Black Pepper Breakfast Bread

A slice of toast with my morning coffee is one of life’s little pleasures I refuse to give up. And while a sweet bread is fun once in a while, I prefer something a bit more on the savory side. Which is why I created this black pepper breakfast bread! It is loaded with a lot of my favorite breakfast ingredients including chicken breakfast sausage, bacon, cheddar, caramelized onions, and lots of black pepper!

If you don’t love black pepper you can still enjoy this bread without it! Check out my pepper chart below to find the flavor you are looking for.

There are quite a few steps for this recipe, but trust me when I say they are easy! Even if you have never made a yeast bread before, you will be able to pull this off. You just need a little time and patience as the most of the work is simply waiting while the dough develops flavor overnight in the refrigerator.

A Few Things Before You Get Started

I highly recommend that you let this rest in the refrigerator overnight. You could bake it after the first rise, but moving it to the refrigerator for 12–18 hours helps the sausage, bacon, cheddar, onions, and black pepper come together so much better, resulting in an amazingly flavorful bread.

As the dough slowly rises, the texture improves too, and the bread develops that chewy, artisan-style crumb that is difficult to get from a quick loaf.

The other thing to keep in mind is that as tempting as it will be to slice into the bread right out of the oven, you’ll want to wait at least an hour because your bread isn’t quite done baking.

The oven provides the heat, but the final phase of the baking process actually happens while the bread is cooling on the counter.

Here is what is happening while your bread cools…

• Carryover Cooking: When you pull bread out of the oven, the crust is significantly hotter than the center of the loaf. That residual heat continues to travel inward, meaning the internal temperature of the bread can actually rise slightly before it begins to cool down.

• Starch Setting (Retrogradation): Inside a hot loaf, the starches are swollen with water and have a gel-like consistency. As the bread cools, these starches slowly solidify and form the actual structure—or the “crumb”—of the bread.

• Moisture Redistribution: There is a lot of steam trapped inside a freshly baked loaf. As it cools, that moisture slowly and evenly distributes itself from the center out toward the crust.

If you cut your bread too soon, you are letting that steam out resulting in a damp and gummy middle.  So while waiting can feel impossible, it really is an important final step to a beautiful loaf.

Black Pepper Intensity… you get to choose

I really love the flavor of black pepper, especially in bread, so when I started thinking about this recipe, I knew I wanted it to be the star. Black pepper just has a lovely warmth and bite to it that is so satisfying to me.

But I realize not everyone loves black pepper as much as I do, so I thought I would include a black pepper intensity chart to help you decide how much to use…

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Honey or Sugar? Either One Works.

Most bread recipes call for sugar to activate the yeast, and you absolutely can use sugar. Just make it an even 1-to-1 swap.

As I started experimenting with homemade bread, I discovered that honey does more than simply activate the yeast. Here is how honey affects the final bread…

• Extra Moisture: Because honey is a liquid, it brings a bit more hydration to the dough. This creates a slightly softer crumb and helps the bread stay fresh a little longer.

• A Beautifully Golden Crust: Honey caramelizes faster in the oven than regular white sugar, which encourages a richer, deeper color on the outside of your loaf.

• Subtle Flavor Depth: It won’t make your savory bread taste like a sweet honey roll, but it does add a wonderful, warm complexity to the background flavor profile.

So if you have honey I encourage you to give it a try. You won’t be disappointed!

Water or Egg Wash?

Right before baking, I lightly mist the top of the loaf with water before adding a little extra black pepper. This helps the toppings stick as the bread bakes, and it also helps maintain the chewy crust I am looking for with this recipe.

If you want a slightly softer outer crust, use an egg wash in place of the water mist. This too will help the toppings stick and will also give the crust a darker and shinier appearance.

Active Dry Yeast vs. Instant Yeast

Both will work in this recipe but the technique for adding them is slightly different.

Using Active Dry Yeast? Here’s the technique for adding it…

Since this recipe was developed specifically for active dry yeast, you’ll need to wake it up before mixing your dough, because these yeast granules have a protective outer coating.

To “wake up” your yeast, you want to hydrate the granules by dissolving them in warm water along with the honey, and letting them sit until the mixture gets nice and frothy with bubbles. This is called “proofing” and takes about 5 – 10 minutes.

If the mixture doesn’t froth and bubble then you know your yeast is old and you need new yeast before you continue.

Using Instant Yeast? Here’s what you need to do…

No Dutch Oven? No Problem!

If you don’t have a Dutch oven, you can absolutely still make this bread! The Dutch oven’s main job is simply trapping steam to create that beautiful “oven spring” and thick crust. To mimic this environment using standard kitchen equipment, you just have to create the steam yourself:

• The Setup: Place a heavy baking sheet (or a pizza stone) on the middle rack of your oven, and place an empty metal baking pan—like an older 9×13 dish—on the bottom rack. Preheat the oven to 450°F just as the recipe states.

• The Bake: When you are ready to bake, carefully transfer your parchment paper and dough onto the hot baking sheet. Immediately pour about a cup of hot water into the empty pan on the bottom rack and quickly shut the oven door to trap all that steam inside.

• The Result: The steam from the water pan will keep the dough soft enough to rise beautifully. While the crust might not get quite as thick, chewy, or blistered as it would in a tightly sealed cast-iron pot, you will still end up with a gorgeous, rustic loaf and that same incredible steakhouse flavor.

My Step-by-Step Process for Making Black Pepper Breakfast Bread

Step 1: Brown the sausage and caramelize the onions.

Start by cooking your chicken breakfast sausage links according to the package directions. Once they are cooked, let them cool slightly and dice them into small pieces.

Next, caramelize your yellow onion. I like doing this in the same skillet after the sausage is cooked because it picks up a little extra flavor and saves me from washing another pan.

Caramelizing onions is all about patience. Slice them as uniformly as you can, since thinner slices will cook much faster than thicker ones. Then cook them low and slow until they are deeply golden brown and sweet. This is where a lot of the flavor comes from in this bread, so don’t rush the process.

If you’ve never caramelized onions before, check out my post Everything I Learned About Caramelizing Onions!

Once your onions have reached that lovely sweet and jammy consistency, let them cool down completely before adding them to your dough.

If you mix hot, or even warm, onions into your bowl, you run the risk of heating the dough up too quickly or, worse, accidentally killing off your yeast before it can do its job.

Step 2: Proof the yeast.

Warm the water until it feels comfortably warm but not hot, around 105°F to 110°F. Stir in the honey and dissolve it, then sprinkle the yeast over the top.

After 5 to 10 minutes, it should look foamy and active. If it doesn’t, your yeast may be old, so toss it and get new yeast. Trust me, it is so much better to know this now than after waiting overnight for dough that never rises.

Step 3: Build the dough.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and black pepper.

Pro tip: If you have a digital kitchen scale, definitely use it! Weighing your flour in grams is so much more accurate than scooping with cups, and bonus—it saves you from having to wash extra measuring cups.

Add in the cooled caramelized onions, bacon, cheddar and diced sausage. Give everything a quick toss so the flour coats the mix-ins. This helps keep everything evenly distributed.

Next, pour in the yeast mixture and stir until all of the flour is moistened. The dough will be extremely sticky and shaggy, and that is exactly what you want. Because this is a no-knead recipe, you don’t need to worry about wrestling with the dough or working it until it looks perfectly smooth. The high moisture content is what creates that beautiful, chewy crumb later on.

Because this dough is so sticky, trying to shape it right in the bowl can be a challenge. Instead, lightly dust your counter with flour and turn the dough out. With heavily floured hands, gently work the dough into a rough ball. It doesn’t need to be perfectly smooth, just a cohesive shape.

Once shaped, place the dough back into your mixing bowl. There is no need to wash it out first. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil so the dough doesn’t dry out, and you are ready for the easiest part of the recipe… the resting phase.

Step 4: Let your dough rest.

Place your covered bowl somewhere out of direct sunlight and let it rise at room temperature for about three hours. It should look puffy and bubbly at the end of this resting phase.

Then move it to the refrigerator for the next 12 to 18 hours, and let the cold temperature do the heavy lifting. This is where the flavors really begin to come together.

The long, slow chill gives the yeast time to develop a much deeper flavor and a better, chewier texture. Plus, cold dough is significantly easier to handle and shape the next day.

Step 5: Shape and the final rest.

Take your dough out of the refrigerator and turn it onto a lightly floured surface. With floured hands, gently work it into a round ball. You want to be relatively light-handed here so you don’t press out all the beautiful air bubbles that built up overnight.

Once shaped, place the dough on a piece of parchment paper and lower it into a medium bowl. The bowl will support the sides of the dough and help it hold its shape while it rests and your Dutch oven preheats.

Step 6: Preheat the oven and Dutch oven.

While your dough is enjoying its final 30-minute rest, place your empty Dutch oven with the lid on into the cold oven and set it to preheat to 450°F.

Do not skip preheating the pot! This is the secret to getting bakery-quality artisan bread at home. When you lower your dough into a screaming hot Dutch oven and put the lid on, it instantly traps the water evaporating off the bread, creating a highly steamy environment inside the pot.

That steam keeps the surface of the dough soft just long enough for the bread to rapidly expand. Bakers call this “oven spring.” Once you take the lid off later in the bake, that intense, trapped heat is exactly what gives you that thick, deeply golden crust.

Make sure the Dutch oven has at least 30 full minutes in the oven to get completely saturated with heat before you bake.

Step 7: Add the finishing touches.

Right before baking, lightly mist the top of your dough with water. Sprinkle on a little extra black pepper, then gently press it in so it sticks to the crust.

Next, use a very sharp knife or a bread lame to cut a large “X” across the top of the dough. While scoring definitely makes your bread look like it came straight from an artisan bakery, it serves a practical purpose too. It gives the dough a designated place to expand as it rapidly rises in the oven, preventing it from blowing out or tearing at the sides.

Step 8: Bake.

Carefully, because that pot is screaming hot, use the corners of your parchment paper to lift the dough and lower it directly into the Dutch oven. Put the lid on and bake for 30 minutes to trap all that wonderful steam we talked about earlier.

After 30 minutes, remove the lid and let it bake for another 10 to 15 minutes. This uncovered baking time is when the crust develops its gorgeous, deep golden-brown color and serious crunch.

Fair warning: your kitchen is going to smell ridiculously good as your bread bakes.

Step 9: The hardest step.

Trust me! I know how hard it is not to slice into your bread as soon as it comes out of the oven.! You’ve been smelling this deliciousness develop and your taste buds are probably watering. But to really enjoy this bread and all its glory you want to let it cool for at least an hour, because as I shared before, the bread is still actively baking and setting as it cools.

If you slice into the bread too soon you are letting out all that steam that has built up inside and you are going to have a gummy gross center. This step is definitely worth the wait, I promise.

Want to know my favorite way to eat this bread??? 

I love it toasted with a thin spread of butter, a side of fresh fruit and veggies and a soft boiled egg!

Slicing & Storing Your Bread

One of my favorite bread tips came from a Parisian baker, and it completely changed the way I store homemade bread.

Instead of slicing your loaf from one end to the other, cut it right down the middle. Take your slices from the center, then press the two cut halves back together when you’re finished. The crust acts like a natural wrapper, protecting the soft interior and helping the bread stay fresh longer.

When it comes to storage, skip the plastic bags and plastic wrap. Plastic traps moisture, which softens that beautiful chewy crust you worked so hard to create.

Instead, store the loaf cut-side together in a paper bag or wrapped in a clean kitchen towel or bread bag. Leave it at room temperature, and it will stay fresh for several days.

I don’t freeze homemade bread. I know plenty of people do, but I think it changes the texture too much. I’d much rather make a loaf I know we’ll finish over the next few days while it’s at its best, or have a plan to turn the leftovers into something else, like croutons.

If freezing works for you, by all means freeze your bread, if you know you won’t finish the loaf within three or four days. I recommend slicing the bread first so you can pull out only what you need.

Homemade Bread Freshness Timeline

Now that you know exactly how to store it and enjoy it over the next few days, let’s make some bread!

Black Pepper Breakfast Bread

This savory Black Pepper Breakfast Bread is loaded with chicken sausage, sweet caramelized onions, and the perfect peppery kick. An easy, no-knead artisan loaf that is incredible for breakfast, lunch, or a satisfying snack!

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Prep Time 40 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Rise Time 15 hours hrs

Course Bread

Cuisine American

Servings 16

Calories 185 kcal

Equipment

• Large mixing bowl
• Liquid measuring cup (or small bowl for proofing the yeast)
• Measuring cups and spoons (or a kitchen scale for the most accurate results)
• Wooden spoon or sturdy dough whisk
• Large skillet (for caramelizing the onions and browning the sausage)
• 6-quart (or larger) Dutch oven with lid
• Bread lame or sharp knife (for scoring)
• Cooling rack

Ingredients

  

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• 3 1/2 cup (440g) bread flour plus more needed for shaping
• 2 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Honey
• 1 medium Onion thinly sliced
• 5-6 links chicken breakfast sausage links cooked and diced
• 2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ½ cup real bacon bits
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar
• 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) warm temperature water (105°–110°F)
• 2 tablespoons Bacon grease or whatever oil you plan to use to caramelize your onions

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Instructions

 

Caramelize the sliced onion and let it cool completely.

• Heat your bacon grease/oil in a wide pan over medium heat.
• Add the onions, coat them in the fat, and let them cook for about 5 to 8 minutes until they start to soften.
• Lower the heat to medium-low or low depending on your stove. This is the "low and slow" phase. Stir every few minutes to ensure they brown evenly.
• If the natural onion sugars start to stick or burn at the bottom of the pan, add a splash (about 1 tablespoon) of water or wine. Scrape up the browned bits, which adds deep flavor and keeps your onions from scorching.
• Continue cooking until the onions are uniformly a rich, golden-brown, and meltingly soft.
This could take 25 - 55 minutes depending on your stove, cookware, and onions, so watch them closely!

Proof the Yeast (this step is only for Active Dry Yeast)

• In a small bowl or measuring cup, warm the water to 105°F–110°F. Stir in the honey, then sprinkle the active dry yeast over the top. Stir gently and let sit for 5–10 minutes, until thick and foamy.

Build the Dough

• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the bread flour, salt, and black pepper
• Add the cooled caramelized onions, bacon bits, cheddar and chicken sausage to the flour mixture and toss to coat.
• Pour in the foamy yeast mixture and stir until all of the flour is moistened and a sticky, shaggy dough forms.

Let your dough rest and rise

• Shape the dough into a rough ball directly in the bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and let rise at room temperature for about 3 hours, or until nearly doubled in size and full of bubbles.
After the initial rise you can cook your bread now, but if you really want to develop the flavors in this bread follow the next step...
• Refrigerate the covered dough for 12–18 hours. This slow rise develops incredible flavor and creates a chewy, artisan-style texture.

Baking the Bread

• Remove the dough from the refrigerator and turn it onto a lightly floured surface. Flour your hands and gently shape it into a ball.
• Place the dough ball on a sheet of parchment paper inside a medium mixing bowl to help it hold its shape. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
• While the dough rests, place a 6-quart or larger Dutch oven with its lid in the oven and preheat to 450°F (232°C). Allow the Dutch oven to heat for the full 30 minutes.
• Brush or lightly spray the top of the dough with water. Sprinkle with additional fresh black pepper
• Using a sharp knife or bread lame, score an X in the top of the dough about ½ inch deep.
Scoring the loaf allows the bread to expand in a controlled way during the rapid initial heat rise (oven spring).
• Carefully transfer the dough, along with the parchment paper, into the hot Dutch oven and cover with the lid.
• Bake for 30 minutes with the lid on. Remove the lid and continue baking for an additional 10–15 minutes, or until the crust is deeply golden brown and the center registers 195°F (90°C).
• Carefully remove the bread from the Dutch oven and transfer it to a wire rack.
• Allow it to cool for at least 1 hour before slicing. The bread continues setting as it cools, and waiting gives you the best texture and prevents a gummy interior.

Notes

If you’ve never caramelized onions before, check out my post Everything I Learned About Caramelizing Onions!

Nutrition

Serving: 1sliceCalories: 185kcalCarbohydrates: 22gProtein: 8gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.5gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 18mgSodium: 345mgPotassium: 85mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 120IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 85mgIron: 1.4mg

Keyword artisan bread, Black Pepper Breakfast Bread, Breakfast Bread, no knead bread

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