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

FAQs

Does adding more yeast make bread fluffier? ›

Perfect Your Yeast Levels

Carbon dioxide is responsible for all the bubbles that make holes in bread, making it lighter and fluffier. Because gas is created as a result of yeast growth, the more the yeast grows, the more gas in the dough and the more light and airy your bread loaf will be.

Bakers combine yeast, some of the flour and water to create a sponge that can be allowed to ferment from 30 minutes to several hours. After fermentation, the bread making process proceeds as usual. Longer fermentation gives bread stronger flavors.

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.

Fats keep your bread moist. If your loaf was too dry, try adding a tablespoon or two more oil next time you make it. Likewise, water does more than hydrate your dough.

Add Milk

To make your bread soft and fluffy, another trick used by commercial bakers is replacing water with milk. Milk has fats which make bread softer.

One key to baking the best bread is to let it rise (also called proofing) just enough. Your recipe should list a rising time, but you can tell dough has risen enough when it has doubled in size and slowly springs back when poked with a finger, leaving a small indentation behind.

Salt adds flavor to bread. If none or too little is used in a recipe, the bread will lack the right flavor and taste "bland." If you reduce the amount of salt, try adding some dried herbs to increase the flavor. Too much yeast in bread will give bread an off-taste.

Problem: Your bread has a fermented, alcoholic smell or taste to it. Causes: Too much yeast. Over-proofed.

'Any nuts, seeds, small or chopped dried fruits, olives, fresh thyme or rosemary can be added without changing the dough. For the best distribution, scatter the ingredients into the dough at the 'knocking back' stage. '

Make it more flavorful and sticky with sugar, or soften it up with some dry milk powder. Here's how to arm your pantry with bread boosters. Sweeteners such as malt and honey are used to add flavor to bread dough. Malt, which is available in powder and liquid form, can be added to almost any bread.

What makes the tastiest bread? ›

To determine whether bread is of good quality, there are several factors and characteristics you can identify. For example the crust must be crisp and of a darker tone than the inside, a strong flavour and taste due to the flour, as well as a pleasant smell. What's also important is that the conservation is longer.

besides the nutritional benefits there are a few other good reasons to use egg in breadmaking. It makes the bread lighter and fluffier. The reason for that is the fat in the yolk that inhibits gluten formation just as any other fat would. This results in a looser dough that can expand and puff up more.

Wetting the dough causes the surface to steam. Covering it traps the moisture. This partnership stops the bread from drying out on the surface in the hot air of the oven and forming a premature crust. Your bread rises more and produces a richer colour, becoming glossy on the surface.

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

This can affect the bread by adding a "yeasty" taste if you put too much into the dough. General amounts of yeast are around 1 - 2 % of the flour, by weight. Too much yeast could cause the dough to go flat by releasing gas before the flour is ready to expand.

Leader says breads made with less yeast develop a “bubblier” crumb. That doesn't mean you'll see bigger holes.

Yeast feed on sugar and it's the gasses produced by yeast that causes the dough to expand and “rise”. More accurately stated though, it's the yeast that has the effect but it's a symbiotic relationship. Too little sugar will impede the rise by not having sufficient nutrient for the yeast.