Bread Recipes - Yeast, French, White & More | Taste of Home (2024)

FAQs

What makes French bread different from regular bread? ›

Besides the obvious fact that French bread is typically longer and thinner than regular loaves, it tends to be less sweet and has a crispier crust. French bread is usually also made with very simple ingredients instead of sandwich bread, which can have many different additives.

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.

One of the secrets of a great baguette is to start with a sponge (a mix of flour, water, and yeast), which gives the yeast time to mature and combine with the other ingredients, creating the mildly sour and nutty flavors and chewy texture.

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.

Are baguettes healthier than bread? Baguettes are similar in nutritional value to traditional white bread. Both baguettes and white bread are high in calories and carbohydrates while remaining low in fat content. Baguettes tend to contain more protein and sodium than white bread.

The secret to the wonderful taste and aroma of freshly baked bread is the Maillard reaction. It's a chemical reaction between proteins, certain carbohydrates and some of the fatty acids that occur when bread is baked in the oven, which gives it a delicious flavour and fine colour.

A great way to add flavor to home-baked bread is to use a variety of herbs and spices. Whether you're looking to use up extra basil or rosemary before it loses flavor or interested in bringing cloves, nutmeg, or poppy seeds into your bread baking, there are many possibilities and inspirational recipes.

As noted in the recipe, French bread works quite well using whole wheat flour. I've found the best results are when using white whole wheat flour (red whole wheat flour makes a denser, heavier loaf).

What is the secret of French baguette? ›

What's the secret to a proper crusty baguette? The long fermentation helps develop the dough and produce a nice crispy, crusty crust. Adding steam to the oven by adding water or ice to a preheated baking tray or pan will help develop that crust.

In France, bakers pay careful attention to where their flour is made and which grains are used in the milling process. The result is usually softer, heartier, and tastier bread than can be found in other parts of the world. French flour tends to be made with a lower ash content than the flour from other countries.

Butter and especially stronger oils, such as walnut, can also add flavor to bread. Dry milk powder adds flavor to bread and can soften its texture, as in the case of this basic white sourdough. Add it to dough with the flour.

Does Rising Bread Affect Its Texture? For a fluffy bread texture, the key is to let the bread rise long enough.

In France, bakers pay careful attention to where their flour is made and which grains are used in the milling process. The result is usually softer, heartier, and tastier bread than can be found in other parts of the world. French flour tends to be made with a lower ash content than the flour from other countries.

Simple French bread (like baguette or pain au levain) doesn't contain any sugar. It just contains: flour, water, salt, and yeast (and sometimes bean flour). Conventional white bread on the other hand is sweetend with sugar and has added dough conditioners to make the bread soft.

[ french-bred ] show ipa. noun. a yeast-raised bread made of dough containing water and distinguished by its thick, well-browned crust, usually made in long, slender, tapered loaves.: Compare baguette (def. 1).

Do French breads taste better than American ones? For the most part they do. That's because in France everyone is far more likely to have a nearby bakery where they can get good fresh bread on a,daily basis, and they have a culture that takes bread very seriously indeed.