Breads Category

Breads

In its simplest form, bread is made by combining flour, liquid, fat, salt, and a leavening agent (often yeast or baking soda) into a dough and baking it.

Bread will stay fresher longer if it's wrapped in an airtight bag and kept at room temperature. Don't store it in the refrigerator, but feel free to freeze any bread you can't eat within a couple of days.

To get substitutions for bread in general, click here.

Varieties:

bagel

A Jewish specialty, these ring-shaped rolls have a dense, chewy texture. They're usually served for breakfast after being sliced open, toasted, and smeared with cream cheese. The dough is sometimes studded with raisins, blueberries, onions, seeds, or herbs.

bialy

These chewy Jewish rolls have indentations on top which are filled with onions. Look for them in bagel shops.

bolillo, pan blanco

These are crusty Mexican sandwich rolls.

bread

To learn more about different varieties of bread, click here.

breadsticks, grissini, Italian breadsticks

Italians serve these crunchy breadsticks before Italian meals, to keep their guests occupied without filling them up too much. You can buy them plain, or flavored with sesame seeds, garlic, onion, or herbs.

brioche

This rich, slightly sweet yeast bread is made with eggs and butter, and sometimes with fruit or nuts.

challah

This Jewish yeast bread is made with eggs and butter. It's wonderfully soft and rich, and usually comes as a braided loaf.

ciabatta

Ciabatta ("slipper" in Italian) is a rustic bread with a heavy crust and a dense crumb.

corn rye bread, corn-rye bread

A staple of Jewish delicatessens, this rye bread is coated with cornmeal. It's often paired with corned beef.

croissant

These French crescent-shaped rolls are made with puff pastry, so they're wonderfully rich and tender. They're great for dunking into coffee, or for making sandwiches.

crumpet

These are moist yeast muffins that the British like to slather with butter or clotted cream and serve at teatime. You can buy them ready-made in larger supermarkets, or make them yourself with the help of a crumpet ring and griddle. Toast them before eating.

dreikornbrot

This German bread is made with rye flour.

English muffin

When split and toasted, these muffins have an uncanny ability to trap and hold butter and jam. They're often served at breakfast as an alternative to toast.

French bread, baguet, baguette, batarde, bâtarde, baton, ficelle

This is the traditional French bread that has a hard, dark brown crust and many large air pockets. The baguette = baguet (bah-GET) is the standard tube-shaped French bread, about two feet long. The bâtarde = batarde (buh-TARD) is a bit larger than a baguette, while the baton (bah-TOH), is a bit smaller, and the ficelle (fee-SELL) is much narrower.

Greek bread

Greek bread Learn more

Italian bread

Like French bread, Italian bread has a dark, hard crust and a slightly chewy interior.

kommisbrot

This German rye bread has a fine texture and is often thinly sliced.

kugelhopf

This German specialty is a sweetened yeast bread with currants and almonds baked inside. It's usually shaped in a ring and served at breakfast.

kulich, Russian Easter bread

Russians serve this rich, sweetened yeast bread at Easter. It typically has raisins in it and icing on top.

limpa bread, Swedish limpa bread, Swedish rye bread, sweet rye bread

This delicious and fragrant rye bread is usually flavored with molasses, anise seed, and orange peel. Despite its exquisite flavor, it's hard to find in the United States.

Portuguese sweet bread, Hawaiian bread, pao duce

Portuguese sweet bread

This sweet and tender bread is great for making French toast or for nibbling.

Pugliese bread, pan Pugliese

This simple, crusty bread hails from Puglia, Italy, and is great for making sandwiches or dipping into olive oil. Some producers flavor it with olives or cheese.

pumpernickel bread

pumpernickel bread

This heavy and slightly sour bread is made with molasses and a blend of rye and wheat flours. It's often cut into thin slices and used for appetizers.

raisin bread

This bread is studded with raisins and often flavored with cinnamon. It's usually served as toast for breakfast.

Russian black bread

Russian black bread Learn more

rye bread

This is a favorite of Northern Europeans, who use it to make hearty sandwiches. Most of it is made with both rye and wheat flours. There are dozens of varieties, ranging from light tan to almost black.

sourdough bread

sourdough bread

A San Francisco specialty, this is French bread made with a special starter of yeast and bacteria that imparts a pleasant, sour taste to the bread. It's especially good with seafood.

starter breads, pain au levain, pane lievito naturale

These are breads that are made with a starter instead of fresh yeast. A starter is a mixture of flour, water, and baker's yeast that been set out so that it can be colonized by airborne yeast and friendly bacteria. Starters lend a special character to the bread--sourdough bread, for example, needs to be made with a starter to acquire a sour flavor.

white bread

white bread Learn more

zatar bread, manakeesh, manaeesh

zatar bread Learn more