Our Best Bread Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What are 4 key things to remember when making bread? ›

Fat. If you're looking to ramp up the taste of your favorite bread recipe, we recommend adding a bit of fat. A fat like butter, olive oil or coconut oil in small quantities will help your bread achieve a higher rise and it will also boost its flavor by tenfold.

Peasant bread is a loaf that is baked with the skill of a craftsman, the love of an artist, and the storytelling of a writer. In the past, peasant bread was made with what was available to the farmers who were considered poor. These farmers managed the whole process of growing wheat, milling flour, and baking bread.

You can also put hot water in a heat-safe dish and place it on the floor of a cold oven (or on a lower shelf). The steam and heat from the water will help the temperature rise just enough that the yeast is active. The steam will also assist in keeping the surface of the dough moist so it will stretch as it rises.

Lemon juice is a natural dough enhancer, creating more elasticity to the dough which in return makes it easier for the bread to stretch and rise. If baking with ROGERS No Additive ALL Purpose flours, using lemon juice is helpful.

Add Sugar

Adding sugar weakens the gluten structure, absorbs water, and eventually makes the bread lighter and softer. As a result, sugar improves the bread's taste, structure and texture. Yeast also eats up sugar to produce carbon dioxide, which raises the dough and makes bread fluffy.

Butter, technically a dough enrichment, tenderizes bread dough and limits gluten development, yielding a softer, more tender crumb and a richer flavor. The butter in this sourdough babka dough makes the interior tender—and delicious. Photo by Maurizio Leo.

AVOID UNDESIRED INGREDIENTS

Store-bought bread is also often higher in sodium and contains more trans fats due to margarine and vegetable shortening. Whereas, in your homemade bread, you can use healthy unsaturated fats such as extra virgin olive oil or grapeseed oil.

The word bread has been used as American slang for money since at least the 1930s. Food is among the most important reasons people need money, and the slang bread likely refers to the fact that bread is one of the most commonly eaten (and purchased) foods.

The Old English word for bread was hlaf (hlaifs in Gothic: modern English loaf), which appears to be the oldest Teutonic name.

What do the French call a loaf of bread? ›

Mar 08, 2022. A baguette is a long, thin loaf of French bread that is commonly made from the basic lean dough (the dough, though not the shape, is defined by French law). It is distinguishable by its length and crisp crust.

In most circ*mstances covering dough during proofing is the best practice, as it helps keep moisture in your dough. Without covering dough, the surface is likely to dry out which will limit the rise you are looking to achieve during proofing, and it can negatively impact your crust.

Yes! If a recipe calls for proofing bread dough overnight in the refrigerator, it can be proofed on the counter at a warmer temperature for a shorter period. Rather than placing the dough in the refrigerator overnight, leave it covered on the counter for 1 to 4 hours until it's ready to bake.

For best results, use a non-porous, tight fitting cover such as a saucepan lid, bowl cover or even a sheet pan laid on top of the bowl, weighted down with something. Also make sure your bowl is deep enough for the dough to double in size without hitting the cover and impeding its rise.

Bread is a baked product whose ingredients are flour, water, salt, and yeast. During bread making, biochemical and chemical-physical processes of changes occur, which affect various constituents. Water and flour are the main ingredients in a bread recipe and they affect texture and crumb the most.

Breadmaking Essentials – The Basics

For a basic loaf of bread, all it takes is flour, water, salt and raising agent – usually yeast (wild or store-bought). As with anything else, you'll get the best results if you work with the best quality ingredients.