Peasant Bread

I love handmade bread. I think it may be a requirement to work here at Honeyville. Not matter how fancy the loaf, how pretty the roll, or how crisp the baguette, they all pale in comparison to the taste and texture that comes from a loaf of bread made with your own hands.

It's this love of homemade, handmade bread that brought me to this recipe. I mean, the title alone makes you think of fresh grains, countryside views, and a taste reminiscent of the old world! Peasant Bread, as it's called, is a bread made in the simplest of ways, with the simplest of ingredients. But don't judge this loaf by the ease of it's creation. The recipe may be simple, but the taste is far from it. In fact, when we baked it up here in the Honeyville kitchen, the most common response we got from customers and employees alike was that this was the best bread they had ever tasted! How can you beat a response like that?! Grab your Danish Dough Whisk and an apron, it's time to bake up a loaf of Peasant Bread!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Honeyville Whole Grain Rye, ground (comes out to 1 cup Rye Flour)
3 cups Honeyville Alta Artisan Bread Flour
1 Tbsp Sugar
2 tsp Himalayan Salt
2 1/2 tsp SAF Yeast
2 cups Warm Water
3 Tbsp Butter, melted
1 Tbsp Rosemary

Directions:
First, mix your dry ingredients.

In a large bowl, whisk together ground rye, flour, sugar, salt, and yeast.

Next, add your warm water. Using your Danish Dough Whisk, mix until ingredients are combined and you have a sticky dough (NOTE: Do not over-mix as you want to keep this as close to a no-knead recipe as possible). Cover bowl with a towel and let dough sit and rise for 40 minutes.

After 40 minutes, turn dough out on a lightly floured surface. Gently fold each side of the dough in, just so it's not so sticky to touch, then, using your Wüsthof Bench Scraper, divide dough in half.

Gently shape dough into two round mounds, then place on your USA Pan Baking Sheet, lined with parchment paper.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Once oven is preheated, slice the top of each loaf 3 times with a knife, gently brush on melted butter, then sprinkle rosemary on top.

Place dough in 400 degree oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until top is golden brown. Remove from oven and let loafs cool on a wire rack. Once cooled, slice and serve.

Crisp on the outside and soft and tender on the inside, this bread is packed full of so much flavor, you'll wonder how you ever enjoyed any other bread. With the combination of ground rye flour, rosemary and butter, and the no-knead, yeast flavor, this bread will take you on a flavor ride you never knew you could have. Trust us, you'll never go back to another bread recipe again.

Nothing beats bread made by hand, especially when it's Peasant Bread!