves turned out great! My only (minor) issue was the baked bread did not pop out of the bowls, even though I thought I slathered the bowls with butter. The sides stuck. But all I had to do was run a knife along the edge to free it. The loaves then popped out, undamaged.
Just started baking bread, it is my newest passion. I will have to give this recipe a try. Oh and by the way I used to do the same thing with my bread when I was a kid so you are not alone. LOL.