Bread: Different Types, Ingredients, and Recipes

Bread is a basic food staple. In some countries, it's the primary sustenance of every meal and there are as many forms of bread as we can imagine. Let's review some of them so that we can create our favorite bread.

Currently, there are many different types of bread available that we can enjoy as part of a balanced and healthy diet. Up next, we’ll give you the recipes for different kinds of bread.

White bread

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of whole wheat flour
• Half a teaspoon of salt
• 1.5 teaspoons of dry yeast
• 2/3 of a cup of water

Preparation:

• On a clean surface, sift the flour with the salt and make a hole in the center.
• Heat the water in a bowl and add the dry yeast with a pinch of sugar; let it sit for 15 minutes to activate the yeast.
• Place the yeast in the hole and mix it with the flour to form a dough. Knead it for about 20 minutes until you have a soft dough that stretches easily.
• Spread oil on the dough, cover it and leave in a warm place for about three hours.
• When the time has passed, knead the dough again for about five minutes. The dough will have doubled its original size.
• Give the bread the desired shape and cut a cross shape in the center, so it can form a crust. Put the bread in an oven tray.
• Preheat the oven to 400°F and cook the bread for 15 minutes at 375°F.
• Let the bread cool, so that it can be eaten. It can be kept for several days in an airtight container.

Whole wheat bread

Ingredients:

• 5 cups of whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• A pack of dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon of brown sugar
• Water
• 1 tablespoon of white flour (to sprinkle)

Preparation:

• Dissolve the yeast in half a cup of water, along with a pinch of sugar. Let it rest for about 10 minutes.
• Grease a bread mold and set it aside while preparing the dough.
• Put the whole wheat flour in a bowl, together with the salt and make a hole in the middle, ready to add the yeast mixture. Knead while adding 1.25 cups of water to form a dough. To this, we will add sugar and salt.
• Mix and lightly punch the dough for about two minutes, so that it doesn’t stick to the bowl. It has to have a soft texture and the ability to stretch.
• Pour the dough into the previously greased mold, cover it, and let it rest in a warm place for about 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 400°F. Sprinkle some white flour on top of the dough, and bake for half an hour.
• Let the bread cool down before serving. It can last up to five days.

Bread loaf

Ingredients:

• 2.25 cups of hard wheat flour (for a spongier bread and a more tender crumb)
• 0.3 cups of water
• 2.25 teaspoons of fresh yeast
• 0.3 cups of milk
• 1.25 tablespoons of sugar
• 2 cups of butter
• 1 teaspoon of salt

Preparation:

• Mix all of the ingredients in a large bowl until a homogeneous mixture is formed without lumps. Subsequently, cover it and let it rest for about 15 minutes.
• Knead for about 10 minutes on a surface that’s already floured. Stretch and fold it into itself to make it easier to work with and for a better consistency. Let it rest for one hour in a warm place so that it ferments.
• Give the bread the proper form and insert it into a bread mold.
• In case you use a metal mold, you’ll have to grease it with butter or oil to prevent sticking. The ideal option is a silicone mold, as this doesn’t need to be greased and also doesn’t stick.
• Let it rest again for one hour in a warm place so that the dough doubles its volume and fills the mold completely.
• Preheat the oven to 420°F for 10 minutes and if you want the bread to have a crust, you can paint the dough with milk.
• Put the dough in the oven for half an hour and flip it over halfway through cooking, so that it browns on all sides.
• Remove it from the oven, remove the mold and let it cool so that the structure settles and it’s easy to cut.

Other types of bread

In addition to these three bread recipes, we can find many other kinds of healthy bread in bakeries and supermarkets. These include: bread with wheat bran, unleavened, rye, cornbread, oat bread, spelt bread, toasted, with nuts, or without salt.