10 Absolute Best Breads To Bake For Beginners

Bread making is something that intimidates many home cooks. Even though humans have been making bread since ancient times, it can seem like an overly complicated and scary task if you're not experienced with it. In truth, it can be a really simple thing if you give it a chance, especially if you start with some easier breads. I used to think bread and all forms of baking were completely out of my wheelhouse. That's until we had "bread week" at culinary school and I discovered the joy of making bread from scratch. With a few simple insights and a lot of practice over the years, making bread has become a weekly (or sometimes, daily) thing in my household and catering business. It's truly a marvel what you can create with a couple of household ingredients like flour, water, salt, and yeast (and sometimes you don't even need yeast).

Although you may have watched from a distance, or even participated in the wave of sourdough baking during the pandemic, there are plenty of bread recipes that are a lot more accessible, and a good way to sharpen your bread making skills. It's a good idea to build your confidence before moving onto some of the trickier ones. These are some of my picks when I want to make quick breads with less hassle. Whether you're a complete newbie, or just want to expand your repertoire with easy breads, here are the absolute best breads to bake for beginners.

If you've never made bread before in your life, a good place to start would be to make flatbread. You don't need to worry about whether the dough rises enough since you don't need it to rise. Flatbreads like pita bread are just as tasty and satisfying as other breads, and they're a good way to experience the feeling of bringing together flour with other ingredients to make dough. It comes together really quickly, and there's plenty of room for error. You don't even need yeast, resting time, or even to turn on the oven. I make easy pita bread by mixing together flour, yogurt, and baking powder only. It doesn't even require any kneading. Just combine everything and mix it until it forms a rough ball of dough and then cut and roll them into rounds. Then, cook them on each side on a dry pan on the stove.

Once you've made the super basic pita bread, you can move on to a fluffier, Greek-style pita bread, which is also really simple, but requires a little kneading and a little yeast. Don't be afraid to move, shape, and rub the dough however feels intuitive to you as you figure out how to knead dough. Then, leaving the yeast to work for about an hour in your dough gives you a softer, airier pita bread before dividing it up to cook it up in a frying pan.

White dinner rolls are a classic bread to have with your meal, and baking them yourself couldn't be more rewarding. There's nothing better than warm bread, just out of the oven. The smell is enough to make you feel comforted, but biting into a fluffy, warm roll can be the most perfect way to make you and your family feel loved. Now, you might think this is out of your reach, but the truth is that it's totally possible for you to have that.

Even if you've never opened a packet of yeast before, it's still something anyone can achieve. Plus, if you have no experience kneading dough, yeast can do all the heavy lifting for you if you give it enough time. These five-ingredient yeast rolls are a great place to start getting used to yeast. You'll need some active dry yeast, bread flour, water, salt, a neutral vegetable oil like avocado oil, and some sugar. The sugar will help activate your yeast, so you'll start by mixing some warm water with the yeast and sugar. In a few minutes, your water will bubble and turn foamy. If it doesn't, that means your yeast is old and won't work. In fact, this is always a good trick to test your yeast before you mix it in with your dough.

After mixing all your ingredients together, you form it into a ball and let it rest for an hour before giving it a quick knead, dividing it into balls, and placing them in your baking dish with spaces in between each one, and letting them rest for another hour. After that, bake them in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Voilà, you've got freshly baked rolls to have with your dinner.

Anyone who is learning how to bake bread should learn how to make soda bread. It's a delicious, hardy bread that couldn't be easier to make. Traditional Irish soda bread is made with just four ingredients, all-purpose flour, buttermilk, baking soda, and salt. There are different types that use whole wheat flour, rye, or even additions like sugar and raisins, but if you're starting out, start with these four basics. The buttermilk and baking soda work as the leavening agent that will help your bread rise, without needing any yeast. You don't need to rest it for proofing, or even knead it. The ingredients work as the bread bakes, resulting in a cakey bread that is dense and satisfying.

So, if you can make cake, you can make soda bread. All you need to do is mix everything together until it forms a loose dough, then place it in the oven to bake for about 45 minutes, or until the bread has a beautiful golden brown exterior. You can eat it as is with some butter, or slice it up to make some delicious sandwiches. It's also the perfect bread to serve with some creamy or chunky soup or a saucy meal that needs something to mop up the sauce.

Focaccia is a chewy, rich bread that is hard not to love. It's drenched in olive oil, which almost fries the dough from the outside, creating that crisp exterior and a fluffy, chewy center that makes it so good texturally. It's perfectly delicious on its own, but you can also make a decadent focaccia sandwich with it by slicing it in half and adding cheese, cold cuts, tomatoes, or any other sandwich fillings you love. Luckily, it's also a relatively easy bread to make for beginners, but you need to give it time to let the yeast get to work in order to create that bubbly texture we like. It's best to leave it to rest overnight, so make it the day before you want to bake it.

All you need is some dry active yeast, salt, olive oil, and all-purpose flour to make this easy homemade focaccia recipe. If you have an electric mixer, this recipe gets even easier, as the mixer will make the dough for you. But don't worry if you don't, you can mix everything by hand or with a wooden spoon until everything is incorporated into a rough dough. Cover and refrigerate it for at least 12 hours before taking it out and stretching it into a well oiled sheet pan. You'll leave it to rest again at room temperature for about another hour or two, until the dough rises and has little bubbles. Then is the fun part of oiling it all over and using your fingers to make those signature focaccia dimples. This is also the step where you can add all sorts of toppings you might like, from simple herbs like rosemary, to olives, cherry tomatoes, cheese, and more. Focaccia tends to bake quickly, and it should be ready in about 15 to 20 minutes.

If you frequent bakeries you'll likely have seen artisan breads everywhere. You might interpret artisan as something fancy or even a little complicated, but at its heart, artisan bread just means homemade, or handmade bread. While it tends to have a sort of rustic, crusty, appearance, it doesn't actually have any specific rules about what it must look or taste like. It's actually completely up to you how you want it to turn out. A basic artisan bread also doesn't usually need much fussing with at all. In fact, a simple artisan bread doesn't need any kneading.

To make a no knead artisan bread, mix together some bread flour, instant yeast, warm water, and salt in a bowl with a spatula or wooden spoon. It might take a minute to come together into a dough, but don't worry if at first it doesn't look like it will. Just keep mixing and the dough will transform from a dry, shaggy mess into a more uniform mixture. Now, how long you leave it to rest or proof is up to you. The longer you leave it, the more flavor and texture it will develop, so I recommend leaving it refrigerated overnight. If you want to have it on the same day though, about two hours rest should do the trick. Then shape it into one big bread loaf, or cut into smaller loaves, it's totally up to you, and bake for about 20 minutes in a hot oven (about 475 degrees Fahrenheit), or until golden brown and a good crust has developed.

Another flatbread that's super simple to make is naan. This Indian flatbread dough comes together in a couple of minutes and about an hour in resting time. You'll need all-purpose flour, yeast, sugar, and yogurt (and some optional ghee or butter to slather on at the end). The addition of yogurt helps keep the bread tender and moist. However, the secret to a truly delicious naan is kneading. You can't skip this step, and in fact, it's integral to the tradition of making naan. So get your hands in there and knead the dough for about 10 minutes. It should become smooth and elastic, and that's when you know it's ready to cook up.

While nothing beats naan made by a professional, who would make naan in a traditional tandoor oven, at home, you can make the next best thing on your stovetop in a hot skillet. Roll out your naan into flat rounds, and get your skillet nice and hot. Once your naan starts puffing up and has little charred bits on the bottom side, flip it to the other side until the same effect happens on the other side. Your naan is now ready to be eaten. Make the most of it by eating it warm, just off the skillet. It's heavenly.

For anyone who wants to rustle up a quick bread to serve guests or feed a craving, I always recommend making cornbread. Luckily, this American classic is loved by all, and always a hit at any brunch or dinner party. While it may appear that cornbread veers into the cake territory, if we're being technically correct, cornbread can be considered a "quick bread" as it doesn't need yeast, or any kneading. It's leavened by baking soda instead, so it also doesn't need time to proof or rise before you bake it.

While many recipes use both wheat flour and cornmeal together for the perfect soft but earthy texture, you can also forgo wheat flour altogether and make cornbread totally gluten free. Like with other quick bread recipes, all you need to do is mix all your batter ingredients together, pour your batter in a baking pan or skillet and bake in an oven or even on the stove. You can flavor your cornbread in all sorts of ways, by adding herbs, spices, cheese, or even things like honey, as in this honey and sage skillet cornbread recipe. Serve your cornbread with a bowl of chili, some beef stew, beans, or even some fried chicken or barbecue ribs. It's also great with some butter and a cup of coffee in the morning, with eggs for breakfast or brunch, or as a delicious on the go snack.

Unless you're quite familiar with North African food, it's possible that you've never heard of harcha before. A popular type of bread in Morocco, harcha is an easy bread that uses semolina instead of regular wheat flour. Although it's flat, it's not like other North African flatbreads, and is something more similar to an English muffin, with a slightly rougher texture, almost akin to cornbread. Many people make harcha at home daily, as it's super easy to make, and only requires four ingredients: semolina, salt, olive oil, and baking powder. While olive oil is essential to North African cooking and baking, it's a little less so in the United States. Even so, don't try to substitute it for another oil, as olive oil is crucial to the flavor of harcha and what makes it so tasty.

The dough comes together in seconds as you mix some fine semolina with your salt, baking powder, and olive oil. In my experience, it's easier to use your hands than to use a spoon or spatula, as you can feel the texture really clearly, and it's really easy to work with. Once you have a kind of sandy mixture, you'll slowly add in a cup of water, until everything is mixed well and you have a wet dough. Like with other flatbreads, you divide and shape the dough into flat rounds and cook in a pan on the stove on both sides until golden brown and cooked through. Enjoy with some honey, butter and jam, or cheese.

If you're going to learn the first steps of bread making, then it's a good idea to have a basic white sandwich bread loaf in your repertoire. It's an uncomplicated bread, that's pretty forgiving, and a good way to practise your kneading skills. Like many bread recipes, it's made using bread flour, instant yeast, sugar, water, and salt. However, it often also contains things like whole milk and butter, adding some richness to the bread, resulting in a softer and tastier crumb.

A sandwich loaf usually requires you to knead your dough until it forms a smooth ball of dough. If you've got an electric mixer, this step is a breeze, as it will knead the dough for you. When using your hands though, kneading can be done in different ways. I prefer to use the heels of my hand to push the dough away from me in order to stretch it, then flip it over and continue this motion on all sides of it. It doesn't have to be a perfect technique, but the more you do it, the more intuitive it will feel. This dough then needs to be left to rise twice. First just after kneading, then again after you've shaped it into your loaf pan before baking. Making a sandwich loaf will surely get your confidence up and help you work on your bread making skills.

Another great bread to sharpen your baking chops with is ciabatta. Hilariously, this Italian bread has an interesting origin story, and apparently ciabatta was invented to spite the French. It turns out that French baguettes had become so popular in Italy in the '80s that Italian bakers needed to find a worthy rival. Thus, ciabatta was created to meet the versatile needs you might want for a daily bread. Its wider shape made it better suited for Italian sandwich toppings like cured meats. Its rustic form also makes it great to work with since it's not fragile and won't crumble with ease.

Fortunately, ciabatta is a relatively accessible bread to bake, and you can even find some no-knead ciabatta recipes. The trick with ciabatta is to know that the dough needs to be wet and sticky. It's a high hydration bread which is the reason you get those desirable air pockets that make its texture so chewy. If you feel like the dough is too wet and you feel the desire to add more flour, remind yourself that you're on the right path. The dough needs to be left to proof for about an hour or an hour and a half, then shape into a longish form in a baking tray, and it will be ready to bake.