Bread Recipes
Discover how to make the best and easiest Homemade Bread Recipes
It’s been over 10 years since I made my first homemade bread. I remember it was a not very appealing looking bread, but with a taste and smell that far surpassed any of the bread I was used to. What pushed me to make it was, on the one hand, the enormous curiosity I had about the entire bread-making process, and, on the other, the deep disconnection that I had recently experienced towards a product that has always been present in my life. I remember as a child accompanying my mother to the only bakery in my village.
There they made few types of bread; some loaves and round breads with white flour, and some wholemeal bread of considerable density. The most remarkable thing about them was that they had flavor, and that they smelled like bread. What does the bread we consume today smell like? Have you ever smelled a homemade bread slowly fermented by the sole action of yeast? What is sold to us today as bread has little to do with what I ate as a child, and even less with what I usually bake at home every weekend.
Since industry has burst into all sectors, things are no longer what they were, and although technology is supposed to serve man to improve his quality of life, the truth is that it is man who has sacrificed his well-being to be at the service of the industry, trying to ensure, thereby, maximum productivity. When productivity is prioritized over good work, the tasteless bread that we can currently find in most shops is produced.
Today we bring you a compilation of some of the best bread recipes that we have been sharing with you all the time we have been together. They are very different recipes from each other, although, essentially, they share the same kneading and fermentation processes. Really, making bread at home is very simple, you just have to forget about clocks and pay close attention to the development of the dough during kneading as well as fermentation which is, after all, what transforms the inert mixture of flour and water into a dough full of the life given to it by the yeasts and bacteria that are involved in the fermentation process. As expected, it is possible that the first breads you make are not up to your expectations, in this regard, I must tell you that the best thing we can do is not set goals and enjoy the learning process.
As the first recipe, I propose you make traditional Catalan country bread, because I think it is a good way to start getting familiar with the different steps that are usually followed in the making of many types of bread and those are: kneading, first fermentation, division and shaping, forming, second fermentation, and finally, baking of the product. Following this country bread are two breads enriched with unusual ingredients, such as basil on one hand and red wine and nuts on the other. Fourthly, I propose a recipe that results in an outrageously tender loaf of bread, and, finally, I leave you with an article where we explain how to make your own sourdough.
Before starting with this compilation, I want to remind you that if you want to see the complete development of any of the recipes you should click on its title.