Bread needs four ingredients to work: flour (structure), water (activates gluten and yeast), yeast (rise), and salt (flavor and controlling how fast the yeast works). Everything else — eggs, fat, sugar, milk — changes texture and flavor, but isn't strictly required.
The Comment That Was Better Than My Post
As I described in How to Make Bread and then again in Basic Bread Recipe, most bread recipes include four ingredients (not counting the sugar that the yeast ate) and a very straightforward mixing method.
There are infinite types of yeast bread in the world, everything from bagels to pizza, focaccia to cinnamon rolls, cheese bread to laminated yeast dough croissants.
If you study the recipes carefully, you will find that they are all based on these four bread-making ingredients. Yes, substitutions and additions can and should be made, but the essential four ingredients stand.
Now, let’s look at some of those substitutions and additions, as well as some tweaks to our baking procedure to give us exactly the taste and texture we want.
Start Here
- The core four: Flour, water, yeast, salt. That's genuinely all you need for real bread — everything else is an add-on.
- Why weight matters more than volume: A cup of flour packed into the measuring cup weighs more than a cup spooned in loosely. Same recipe, same cup, different amount of flour — that's the kind of inconsistency that makes bread baking feel unpredictable when it's really just a measuring problem.
Think Like a Baker
- Most bread problems aren't really about the recipe — they're about measurement. If your loaf comes out dense one week and fine the next using the "same" recipe, check how you're scooping flour before you blame the yeast.
Yeast
- What it does: Eats sugar, gives off gas, makes your dough rise.
- Fresh/cake yeast: Hard to find, goes moldy, can be temperamental — most home bakers skip it.
- Instant/rapid-rise: Goes straight into the dry ingredients, no proofing needed. Faster rise, but you trade off some flavor.
- Active dry: Needs proofing first — warm water, a bit of sweetener, wait till it's bubbly. This is probably still the best all-around choice.
Flour
- What it does: Gives the bread its structure. Wheat flour has two proteins — gliadin and glutenin — that combine with water to form gluten, which is what lets the dough stretch, rise, and then set.
- Protein content matters: More protein means more gluten. Bread flour and high-gluten flour (made from hard winter wheat) have the most.
- Substituting other flours: Rice and corn flour have no gluten at all, so you need at least some white bread flour mixed in to get a real rise. Whole wheat, rye, spelt, oat, and others all work in a blend.
Salt
- What it does: Adds flavor, but also controls how fast the yeast works.
- Too little salt: Yeast runs unchecked, dough over-rises and can collapse.
- Too much salt: Yeast gets choked out, dough won't rise enough.
- The right salt-to-yeast ratio is doing more work than people realize — it's not just there for taste.
Water
- What it does: Activates gluten formation and wakes up the yeast. No water, no dough — just a pile of flour, salt, and yeast sitting there.
- Hard vs. soft water: Harder water actually makes for a more stable dough than soft water.
Optional Ingredients: Fat, Eggs, Sugar, Milk
- Fat (butter, olive oil): Gets in the way of gluten formation, so the loaf won't rise as high — but it adds real flavor and keeps the crumb tender.
- Eggs: Act as a leavening agent themselves (same reason genoise and angel food cake rise so well), and the yolk's fat tenderizes the crumb. Also contain lecithin, which helps the dough's overall consistency.
- Sugar: Feeds the yeast, but extra beyond what the yeast can eat adds sweetness, helps browning, and holds onto moisture to slow staling. Too much sugar weakens gluten, so keep it under about 2 tablespoons per cup of flour unless you're also adding vital wheat gluten.
- Milk: Makes for a more tender, sweeter loaf. The lactose in milk doesn't get eaten by the yeast, so it stays and adds a subtle sweetness. Dough made with milk also browns faster.
What Most Bakers Get Wrong
- Measuring flour by volume instead of weight: This is the one I got called out on. A packed cup and a spooned-in cup aren't the same amount of flour, and that's enough to throw off a whole recipe without you doing anything else wrong.
- Adding eggs without adjusting the liquid: A reader named Kathryn shared a good fix for this in the comments — add the egg to your measuring cup first, then top up with water or milk to the line your recipe calls for. That way the liquid ratio stays where it should be.
- Assuming store-bought bread and homemade bread should taste the same in an hour: A reader pointed out that what supermarket bread actually skips is time, not some secret ingredient — and that's the truth of it. Flavor in bread mostly comes from giving the yeast time to work, not from anything you can shortcut.
Time and Flavor
- Time matters more than any ingredient: Real bread flavor comes from giving the yeast time to fully work through its cycle — rush that, and no ingredient swap makes up for it.
- Single rise vs. longer rise: A single rise gets you decent bread. A longer, slower rise gets you better bread — that's really the whole trade-off.
- Ways to add time: A slower, cooler rise. Refrigerating the dough overnight. Even holding back a bit of dough from a previous batch and mixing it into the next one.
- The sponge method: Mix your yeast, liquid, and half the flour, then let it sit for 2–3 hours before adding the rest and continuing as normal. It's a low-effort way to buy the dough extra time without changing your schedule much.
The Crust of the Matter
Even with the exact same dough, you can get a different crust depending on what you do right before and during baking:
- Crackly, shiny crust: Comes from steam. Boil water in a cast-iron skillet at the bottom of the oven, toss in ice chips, or spray the dough with water before it goes in — any of these work. For the best crackle, spray the dough and add steam.
- Soft crust: Just skip the steam entirely. Brushing the crust with butter right out of the oven helps too.
- Golden, shiny crust: Egg wash before baking — just keep it off the rim of the pan, or it can glue the bread down and stop it from rising properly.
- Soft, sweet crust: Brush with milk and a little sugar before baking.
- Sweet, sticky crust: Brush with simple syrup or honey right out of the oven.
- Shiny, soft crust: Brush with olive oil before and after baking.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to weigh my ingredients, or are measuring cups good enough?
Weighing is more accurate — a packed cup of flour and a loosely spooned cup can differ enough to change how your bread turns out, even with the same recipe.
Why did my bread come out dense after I added an egg?
The egg needs to be counted as part of your liquid, not added on top of it — measure the egg into your liquid measuring cup first, then add water or milk up to the line your recipe calls for.
Can you over-knead bread dough?
Yes — over-kneading can break down the gluten structure you just built, so more isn’t always better once the dough is smooth and elastic.
Why does restaurant bread taste more flavorful than mine even with a similar recipe?
Time is usually the difference — a longer rise, or refrigerating the dough overnight, gives the yeast more time to develop flavor that a fast rise can’t match.
Does bread flour actually make a noticeable difference over all-purpose?
Yes — bread flour has more protein, which means more gluten and a lighter, better rise, especially for chewier styles like French bread.
What’s the deal with cup sizes being inconsistent between recipes?
US and Imperial cup measurements aren’t the same size, and how you scoop matters too — this is exactly why weighing ingredients in grams is more reliable.
72 Responses
Thank you very much for this article. I’ve been baking homemade bread for a few months now, and I was certainly ready for these finer details. You’ve explained many things very clearly and saved me lots of ‘Google’ time.
These are great tips. I’m planning to make bread for sale as a gourmet type of bread and was looking around for ways to make the bread even better. Your tips are just what I was looking for as I was stuck for ideas after experimenting for a while.
Thank you very much.
This blog is AWESOME!! I’ve been baking bread for just about a year. It started off as a Home Economics event for my 3 homeschooled children. They eat so much bread that I demanded that they learn how to make it. They LOVE making bread now and so do I. I so appreciate all the great tips you have provided. I already feel like I am a great bread maker and your tips will help me to excel even more. I feel very accomplished when I pull bread from the oven especially since I do not own (or desire to have) a bread machine. Again, many thanks and blessings!!! Happy New Year!!!
All my sons learned early elementary to make their own breads, pizzas, breadsticks by using the bread machine..they learned to follow recipes and create their own dough cycle bread to create their desired end product. In fact, they figured if they put all in a tupperware contains, sans the liquids, they could do it faster. Herbs from the garden, tupperware from baking fridge, olive oil and milk from fridge..they labeled masking tape on tupperware what they needed to add. FIx 10 containers at a time and store in baking fridge in basement. Yes, they learned to kneed this too. And let it rest.
Tee Jenkins post
“I feel very accomplished when I pull bread from the oven especially since I do not own (or desire to have) a bread machine”……
Bread machines are smaller sized ovens.. And I accomplish top quality gourmet breads from mine. Since utilities are very high in Hawaii, my bread machine is equal to oven baking but much more economical! The only thing I would personally would rather use is wood fired oven! not that it makes it any better…
I have a bread machine, but I use it to mix/knead and do the first rise. I then put 1 cup of water in the microwave for 3 minutes, till boiling, and then I put the bread (which has been put into pans) into the microwave for 1 hour after which I put the loaf(s) into a preheated oven for 20 – 25 minutes. The benefit of this is that it doesn’t matter how cold my kitchen is (it is next door to an outside door). I don’t like the holes when a bread is made in the bread machine, but this takes care of that problem, making it easier to make bread/
Thanks Valerie for your suggestions to Tee.
TQ for the great tips… I am more confident now to teach my friends @ my office. I am experimenting my bread with my homemade buttermilk , cream cheese and clarifed butter.
Thank you for your hard work. It was a big help and my bread is now so much better.
Very helpful for my breadmakeing skills!
Hi, I tried to add one egg to my basic, fool-proof recipe for bread making machine. The result was a very dense loaf. It didn’t rise, contrary to what you say in this aeticle about egg helping the rising process. Why was my bread all dense? By the way, i tried it more than once with the same results: egg = dense, no egg = good bread.
Any help greatly appreciated
I’m guessing it didn’t work out because you messed with the wet/dry ingredient ration in original recipe. Bread machines are picky that way.
I have found that you can add the egg to the water or milk that you use and just subtract the liquid from the recipe. for example – I use 1 1/3 c of water in my basic recipe and when I add egg, I add it first and then add water up to the 1 1/3 line on my measuring cup. Hope this helps
Yes, this is exactly what I do. The egg must be accounted for with the liquid ingredients so as the above poster said, if the recipe calls for one cup of liquid you want to add the egg(s) first to the measuring cup and then the water to the measurement line. Any type of liquid must be accounted for or the liquid to flour ratio will be off. Also, so the egg is not cold when added to the ingredients, I put the egg in a bowl of warm water for 15 minutes before I start making my bread. Remember too, if you substitute honey for granulated sugar, thst honey is wet so your liquid or flour ratio will also have to be adjusted.
Wow this really helped me! 🙂
When making bread receipes that call for cups what size cup shall be used? Some cups are used is it one cup – 1/3 cup – 1/2 cup or 1/4 cup. The cups do not indicate how many oz or gr. And should the cups be level or slightly rounded?
I suggest metric, as there Imperial and USA Cups,
USA is 5/6th the size of Imperial
Always use actual not a tea cup, or coffee cup
A cup is 8 oz. If you are looking for grams (by weight) you might check out an ingredient weight chart such as the one on King Arthur Flour’s website
( https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/ingredient-weight-chart.html )
1 Cup flour — All Purpose or Bread Flour for example, are 120 grams
1 Cup Sugar — Granulated is 198 grams
per Thomas Keller – Use weight not cups or spoons. Gram scale is the accurate way. His book Bouchon Bakery very good for advanced pastry.
John the baker
John.. you are 100% correct! Preciseness can be very important! Since we (my husband and myself) make designer cakes slight differences in measurements can alter, taste, texture, rise, cooking time.. Our scale is our best friend lol!
Really like you website, good information. I have been making bread for couple months, trying to bake a basic white soft loaf, been working with no knead recipes, I have tried many recipes, most turned out pretty good, but not what I was looking for….then found one that was basic but used butter for fat, was fair, but a little dry…..so I tried making it with crisco instead of butter, so now it getting better, very soft,(what I want)but maybe a little too soft(more like a soft biscuit(soo what to do, use less crisco? or would that be too much change in recipe, have any ideas, thanks
You’re obviously on the right track, and how great that you’re making your own bread. Try reducing the amount of Crisco. Since butter is only about 80% fat and Crisco is 100% fat, by doing a one to one sub, you actually increased the fat by about 1/5.
Thank you for these tips, i just find solution to one of the challenges am facing.
Thanks. I always like to know what ingredients do, and it’s surprising how often its not explained. Nice explanations.
Great advice. Thank you. Question……the very tasty bread that we eat at a restaurant always seems to have more flavor, tho it looks like a simple recipe. Would you say that the flavor comes from letting the dough have two or three rises, or do they probably refrigerate the dough to slow it down. If dough is refrigerated overnight, do you still let it rise twice? I am really struggling to get a very flavorful French bread Thanks.
Great information. Thank you for sharig 🙂
=>Essi
Liquid to dry ratio is very important. Try putting the egg in a liquid measuring cup and adding liquid to the desired amount so that the ratio stays the same per your recipe. So if your recipe asks or 1/2 cup milk add milk to the egg until you reach the 1/2 cup mark.
-Essi
Also whisk the egg so that it blends with the other ingredients properly.
Wonderful information! So helpful. Thank you
Just wanted to say thanks from a new bread maker. I was trying to understand why some recipes use eggs and some call for milk. Trying really hard to try each recipe and find a family favorite.
Oh, thank you for this! I’m a self-taught backer and cook, with a little help from Grama before she passed 🙂 I have searched for this specific information for years (the why’s) and never found it so clear, concise and understandable. All my questions simply answered on one page! Knowing exactly what each ingredient adds will help develop my skills immensely! Totally bookmarked! Big Hug! Thanks! 🙂
I currently am on my 2nd bread machine (years apart in purchasing) and having a fun time “playing” with the recipes. I try one the way the recipe indicates (making notes of what may need changing). I them may add ingredients or mix the flours up to make a healthier loaf of bread. I asked a baker here where I live and a chef (who also bakes a lot)about any problems that might arise (no pun intended!). The one main thing the indicate is to use King Arthur flour (KAF)whenever possible. Also King Arthur has bakers you can speak with for any bread making issue. I have also found that Bob’s Red Mill has all those unique flours, oats, grains, etc. that you only need small amounts of.
I have tried twice to make Hot Cross Buns, and both times, the end result was hockey pucks. What am I doing wrong? Should I be using butter instead of olive oil? Should I be adding the eggs one at a time or all together? I know the yeast was fresh, so I don’t think that was the problem. The taste of the hockey pucks is also off. It seems that no matter how much sugar I add, they are still bland. I have been making yeast bread without eggs for years, so I thought Hot Cross Buns would be a snap. Please help!
So then the egg milk qty is this what is reduced /emitted from the cheap supermarket hollow tasting white bread that has no depth to it in comparison to the loaf that costs double and has weight and flavour ?
Hmm, Angel AUS, the main thing the supermarket breads leave out is time. Those breads go from dry flour to loaded on the truck in an hour. And of course they are then chemically enhanced in various ways to make up for the lost time element 🙂
Hi! Thanks for this website. It sounds like you understand what you are talking about (there is sooo much crap on the internet now) and I hate cooking unless I understand what’s going on!
Question:
I’ve been trying to make a brioche recipe using some bread machine recipes and some authentic brioche recipes online. I’m trying to use my bread machine’s ‘dough’ cycle instead of a mixer. My second attempt is in its first rise right now. I’m desperately trying to make something with the right texture and taste to French brioche and so far, the ‘brioche’ that I’ve tried has been….well, just sweet, eggy coloured bread. Maybe if you’ve never had the real thing then that’s acceptable.
I can’t find anything in my books or online as to what I should look out for if I add TOO MUCH butter to the dough. Wikipedia says too much fat can divide the gluten proteins. Helpful. What does that look like? Will it just collapse?
Thanks for any help.
Hi LuLu, I’ll ask my friend Chef Jenni to reply to this. She knows all things baking.
Hey, Lulu. If all you have to work with is a bread machine, your kneading cycle (is that the right term? I don’t have a bread machine) might not be long enough. You are correct in that rich dough has a fairly delicate gluten structure because both fat and sugar work to weaken it. When I make brioche, I knead the dough (in the mixer–it is very soft dough) for a good 15 minutes before adding in the very soft butter a bit at a time until it is all incorporated. That way, I’ve developed a reasonably strong gluten structure, even with the sugar and eggs present, before introducing that extra boatload of fat into the dough.
The resulting bread will pull apart into long, almost feathery sections. I honestly don’t think that you will be able to achieve the same results using a bread machine. Adding more butter to an already rich dough is not going to fix the problem if you haven’t been able to develop enough gluten before adding it.
If there is a way to let the kneading cycle run on for a really long time, I’d suggest trying that. Good luck, and I hope you end up with results that you find acceptable. 🙂
I have recently found that for a lighter, less dense wheat bread adding 2Tbsp Vital Wheat Gluten (a Bobs Red Mill product) that I bought at Sprouts really helped. My wife said it is the best Orange Wheat bread she has had.
Hi.I have found a couple of recipes for making single and double loaves of bread. I read that needing the butter into the dough later gives a better rise,but what I really want to know is if I use butter flavor Crisco will I still get a great tasting loaf of bread,and it not be dry as butter sometimes produces .I also read that a wetter dough does not produce a good loaf but a well needed ball of dough does.Thank you for your advice.Much appreciated.
Stephanie, I’m sorry to be all preachy. But Crisco is so bad for your health, use real ingredients like butter.
lol! There’s one in every comment section!
Thank You
Do you agree that we should reduce liquid if adding an additional egg? My gluten free recipe calls for 2 extra large, so I was wondering if I use 3 large should I reduce liquid? I am not celiac, just gluten intolerant if I eat too much gluten. Think I will also try mixing some regular flour with the gluten free flours and hope for a little less dense bread. Thanks
What are the ingredients?!
Hi there. Thank you for this useful article. I am starting out in baking my own bread and want to get adventurous. Now, when adding other ingredients (wet or dry), when is the best time to add these during the making process and how?
Can i put lecithin in my Frensh bread dough?
Or will this effect the outcome of the typical ‘Frensh bread’?
Thank you very much for your insight into the magic of bread. It helps me feel more secure and creative with producing nourishing loaves of white bread.
Another idea I found on the net that I would like to pass along is using 2 cookie sheets (one inside of the other)to put my bread pans onto then baking the bread. I have never had a loaf of bread that was to brown on the bottom since. I thing I got the hint off the Peter Reinheart site.. Thanks again Anna
How do eggs help bread to rise? They make genoise rise because the whites are beaten and folded in. Surely they don’t have any leavening power like yeast does…. correct me if I’m wrong 🙂
Is advice for homemade bread only or for commercial use please
Hi Hartie, not sure how to answer your question.
My perfect flours come when I can get a local farmer (or a miller) to grind me the flour. If not, a local food co-op has or can order you the stone ground product. I do not do mixed but all purpose non-bleached, for regular use and pasta making. I have several other kinds of flours kept in freezer or baking fridge. I buy bran (wheat germ) separate, have organic gluten and other things to add.
Thank you Joyce for sharing this information.
I actually want to trying making for the first time, could you pls help me to to bake from start to finish and the actual quanty of ingredients and when to add each one. Thanks in anticipation
C’mon. Put a little effort into this yourself. Look up some recipes for bread and follow the instructions.
Excellent article, very helpful. Maybe add to the article the properties of certain commonly added spices, like cinammon, which also inhibits gluten formation.
Thanks for the article. Just what I was looking for. I’ve gotten down the really chewy loaf with the amazing crust my hubby and I love, but now I’m trying to get more of a super soft roll and can’t seem to get what I’m looking for. I’m looking for something similar to a Chuck a Rama or Golden Corral type roll. I’m getting close, but not quite. I get the rise well enough and the sweetness (milk and a bit of sugar), but the end product is still very “bread” like instead of soft and fluffy with a good pull part feel. Not sure if you know of the restaurant rolls I’m referring to, but any thoughts on how to get that type of result?
PS – I am wondering whether bread flour instead of all purpose might be what I’m missing so far in the 4 tries of made. Do you think that might make the lightness I’m looking for?
Excellent article. Lots of good information that you simply do not see anywhere else. Thank you!!
I wish to substitute the grated cheese in an oven cooked bread loaf, can I use oil or butter, the quantity is 1&1/2 cups of grated cheese. Your advice would be much appreciated.
My packet bread recipe requires 420ml plus or minus 30ml of water. 60ml of water difference from max to min is about 15% difference, that’s huge. How do I interpret what’s the optimal amount of water to use? And why do they recommend the variation?
I have been making bread, off and on, for 40 yrs and I never seem to be able to make a sandwich bread but I heard the fusion chef say he includes a dough enhancer to his bread to be able to use it for sandwiches. I have searched online and off and cant find it sold anywhere. Does anyone know?
Please a bread baked with egg yoke..does it stay for how many days before spoiling
Thank you very much for great tips for a beginner bread Baker.. you have explained and cleared up many things I wasn’t sure about and made me not have confidence.
I appreciate this knowledge and tips in the comments, especially those tips for people like me who use a breadmachine. I am disabled without use of my right arm/hand. Using a breadmachine means I can enjoy healthy homemade bread
Are eggs supposed to be beaten before added to bread machine if called for inrecipe?
Hello, I’m wondering if I wanted a soft,shiny crust, can I substitute the olive oil with any other vegetable oil? Or is olive oil particular for it?
I started making my own bread since the confinement due to the Covid. I find the informations you provided very relevant and helpful, many of which give me new hints on bread making. Thanks.
Thanks Ren for letting me know. Much appreciated.
This is amazing
Thanks for the information is very helpful. I feel ready to make decisions bread for my family.
Best
Answered a lot of my questions about bread making. Especially the kneeding and time element. I let French bread dough rise overnight in the frig and perhaps that’s why it turns out well!. Thank you
Question- its it possible to over kneed bread? I ask because I recall instructions in making pancakes not to overmix..
Hi Mitchell, yes, you can over-knead bread dough. Check out this post at https://www.bobsredmill.com/blog/healthy-living/can-you-over-knead-bread/