There’s nothing better than homemade Greek country village bread!
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Horiatiko Psomi translates to Greek village-style bread. It’s also known as yellow bread because the semolina flour in the bread gives it a little yellow color. The house smells amazing while you’re making it, and homemade bread is just beautiful to look at. It’s hearty, homemade, and more delicious than anything you can buy from the store. There are no fillers, just really good ingredients, and it’s pretty simple to make.
Activating the yeast
Rarely do I end up with inactive yeast, but it can happen. If you don’t make sure your yeast is active, it could result in your bread not rising. You’d have to throw out your bread with all the ingredients you used to make it! So, always check your yeast. You do this by combining the water, milk, yeast, and honey in a mixing bowl. Set it aside for about 7-10 minutes. At the end of the time, you should see a puffy, bubbly cloud on top of the liquid. That means your yeast is active, and you’re ready to make your bread dough.
Why this will be a favorite
- Crispy crust
- Soft bread center
- Fresh homemade flavor
- Good ingredients and simple to make!
Good Ingredients
- Active dry yeast
- Tepid water
- Lukewarm milk
- Honey
- All-purpose flour –use bread flour if you like
- Finely ground semolina flour
- Salt
- Olive oil
- Sesame seeds –optional
How to make Greek Country Bread
- In the bowl of a tabletop mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine the water, milk, yeast, and honey.
- Set aside for 7-8 minutes until the yeast is activated. It is ready when a puffy cloud forms over the water.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, semolina, and salt.
- Add the olive oil and the flour to the bowl with the yeast and knead on low speed for 10-12 minutes.
- Transfer the dough to a bowl that has been greased with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil. Toss to coat and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside in the warmest part of your house to rise until doubled in volume. About 2 hours.
- It is best to let this dough rise overnight (12 hours) at room temperature so that it develops a sourdough flavor.
- Punch down the dough and roll it into a ball. Place on a baking tray that has been lined with parchment paper. Brush the top of the dough with water and cut some decorative slits. Loosely cover it with plastic. Set aside to rise for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 450-475 °F, about 230 °C. Ovens vary so, if your oven bakes at a high heat, keep it at 450 °F.
- Bake the bread on the center rack for 30 minutes.
- Allow the bread to rest at room temperature for 15-20 minutes before slicing it so that the steam settles. If you slice the bread too early, it will give it an uncooked texture, so be patient.
Freezing for later
Once the bread is baked, it can be frozen for up to a month. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap so that it does not absorb any freezer odors. When you’re ready to use it, set it out on the counter to thaw. Then, toast it in a preheated 350 °F oven for 10 minutes before serving.
Serving
There are unlimited uses for delicious homemade bread. You can dip it in olive oil, spread butter on top, make a board of olives and cheese to go alongside. I even like to slice it thin and make spanakopita sandwiches with it. The kids love it!
More Bread Recipes:
- Greek Feta Bread
- Koulouria Thessaloniki’s: Greek Bread Rings
- Homemade Greek Olive Bread
- The Softest Pita Pocket Recipe: The Oven Method
Greek Country Bread: Horiatiko (Village) Psomi
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1 and 1/2 cups (375 ml) tepid water
- 1/4 cup (60ml) lukewarm milk
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 3 and 1/2 cups (520g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (87g) finely ground semolina flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil
- optional: sesame seeds
Instructions
In the bowl of a tabletop mixer that ahs been fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine the water, milk, yeast, and honeya nd mix together. Set aside for 7-8 minutes until the yeast is activated. It is ready when a puffy cloud forms over the water.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, semolina, and salt. Whisk them together.
Add the olive oil and the flour to the bowl with the yeast and knead on low speed for 10-12 minutes.
Transfer the dough to a bowl that has been greased with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil. Toss to coat and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside in the warmest part of your house to rise until doubled in volume. About 2 hours.
It is best to let this dough rise overnight (12 hours) at room temperature so that it develops a sourdough flavor.
Punch down the dough and roll it into a ball. Place on a baking tray that has been lined with parchment paper. Brush the top of the dough with water and cut some decorative slits. Loosely cover it with plastic. Set aside to rise for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 450-475 °F, about 230 °C. Ovens vary so, if your oven bakes at a high heat, keep it at 450 °F.
Bake the bread on the center rack for 30 minutes.
Allow the bread to rest at room temperature for 15-20 minutes before slicing it so that the steam settles. Slicing the bread early will give it an uncooked texture.
Serve!
Notes
Once the bread is baked it can be frozen for up to a month. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap so that it does not absord any freezer odors. Toast it in a preheated 350 °F oven for 10 minutes before serving.
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I made this with bread flour and left it to rise for 3 hours, then after punching it down and shaping into a ball I put it on the baking sheet but it spread out and didn’t rise again. It seemed a bit too wet. I baked it for 25 mins and it tastes really nice but it’s rather flat as it didn’t rise in the oven much. I really want to make it again but don’t know whether the same thing will happen, can you help please?
Hi Dimitra hello all the way from Australia was wondering if you could tell me why my dough was more sticky and not as dense as yours? Not sure what I am doing wrong! Otherwise I loveeee all you’re recipe x
After cooking and baking for 50 years, if you have the room and will use it I recommend the 5 or 5 1/2 quart Kitchen Aid mixer.
You could do two loaves as I always do to give one away or freeze for many purposes.
My daughter made this bread. I love it.
Do you have a substitute for the lukewarm milk?
Yes, water will work too 🙂
Love your recipes
Hi Dimita
I tried making the horiatiko bread but I failed. I think the problem was the semolina. Is there exclusively a semolina flour, in addition to fine and course semolina? It didn’t come together like yours did. I had fine semolina. Please let me know if that was the problem.
Thank you!
Athena
I’ve used several different brands of semolina with great results. When you say that it didn’t come together what do you mean? Was the dough dry?
Can I use a bred machine to make this bread
I’m guessing that you could. I don’t have a bread machine so I cannot say for sure 🙂
Hey Dimitra, greetings from the UK!
I made this bread this evening and it turned out perfectly. Usually my attempts at baking are a disaster.
Many thanks
Have made this twice now, some observations- cooking is art, baking is science. You can’t consistently measure flour by the cup because humidity and different types of flour will give different results. Both times I found the need to add close to an extra cup of flour to be able to handle the dough without it being wet/sticky.
The recipe worked but produced a somewhat bland flavor loaf (though with great texture). Second time around I used IPA instead of water, doubled the salt to 2 tsp., and used melted butter in place of the oil. Also found that 450F (accurate) left the top of the loaf close to burned, so preheated to 460, put the bread in, along with a pan of water underneath, and after 5 min reduced the temp to 400. Baking time was 25 min in both cases. The second loaf had excellent texture and was very flavorful.
Can you make buns with this recipe
You can but they will be a bit dense 🙂
Hello – is it 3-1/2 cups AP flour (420gms) or 520gms (4-1/3 cups)? Looking forward to making this. Thanks!
how long did it take you?