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Four half slices of cheesy peasant bread on cutting board with butter.

Easy No-Knead Cheesy Peasant Bread

Yield: 10 slices (1 loaf)
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Rising Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes

Ingredients

  • 4 cups (568 g) all-purpose or bread flour
  • 1 tablespoon instant yeast (or rapid-rise/bread machine yeast)
  • 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
  • 1 ½ teaspoons table salt
  • 2 cups (484 g) warm water (110 to 115 degrees F)
  • 1 ½ cups (170 g) freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese (large holes of box grater)
  • ½ cup (45 g) freshly grated Parmesan cheese (small holes of box grater)

Instructions 

  • In a large bowl, add the flour, salt, sugar, and yeast. Whisk to combine. Add the water and mix with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until the ingredients form a shaggy, sticky ball and no dry streaks remain.
  • Add the cheddar and Parmesan cheeses and mix into the dough with your hands (lifting and turning) until the cheese is evenly combined throughout the dough. Pat the dough into a ball shape.
  • Cover the bowl and let the dough rise until very puffy and nearly doubled, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
  • Place an oven rack in the center position. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
  • Generously grease a 9-inch pie plate or 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
  • Scrape the dough away from the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, forming a rough ball in the center of the bowl. Lightly grease your hands with cooking spray or oil and shape the dough into a circle loaf shape (or a rectangle loaf shape if using a loaf pan), tucking edges under. Place in the prepared pan. The loaf will not be completely smooth and may look a bit rough in shape, that's ok!
  • Let the dough rest, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes until puffy.
  • Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375 degrees F and continue to bake for 15-20 minutes until golden. Tent the top of the loaf with foil if the crust is browning too quickly while baking.

Notes

Flour: if the dough is absolutely too sticky to work with (remember, it IS supposed to be softer than "regular" bread dough), you can add another 1/4 cup flour (but resist the urge to add too much extra flour).
Cheese: I prefer using freshly grated cheese for this recipe - the flavor is more pronounced and the cheese melds into the bread dough better than pre-shredded cheese. When measuring the shredded cheese, lightly pack it into the measuring cup (but also keep in mind that it doesn't have to be exact - more cheese won't hurt!). 
Yeast: to use active dry yeast in place of instant yeast, dissolve 1 tablespoon active dry yeast in 1/4 cup warm water until foamy and bubbling, and decrease the water in the recipe by 1/4 cup - use the yeast mixture in the recipe when adding the rest of the water. 
Buttered Top: for a softer, shinier crust, butter the top of the bread when it comes out of the oven. 
Sourdough Version: decrease the water and flour each by 3/4 cup and add 1 1/2 cups fed or discard sourdough starter (I use a sourdough starter fed at a 1:1:1 ratio - it is thick but still pourable). Add the sourdough discard with the warm water. Decrease the yeast to 1 teaspoon for fed starter and 2 teaspoons for discard.