This No-Fail Recipe Makes Homemade Bread Blissfully Simple (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to a soft and fluffy bread? ›

Lubricate With Oil. One of the easiest ways our bakers follow to make bread soft and fluffy is by using 1-2 tablespoons of lubricant/fats such as vegetable oil to wet the ingredients.

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.

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.

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

Commercial bakeries use two types of ingredients to slow spoilage — emulsifiers and enzymes. Emulsifiers keep bread from going stale by preventing oil and water from separating.

Adding dry milk powder to your bread dough will help your loaf rise higher. In addition, the loaf will stay soft and hold moisture longer which again means it will last longer. It also helps brown the crust. If you want a lighter fluffier bread loaf just add 2 Tbsp of dry milk to the flour per loaf of your bread.

Too much yeast could cause the dough to go flat by releasing gas before the flour is ready to expand. If you let the dough rise too long, it will start having a yeast or beer smell and taste and ultimately deflate or rise poorly in the oven and have a light crust.

Under-Kneading

As the yeast absorbs the flour and sugar, it releases gas bubbles, which then make the bread less dense and more airy. Long story short: poorly-kneaded bread dough manifests poor-quality texture! A typical knead-doughing stage should last about 15 to 20 minutes.

The more yeast in a recipe initially, the quicker it produces CO2, alcohol, and organic acids. Alcohol, being acidic, weakens the gluten in the dough, and eventually the dough becomes “porous,” and won't rise; or won't rise very well.

Store bought lard (pork fat) can be totally tasteless and odourless. It will make the bread soft and pleasant to eat, but it will not add any notable flavour. If you want to use lard, then it's best to render down some smoked bacon lardons to make your own. Then you will get the flavour benefit too.

What does adding olive oil to bread dough do? ›

Does olive oil make dough softer? Yes - adding olive oil to sourdough bread will result in a softer crust and crumb. The oil as a lipid coats the flour and inhibits the gluten network resulting in a softer, tighter crumb and softer crust. This can be a desirable outcome if you do not like tough, chewy sourdough crusts.

Shortening traps more air bubbles and has a higher melting point than butter, so recipes using shortening tend to produce baked goods with more lift and that hold their shape during baking. Interior texture will also be softer and lighter.

Yes! If a recipe calls for proofing bread dough overnight in the refrigerator, it can be proofed on the counter at a warmer temperature for a shorter period. Rather than placing the dough in the refrigerator overnight, leave it covered on the counter for 1 to 4 hours until it's ready to bake.

“If the dough has risen too long, it's going to feel fragile and might even collapse as you poke it,” says Maggie. If this is the case, there's a chance you can save your dough by giving it a quick re-shape. Learn more about this fix in our blog on saving overproofed dough.

Can I leave my bread to rise overnight? Yes, you can let your bread rise overnight in the fridge. Keep in mind, though, you'll want the dough to come back up to room temperature before baking.

Here's How To Make Soft And Fluffy Bread:

Bread Flour Over All Purpose Flour. Do The Windowpane Test. Proofing At The Right Temperature. Use Weights Instead Of Measuring Cups.

Kneading: This process develops gluten, making the bread soft and stretchy. Over-kneading, however, can lead to hard bread. It's a delicate balance! Proofing: Allowing the dough to rise in a warm, humid environment ensures a soft and airy crumb.

Fluffy bread is the product of CO₂ and steam getting caught in pockets of gluten, which causes the dough to expand. This expansion is what makes the bread so soft and light. To make your dough, first you'll need to combine ingredients with yeast.

Due to the addition of yeast in the dough, the bread becomes spongy. Yeast has the capability to reproduce rapidly and produces carbon dioxide while respiring. This gas helps to fill the dough of bread and increases its volume making it rise, thus making the bread spongy and fluffy.