Artisan Bread Recipe and Flavored (Compound) Butters (2024)

FAQs

What does adding extra butter to bread dough do? ›

Butter, technically a dough enrichment, tenderizes bread dough and limits gluten development, yielding a softer, more tender crumb and a richer flavor. The butter in this sourdough babka dough makes the interior tender—and delicious. Photo by Maurizio Leo.

An excessive amount of butter makes it where the flour is unable to absorb the combined fat, which causes the cookie to spread too widely and the sugar to carbonize more easily because it's surrounded by too buttery a dough.

When making brioche and other rich breads, add the butter last. Fat bonds to gluten proteins, preventing them from bonding to each other, so adding it later gives the gluten network a chance to develop, ensuring the structure of the final product.

Artisan bread is thought to be a healthier option than store-bought bread. While there haven't been clinical studies to clearly define the differences, artisan bread is made from wholesome fresh ingredients whereas store-bought bread contains processed ingredients and preservatives to stretch the shelf life.

Using the right amount of room temperature salted butter is critical for the perfect ratio of toast to butter. The magic number is 1 and 1/2 tablespoons. This will allow for an even, thick coat of butter across your toast, melting in without making it soggy.

If you're looking to ramp up the taste of your favorite bread recipe, we recommend adding a bit of fat. A fat like butter, olive oil or coconut oil in small quantities will help your bread achieve a higher rise and it will also boost its flavor by tenfold.

Egg has protein, fat, water and while the fat and water soften the crumb, the protein helps with strengthening the gluten and capturing more CO2. Eggs are also helping with leavening the dough which adds to the rise. Doughs that have more egg usually rise more, so go ahead and play around a bit!

Enriched bread recipes may do best with European-style butter that has a high-fat concentration and can tolerate the kneading process without breaking into bits. However, recipes like cinnamon coffee scones may do better with American-style butters that have higher water content to help create air pockets.

Crispy, excessively greasy texture, burnt edges, and an overpowering buttery flavor are classic indicators of a cookie with too much butter. Additionally, the dough may spread excessively, leading to a lack of cohesion and an unsatisfactory texture.

Once the dough is smooth and elastic, add the butter and continue kneading on medium-low speed until the butter is completely incorporated and the dough is smooth, shiny, and elastic. Allow the dough to rise in a covered bowl until it's doubled in bulk, about 90 minutes.

What is the best fat for bread making? ›

Generally, unsalted butter is recommended for bread dough. Care should be taken in recipe formulation when using fats containing salt; the amount of salt used in the recipe may have to be lowered.

The usual reason why bread becomes too dense is due to using flour with low protein content. When your loaf is spongy and heavy, you might have also put too much flour into it or made the dough in a cooler or too warm setting.

Defining artisan bread

Artisan breads tend to have characteristics like longer fermentation times, fewer ingredients, no additives, and an emphasis on shaping.

For baking light and fluffy bread, it is necessary to choose flour that has high levels of protein. If you choose to use flour with lower protein levels, you'll be left with the bread being dense. The reason for this is the fact that flour varieties with low protein aren't able to form a strong gluten network.

Some argue that adding butter to bread before toasting enhances the flavor of this already delicious pairing. This method allows the bread to stay crisp while butter melts into the entire slice of bread. In contrast, slathering butter on top of warm toast can result in the bread becoming soggy.

The job of butter in baking (besides being delicious) is to give richness, tenderness and structure to cookies, cakes, pies and pastries. We alter the way butter works in a recipe by changing its temperature and choosing when to combine it with the other ingredients.