56 Homemade Bread Recipes That'll Make You A Star Baker In No Time (2024)

Get bready to start baking.

By Mackenzie Filson
56 Homemade Bread Recipes That'll Make You A Star Baker In No Time (1)

Ever watched GBBO and just wish you could be a Star Baker? Us too. So we decided to hop to it by figuring out the easiest ways to bake homemade bread (and not just those pandemic-era sourdough starters you might have forgotten to feed properly). And why not? When you can make a loaf of bread as good as the Poilâne bakery at home(!), it's easy to ditch the bland sandwich bread. Whether you're wanting some easy quick breads or a fluffy loaf of focaccia, these 56 easy homemade bread recipes will have you feeling like a bread baking prodigy.

If you need fresh bread, like, yesterday, quick breads are here to save the day. Quick breads (recipes leavened with baking soda/powder instead of yeast) are way easier to manage and just as delicious as yeasty breads. If you've ever baked banana bread, you're likely already familiar with how amazing quick breads are, but we've also got plenty of savory quick bread options if that's more your thing. Our recipes for beer bread, skillet cornbread, and homemade biscuits come together in a flash and will make you look very impressive come dinnertime.

Ready to level up your baking skills? If we were to put together a s

yllabus of breads to master, here's our shortlist: French bread, challah, pita, brioche, and sourdough. With a few of those under your belt, you'll be your way to expert-level baking (and having a full bread stash).

Now what to do with all of this bread? Really, what can't you do? We highly recommend you do any (or all of the following ASAP): Break off a heel of French bread for dipping into soup, crisp up sourdough for croutons, or make a bomb French toast with buttery brioche bread.

1

Easy Focaccia Bread

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Interested in breadmaking, but not sure where to begin? Fluffy and crispy focaccia is an amazing place to start. With no kneading involved and only 6 ingredients, making focaccia is the easiest way to feel like a pro baker, without a ton of effort.

Get the Easy Focaccia Bread recipe.

2

Challah Rolls

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These rolls are a great alternative to regular rolls at dinnertime. This dough is a bit on the sweeter side, so it lends beautifully for a pre-dinner roll or for pulling apart and eating on its own too. These rolls also taste phenomenal when toasted!

Get the Challah Rolls recipe.

3

Irish Brown Bread

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If you’re looking for a new bread baking project to get you through winter this year, may we suggest a hearty loaf of Irish brown bread? It’s technically a quick bread (meaning no yeast or rise) and has a dense yet tender interior that’s as good for eating with butter and jam as it is for dipping into a creamy winter soup.

Get the Irish Brown Bread recipe.

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4

Brioche Bread

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If you love butter, you'll live for this brioche bread. This recipe produces two loaves, each containing a whole stick of butter—so you can imagine how rich each fluffy bite will be.

Get the Brioche Bread recipe.

5

Skillet Cornbread

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Not only does this cornbread involve less cleanup (we love an oven-to-table vessel), but it promotes the ideal texture of crackly crust around moist, decadent corn cake. Pouring the batter into a preheated cast-iron creates a sear to the batter (nothing like that sizzling sound when it’s poured in) and speeds up the bake time.

Get the Skillet Cornbread recipe.

6

Sourdough

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Baking a loaf of sourdough bread is pure therapy: food for the body and food for the soul. Not only will it fill your kitchen with delish smells of yeasty goodness, you’ll walk away with a handful of life lessons along with a piece of unbelievably fulfilling bread.

Get the Sourdough recipe.

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7

Garlic Bread

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Our top tips for homemade garlic bread? Keep it simple, and use plenty of garlic. All you need are a handful of staple ingredients and less than 30 minutes to create this herby, garlicky side to complete all of your pasta dinners right at home.

Get the Garlic Bread recipe.

8

Concha Bread

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Conchas (aka concha bread) are probably the most recognizable of all Mexican pan dulce. Pan dulce means sweet bread in Spanish—think of these little breads as the brioche of Mexico. The name concha comes from the Spanish word for seashell, which makes sense when you see the gorgeous striated pattern atop the rolls.

Get the Concha Bread recipe.

9

Everything Bagel Focaccia

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Homemade bagels are SO worth it, but only if you've got patience and a few hours to spare. When you don't, make this focaccia, inspired by Suzanne Dunaway's genius focaccia technique. It requires no special tools, no kneading, and only 1 short rise.

Get the Everything Bagel Focaccia recipe.

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10

Banana Bread

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A classic loaf of banana bread is the epitome of simple home baking, but that doesn't mean it can't also deliver maximum deliciousness. If you’re looking to make the ultimate loaf of banana bread—moist, dense, and absolutely jam-packed with banana—look no further than this recipe.

Get the Best-Ever Banana Bread recipe.

11

French Bread

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French bread is an easy homemade bread that's perfect for any use. It's great to rip apart and eat as is, sliced open for sandwiches like a banh mi, or toasted for garlic bread. It's an all-purpose bread that gets better every time we make it.

Get the French Bread recipe.

12

Homemade Potato Bread

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This tender, springy, and slightly sweet potato bread is here to make your dream peanut butter & jelly come to life. (Or your dream croque madame... or your dream grilled cheese... the point is it's the best for sandwiches.) Adapted from Makinze's fluffy potato rolls, you really can't go wrong with this crowd-pleasing classic.

Get the Homemade Potato Bread recipe.

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13

Homemade Biscuits

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Can anything beat a warm, flaky biscuit straight out of the oven (or air fryer, see below)? We don't think so! Whether you’re topping them with strawberry jam or sausage gravy, biscuits are the versatile quick bread that are just as good as a dinner roll alternative as they are a breakfast star.

Get the Homemade Biscuits recipe.

14

Pumpkin Cornbread

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Cornbread is a crumbly, savory side we love any time of the year, but this pumpkin version is a fall dream. Classic cornbread gets an autumn upgrade with the addition of pumpkin puree and warming spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, making it an ideal side for Thanksgiving (or a base for cornbread stuffing!).

Get the Pumpkin Cornbread recipe.

15

Parmesan Bread Bites

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If you're a fan of garlic knots, this recipe is basically the bite-sized app version, covered in gooey cheese, garlic butter, and fresh herbs. Sage and thyme are used here to add seasonal flavor, but feel free to add any herbs you prefer.

Get the Parmesan Bread Bites recipe.

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16

Homemade Soft Pretzels

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Homemade soft pretzels are better than any mall pretzel you can find. Soft and pillowy, they're a dream for dipping in mustard or nacho cheese. You could even skip the pretzel salt and toss them in a little cinnamon sugar for a sweet treat!

Get the Homemade Soft Pretzels recipe.

17

Homemade Bagels

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Looking for a weekend project? Bagels are just the thing to master. There's nothing better than waking up to fresh bagels and when it's your own hard work it's even better. One batch of dough can turn into everything, poppy seed, sesame seed, cinnamon sugar, or any of your favorite bagels!

Get the Homemade Bagels recipe.

18

Chocolate Babka

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A Jewish sweet braided bread loved by all, babka is stuffed, rolled, then baked with a variety of fillings. Chocolate babka tends to dominate the flavor popularity contest, but there's a certain appeal to a cinnamon babka that just can't be denied—which is why this recipe snuck both into the mix.

Get the Chocolate Babka recipe.

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19

Classic Cornbread

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Forget Jiffy! This cornbread comes together super-fast, and it's wayyy better than the boxed stuff and almost as easy. The debate over cornbread is lively and long, with camps that prefer sweet over sugarless or a drier cornbread to cake-like cornbread. This version falls somewhere in the middle so everyone can enjoy.

Get the Classic Cornbread recipe.

20

Potato Rolls

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Have a leftover baked potato? The only logical thing to do is to mash the insides and make dinner rolls. These are truly the Fluffiest. Dinner. Rolls. Ever. Fresh out of the oven, each roll has a crispy bottom, buttery top, and unbelievably soft center.

Get the Fluffy Potato Rolls recipe.

56 Homemade Bread Recipes That'll Make You A Star Baker In No Time (2024)

FAQs

How did they bake bread in ancient times? ›

"It connects us with our prehistoric ancestors." The bread would have been made in several stages, including "grinding cereals and club-rush tubers to obtain fine flour, mixing of flour with water to produce dough, and baking the dough in the hot ashes of a fireplace or in a hot flat-stone", she explained.

What bread takes the longest to make? ›

Long fermented sourdough bread takes a bit longer than other artisan style breads, but most of the time is hands off, so you really just need a lot of patience! This is a true sourdough bread with no commercial yeast at all - the wild yeasts are essential for the longer fermentation process required.

What are three times when the baker's secret weapon is used in bread making? ›

A thermometer has been called the baker's secret weapon. In all breads, it is very useful to be able to measure the temperature of (1) the water used for mixing, (2) the dough, and (3) the bread as it comes from the oven.

What will help you bake perfect bread every time? ›

Follow these tips for bread that comes out right every time.
  • Use the right yeast. ...
  • Store your yeast properly. ...
  • Treat salt with care. ...
  • Take your time. ...
  • Try different flours. ...
  • Consider vitamin C. ...
  • Practice makes perfect. ...
  • Don't prove for too long.

How did Egyptians bake their bread? ›

Ancient Egyptian bread was probably a type of sourdough. The experiments recreated show how bread for the pyramid workers was baked in clay pots (bedja moulds). Dough was placed in pots set in hot ash, with heated lids on top, forming individual 'ovens' to bake the loaves.

How did medieval bakers make bread? ›

The grain (almost always bread wheat, though barley and rye were sometimes mixed in or even used directly, oats far less) was ground and sifted. Then it was mixed with water and a leavening. For much of Europe, the latter was sourdough (old dough - that is, a piece of dough from the last batch).

What is the hardest bread to make in the world? ›

Little did I know that baguettes are considered the most difficult bread to bake, and “the art of artisan breads.” For the first six months, I baked three baguettes every day, generally wondering why anyone would go to all of the trouble.

What is the fastest bread maker? ›

The Oster ExpressBake has a lot to offer for a median price tag. Several of the models here include an express cycle, and Oster's cycle is one of the quickest, whipping up a basic loaf of bread in just an hour.

What is the most rare bread? ›

Most expensive loaf of bread in the world comes from Spain's Costa del Sol, is gold plated and costs nearly €1,400. The most expensive bread in the world, baked by a baker from Malaga on Spain's Costa del Sol, is made with gold, silver and flowers and costs a whopping €1,380 a loaf.

What did medieval bakers bake? ›

Maslin was the bread that most people ate which was (most popularly) mixed with both wheat and rye flours. Rye flour could be used as a standalone as well which produced a darker loaf. These types of breads were most popular among the lower class.

Do you cover bread when proofing in oven? ›

STEP 4: PLACE IN THE OVEN AND KEEP DOOR CLOSED

Place the covered dough on the oven rack above the hot water dish, then close the door and allow your bread to proof for your recipe's specified amount of time (likely 60 minutes or more).

What did Victorian bakers put in bread? ›

Bakers would often cook the bread in hot ovens so that it would look done on the outside but remain doughy inside so that it could be sold at an increased weight. The additives that bakers used to fluff, whiten, and prolong their bread included plaster of Paris, bean flour, chalk, ground-up bone, and alum (via BBC).

Why do you spray water in the oven when baking bread? ›

For your bread to rise to its potential, that outer, taut skin on your loaf needs to be able to expand and stretch before hardening off. Steam in the oven and subsequently on the surface of your loaves helps keep that skin pliable and stretchy during baking.

Why put a bowl of water in the oven when baking bread? ›

Steam in the oven during the first few minutes of baking bread has many benefits. The moist steam reinvigorates the yeast in the dough. Steam gives bread dough time to expand: the added moisture keeps the dough from drying out before it has time to rise.

Why do you spray water on bread before baking? ›

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.

How did they make bread in the old days without yeast? ›

The most common source of leavening in antiquity was to retain a piece of dough (with sugar and water in) from the previous day to utilize as a form of sourdough starter. Pliny the Elder reported that the Gauls and Iberians used the foam skimmed from beer to produce "a lighter kind of bread than other peoples".

How was bread baked before ovens? ›

Man has always been inventive in his preparation of food. Depending on his lifestyle and the materials available to him, he baked bread in a clay pot on an open fire, under a movable bell-shaped vessel, or in a temporary or a fixed oven construction. The “oven” has been around for thousands of years.

How did ancient Greeks bake bread? ›

The most common grain used was barley. This bread was called maza and was simply ground barley mixed with water, then cooked over a fire. There are some mentions of leavened bread by ancient Greek authors but this was a rarity. To grind the grain the ancient Greeks used querns.

How was the first bread baked? ›

The first bread was made in Neolithic times, nearly 12,000 years ago, probably of coarsely crushed grain mixed with water, with the resulting dough probably laid on heated stones and baked by covering with hot ashes.

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