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

FAQs

What does adding extra butter to bread dough do? ›

Butter in bread dough tenderizes the dough, making the soft, pull-apart texture of bakes like brioche, dinner rolls, and Pullman loaves. Standard bread dough (also called a “lean dough”)—just flour, water, salt, and natural or added yeast—relies on a strong, stiff gluten network to yield a chewy loaf.

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.

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.

What Is Compound Butter Used For? Compound butter is used as a flavor enhancer for meats, vegetables, and baked goods. Discover the top compound butter recipe ideas for steak, turkey, corn, fish, chicken, and bread below.

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.

Does olive oil make dough softer? Yes - adding olive oil to sourdough bread will result in a softer crust and crumb. The oil as a lipid coats the flour and inhibits the gluten network resulting in a softer, tighter crumb and softer crust. This can be a desirable outcome if you do not like tough, chewy sourdough crusts.

besides the nutritional benefits there are a few other good reasons to use egg in breadmaking. It makes the bread lighter and fluffier. The reason for that is the fat in the yolk that inhibits gluten formation just as any other fat would. This results in a looser dough that can expand and puff up more.

The benefits of baking with European-style butter

“It's especially good for baking bread and really any kind of dough. The higher fat content adds tenderness and structure because butter doesn't evaporate like water does when baked.

Give the bottom of the loaf a couple firm taps with your thumb. The bread will sound hollow when it's done. If you're new to this technique, try doing this every five minutes toward the end of baking and you'll hear how the sound changes.

What qualifies as artisan bread? ›

Defining artisan bread

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

Compound butters (French: beurre composé, pl. beurres composés) are mixtures of butter and other ingredients used as a flavoring, in a fashion similar to a sauce.

Bring your butter to room temperature.

Cold butter won't blend with your mix-ins, and melted butter won't keep its consistency to hold them in place. Room temperature is like Goldilocks and the Three Bears: not too cold and not too hot.

Compound Butter Uses

Here are a just a few ways to use it: Spread it on bread, toast, muffins, scones, biscuits, and more. Melt it and use it as a flavor enhancer for meat, fish, or vegetables. Use it as an ingredient in baked goods or rich sauces.

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.