Quick Bread Dough Recipe - Something Swanky Baking Recipes (2024)

FAQs

How to make bread dough quickly? ›

Use rapid rise yeast

It really speeds up the process! Unlike active dry yeast, rapid-rise yeast doesn't need to be proofed (activated) before you add it to your bread dough. Just mix instant yeast in with your dry ingredients and add the warm water afterward.

Add Sugar

Adding sugar weakens the gluten structure, absorbs water, and eventually makes the bread lighter and softer. As a result, sugar improves the bread's taste, structure and texture. Yeast also eats up sugar to produce carbon dioxide, which raises the dough and makes bread fluffy.

Yeast. I use instant yeast for my recipes as it is super easy and doesn't require activating, and the liquids don't necessarily have to be warm (it will just take longer to rise). Milk powder. Instant milk powder makes bread dough super soft and fluffy and also helps to give it a good rise.

Tip #1: Don't add too much extra flour. The amount of flour you need to bring the dough together into a smooth, elastic, and cohesive ball will depend on your kitchen environment. If the dough is tacky, or even a little sticky, don't worry. It will absorb moisture as it rests and rises.

Quick breads are prepared by the blending-, creaming-, or biscuit-method which determines the final texture and crumb of the finished product. The blending-method, also known as the muffin-method, combines the wet ingredients in one bowl and dry ingredients in a second bowl before mixing together.

Because it contains its own acid, it does not need an additional acidic ingredient in the recipe. Baking powder is often used in quick breads, such as cornbread, as it helps the bread to rise quickly and evenly.

Water vs.

Milk changes bread recipes by producing a softer loaf, due to the milk fat content, which also gives bread a richer flavor. Bread made with milk browns more easily than bread made with water, as lactose or milk sugar will caramelize as it bakes.

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.

What does milk do in homemade bread? ›

The fat and lactose in milk help with tenderizing the crumb of the bread making it softer and sweeter. The crust of the bread also gets more caramelization. Be aware that bread made with milk should not be baked at too high of a temperature to prevent it from browning too much too soon.

There's something magical about the bread you get at your local bakeries - they're always sooo soft and fluffy. Many of these breads, especially packaged ones, are made with a ton of chemical additives such as calcium propionate, amylase, and chlorine dioxide which help keep them soft, light, and fluffy for days.

Yeast feed on sugar and it's the gasses produced by yeast that causes the dough to expand and “rise”. More accurately stated though, it's the yeast that has the effect but it's a symbiotic relationship. Too little sugar will impede the rise by not having sufficient nutrient for the yeast.

To make dough rise faster, start by preheating your oven at the lowest temperature setting for 2 minutes. As the oven is preheating, bring a pot of water to a boil and then pour it into an oven-safe dish. Then, turn off the oven and place the dish filled with water inside of it while you prepare the dough.

The short answer is that it depends. Factors like the temperature of your kitchen and the freshness of your yeast, along with humidity and water temperature, can all affect the proofing time of your bread dough. In a toasty kitchen, your dough may proof in as little as an hour (or less!).

Microwave Dough

By using a microwave, you can lop off 1 1/2 hours of rising time for a food product that requires two (1-hour) rises and 2 1/4 hours for three rises. With these tips, you can have your cake and eat it, too!

The moist, warm environment makes dough rise faster than simply letting it sit on the counter. The humidity inside the oven will keep the dough from drying out while rising. You don't need to cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel.