I have been making bread for a very long time and I still keep The Perfect Loaf open on the counter, because bread is the one thing in cooking where a small change in hydration or temperature changes everything on the plate. So this list of homemade bread recipes is built to meet you wherever you actually are. There are four ingredient no knead loaves that ask five minutes of work and then leave you alone overnight, dinner rolls you can have on the table inside an hour, and a full sourdough with a levain and a timed schedule for the weekend you feel like committing. Pita, focaccia, pretzels, brioche, ciabatta, rye and a few sweet breads for breakfast too. Start with the artisan loaf if you have never done this. Start with the sourdough if you have.
1. Whole Wheat Oatmeal Honey Bread
Two cups of boiling water go over a cup of rolled oats first, and that soaked oatmeal is why this loaf stays soft for days instead of going dry by Wednesday. Let the mix cool to lukewarm for ten or fifteen minutes before the yeast goes anywhere near it. Brown sugar, honey, butter, salt and a teaspoon of cinnamon, then white whole wheat and all purpose flour. Two loaves in 8.5 by 4.5 inch pans. Good toasted, better as sandwich bread.
Get the full tutorial at Gather for Bread.
2. Milk Bread
Heavy cream alongside the milk is what makes these pull apart in soft sheets rather than tearing. The dough takes a real beating, eight to twelve minutes on medium in a stand mixer, and then you add flour half a teaspoon at a time until it gathers onto the hook. Do not rush that part or you will end up adding far too much flour. Sixteen rolls, a little over three hours start to finish, and they disappear before dinner.
Get the full tutorial at Woman Scribbles.
3. Dollywood Cinnamon Bread
The Grist Mill at Dollywood sells around 350 loaves an hour and mills the flour on site, and the line is really about the smell of cinnamon and hot butter rather than the bread. This copycat starts with a one pound loaf of frozen bread dough, which is what makes it achievable on a weeknight. Six things total: dough, granulated sugar, cinnamon, salted butter, powdered sugar and a splash of milk for the glaze. Deep slits across the top do the rest.
Get the full tutorial at DIY Joy.
4. Quick and Light Brioche Style Buns
Brioche in an hour, because this version skips the long chill and gets away with a single rise. Four tablespoons of melted butter rather than the usual half pound is what makes it light instead of rich, and the dough is meant to stay a little tacky, so resist adding flour or the buns come out dense. Start with three and a half cups of flour and only add more if you truly need it. Eight buns, fifteen minutes of baking.
Get the full tutorial at Piper Cooks.
5. Homemade Crusty Bread
Four ingredients: water, yeast, bread flour and kosher salt. The dough rises two hours at room temperature and then you can refrigerate half of it for up to two weeks and bake a fresh loaf whenever you want one, which is the real gift here. Shape, slash three times with a serrated knife, rest 40 minutes, then bake on a stone in a 450F oven. Twenty four servings across two loaves. A genuinely good first yeast bread.
Get the full tutorial at Platter Talk.
6. Garlic Parmesan Dinner Rolls
Twenty four rolls, each one rolled into a rope and tied in a knot, which takes longer than shaping balls and looks ten times better on the table. The dough rests 15 minutes before it is kneaded for five, then the shaped knots rise 25 minutes. Garlic herb butter, four cloves worth, gets brushed on generously before the Parmesan goes over the top and they bake at 350F for 10 to 15 minutes. Brush again while they are hot.
Get the full tutorial at Rasa Malaysia.
7. Homemade Whole Wheat Pita Bread
The puff is the whole trick and it comes down to thickness. Roll each of the nine pieces to about a quarter inch, no thinner, and turn the dough as you roll so it does not stick. Keep the rolled circles covered under a towel while you work or the surface dries and they will not balloon. One cup of water, two teaspoons of yeast, honey, whole wheat and all purpose flour and a tablespoon of olive oil. About 79 minutes.
Get the full tutorial at As Easy As Apple Pie.
8. Sage Parmesan Garlic Buns
Onion powder and garlic powder go into the dry flour, before any liquid, which seasons the crumb rather than just the crust. While the dough rises for 30 to 40 minutes you melt six tablespoons of butter with three sage leaves and five chopped garlic cloves and cook it six or seven minutes until the whole kitchen smells right. Fifteen buns, a second 20 minute rise, then brushed and baked at 400F. A cup of Parmesan over the top.
Get the full tutorial at Unicorns in the Kitchen.
9. Cinnamon Raisin Bread
Soak the raisins in hot water for at least ten minutes, then drain and pat them dry and toss them in a few tablespoons of flour before they go into the dough. That flour coating is what stops them all sinking to the bottom of the loaf. The filling is half a cup of sugar to a tablespoon and a half of cinnamon. Five and a half to six cups of flour, and add the extra carefully, because too much makes it dry.
Get the full tutorial at Pint Sized Baker.
10. Ciabatta Bread Rolls
This is a two day bread and the biga is the reason. A quarter teaspoon of yeast, water and flour get mixed into a stiff dough and left on the counter overnight, and that slow start is what gives ciabatta its big irregular holes and chewy crust. Next day it joins more flour, yeast, salt and water, and the dough will be sticky enough to argue with you. A dough scraper is the tool that makes it manageable.
Get the full tutorial at Foodness Gracious.
11. Easy Beignets
Fried dough under an unreasonable quantity of powdered sugar, which is the correct amount of powdered sugar for a beignet. This one is built on choux pastry rather than a yeast dough, so there is no rise to wait on: water, butter, sugar and salt come to a boil, a cup of flour goes in, then four eggs one at a time. They puff into rounds in the oil instead of the flat squares you get at Cafe du Monde. Best eaten standing at the stove within a minute of coming out, because no beignet has ever improved by waiting.
Get the full tutorial at Rasa Malaysia.
12. Easy Crusty French Bread
Do not punch this dough down. That is stated in capital letters in the recipe and it matters, because the air you knock out is the open crumb you were hoping for. It is a slack, wet dough that looks shaggy and wrong at the mixing stage and comes right in the bowl. One hour rise, then a Dutch oven, and no overnight wait. One loaf, six to eight servings, two and a half hours all in.
Get the full tutorial at Life as a Strawberry.
13. Small Batch Focaccia
A half cup of olive oil across two and a half cups of flour, half of it in the dough and half in the pan, which is what gives focaccia that fried bottom crust people fight over. The yeast gets a full 15 minutes to go visibly foamy before it joins the flour. The dough is sticky after five minutes of kneading and then 30 seconds on a floured surface fixes it entirely. Nine pieces and three sprigs of rosemary.
Get the full tutorial at Dessert for Two.
14. Easy White Bread
Two loaves from one batch, and the water temperature is the only place a beginner really goes wrong. Between 105 and 115F, held for five to ten minutes with the honey or sugar until it is visibly bubbly, or the yeast is dead and nothing that follows will save it. Six cups of flour to start and up to six and three quarters if the dough needs it. Knead eight to ten minutes, rise one to two hours, bake at 375F.
Get the full tutorial at My Homemade Heaven.
15. Perfect Dinner Roll Recipes
Twenty four rolls from one batch, and the shaping method is worth stealing for any roll recipe. Press the risen dough into an eight by twelve rectangle, cut four long strips, then cut each strip into six, and you get twenty four pieces of identical size without weighing anything. Two and a half tablespoons of yeast is a lot, which is why the first rise is only about 30 minutes. Butter over the top as they come out.
Get the full tutorial at Your Homebased Mom.
16. Pandesal, Filipino Bread Rolls
Pandesal gets rolled in breadcrumbs before the final rise, which is what gives the outside that faintly sandy texture and the inside its softness by contrast. Half a cup of sugar and a third of a cup of canola oil make them just sweet enough to eat with coffee or hot chocolate rather than with dinner. Twenty five pieces, and the dough wants a full ten minutes in the mixer with flour added a tablespoon at a time.
Get the full tutorial at Woman Scribbles.
17. Homemade Potato Bread Recipe
Two full cups of mashed potato go into three cups of bread flour, and that starch is the reason the crust softens as the loaf cools rather than staying crisp, which is exactly what you want for children and sandwiches. It kneads in three or four minutes in a stand mixer or about five by hand, proofs an hour in the warmest spot in your house, and makes one large loaf or two small. Leftover mash has a purpose now.
Get the full tutorial at Happy Foods Tube.
18. Homemade Garlic Knots
Six cloves of fresh garlic and a teaspoon and a half of garlic powder, which sounds like too much and is not. Bread flour rather than all purpose is what gives them the chew, the dough rises 90 minutes, and the butter and parsley mixture goes on after baking rather than before so the garlic does not burn. Sixteen large knots, Parmesan over the top and marinara for dipping. They are good warm and still good at room temperature.
Get the full tutorial at Baker by Nature.
19. Artisan Bread
Flour, salt, yeast and water. Five minutes of stirring, then it sits on the counter for eight to twenty four hours while you do nothing at all. The dough should look dry and shaggy when you mix it, and if it looks wet instead you add another quarter cup of flour right then. Bake covered in a preheated dish at 450F for 30 minutes, then uncovered for about 15 more. This is the loaf to make first if you have never baked bread.
Get the full tutorial at It's Always Autumn.
20. Oatmeal Molasses Bread
Half a cup of molasses is doing more than sweetening here. It is why the loaves bake up genuinely brown rather than pale, and why the crumb stays moist. Old fashioned rolled oats go in with about three and a half cups of flour and you keep adding until the dough pulls away from the bowl, which in the writer’s case was four and a half cups total. Two loaves, a little over two hours. A crisp crust and a soft middle.
Get the full tutorial at Tornadough Alli.
21. No-Knead Baguette
Four ingredients and about two minutes of actual mixing, done with the handle of a wooden spoon rather than a mixer. Bread flour, salt, a mere three quarters of a teaspoon of yeast and room temperature water go in a bowl, get stirred until a ball forms with no dry flour at the bottom, and then rise for eight to ten hours at room temperature. That tiny amount of yeast over a long slow rise is exactly where baguette flavor comes from.
Get the full tutorial at DIY Joy.
22. Make-Ahead Buttery Bread Machine Rolls
Everything goes into the bread machine pan in order, you press DOUGH, and the machine does the part people find intimidating. Shape the finished dough into balls, then freeze them for up to a month if you want, which is what makes these a holiday recipe rather than a Tuesday one. Thaw completely and let them rise overnight before baking at 375F for 20 to 25 minutes. Half a cup of butter in the dough is why they taste the way they do.
Get the full tutorial at MomAdvice.
23. Southern-Style Spoon Bread
Spoon bread is closer to a savory pudding than to bread, creamy and soft enough that you serve it with a spoon, which is where the name comes from. A cup of cornmeal gets a cup of boiling water poured over it and whisked, then cools a few minutes before the baking powder, two cups of milk, three eggs and melted butter go in. The cast iron skillet preheats in a 375F oven with it. Seven ingredients and almost no technique.
Get the full tutorial at DIY Joy.
24. Pretzel Rolls
The baking soda bath is the step that makes a pretzel a pretzel, and it is half a cup of soda to twelve cups of water. That alkaline dip is what produces the dark mahogany crust and the particular flavor no amount of browning will fake. The dough itself is mild, made with milk heated to 130F, butter, honey and three cups of flour. Six rolls. Sesame, poppy seeds, coarse salt or shredded cheese on top before baking.
Get the full tutorial at Chef Savvy.
25. Homemade Sourdough Bread
This one comes with clock times rather than step numbers, which tells you what you are signing up for: levain at 9:15pm, autolyse at 8:30am, salt at 9:20am. A thousand grams of flour and a kilo of water makes it high hydration, so the dough will feel alarming in your hands and that is correct. Twenty four slices, a caramelized dark crust and an open crumb. Make it on a weekend you are already at home, not on a whim.
Get the full tutorial at Girl Versus Dough.
26. Classic Italian Bread
Six ingredients and a chewy crust, which is a very good return for two hours. Start with two of the two and a half cups of flour and knead in the rest only as the dough asks, ten minutes by hand until it is soft, smooth and elastic. One hour rise, shape, then a 400F oven. Twelve slices. This is the loaf to make when you are having pasta and you want something to mop the plate with.
Get the full tutorial at Girl Versus Dough.
27. French Brioche Bread
Three quarters of a cup of butter to two cups of flour, four eggs and only two tablespoons of milk. That ratio is the whole identity of brioche and it is why the dough behaves like nothing else you have handled. Ten minutes on medium speed until it is smooth and sticky, two hours at room temperature, then four hours or overnight in the refrigerator before it gets rolled into an eight by four rectangle for a 9×5 pan.
Get the full tutorial at It Bakes Me Happy.
28. Honey Whole Wheat Rolls
One hundred percent whole wheat rolls that are actually soft, and the reason is two tablespoons of vital wheat gluten plus a tablespoon of lemon juice in the dough. Whole wheat flour has less gluten to build structure with and the acid helps it along, which is the sort of thing worth knowing before you attempt whole wheat anything. Four cups of white whole wheat flour, a third of a cup of honey, fifteen rolls. Butter the tops warm.
Get the full tutorial at Cooking Classy.
29. One Hour Buttermilk Dinner Rolls
Fifty five minutes from start to table, and the trick is preheating the oven to its warm setting at 170F and letting the rolls rise in there. Butter, buttermilk and water get microwaved together to between 115 and 120F, and the mixture will look separated and curdled, which is fine and not a mistake. Three cups of flour first, then the fourth added slowly. Twelve rolls, or roll them into crescents if you would rather.
Get the full tutorial at Picky Palate.
30. Homemade Hawaiian Sweet Rolls
Half a cup of unsweetened pineapple juice is what makes these taste like the ones in the orange bag. Six tablespoons of sugar and four and a half cups of bread flour give the soft, faintly sweet crumb, and the dough needs a full two hours to double before it is shaped into fifteen rolls in a 13×9 pan. An egg wash before baking is what gives them the shine. They are very good the next day for sliders.
Get the full tutorial at Saving Room for Dessert.
31. Homemade Greek Pita Bread
Greek pita, the pocket kind, and it needs a genuinely hot oven more than it needs skill. Two cups of all purpose flour to half a cup of whole wheat, instant yeast, salt, a cup of water at around 105F and a tablespoon of olive oil. There is a mixer method and a hand method on the page and the hand version reserves a few tablespoons of flour for the board rather than the bowl. Eight pitas in about two hours.
Get the full tutorial at Just a Little Bit of Bacon.
32. Brioche Braid
The sponge sits for 40 to 45 minutes with a cup of flour sprinkled loosely over the top, and when cracks appear across that flour surface you know it is ready, which is a much better signal than watching a clock. The butter goes in bit by bit and must be soft and malleable but never warm or oily, or the dough will not take it. A stick and a half of butter, twelve servings, and 85 minutes.
Get the full tutorial at Woman Scribbles.
33. Outback Bread
The dark color is not molasses alone. A tablespoon of natural baking cocoa, the not Dutch process kind, goes in with the bread flour and that is what gets you the steakhouse loaf rather than a brown roll. Molasses and honey handle the sweetness, whole wheat flour gives it body. Sixteen rolls in a 9×13 or six small loaves, and they bake at 350F for 27 to 30 minutes. Serve with whipped butter or you have missed the point.
Get the full tutorial at It's Always Autumn.
34. Unbelievably Moist Banana Bread
Five eggs and two cups of sugar to two cups of flour is an unusual ratio for banana bread and it is exactly why this one is as moist as the name claims. The step people skip is letting the mixed batter sit in the bowl for a full hour at room temperature before it goes in the pan. Four or five small ripe bananas, and use two loaf pans, because the batter will overflow one. Sixty to sixty five minutes at 350F.
Get the full tutorial at Forks n Flip Flops.
35. 30 Minute Homemade Soft Pretzels
This dough only rests ten to thirty minutes, which is what makes soft pretzels a same day decision rather than a project. Nine cups of water with half a cup of baking soda is the quick bath, and that is the step that turns pale dough into a proper pretzel. Three and three quarter to four cups of flour, and if it gets sticky while you knead, sprinkle a teaspoon more at a time rather than dumping it in. Twelve pretzels.
Get the full tutorial at Sally's Baking Addiction.
36. Homemade Light Rye Bread
A quarter cup of cocoa powder and two thirds of a cup of molasses do not make this taste like chocolate. They make it look and taste like deli rye, which is the entire point. Two cups of rye flour to five of bread flour keeps it light rather than dense, and the caraway seeds are genuinely optional. Two loaves, 24 slices, and if you are making a Reuben this is the bread that will hold the sandwich together.
Get the full tutorial at Simply Recipes.
37. Homemade Einkorn Hamburger Buns
Einkorn is an ancient wheat and it behaves differently from modern flour, so follow this one as written rather than improvising the first time. Five and a half cups of einkorn flour, milk, two eggs, five tablespoons of melted butter and a packet of yeast. Only fifteen minutes of hands on work, then an hour and a half rise before the dough is divided into twelve balls. Baste with melted butter and add sesame seeds before baking.
Get the full tutorial at A Modern Homestead.
38. Best Bread Machine Bread
Six ingredients and ten minutes of preparation, and the only instruction that matters is the order. Warm water into the pan first, yeast sprinkled over it, sugar over the yeast, and five minutes to foam before the salt, oil and sifted flour go in on top. Salt kills yeast on direct contact, which is why it goes last. Basic white bread setting, press start, twelve slices. Take the loaf out of the pan as soon as it is done.
Get the full tutorial at Valentina's Corner.
39. Homemade Buttermilk Bread
Six ingredients and a loaf that slices beautifully for sandwiches. A cup and a half of buttermilk, two tablespoons each of melted butter and sugar, salt, three and a half cups of flour and a tablespoon of yeast. If the dough looks dry, add another splash of buttermilk before you commit, then mix on low for six or seven minutes or knead by hand for ten. Proper kneading is the part the recipe calls critical. Twelve slices, about two and a half hours.
Get the full tutorial at Butter With a Side of Bread.
40. Brioche Hamburger Buns
Four large eggs, a cup of all purpose flour, two cups of bread flour and a stick and a half of butter added a tablespoon at a time while the mixer works hard. Then four to twelve hours in the refrigerator, which is not optional, because cold butter-heavy dough is the only kind you can shape. Eight hamburger buns or sixteen sliders, egg washed twice, 20 to 22 minutes at 375F. The best bun you will ever put a burger on.
Get the full tutorial at Flour Arrangements.
41. No Knead Artisan Bread
Three cups of flour, salt, half a teaspoon of yeast and a cup and a half of warm water, stirred with a wooden spoon or your hands into a shaggy ball, then covered tightly and left 12 to 18 hours. The cast iron pot goes into the 450F oven empty and heats for 30 minutes before the dough goes in, and you do not grease it. That heat is what gives the crust its crack. Eight servings from one loaf.
Get the full tutorial at If You Give a Blonde a Kitchen.
42. Multigrain Bread
Start the day before. Ten grain cereal, rolled oats, quinoa, flax and sunflower seeds get moistened with a third of a cup of water and left out overnight, and that soaker is what stops the grains stealing moisture from the dough. Three tablespoons of cooked brown rice go in too, which is unusual and keeps it soft. Bread flour and whole wheat in equal parts, maple syrup and brown sugar for sweetness. One loaf in a 9×5 pan.
Get the full tutorial at Vanilla and Bean.
