Simple homemade bread recipe | Jamie Oliver bread recipes (2024)

FAQs

What makes bread so light and fluffy? ›

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.

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.

In a nutshell, if you're buying basic, cheap sandwich bread, it's probably cheaper than you can make it at home. But if you compare two loaves similar to what you could make at home — one made with high-quality ingredients as opposed to one made with lesser quality ingredients — home baking becomes much cheaper.

All you need to do is mix a 330ml bottle of beer, 375g of self-raising flour and 3 teaspoons of sugar in a bowl with a spoon. Pour it into a bread tin, top with a drizzle of melted butter and bake at 180°C/360°F for about 50 minutes, or until golden and crisp on top.

Well it's simple, bread flour has an increased amount of protein or more gluten which results in a lighter, fluffier dough which produces a less dense finished product. All-purpose flour can be used for bread but bread flour is always better if your goal is a “fluffier” bread.

Milk powder.

Instant milk powder makes bread dough super soft and fluffy and also helps to give it a good rise. It also contributes to the dough staying nice and soft after baking for a little longer than a recipe that does not use milk powder.

The spongy texture and moist flavor that oil creates can be a boon to certain recipes. Not to mention oil is cheaper and easier to work with. Butter will always provide superior flavor and that melt-in-your-mouth texture. In many recipes, combining the two gives the best of both worlds.

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.

The whole egg contributes to the richness and moisture content of the dough and enhances the overall flavor and texture of the bread. The yolks, being rich in fats, enhance emulsification and ensure a smoother texture. Whereas, the whites, when beaten, create stable foams, adding a light and airy quality to the bread.

Johanna Hartzheim, co-founder and head of product at Wildgrain, a bread and pasta delivery service, recommends eating homemade bread within three days but says it will last up to a week. "The bread will start to dry up and become a bit harder over time, but it takes much longer until it becomes moldy," she says.

Can you freeze homemade bread? ›

Both store-bought and homemade bread should freeze well, says Lisa Brooks, the chef and owner of Heart & Soul, a personal chef service. Her go-to method involves wrapping the bread in two layers of plastic wrap and then storing the loaf in a resealable plastic freezer bag before freezing.

Lighter beers, such as lagers, ales and pilsners, will give your bread a lighter color, and mild taste that just about everyone loves. Darker beers like stouts and porters make a darker-colored loaf and have a stronger beer flavor. Hoppy beers like IPAs will give your bread a more bitter taste.

I adapted my Simple Sourdough Recipe and replaced the water for beer. I used 350g of Pale Ale (just because that is what came to hand first when I opened the cellar). I didn't make any other changes for my Sourdough Beer Bread Recipe - just a straight swap with beer instead of water. So easy!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the flour, sugar, and can of beer in a mixing bowl. The alcohol from the beer will evaporate during baking, so the bread will be edible for all ages. Watch it bubble as you mix it up and then place the large ball of dough in the center of a greased cookie sheet.

Final answer: Carbon dioxide gas given off during fermentation of sugar makes bread soft and fluffy.

Reducing the amount of yeast, in my experience, will make a denser bread. Below is a photo of a French style white loaf made with 50% the amount of yeast I would normally use. The bubbles are noticeably smaller, and the texture is different.

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

In the oven: Preheat oven to 200° or Warm setting. Wrap the bread in a damp (not soaking) towel, place on a baking sheet, and pop it in the oven for 5-10 minutes. In the microwave: Wrap the bread in a damp (not soaking) towel, place it on a microwave-safe dish, and microwave on high for 10 seconds.