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Home » Yeast Bread Recipes

Yeast Bread Baking Tips Part One

Published: Feb 27, 2014 Last Updated: Oct 29, 2019 by Marye 1356 words. | About 7 minutes to read this article.

If you've ever tried to make yeast bread and failed you'll want to pin, bookmark, and save this post for easy reference. I'm going to help you figure out why your bread isn't working out for you with these yeast bread baking tips.

yeast bread baking tips

There can be a variety of reasons why your bread doesn't bake up the way you expected it to. Yeast bread baking is one of those skills that takes a lot of practice because you can't give exact measurements. Good bread depends on at least eight things:

  • A good recipe
  • Fresh, active yeast
  • Quality ingredients
  • Sufficient kneading
  • Long enough rising time in the proper temperature (but not too long)
  • The right size pans
  • Proper oven temperature
  • Proper cooling and cutting

Let's take these things one at a time. As you can imagine this is going to be a long post so grab a snack before we get going.

Yeast Bread Baking Success

A Good Bread Recipe

Finding a good bread recipe isn't as easy as you might think. Most of us, who have been making bread for centuries, don't really take the time to measure ingredients. We go by feel, look, smell, and a dark magic bestowed on us by the great bread baking fairy. So, when we go to write the recipe out we may over or under-estimate the exact measurements.

Basic bread has five ingredients and only the first three are really necessary —

  • Flour
  • Yeast
  • Water
  • Salt
  • Sugar or other sweetener

Check to make sure your recipe has these. If it leaves out sugar, salt, or both you can leave it out, too. If you like formulas then memorize the following:

Bread = 3 parts flour + 1 part liquid + 1 tablespoon of active, dry yeast for every 6 cups of flour.

Most basic yeast bread recipes are going to have around 6 cups of flour and 2 cups of water and they'll make two loaves. The other part of that equation is this. Sometimes the dough will need a little more or a little less flour to be exactly right. There is no way to predict it. That knowledge comes by experience. Those beautiful loaves that come out of my oven?

I have been baking bread since 1973. That' 41 years of experience. The first loaves I made where not quite so lovely!

Fresh Active Yeast

foamy yeast for yeast bread baking tips

 The yeast should foam up like this when you "proof" it.

You can get yeast in packets or jars at the grocery store or you can get Active Dry Yeast in one or two pound bags online if you use it a lot. It's tons cheaper to get the bigger bag and it will last six months or more in the fridge. Always let your yeast come to room temperature before you use it.
Some recipes call for the Rapid Rise yeast but I don't like it. When bread rises too fast it doesn't develop the same flavor and texture. Always test your yeast by putting it in the bowl and adding about ¼ cup of the 105F water to it. I always add a pinch of sugar and ginger, too. Stir it up and set it aside for a few minutes.

After ten minutes or so you should see that it has bubbled up and is foamy. That means that it is working. You're good to go. If it doesn't foam up then you'll need to get more yeast because yours is dead. This is called "proofing" the yeast.

Quality Ingredients

You know what I am going to say. Your recipe results will only be as good as the ingredients you put in it.

Flour

All purpose flour is fine for most breads but you won't get the same rise and texture as you would have with bread flour. That's OK if you are inexperienced. All purpose flour is much easier to work with for a novice bread baker. As far as brands go, my favorites are King Arthur or Bob's Red Mill

Water

If you have water that has a mineral taste to it use filtered water so that your bread doesn't taste weird. Your water should always be comfortably warm to the touch — shoot for about 105F to 110F, but don't worry because yeast can work as low as 95F or as high as 120F.

Salt

Kosher salt is the best. It is pure and you will get consistent results.

Sweetener

You can use sugar, brown sugar, honey, agave, unsulfured molasses, or whatever. Just be aware that each will give the bread a slightly different flavor. For example, I like to use a heavily flavored buckwheat honey with whole grain breads because the flavor doesn't get lost. White bread is best with a lighter honey, like wildflower or orange blossom.

Sufficient Kneading

There are two ways to knead bread. You can knead it in a mixer or by hand. If you are only making bread once or twice a year then you probably don't need a mixer. If you plan on making it a lot you'll need a good mixer like Kitchen Aid or better. If you plan on making whole grain breads a lot you'll want a Bosch. I have both a Kitchen Aid and  a Bosch because I bake a lot of bread and a lot of different kinds of bread.

Yeast bread baking tips-sstretchy dough|restlesschipotle.com

This yeast dough is stretchy and elastic but still much too sticky! it will need more flour and more kneading time.

By Hand

Learning to knead by hand is important. I recommend that if you've never hand kneaded bread that you give it a try. I think it teaches you more about how the bread should look and feel than using a mixer. If you are kneading by hand don't try to make anything but white bread! Whole grain breads can be hand kneaded but it takes time and practice...and muscles of steel.

If you are 5' 5" or under do not try to knead your bread on the counter. You will hurt your arms and back, plus you'll have to work too hard. Take your bread dough to the table, assuming it is lower. Your kneading surface should allow your arms to hang with just a slight bend at the elbow when your hands are palm down on it.

  1. Sprinkle the surface of the table with a little flour tto keep the dough from sticking.
  2. Starting from the middle, push the dough away from you with the palm of your hand.
  3. Fold the edge back to the middle and give the dough a quarter turn.
  4. Repeat the pushing and folding action for about 5 minutes.
  5. Now your arms are probably tired so clean up a little and then come back to the dough.
  6. Knead it another 5 minutes or so.
  7. When the dough is ready it will feel somewhat like your earlobe when you pinch it. When you gently pull on it the dough will stretch a little instead of breaking off.

If you are unsure if you have kneaded enough use the window pane test.

  1. Pull off a small piece of dough.
  2. Stretch it as much as you can.
  3. If it is kneaded correctly the dough will stretch very thin without tearing.

Kneading by Mixer

  1. Fit the mixer with the dough hooks.
  2. Mix in your ingredients as directed in your recipe using the lowest speed. It's best to add the flour ½ cup at a time and mix it in well before adding the next ½ cup.
  3. When there is enough flour in the dough it will pull away from the sides of the bowl leaving them clean.
  4. Turn the speed up one notch.
  5. Knead on this speed for 5 minutes.
  6. After 5 minutes you can do the earlobe test or the windowpane test but your dough should be right. Do not over knead your dough!

***********************************************************

That's probably enough for you to take in right now. Let's take a break and let this information about yeast bread baking soak in. I'll finish the last four necessary steps to great bread in Part 2 - Yeast Bread Baking Part 2.

In the meantime, take a look at several bread recipes and break them down. Do they follow the 1:3 ratio? Hint: In the 1:3 ratio the liquid doesn't have to be water.

More Yeast Bread Recipes

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  • No Fail Amish White Bread
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About Marye

With a 40 year focus on the importance of family and a passion for southern comfort food, Marye Audet-White is an expert in melding the two together effortlessly. Marye's a NY Times Bestselling author with 10 cookbooks under her belt and her recipes have been featured in Good Housekeeping, Country Living, Today, House Beautiful, Texas Living, Food & Wine, and many more.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mary Mendonca

    March 15, 2020 at 9:08 pm

    Hi Marye,
    Thank you so much for the lovely recipes you are sharing
    with us.
    Bless your heart

    Reply
    • Marye

      March 15, 2020 at 9:46 pm

      🙂 thank you for being here! You're the sweetest.

  2. Tammy

    March 04, 2018 at 4:43 pm

    I’m one of ten siblings. The only girl. Domestic tasks do not come easily to me. You are a mirac! Because of you I can now make bread! And people actually enjoy eating it. It took some trial and error, but I am making much progress. Thank you. I have completely stopped buying packaged bread. You’re an angel!

    Reply
    • Marye Audet

      March 28, 2018 at 12:37 pm

      Aww thanks Tammy! There are those that would disagree. 😉

  3. Judy

    December 18, 2017 at 9:21 am

    Hello Marye, I have made homemade bread with some success. I never get that soft crumb center. Reading your section on kneading with a mixer, I’ve followed it to the letter. I have a KitchenAid mixer. Every time I’ve used it to knead bread dough I can get the sides to pull away from the sides of the bowl, but never the bottom. It is always sticky at the bottom and many times I’ve “over-added” too much flour to get it to pull away completely. The bread turns out more dense and grainy instead of soft crumb. No matter what I’ve tried it stays sticky on the bottom of the mixing bowl. Any suggestions? Thank you!

    Reply
    • Marye Audet

      December 18, 2017 at 10:11 am

      I'd just take it out of the mixer at that point and knead it by hand for maybe 5 minutes. That should do the trick. 🙂

    • Judy

      December 19, 2017 at 2:09 pm

      Hi Marye, I tried your recipe for Buttermilk Bread yesterday following the recipe to the letter. I was happy while mixing the dough adding the flour 3 cups initially then 1 cup increments after that. I ended up putting in roughly 4 1/2 to 4 3/4 cups out of the 6 called for into the bowl and then it began to pull away from the sides of the bowl so I stopped there. I used a Brod & Taylor bread proofer since I live in a cold climate.(https://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/folding-bread-proofer-and-slow-cooker) The bread rose fine, but after baking I noticed, yet again, that the bread came out with a dense crumb (I wish I had your email so I could send pictures). The bottom of the loaf was even more dense than the rest of the loaf. I thought for sure I had done good in preparing the dough. I just can't get the light and airy inside crumb 🙁 I bought the yeast yesterday, so I know it was good (Red Star Active Dry). When I proofed the yeast in the bowl it did puff up, but not as much as the picture on your website. So bummed to have 2 loaves that are not good. I wish I could get this down... still struggling with what goes wrong.

    • Marye Audet

      December 19, 2017 at 3:00 pm

      🙁 I don't know. I am on my way out the door but you can contact me at maryeaudet[at]gmail[dot]com

  4. Davina

    July 05, 2017 at 2:05 am

    Thank you so much. I love making bread, but very unsuccessfully. The bread never rises. They rise in the proofing session, never in the oven. I mean they basically have no over spring.

    Reply
    • Marye Audet

      July 05, 2017 at 11:06 pm

      The most likely reason is that your dough develops a "skin" in the last rising which holds it down. Be sure to oil the tops and sides and then cover it with a towel while rising.

  5. Jazalyn

    March 12, 2017 at 11:11 pm

    Holy Moly. I have been wanting someone to teach me for years. I come from a long line of awful cooks, so I'm teaching myself. I'm almost 49 ; )

    Reply
    • Marye Audet

      March 13, 2017 at 11:54 am

      🙂 have fun with it!

  6. Annamaria Picollo

    January 08, 2017 at 10:58 am

    Love your recipe and it is my families favorite! Since I bake weekly, buttermilk bread and sweet breads, which Bosch mixer would be the best to buy?

    Reply
    • Marye Audet

      January 08, 2017 at 12:53 pm

      Thank you! This is the one I have and it's lasted really well. As you probably figured out I bake A LOT! The link is an affiliate link which just means if you click on it and end up buying something I get a commission - it doesn't affect your cost but I am required by law to disclose it. 🙂 If you bake a lot I'd get this one because it literally does everything. I do like KitchenAid better for small batches of cake batter and egg whites but the Bosch is far better for heavy doughs.

  7. Marie

    September 11, 2016 at 11:43 am

    Hi:
    Thanks for the articles but I'm trying to print out Yeast Bread Baking
    and its so frustrating that the pic's keep blocking the print.

    Reply
    • Marye Audet

      September 11, 2016 at 9:16 pm

      I'd right click and copy the information I needed to a word doc on my computer and print from that. Hope this helps.

  8. Darlene LaFlamme

    January 21, 2016 at 9:23 am

    Just a little tip you can try if new at making bread but do have a bread machine. I have adapted my recipe from years ago to be mixed in the bread machine then remove after mixed and place dough in a greased bowl cover and let rise, then form loaves and place in their bread pan to rise and bake. i don't like how mine come out of the bread maker as a finished product. Sometimes, I would get holes in my finished loaves so after forming them and placing in the bread pan to rise, I poke the whole loaf with a fork, it will eliminate any holes in the finished product and makes it kind of decorative.

    Reply
    • Marye Audet

      January 23, 2016 at 8:37 pm

      Thanks for the info Darlene!

  9. Robyn Savoie

    May 31, 2014 at 10:58 am

    When should we expect part 3?

    Reply
  10. Adelina Priddis

    March 03, 2014 at 9:56 pm

    I use to make bread a lot, but then we moved near an outlet (amazing prices!), and I just don't do it as often. I am going to save these tips though, and start making more home made bread. It's just better.

    Reply

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Marye Audet-White, founder of Restless Chipotle Media

Hey Y'all, I'm Marye.

NY Times bestselling author. Written over 10 cookbooks. Mom of 8 kids. Homeschooling mom for 22 years. Army veteran. Nothing fazes me & together we're going to get the kind of meals on your table that you (and your family) have been dreaming of. 

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