Why buy bread when you can make your own?
You can give it that amazing flavor, high nutritive content, and better texture by simply using the right bread ingredients. The right ingredients is one of the most important aspects of bread making.
When you are able to control what goes into your food, you know what's going on your table. There's a lot of fear around food including breads. Before you leave this post today, be sure to read New Wheat Research Confirms "Bread of Life" is a Perfect Picture. You'll be amazed!
Plus, making your own bread is cheaper. For this reason, I also make my own flour at home. Freshly milled flour is tastier, more nutritious, and cheaper than store-bought flour!
So let’s get familiar with essential bread ingredients to guide you further in making the best bread you’ve ever tasted.
Essential Ingredients for Making Bread
Making bread is not as difficult as you think.
With just the right bread ingredients, as well as essential techniques, you can make the finest bread that you and your whole family will enjoy.
I have used many of these ingredients in some the following bread recipes:
Tasty and Healthy Unleavened Bread
So if you’re ready to start baking your own bread, here are the basic ingredients and what they are used for:
Yeast
Yeast comes in different types such as the old-fashioned, active dry, rapid rise, and instant.
Old-fashioned cake yeast has a short shelf life, so you need to use it as soon as possible. On the other hand, active dry yeast takes longer to expire than the cake yeast. You will need to add warm liquid to “activate” this active dry yeast.
As for the rapid rise, just like what the name implies, it causes your dough to quickly rise in half the length of time it normally takes yeast to rise. But the instant, or the SAF, you can add this straight to your floor. It is potent and can tolerate temperatures that change fast from cool to hot.
When you have opened a bag of yeast, you can store it in the freezer, and it is still good for a year. But if you only keep it in the fridge, it should still be fine in 6 months.
Vital Gluten
This bread ingredient has the gluten protein responsible for making the dough more stable. It is ideal for your low gluten flour or when you want to add extra ingredients to your bread such as seeds, grains and nuts. You can also add some vital gluten to lighten your loaf.
Lecithin
It may come in either powdered or granular, or could be in liquid form. Lecithin adds to the freshness of your bread.
If you want to add lecithin to your bread, you need to substitute oil with just 1 tablespoon of lecithin per load. You also have the option to add it in aside from the oil.
Fat/oil
Fat is more of an optional bread ingredient. But it does help in preserving the freshness of your loaf for a longer time. Explore Healing Fats in the Bible by clicking on the link.
If you are making sourdough or French bread, you will not use oils. In case you need to, be sure to use extra virgin olive oil, or other healthier options such as canola, sunflower, or cold-pressed safflower oil.
Salt
Salt helps in enhancing the bread’s flavor while controlling the yeast. If you put sea salt, this is typically heat-treated and has aluminum or sugar that serves as an anti-caking substance. Using Real Salt (the brand) is a good idea as it is obtained from the earth and has some minerals.
Liquids
For the liquids, you have the choice to use the liquid of your choices such as buttermilk, milk, fruit juice, or broths.
Additional Flavor-Enhancing Ingredients for Your Bread
We have discussed the basic ingredients, now let’s talk about a few more things you can add to your bread to make it truly scrumptious and even more nutritious!
Buttermilk
Do you like your bread to be a little on the tender side instead of dry and crispy?
Then you should add buttermilk to it. What it does is it boosts nutrition while creating a more tender crumbs.
Dough Enhancer
There are several components to a dough enhancer such as lecithin, whey powder, and vitamin C. But the ingredients can also vary based on the brand of dough enhancer you use.
What this ingredient does is it creates the right environment for your yeast to thrive. This is why the yeast can rise even higher, making the bread fluffier and softer.
When you add dough enhancer, this also makes the lifespan of the bread longer. Some types of bread that use this ingredient include waffles, muffins, and pancakes.
Sweetener
I absolutely love honey!
"My son, eat honey because it is good, And the honeycomb which is sweet to your taste. Know also that wisdom is like honey for you: If you find it, there is a future hope for you and your hope will not be cut off" (Proverbs 24:13-14)
This is a great ingredient that preserves your loaf while giving it an amazing flavor.
If you don’t like to use honey, you can opt for other sweeteners such as maple syrup, sorghum, molasses, and sucanat.
Sourdough
Sourdough has natural wild yeast, which means there is no addition of commercial yeast to it. This is why if you have allergies to commercial yeast, or you want to make pure sourdough, this is the ingredient to use.
Potato water or mashed potatoes
Add in some potato water to the mixture that will make your bread fluffier and softer.
And the best part?
It prolongs the shelf life and freshness of your bread!
Eggs
Enhance the protein component of your bread by adding some eggs. I also recommend using eggs to make your loaf last longer because these ingredients contain lecithin.
Vitamin C
Add one pinch of vitamin C to your bread mixture.
Not only does it add to the nutritive value of the bread but vitamin C is also essential in increasing the height of the bread while preventing gluten strands from getting weak.
Dough additions
Do you wish to add in some grains, oats, raisins, seeds, and nuts to your bread?
You absolutely can do this!
Just be sure to knead these ingredients into your dough at the final portion of the kneading time.
Upon the rising of the dough, you can brush the top part of the loaf with egg whites or sprinkle in some oats, cracked grain, seeds, and nuts on top.
Baking Time Info:
Adding fruits to your bread is a nice way to enhance the flavor and nutritive component. Just keep in mind that fruits mixed with the bread will result to a longer time for baking.
Bonus Pro Tips to Help You Make the Perfect Bread
There are a couple of techniques I would like to share with you to make your bread perfect. To learn even more, read my post on 17 Bread Making Tips to Bake the Perfect Bread All the Time.
One, the sponge method. This method helps your bread to become more flavorful while at the same time not impacting the gluten. Just mix all the wet ingredients first and add in the yeast and flour. Blend the mixture slightly and allow it to sit until it has doubled its size. You can then
add the other ingredients.
As for oiling, this means you need to spray some butter or oil on the pan. This helps the bread to slide in and tumble off of the pan without any difficulty.
Speaking of pan…
Be sure to use a pan with a narrow bottom and wide top. This helps the dough to rise and create a lovely, natural-rise loaf.
Bake the Finest Bread Today and See the Difference in Your Health!
Isn’t it just too simple to make bread at home?
There are only a few basic ingredients needed and the techniques are not even complex at all.
So make it a habit to eat more bread daily that is packed with nutrition. It is a great meal for snacks, lunch, and even breakfast.
Check out my post on Understanding the Importance of Bread in the Bible and in Our Lives to learn what scripture says about real bread.
Make your bread today and let me know how it turned out by sharing your comments down below. Chat you soon!
I do agree with all the ideas you have presented in your post. They are very convincing and will certainly work. Still, the posts are too short for starters. Could you please extend them a bit from next time? Thanks for the post.