High Altitude Peasant Bread

An easy, no knead recipe for peasant bread that's soft and fluffy with a golden brown crust. Ideal for sandwiches or toast.

All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.

5 from 11 votes

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 40

Total Time 1 50

Course Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine American

Servings1 loaf

In a bowl, combine the flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Add the warm water and stir into a sticky dough.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, set in a warm place, and let rise until doubled in volume. This should take about 45 minutes.
Brush some of the melted butter inside your bread loaf pan.
Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl to gently deflate the dough, then turn it out onto a well-floured counter. Shape the dough into a rustic loaf (it will be soft and sticky, and may stick to your hands), then place the dough into the prepared pan (if you don't want to dirty your counter, you can also just scrape the dough from the bowl into the prepared pan). Brush the rest of the melted butter over the top of the dough.
Set the pan in a warm place to let the dough rest for 15-20 minutes, until it has filled the pan and has just started to rise above the top edge of the pan. (Note: this bread does not have "oven spring", so the height of the dough when you place the pan in the oven will be the same as the height of the baked bread.)
Preheat the oven to 375 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Bake the bread for about 40 minutes, until a digital instant read thermometer inserted in the center reads 195 F.
Turn the bread out onto a cooling rack, and let cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Use a sharp serrated bread knife to cut the bread, using a back-and-forth sawing motion.

After the bread cools completely, store it in an airtight container for up to 3-5 days, or in the freezer for up to 3-6 months.

Adapted from Alexandra Cooks

Keyword Bread, High Altitude, Peasant