19 of Our Favorite Yeast Bread Recipes, From No-Knead Loaves to Martha-Level Boules
Sweet or savory, these baked goods are fluffy, airy, and just plain delicious.
Mike Krautter
A packet of yeast, whether active dry or instant, is one of the most unassuming-looking items you'll find in our kitchen pantry. But, as these yeast bread recipes prove, this simple-seeming ingredient can transform flour, water, and salt into magic.
Whether you want to make a simple loaf of white bread or a not-so-simple multigrain affair, yeast is the ticket to keeping that bread fluffy and light. It's also a key ingredient in pizza dough, focaccia, and all kinds of pull-apart breads. Yeast also pops up in sweet recipes (even in donuts!).
You’ll find recipes for a wonderful array of yeasty goodness here, from simple and straightforward to more involved options that will let you fully immerse yourself in the cozy, oh-so-satisfying world of yeast breads. Dive in—the water is perfectly lukewarm (IYKYK!).
Related: Our Favorite One-Bowl Baking Recipes That Make Cleanup a Breeze
Multigrain Bread
Rachel Marek
This chock-full-of-goodness bread includes whole-wheat, rye, and all-purpose flour, along with bulgur, rolled oats, flaxseeds, and sunflower seeds. Despite its heartiness, it's still light and airy.
Mozzarella-Stuffed Garlic and Herb Bread
This stuffed masterpiece starts with one layer of dough on the bottom, then a layer of mozzarella, followed by another layer of dough, topped with Parmesan and a smattering of Italian seasonings. As it bakes, the cheese melts, and the dough puffs lightly. Serve it with marinara for dipping, and you've essentially reinvented the pizza in one very delicious way.
No-Knead Tomato Focaccia
With a tender middle and lightly crisp edges, this focaccia is just plain delicious. Try using a mixture of red and yellow tomatoes for an intriguing look.
Kaiser Rolls
Rachel Marek
Kaiser rolls are crusty, round, topped with poppy or sesame seeds, and delicious buttered or filled with sandwich fixings. This recipe takes you through each step of making them, complete with a tutorial on creating their signature knot on top.
Pull-Apart Garlic Bread
It's soft, pillowy, garlicky, and you don't need a knife for this irresistible bread. It's a side that threatens to upstage the main course—it's that good.
Quick Basic Pizza Dough
Grant Webster
A recipe you'll use again and again, this useful dough goes far beyond pizza. Think: stromboli, garlic knots, calzone, pull-apart bread, focaccia, sticky buns, and more.
Cinnamon Rolls
The surprise ingredient in these tasty breakfast rolls? Potato. It delivers a loftiness that's hard to achieve otherwise (and we promise you won't taste any potato!).
Classic White Bread
This humble loaf is just the thing to serve with a bowl of soup or toasted and spread with jam for breakfast. It's a great reminder of the beauty of the simple things in life.
No-Knead Olive and Cheese Loaf
With a crusty exterior from baking in a Dutch oven and an enticing combination of aged Gruyère and green Spanish olives, this delightful bread needs no accompaniment (except perhaps a glass of wine).
Artisan Boule
A round loaf of crusty bread is a work of art. And with this recipe, it's art anyone can make. Follow our step-by-step instructions, and you'll soon become a master.
Whole-Grain Bread
Whole-wheat flour, wheat bran, coarse whole-grain cornmeal, old-fashioned oats, and ground flaxseed are the powerhouses in this nutritious loaf. A small amount of dark brown sugar offers a subtle sweetness.
Soft Pretzels
A homemade hot pretzel with an array of mustards for dipping puts any store-bought version to shame. Be sure to use coarse ground pretzel salt for that authentic look, flavor, and texture.
Soft, Buttery Dinner Rolls
Dana Gallagher
For a wonderfully comforting side dish to nearly any meal (particularly Thanksgiving!), classic dinner rolls are a must. You can freeze the rolls before baking, too, which is a great time-saver around the holidays.
Pumpernickel Bread
With its familiar dark brown color and dense texture, pumpernickel is a beloved bread that's especially wonderful spread with butter or topped with cream cheese and smoked salmon. This recipe calls for unsweetened chocolate, molasses, and ground caraway seeds for deep, rich flavor.
Homemade Bagels
There are a few tricks to making delicious bagels at home: for a chewy inside and crisp outside, boil the bagels quickly before baking them in a hot oven. And for beautiful browning, incorporate barley malt extract into the dough.
Multigrain English Muffins
These hearty English muffins might ruin you for the store-bought version forever. They're made with an intriguing mix of grains, including all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, rolled oats, wheat germ, whole flaxseed, and caraway seeds. Buttermilk lends the slightest tang.
Cheese Danish
Rachel Marek
With a cardamom-scented dough and a lemony, raisin-spiked cheese filling, these pastries are the stuff breakfast dreams are made of.
Deep-Dish Pizza Dough
The non-negotiable in this iconic dough is butter: it gives the baked dough a flaky, irresistible texture. Beyond deep-dish pizza, this dough is also great as a base for a skillet pizza.
Glazed Yeast Donuts
Unlike cake donuts, yeast donuts are light and fluffy, with an airiness that's impossible to achieve without yeast. Dip them in a lemon, strawberry, or chocolate glaze for a sweet and slightly crunchy finish.
Read the original article on Martha Stewart.
