The BEST Homemade Bread Recipe - I Heart Naptime (2024)

FAQs

Is bread better made with milk or water? ›

Milk changes bread recipes by producing a softer loaf, due to the milk fat content, which also gives bread a richer flavor. Bread made with milk browns more easily than bread made with water, as lactose or milk sugar will caramelize as it bakes.

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.

Hydrocolloids. Hydrocolloids are ingredients that work wonders to keep bread fresh and delicious for longer. The ones commonly used in bread are agar and carrageenan from seaweed, and cellulose and gum acacia from plants.

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.

Egg has protein, fat, water and while the fat and water soften the crumb, the protein helps with strengthening the gluten and capturing more CO2. Eggs are also helping with leavening the dough which adds to the rise. Doughs that have more egg usually rise more, so go ahead and play around a bit!

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.

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.

Fats: Fats, such as butter or oil, are added to bread dough for flavor and to help keep the bread moist. They also help to create a tender crumb. Milk: Milk is added to bread dough for flavor and to create a tender crumb. It also helps to brown the crust during baking.

The volatile esters, aldehydes and secondary alcohols are the most significant flavor compounds produced during the dough fermentation by bakers yeast, are of particular interest in bread, because they contribute pleasant fruity and buttery flavor notes.

When the bread is completely cool – and you're sure you don't want to eat any more of it for a while – wrap it tightly in plastic wrap (or an airtight freezer bag). You can freeze it like this if you're short on time, but it'll store far longer if you then add a layer of foil on top of the plastic.

Why is homemade bread hard next day? ›

It's a combination of moisture loss and the starches re-crystallising after baking. (This crystallising process is sped up if you place the bread in the fridge). Steaming bread and then re-baking it can go surprisingly far in reviving it.

Egg, milk, and sugar are common additions to bread dough to extend its shelf life. They can be used alone or in combination. Another addition is potato flour, mixed with the wheat flour. This helps retain moisture, but shouldn't be overdone as potato flour has no gluten.

Consider vitamin C. Vitamin C strengthens the gluten in flour, which can give a better rise, and help dough to rise more quickly. You probably won't need it if you're making white bread, but if you make wholemeal bread and it doesn't rise as well as you hoped, you could try a little vitamin C next time.

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.

A warm kitchen worktop, sunny windowsill or somewhere close to a radiator often works. You can also leave dough to rise in an oven but you do need to be very careful and also have an oven that can deal with lower temperatures. When you are mixing the dough preheat the oven to 50c (and no more than 60c).

Using milk instead of water in your yeasted bread is an easy way to add a touch of sweetness, making it ideal for challah, dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls, and hot dog buns. Milk sugars not only add a hint of sweetness but also result in a softer, more uniform crumb and ensure a nicely browned crust.

Additional protein and sugar (lactose) in milk adds more sweetness and a browner color to baked goods than water. Whole milk adds fat, which in turn creates a richer taste and softer crumb. Milk is produced by all mammals to nourish their newborns, and cow's milk is also a nutritious food for humans.

It does affect the texture a bit, though. Bread made with water will not be as soft or fluffy as bread made with milk, the crumb won't be as fine, and it will go stale faster as well.

Milk produces a softer loaf with a finer crumb due to its higher fat content. It also gives richer flavour and browns more easily than a water-based dough because of caramelizing lactose sugars. It also has a longer shelf life due to the fat it contains.