Bread Ingredients
The only ingredients needed to make bread are: flour,water and yeast -- the rest ispersonality.
Learn a little about what each of the other ingredients add and you willbe prepared to create your
own deliciousrecipes.
Flour
Bread Flour Bread Flour can be used when the recipe callsfor bread or all purpose flour, k
has more glutenthan allpurpose flour and is a better choice when mixing white flour with
whole grain flours.Bread flour often has ascorbic acid (vitamin C) added asa dough
conditioner. This creates a larger holed grain sought by many bakers.
All Purpose Flour This is fine whenever the recipecalls for all white flour, k willmake a
smallergrained bread than bread flour. All purpose flour and bread flour are wheat flours
with the bran and germ removed and B vitamins added.
Gluten Gluten is a mixture of proteins responsible for the dastic (glue) quality of dough.
As yeast grows, it releases bubbles of carbon dioxide that become trapped by the stretchy
gluten. Wheat has a high gluten content while other grains have little or none. Use it in
recipes that call for whole grain flours to prevent the top of the loaf from collapsing. Buy
gluten in any health food store.
Whole Wheat Whole wheat flour adds a nutty flavor, k alsoincreases the nutritional and
fiber content ofa recipe,k has lessgluten than white flour, and used alone, willcreate a
dense loaf.Many of our recipesuse amixture of whole wheat and bread flour to create a light
textured, nutritious bread.
Other Whole Grains Rye, buckwheat, spelt, oats and other whole grains add wonderful
flavorsand nutrients to bread but do not have gluten needed to rise very high. Mix 3to 4
parts of wheat flour for each part non-wheat (or add a fewTbls. of gluten) to make sure your
dough willrise.
Eggs Eggsadd color,richness, protein and structure to bread. They als0serve as a liquid. A large
eggadds about 3 Tbl. ofliquid, and an extra large egg, 1/4 cup (4Tbl.) When adding or eliminating
eggs,adjust the other liquids in your recipe. All the recipes givenhere weremade with large sizedeggs.
Butter and Oil Fats add richness to bread and keep it fresher longer, which is why breads without
any butter or oil are great fresh,but get stalevery fast.They alsoadd calories-- about 100caloriesper
loafforevery tablespoon of added fat.
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