At-home cooking has grown immensely due to COVID-19 and the resulting quarantine. Of course, many restaurants still offer takeout, but with the majority of people working remotely, most meals are prepared and eaten at home.
One of the most popular dishes to make is scratch bread. It’s simple to why: bread is a good source of calories, can be eaten hot or room temperature, can be used in many different meals, and it has a decent shelf-life.
We scoured the internet to find some of the best scratch bread recipes for baking bread at home. There are so many different ways to make and eat bread. Whatever your tastes are, you can find something here to check out and get baking.
Best At-Home Scratch Bread Recipes
Basic At-Home Bread
This basic scratch bread recipe will make a delicious and simple bread that you can use for anything from French toast and sandwiches to croutons and bread pudding. This recipe is an excellent option for someone who hasn’t made bread at home before.
Ingredients:
- active dry yeast
- water
- sugar
- salt
- canola oil
- bread flour
Sourdough
This scratch bread recipe comes directly from Austin baker David Norman. In addition to founding the bakeshop and beer garden, Easy Tiger, Norman has a cookbook with his delectable baked recipes. This sourdough recipe is simple, so beginners can quickly get started, but tasty, so you’ll never get tired of it. Sourdough is perfect for toasting with a little butter or even making sandwiches.
Ingredients:
- all-purpose flour
- kosher salt
- Easy Tiger Sourdough Starter
- water
Banana Bread
A beloved comfort food staple. Bon Appetit’s banana bread recipe calls for a couple of unexpected ingredients. However, the recipe says that it’s the best banana bread ever. If you have a sweet tooth, give this recipe a try. It has fruit in it, so that means it’s healthy, right?
Ingredients:
- nonstick vegetable oil spray
- all-purpose flour
- baking soda
- kosher salt
- dark brown sugar
- mascarpone, plain whole-milk Greek yogurt, or sour cream
- unsalted butter
- large eggs
- large very ripe bananas
- chopped bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (optional)
- chopped walnuts (optional)
Tortillas
You couldn’t have tacos without tortillas. These flat, circular breads are staples of Tex-Mex cuisine. Simple to make and useful in so many recipes. One of the best parts about tortillas is that the dough can be rolled out, separated with wax paper, then frozen until you’re ready to use it. Let the frozen dough thaw a bit, then cook them on the stovetop in only a few minutes.
Ingredients:
- all-purpose flour
- kosher salt
- baking powder
- cold lard, rendered bacon fat or vegetable shortening, cut into small pieces
- water
Jalapeño Cornbread
This cornbread recipe comes from the acclaimed chef Ina Garten, so you know it’s going to be good. The fresh jalapeños put a spicy twist on this simple country bread. Break out your cast-iron skillet and bake this fantastic cornbread in less than an hour. Perfect to pair with some beans or chili.
Ingredients:
- all-purpose flour
- yellow cornmeal
- sugar
- baking powder
- kosher salt
- milk
- extra-large eggs
- unsalted butter
- aged extra-sharp Cheddar
- chopped scallions, white and green parts,
- fresh jalapeno peppers
Pita
Tired of sandwich bread? Swap it out for pita bread and make pita pockets with the same stuffing you’d put on a sandwich. This easy-to-follow recipe gives you two options for baking the pita bread: oven or stovetop. The differences are that baking in the oven will provide you with bigger, puffier pitas, but with less flavor, and the stovetop will yield flavor-packed pitas but can only be cooked one at a time. Pitas are great by themselves, dipped in hummus, used as sandwich pockets, or paired with traditional Mediterranean food.
Ingredients:
- water
- active dry or instant yeast
- all-purpose flour
- salt
- olive oil (optional)
Naan
This bread is a staple of Indian cuisine. The crunchy exterior and buttery, garlic taste are mouth-wateringly good. This recipe is cooked on the stovetop in a cast-iron skillet, unless you have a Tandoor oven, of course! Enjoy with some curry and rice.
Ingredients:
- sugar
- water
- active dry yeast
- all-purpose flour
- plain yogurt
- salt
- oil
- salted butter
Soft Pretzel
Remember big, soft pretzels at baseball games or at the mall? Hopefully, we can get back to those places soon, but in the meantime, you can recreate the experience by making soft pretzels at home. These pretzels are easier to make than you might think and make for a great snack. Make some honey mustard for dipping to go along with it.
Ingredients:
- water
- active dry or instant yeast
- salt
- granulated sugar
- all-purpose flour
- large egg
- coarse sea salt
Find Local Bread
If you don’t want to bake any of these incredible recipes, don’t worry, there are still local bakeries churning out loaves for sale. These local bakeries are offering their baked goods for pickup, selling sourdough starter kits, and some are even stocking grocery store shelves to help out with demand. Check out their websites to see if you can even find a scratch bread recipe to bake on your own!
- Easy Tiger Bakeshop & Beer Garden
- Sanford Sourdough Bakery
- Bakery Lorraine
- Brentwood Social House
- Upper Crust Bakery
- Baguette et Chocolate
- Sour Duck
We love local businesses and strive to help support them as much as we can. Please, join us in this effort to help keep our local economy thriving. If you’re looking to invest in real estate, let us at Park Place Fiance help you get started.