Bread Recipes
Most breads and pizzas on this page are made from a basic recipe that I developed over decades of trial and error. It is a no-knead recipe akin to Jim Lahey’s. The recipe is listed below at the Peasant Boule photos.
The recipe has an overnight version that is most like Lahey’s and a faster 4-5-hour version, which I used for these breads. The recipe is near fool-proof. I suppose that’s why I like it. It’s easy, consistent, and open to variation. Bake at night, eat in the morning.
The equipment required: mixing bowl and spoon; measuring cup and spoons; a cast iron pot with a lid; pizza pan; rectangle baking/cookie sheet; parchment paper; some leftover aluminum pie pans; a cutting board, cooling rack, knife; and an oven.
Onion Boule
Basic recipe plus onion flakes sprinkled onto dough just before backing. Brush dough with water to help the flakes stick. Egg wash does a better job but changes the final finish to a gloss.
Add diced onions or onion powder to dough to give onion flavor to the interior
Peasant Corn Boules
Basic recipe plus corn meal and sugar. Adjust to taste: more of each gives a corn muffin taste and a lower rise.
Start with replacing 1/2 cup flour with corn meal and adding 1/4 cup sugar.
Add corn kernels to dough for extra texture and a little flavor.
Spicy Cheddar
Basic recipe plus 1 pound of cubes of spicy cheddar or plain cheddar and 1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes.
Right is egg-washed and square-slashed version.
Left is floured and unslashed—I forgot
Neapolitan
Use basic recipe except use 2 cups flour, almost 1 cup water, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar.
To prepare, use copious amounts of flour on the counter to make a round shape. Do not roll. Line pizza pan with parchment for guaranteed no-stick results. Twirl and stretch until dough is at edge of pan. Do not press the edges of the dough. Spread your toppings. Bake on lowest rack at 450 for 10 minutes. For crunchy crust, slide pizza directly onto center rack for another 8-10 minutes at 400. For softer crust (why?) keep on pan and put on center rack.
Sicilian with Pepperoni and with Spinach
Basic recipe plus 1 tbsp of egg powder to give a slightly lighter texture. Makes it easy to eat more slices. More than 1 tbsp impedes the rise, less has little effect.
Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread out 2 tbsp of olive oil. Press dough onto sheet with fingers. Do not roll. Continue until dough is stretched to edges. Do not press the edges—you want them fluffy. The crust should show the results of pressing with fingers.
Bake on bottom rack for 12 minutes at 450 degrees with only the sauce on the dough.
Remove from the oven. Lower temp to 400, Put on cheese and other toppings. Bake on center rack till as dark as you like it—usually another 12 minutes.
I usually pre-cook pepperoni in frying pan to remove fat and crisp them up a bit.
Cheese Pie left
Pepperoni with Basil bottom left
Pepperoni with Goat Cheese and Spinach bottom right
Peasant Boules
Basic Recipe for 4 or 5 hour version:
3 cups King Arthur all-purpose flour, or other brand bread flour; 1 1/4 tsp salt; 1 tsp instant yeast; 2 tsp sugar; warm water: slightly less than 1 1/2 cups—depends on how dry your kitchen and flour is. More than 1 1/2 cup will make dough hard to handle.
Mix water, sugar, and yeast in bowl. I used to scoff at this step, but it gives the cold yeast a head start. Let it stand for 20 minutes, then mix in flour until well mixed. Cover the bowl.
After 30 minutes, stretch and fold the dough. It will be sticky. Keep your hands wet with water. Stretch the dough, fold it over on itself, turn 1/4 and stretch and fold again. Do the stretch four times. Cover again.
Every half hour, stretch and fold. Do it at least 4 times—a total of two hours since mixing. If your kitchen is warm, you will feel the dough rising and becoming puffy after two hours. If your kitchen is cold, you might need to stretch and fold 5 or 6 times. (This will result in 4 1/2 or 5 hours total time) The more you stretch, the airier the bread will be. If you are ambitious, you can stretch every 20 minutes. If you are bonkers, you can do it every 15 minutes and get a loaf that looks like Swiss cheese.
After the last stretch, let the dough rest for 1 hour. Then shape it into the final shape. For a boule, stretch and fold again and smooth out the ball. Place in an aluminum pie pan lined with parchment paper. A dash of flour on the paper helps to release the bread when done. Let rise covered for 1 hour.
Twenty minutes before the end of the rise, pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees. Place cast iron pot into the oven to pre-heat as well.
Flour the top of the dough. Slash it in your desired design—this helps the dough rise as it cooks. Place/drop the pie pan into the very hot cast iron pot. Cover it. Place on center rack. Bake for 25 minutes. Uncover. Lower to 400 degrees for a gentler brown. I usually take the bread out of iron pot and bake directly on the rack.
The bread is essentially cooked at this point. You cook it until it gets to your desired brownness and crunchiness. These breads baked another 25 minutes.
If you do not want to use the pie pan, simply lift the dough out by grabbing the parchment paper and plop into the cast iron pot.
If you find your bread browns too much on the bottom, place aluminum foil or an aluminum tray cover on the rack below your cast iron pot to shield it.
Sweet Whole Wheat
After much trial and error, here is a great treat. If you want the bread sweeter, just add another tbsp or two of sugar.
1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour; ¼ cup wheat flour
1 tsp salt; 1 tsp cocoa powder; 2 tsp instant coffee; 2 tbsp sugar;
1 tbsp egg powder; ½ cup brown sugar; 1 tsp instant yeast;
1 cup water—warm for 5-hour recipe, cold for overnight recipe
5-hour version:
Mix water, yeast, and a little of the sugar in a bowl, let proof for 20 minutes;
Add the rest of the ingredients to the water. Mix. Cover the bowl.
After 30 minutes, stretch and fold the dough. It will be very sticky. Keep your hands wet with water. Stretch the dough, fold it over on itself, turn 1/4 and stretch and fold again. Rotate three times after first stretch and fold. Cover again.
Every half hour, stretch and fold. Do it at least 4 times. If your kitchen is warm, you will feel the dough rising and becoming puffy after two hours. If your kitchen is cold, you might need to stretch and fold 5 or 6 times.
After the last stretch, let the dough rest for 1 hour. Then shape the dough into the final shape. For a boule, stretch and fold again and smooth out the ball. Place the dough in an aluminum pie pan lined with parchment paper. Put flour on the paper to help the release. Let rise covered for 1 hour. I recommend the pan to keep the ball shape.
Twenty minutes before the end of the rise, pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees. Place cast iron pot into the oven to pre-heat as well.
Flour the top of the dough. Slash the dough. Place/drop the pie pan into the very hot cast iron pot. Cover it. Place on center rack. Bake for 25 minutes. Uncover. Lower to 375 degrees for a gentler brown—the sugar makes the bread brown faster, so go lower and slower with the heat to get a thicker crunchy crust.
Overnight version:
Use the same recipe as above but use cold water and put the dough into the refrigerator without stretching and folding. The dough will start to create gluten strands as time goes by, even in the refrigerator.
Next day, take out the dough and begin the stretch and fold process. The dough will be easier to work because it is cold. It will warm up as you work it, provided your kitchen is warm—at least 70º.
Bake as above.
