best homemade bread

This bread was the only bread my grandmother consumed, and she made it every week! I have so many fond memories associated with making this bread together. And seriously - nothing beats the smell (and taste) of freshly made bread. YUM!

Betty's Red River Cereal Bread

all-purpose flour

whole wheat flour

Red River Cereal

wheat germ

brown sugar

tbsp kosher salt

tbsp baking soda

buttermilk

First preheat the oven to 350F.

In a large mixing bowl combine all of...

In a large mixing bowl combine all of the dry ingredients (except the baking soda) and mix well with a large whisk - this is my lazy way of sifting.

Pour the buttermilk into a medium bowl or...

Pour the buttermilk into a medium bowl or liquid measuring cup and add the baking soda - the soda will react with the buttermilk and start to bubble.

Form a well in the middle of the...

Form a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add the buttermilk/soda combination. Mix just until the dry ingredients are incorporated. You don't want to overdo it.

Divide the bread dough into 2 large buttered...

Divide the bread dough into 2 large buttered or oiled bread pans - (12"x4 1/2"x2 1/2") or 4 small pans.

Bake for 55-60 minutes. Test with a sharp...

Bake for 55-60 minutes. Test with a sharp knife - if it comes out clean - it's done.

Let rest for 10 minutes on cooling racks...

Let rest for 10 minutes on cooling racks and then take them out of the pan to finish cooling on the rack.

Focaccia is a great bread that everyone should know how to make.A couple of notes on this focaccia. I like using a fairly high hydration dough. For this recipe, my water amount is 75% of the flour.  This leads to focaccia with a thin, but really crisp crust and a soft interior with fairly large holes inside, this texture and size I find perfect for making sandwiches with. While the end product I prefer much more, a high hydration dough will naturally be really sticky and can be annoying to work with if you aren't used to it but don't worry I'll show you how.

How to make Focaccia

g Instant Yeast

Flour

Salt

g Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Rosemary

Chives

Mix the ingredients

Add the yeast to the warm water along with a spoonful of the flour. Stir until dissolved. Let stand for 5-10 minutes until a light foam surfaces and little bubbles are visible. Note: Proofing is done to test the viability of the yeast. If there is no foam surface or little bubbles the yeast is likely dead and should be discarded for new yeast.  Meanwhile, add the flour, and salt to a large mixing bowl. Once the yeast is proofed, pour in the mixture and mix the dough with your hands until no dry flour remains in the bowl and a cohesive mass forms. The dough will be very sticky. Pour the olive oil over the dough, work together until the oil is absorbed. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes.

Bulk Fermentation + Gluten Development

Once rested, perform a stretch and fold by grabbing a corner of the dough in the bowl, lift straight up to stretch the dough as high as it will go without tearing and fold over to the other side. Rotate the bowl and perform three more reps of stretch and folds. Once folded, turn the dough over onto itself, cover and let rest another 25-30 minutes. This is one set of a stretch and fold, perform 3 more sets with 25-30 minutes rest in between.  For each stretch and fold set, the dough should feel more elastic and stretch further without tearing with some air bubbles present

Proofing (Second Ferment)

Drizzle olive oil into a 9x13 baking pan until the bottom is covered. After the last stretch and fold, turn the focaccia dough into the pan and gently work it to the edges. Note: If the dough is springing back from the edges, cover and let rest for 15-20 minutes before gently working to the edges.  Cover the pan and let the focaccia proof for 45-60 minutes. At the end of proofing, the dough should be well risen and puffy with gas bubbles. Preheat the oven to 450 F.

Dimple + Add Toppings

Dimple the proofed dough with wet fingers by gently pushing to the bottom of the pan, but do not accidentally go through the dough. For me, I like lots of dimples and run over the dough 2-3 times.  Whisk the olive oil and water together with a fork until it emulsifies, about 2-3 minutes. Pour the mixture over the focaccia where it will pool into the dimples.  Sprinkle flaky salt and fresh herbs over the top. If using other toppings like grape tomatoes, or olives, add them now too and gently press into the dough. Note: This turns into a great pizza with sauce, cheese and anything else you may have in the fridge.

Bake

Place on the middle rack of the 450 F oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden on top. Let rest under a cloth on a wire rack for 5 minutes before slicing into hunks of focaccia  Serve as is, or slice in half for creating sandwiches.

Classic sourdough artisan bread is everything you love about sourdough—crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and perfect for sandwiches. It stays fresh for days and toasts beautifully. Master the art of sourdough with this tried-and-true recipe!

Classic Sourdough Bread

sourdough starter (ripe

bread flour (scant 3/4 cup)

water (about 7 Tablespoons)

levain (ripe and active, about 3/4 cup)

water

bread flour (about 6.5 cups)

whole wheat flour (about 3/4 cup)

salt (about 1 Tablespoon)

Mix together ripe sourdough starter, bread flour and water. Set aside to ripen for 10-12 hours.Note: Ripe, bubbly, active sourdough starter can be substituted for levain in this recipe if desired.

Day 1: Evening, Mix Levain (1:10:10, overnight 10-12 hours at 78ºF)

Fermentolyse: Once the levain is peaked and active (bubbly, doubled in size, milky sweet smell), mix 200 grams levain with 700 grams of water in a large bowl. Warm the water if the ingredients are too cold and cool the water if ingredients are too warm. Add 900 grams bread flour and 100 grams whole wheat flour to the bowl and mix until incorporated and a shaggy dough forms. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.

Mixing: After 30 minutes, add the reserved salt and 50 grams of water. Combine using your hands by squeezing the dough between your fingers, pinching chunks of dough and reincorporating together. The dough will break apart and then reform in the bowl through this process. Pick up one side of the dough and fold it over on itself. The dough will be sticky. Wet your hands as needed and continue to work with the dough until all the salt and water has been incorporated. Take the dough and continue working with it by slapping it against the side of the bowl and quickly pulling it back. This vigorous mixing helps strengthen the gluten strands quickly in the dough and will result in a stronger loaf with more oven spring. After about 3-5 minutes of mixing, the dough will feel more cohesive and strong. Place the dough back in the bowl or transfer to a clear plastic container or a glass bowl if desired. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes.

Bulk Fermentation: Perform 3-4 sets of &quot;stretch and folds.&quot;To “stretch and fold,” wet your hand (so it doesn’t stick to the dough). Reach down to the bottom of the bowl of dough and pull the dough up and over the top of the dough. Turn the bowl 1/4 turn and repeat the stretch and fold. Turn another quarter turn and repeat. Perform one more 1/4 turn with stretching and folding the dough. Cover and set aside.Repeat the series of stretch and folds every 30 minutes over the course of two hours. Watch the process here.

Finish Bulk Fermentation: Let the dough rest in a warm place, for the rest of bulk fermentation, about 1 1/2 - 2 hours at 78ºF. During this time the dough will puff up about 30-40%, become more aerated, start to pull away from the edges of the bowl, and have a few scattered bubbles around the edges/top of the dough. If your dough is not showing these signs, make sure it&#39;s warm enough and give it another half an hour or so until it is showing those signs that it&#39;s ready to shape.

Divide: Tip the bowl upside down, allowing the dough to fall onto a clean counter surface. Be gentle to avoid cutting and degassing the dough as much as possible. Use a bench knife to cut the dough into two equal portions.

Pre-Shape: Wet your hands and the bench knife. Push the bench knife under the dough while using your free hand to tuck the dough under itself. Repeat this process going around in a circle until you have a tight ball of dough. Repeat with the second loaf.

Bench Rest: Let the dough rest uncovered for about 30 minutes at room temperature. The dough will flatten a bit during this period of time.

Prepare the bowls: Prepare two bannetons or small bowls. Place a kitchen towel or hair net in each bowl bowl. Liberally flour each bowl.

Shaping: After the dough has rested for about 30 minutes it is time to shape the bread into a round. Sprinkle flour on top of the dough. Using the bench knife, lift the dough up off the counter and place it on top of the countertop–floured side down. This ensures that the flour is staying mainly on the outside of the dough. Going around in a circle, pull the dough sideways towards you and then fold up to the top of the round. Move 90 degrees and repeat the same process pulling the dough sideways and then folding up to the top. As you continue this process around the dough, increase the tension as you pull. Gather the bread into a circle and use a bench knife to lift the bread and place into your lined bowl. Watch the process here.

Stitch the Dough: Let the dough rest and the gluten relax for about 5 minutes before stitching up the dough if desired. This adds a last little bit of tension, but is completely optional.

Cold Fermentation: Cover the dough with a shower cap, plastic wrap or a reusable cover and store the dough in the refrigerator overnight or for up to 12-24 hours. Alternatively you can let your dough rise outside the fridge for another 2-3 hours, keeping the dough at that 78º F temperature, and then bake your loaves the same day.

Day 2: Mix Dough/Bulk Fermentation/Shape/Cold Bulk Fermentation (78ºF)

Pre-heat the Oven: Put a dutch oven (top and all) into the oven and preheat to 500ºF for 30 minutes.

Prepare Dough: Once preheated, pull your first loaf out of the refrigerator. Remove the cover (this is easy to do straight out of the refrigerator if the dough is chilled–not easy if the dough warms up) and place a piece of parchment paper on top of the bread dough. Flip the dough over so that the dough is now sitting on the parchment paper. Take off the bowl/banneton and kitchen towel.

Scoring: Smooth the flour over the top of the dough (add a little extra for more contrast if desired). Use a very sharp knife or bread lame to score the dough. I use my bread lame to make any small decorative scores first that are just 1/4-inch deep. Then make one or two larger/longer slashes that go across the dough about 1-inch deep. Watch the process here.

Bake: Carefully remove the dutch oven from the 500ºF oven with hot pads. Take the top off and place your bread into the dutch oven (including parchment paper–this helps with the transfer). Be very careful not to touch the sides of the dutch oven. Put your hot pads back on before you pick up the lid of the dutch oven and place it on top of the bread. Put the whole dutch oven back into your oven. Lower the temperature to 450ºF and bake for 25 minutes. Once 25 minutes are up, take the top off the dutch oven and continue baking for 20 minutes until the bread is a crackly deep brown. The loaf should register between 205-210℉ when it&#39;s finished baking.

Remove the baked loaf from the Dutch oven and pre-heat the dutch oven again for 15-20 minutes. Score the second loaf and bake according to the same directions. Let cool and enjoy!

Day 3: Score and Bake

I love your explanations and how beautiful my loaf turned out

I was ambitious and tried this recipe for my first ever sourdough bread. The clear instructions, with all the photos and the other resources for timing the levain has been perfect. I was able to work around my schedule and make 2 gorgeous (and delicious) loaves of bread.  I can't thank you enough!

Absolutely loved this recipe and that it made two loaves. It's perfect texture and crisp crust is my all time favorite.  I am having successfull recipes since watching your online videos. No matter what issues I have, you're always there to answer my questions in the community. That's what I call a 5 🌟 Baker.  Thank you!

This was my first try using a levain. The techniques are well described and easy to follow. I’ve baked this twice now, and both resulted in perfect, delicious loaves. This is my go to sourdough recipe now.

This is Tartine Bakery’s exact recipe for their “Country Bread”.

Thus far this has been the best looking dough I have created might be jinxing myself by posting this. Curious at what stage you add in the additional flavors?

I started sourdough in 2015 with my mother in law…when she passed in 2018, I stopped. I recently started again and sadly lost her recipe…but finding yours has made my year. It’s even better than hers, and I’m loving it, as are my customers. Thank you for sharing 🫶🏻

Top 3 best homemade bread recipes from across the web

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Betty's Red River Cereal Bread

How to make Focaccia

Classic Sourdough Bread

Top 3 best homemade bread recipes from across the web

The most viewed best homemade bread recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Betty's Red River Cereal Bread

How to make Focaccia

Classic Sourdough Bread

The most viewed best homemade bread recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine