No Knead Peasant Bread
on Mar 03, 2023, Updated Nov 04, 2023
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Yes, there will be oohs and aahs once you take a bite of my Bapche’s No Knead Peasant Bread. I posted this recipe on TikTok on February 12, 2021, not expecting to wake up to 15 million views. Little did I know that this humble bread, rooted in a history of strength and resourcefulness, would become a 🌎 global sensation, carrying forward my Bapche’s legacy.
In the heart of Bulgaria, where a frugal lifestyle was a necessity, basic ingredients—flour, salt, water, and yeast—had our tummies fed and our pockets happy. My grandma was one of ten siblings so this rustic bread became a lifeline in a very challenging world. The legacy of this no knead bread, called “Selski Hliab” in Bulgarian, persevered through the harsh years of communism when ingredients were scarce but the warmth of freshly baked bread 🥖 was our lifeline.
Why You’ll Love No Knead Peasant Bread
This bread has been in my family for generations and represents more than just nourishment; it symbolizes the bond between my family and the strength my grandma passed down to us. Though I lost my grandma, who was my soulmate, on November 13, 2020, her memory lives on through our shared moments of laughter, tears, and the simple pleasure of enjoying this bread together. Every time I close my eyes, I can picture her so I hold on to that feeling.
How To Prepare No Knead Peasant Bread
✨ Mix Ingredients: In a large bowl, combine all-purpose flour and salt. Add active dry yeast and warm water. Stir until the dough comes together.
🕐 Cover and Rest: Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for a minimum of 5 hours at room temperature. During this time, the dough will rise and develop flavor.
🥖 Shape the Dough: Shape the dough (don’t knead it!) into a round loaf on a floured surface.
🍽️ Bake: Carefully place the dough into an oven-safe dish lined with parchment paper. Cover it with the lid, place it in the cold oven, turn the oven on, and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the lid and bake for an additional 25-30 minutes until the bread is golden brown.
🌡️ Cool and Enjoy: Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack (or dig into it hot). Once it’s cooled, slice and savor your homemade Bulgarian peasant bread.
Enjoy your rustic and delicious “Selski Hliab”!
Substitutions and Variations
This Bulgarian No Knead Peasant Bread,” known as “Selski Hliab,” has deep-rooted traditions. But with a dash of creativity, you can tweak it to suit your preferences, from dietary choices to exciting flavor twists.
🍞 Flour: You can use whole wheat flour or a mixture of whole wheat and all-purpose flour for a heartier loaf.
🌿 Add Herbs and Spices: Enhance the flavor by adding herbs like rosemary, thyme, or spices such as garlic powder or onion powder to the dough.
🧀 Cheese and Garlic: Fold in grated cheese and minced garlic for a cheesy garlic bread twist.
🍯 Sweet Variations: For a sweet twist, add honey, cinnamon, and raisins or dried fruit to the dough.
🌰 Seeds and Nuts: Sprinkle sesame seeds, poppy seeds, or chopped nuts (like walnuts or sunflower seeds) on top of the bread before baking for added texture and flavor.
🥖 Shape Variations: Experiment with different shapes – make rolls, baguettes, or even stuffed bread with your favorite fillings.
🌾 Gluten-Free Option: Use a gluten-free flour blend and ensure your yeast is gluten-free if you’re following a gluten-free diet.
🍞 Use Sourdough Starter: Use one cup of sourdough starter in place of the yeast. Be sure to let it rest and ferment for a minimum of 6 hours. 🥖
Best Served With
My No Knead Bread pairs wonderfully with a variety of dishes, including soups and stews, cheese and butter boards, and more. Some of my favorite soups to enjoy with this bread:
- Pastina Soup
- Greek Lemon Soup
- The Best Lentil Soup
- Hidden Veggie Orzo Soup
- Healthy Cream of Broccoli Soup
- Healthiest Cream of Hidden Veggie Soup
- Hidden Veggie Meatball Soup
- Chicken Noodle Soup
Try it With My Favorite Boards
- Viral Butter Board With Goat Cheese
- Holiday Butter Board
- Holiday Charcuterie Board
- Holiday Cheese Board
Other No-Knead Recipes
If you like this no knead bread, try some of my others:
- No-Knead Gluten-Free Bread
- Cheesy Roasted Garlic Bread
- Grandma’s No-Knead Olive Bread
- No-Knead Foccacia
- No-Knead Cheddar Bread
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My Measuring Set
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Bread Knife
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My Favorite Parchment Paper
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Nonna's Bread Dish
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This is my favorite set. I have had mine for 10 years and need a new one. Highly recommend!
A great bread knife is essential. It's perfect for my Focaccia or my No-Knead recipes!
I use these bowls for everything in my kitchen. I use them to prep my ingredients, to mix batter or dough in them and so much more!
This is the parchment paper that I use for all my recipes!
This is the exact dish that I use to bake all of my no-knead bread recipes in. Feel free to use a Dutch oven as well if you have one.
I use Caputo's gluten-free flour for this recipe, but have heard that this one is just as good.
This is the salt that I have used for years in all my cooking!
Most Common Questions
I have a Corning Ware Dish in my Amazon storefront that is similar to the dish I used in this recipe.
Maintaining this water temperature range is crucial because it ensures that the yeast activates properly. Water that’s too hot or too cold can hinder yeast activation.
In this traditional recipe, I encourage you to add water gradually until you achieve a very thick and sticky dough, following the “na oko” or “by eye” method.
To test the yeast’s activity, add it to warm water. If it doesn’t foam up, you’ll need to start with new yeast. Foaming indicates that the yeast is active and is ready to be added to the flour and salt.
If the dough is too wet, you can sprinkle in a bit more flour to adjust. Conversely, if it’s too dry, add warm water a little at a time until you have a tacky dough.
Yes, any oven-safe baking dish that can accommodate a loaf of bread will work. For example, a Corning Ware Dish or something similar will do the job.
Preheat your Dutch oven in a 450°F (230°C) oven with its lid on, shape the dough, place it inside, bake for 30 minutes with the lid on, then remove the lid and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
You certainly can. Although this recipe specifically calls for active dry yeast you can also try instant yeast as well.
This method ensures more precise measurements, helping you achieve the right consistency for the dough.
While I have not explicitly tested it, aluminum foil should work as a substitute for a dish lid.
Yes, you certainly can use whole-wheat flour.
Yes, you can use 1-1 gluten-free flour for this recipe, or you can make my No-Knead Gluten-Free Bread.
The dough should rest for a minimum of 5 hours, but it’s common to leave it overnight and bake it the following morning, typically at room temperature away from drafts.
In hotter climates, the dough may rise much faster, so I would advise placing it in a cooler room or limiting the rise to a maximum of 2 to 3 hours to prevent over-expansion. Once it doubles or triples in size, it should be baked immediately.
The recipe hasn’t been tested at higher altitudes, so adjustments may be necessary.
The dough should not be watery or dry; it should have a thick and sticky consistency.
I use Redmond Real Salt, please note that depending on the salt you use, your dish may be less or more salty. Salt is always to taste. Always taste and adjust as you cook.
No Knead Bread
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour, (413 grams) plus more for dusting the counter and top of the bread
- 1 teaspoon salt, (5 grams)
- ½ teaspoon active dry yeast , (3 grams) check the expiration; see notes below
- 1 ¾ cups warm water, (400 ml) between 100 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit (37 to 43 degrees Celsius)
- additional flour for dusting the counter plus the top of the bread , no kneading, dust the top and bottom well, gently shape and transfer
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, and yeast. Mix with a whisk, wooden spoon, or with clean hands. Add the water and mix with a spatula until you have a sticky dough. Note: The water must be between 100 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit (37 to 43 degrees Celsius). If the water is too hot or too cold the yeast will not activate.
- Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let rest at room temperature for at least 5 hours or overnight. Place the bowl of dough away from drafty areas, such as in the microwave, cupboard, or in a cold oven.
- After the dough has tripled in size, uncover it, and flour the counter. Pour the dough out onto the counter and generously sprinkle the top with flour.
- You do NOT need to knead the dough. You can simply move it around until you have a really nice and soft dough that is no longer sticky and is oval in shape. If the loaf sticks to your hands or the counter, sprinkle on a little more flour.
- Place the loaf into any oven-safe dish lined with parchment paper. Place a lid on the dish, and place the dish in a cold oven (an oven that is NOT preheated).
- Turn the oven on to 450F (230C) once the bread is inside. Bake the bread with the lid on the dish for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, carefully remove the hot lid from the dish and bake the bread for another 25 to 30 minutes.
- The bake time will depend on your oven, so keep an eye on it. Total bake time will be about 1 hour from the moment you place the bread into the cold oven.
- The bread is done once it’s light and golden all over. Let it cool for 5 to 10 minutes and dig in! Enjoy.
- To store leftover bread, let the bread cool completely, wrap it up in plastic wrap, beeswax wrap, or a clean kitchen towel, and store the bread on the counter. This bread is always best served warm the same day.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This looks amazing. If I am using thr Dutch oven method, how long do I let the Dutch oven pre heat in the 450F oven before putting the dough in it and starting the covered cook time?
I would say about 30 minutes is okay 🙂
Fabulous!!!!
Thank you, Maria! ❤️
I just put mine in the oven- recipe was easy to follow & I think everything is going well. The only problem was that I missed the part where you needed to put it in a cold oven & already had my oven at 350 when I put the bread in. But my question is- do you start the first 30 min once the oven preheats or as soon as you put the bread in the cold oven?
Hi Ammy, you put it in a cold oven, turn the oven on, timer starts right away. 30 min covered and then 30 uncovered
Simple and easy. This is the first bread recipe I’ve ever been able to get right. I used a regular oven.
Love it, thank you for the feedback, Krisztina! ❤️
First time bread maker ! My bread was perfect SUCH A MASTERPIECE I FOLLOWED IT EXACTLY !! I’m so proud of myself !
I’m proud of you too, Kiera! Great job!!
Love your recipes. First tome trying this and I realized I don’t have any parchment paper. Do you think it’d be fine in an unlined Dutch oven or should I use flour or grease?
I think it will stick so I would flour it or grease it for sure
Hello Snejana: Made my first loaf earlier in the week and used kosher (Diamond Crystal) salt. The bread rose perfectly as in the video – cooked perfectly with the ‘crackly’ crust, but was ‘flat’ tasting. I’m baking a second loaf using regular Morton’s Iodized salt and I’ll bet that will solve the flavor issue I encountered with the first loaf. None the less, the first loaf was consumed within two days, but all agreed it needed “more salt” to balance the flavor.
Thanks again!
Hi there 🙂 yes absolutely salt is always to taste as different types of salt will be more/less salty than others. Glad you loved it. If you can please give it a star rating, that would mean so much
Thank you for your great tips. I wouldn’t have thought to use a sour dough starter for gluten free bread recipes.
I LOVE your website!!
You’re so welcome, Lee!
Yum!! Delicious with jam!!
I accidentally added too much yeast so I doubled the recipe. From now until I decide to make the other half, what should I do with it? Refrigerate? My overzealous helpers went at it with the floor before I could stop them so it’s already been floured after the initial rise.
Hi Leslie, you can definitely wrap up and freeze the other loaf 🙂
I’ve always struggled with bread making and did try another Peasant Bread recipe a few weeks ago. It worked but there was always a sort of grainy/cornflour texture to it the next day. Anway, I decided to try yours which I saw on IG. I made it yesterday and your Nonna’s recipe definitely likes me LOL. Perhaps she was looking down on me as I was determined this would be perfect!
I did mine in the Dutch oven, preheated oven with that inside and the lid on. I baked for 30 minutes, then I kept checking every 10 minutes whilst it baked without the lid on. It was around 15 minutes when it looked just right. Tapped on the bottom and it sounded hollow. This is now my go-to. The ONLY thing was that it was not as light and fluffy inside as I think it should be, don’t get me wrong, it was very good, accompanied with lashings of Irish salted butter. I believe that had to do with the rising? The more it rises the fluffier it will be….is that correct? This was for sure my mistake not the recipe’s. Any hints?
Thanks for sharing your Nonna’s recipe 🙂
Helen
Hi Helen, thank you so much for this beautiful message and review. Yes, the longer the bread rises the fluffier it will be BUT this type of peasant bread that is only made from flour water yeast and salt will never be too “fluffy” it has a rustic soft but chew texture with a crispy crust. I can share other bread recipes that are more like sandwich bread. This one is different
Thanks so much for the response 🙂 I’ll stick with this recipe and in the meantime I’ve found the perfect spot to let it rise in so it should be even better next time.
You’re very welcome. ❤️