A warm and comforting bread that is perfect for the holidays! Holiday meals should be festive but also comforting. These are the foods and flavors you associate with the season, and one of my favorites is homemade bread. What could be more traditional and delicious? My easy peasant bread is soft and full of chewy homemade flavor, yet it is so easy to make. The ingredients are kitchen staples, and there is no kneading. Just mix, rise, and bake. Put it together and let it sit while you’re doing something else, and then when it’s time for that special holiday meal, it’s ready to bake up warm and ready for your family. The wonderful aroma of freshly baked bread is so homey and welcoming. It’s one recipe that will be remembered all year long.
Belle’s Easy Peasant Bread
3 cups flour
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 ½ cups warm water
1 ½ teaspoons sugar
1 ½ teaspoons instant yeast (If using active dry yeast, see below *)
Whisk together the flour, salt, sugar, and instant yeast in a large mixing bowl (I use my stand mixer). Add the water. Mix until the flour is absorbed. Cover the bowl with a tea towel or plastic wrap and set in a warm spot to rise for 1-2 hours or until dough doubles. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Grease two large loaf pans. Using two forks, scrape the sides of the bowl and fold the dough to the center until you’ve loosened the dough and formed it into a ball. Divide the dough into two equal portions with a knife, and then scoop up each half using a rubber spatula and place into your prepared pans. The dough will be sticky. Let the dough rise again for about 20 to 30 minutes or until it has risen to just above the rim of the pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375 degrees and bake for 30 minutes longer until golden brown and they sound hollow when tapped. Remove from the oven and turn the loaves onto cooling racks. Let cool for 10 minutes before cutting.
*If using active dry yeast instead of instant yeast, you must activate it in the warm water first for about 5 minutes before adding the other ingredients.
