Bread Flour

Some loaves absolutely require bread flour—others are better off with all-purpose. Here’s why.

An overnight rest in the refrigerator gives this easy no-knead homemade pizza dough an airy lift and bready chew.

When a recipe calls for sopping up sauce, these breadsticks are your sopper-uppers of choice. Topped with Kalamata olives, garlic, red onion, and Calabrian chiles, they’re also just as good on their own—serve them straight from the oven and let everyone rip them off with their hands. This recipe comes from Bryan Ford and is based on his Master Bread Dough. Feel free to customize them with whatever finely chopped toppings you desire; just be sure to press them into the dough so that they stick.

Make these sesame buns today, then question why it took you so long to make your own buns for burgers, egg sandwiches, fried chicken, and fillets o’ fish. This recipe from bread master Bryan Ford is based on his Master Dough recipe; simply portion it out, roll into tight balls, then dip in sesame seeds (or any small seeds and seasonings of your choice—poppy, flax, dried onion…). Ford bakes his buns in muffin rings, which gives them dramatic height—but free-form works just as well.

If you’re looking for a simple recipe for a tender sandwich bread—the kind of loaf that’d be great turned into a grilled cheese or crunchy croutons—this is it. This recipe from Bryan Ford is his Master Bread Dough, rolled into a tight log and baked until golden brown. We recommend slicing it and then freezing in a resealable plastic bag or airtight container for instant toast.

The secret behind many great breads is something called a preferment, a portion of the dough that ferments separately from (and for more time than) the rest of the ingredients. A preferment increases the strength of your dough (improving its final crumb structure) and contributes to aroma and flavor. In baker Bryan Ford’s cookbook New World Sourdough, the preferment is a sourdough starter; in this recipe, however, his preferment is the lower-maintenance poolish—a mixture of flour, water, and active dry yeast that grows overnight. Mix the poolish with more flour, water, and yeast as well as a touch of olive oil, sugar, and salt, and you get a resilient, flavorful dough that can be used in a nearly infinite number of ways. This is an instance when you really do need a kitchen scale—Ford encourages all bakers, especially beginners, to use one. The master dough can also be scaled up or down as desired.

White conchas may look plain, but with a boost of high-quality vanilla, they’re unexpectedly flavorful.

Why have a chocolate- or vanilla-flavored concha when you can have both in this New York–inspired twist on the classic Mexican sweet bread?

If you like the sound of a choco-coconut concha, give the classic Mexican sweet bread tropical twist by using virgin coconut oil.

Soft as clouds, white as snow, Japanese milk bread is the tender everyday loaf we want to bake right now.

The salty, springy bread that looks like the surface of a distant planet. Take us there.

These pretzel nubbins are crunchy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside.

These slightly sweet brioche buns have a tender, buttery inside that's mouthwateringly good.

Too many morning buns for your crowd? This recipe halves easily.

Perhaps not strictly authentic, but delicious!

You can serve these flatbreads as is or wrapped around a filling.

Considered to be one of the thickest flatbreads in the world, the key to making barbari at home is to preheat a pizza stone in a very hot oven.

The dough will seem fairly wet when shaping into rounds, but the high hydration is key to forming those trademark nooks and crannies. This is part of BA's Best, a collection of our essential recipes.

Use these to make amazing leftover turkey sandwiches.

At Kindred, this dough is used to make the pan of warm pull-apart bread that’s gifted to each table, in addition to the house’s burger buns, split-top rolls, and sandwich bread. It’s as versatile as it is forgiving.

For BLTs, French toast, grilled cheeses, bread and jam, the daily lunchbox sandwich, or whenever an absolutely perfect loaf of white bread is required. This is part of BA's Best, a collection of our essential recipes.

The best beignets come from New Orleans, but the high protein content in bread flour gives this classic-style beignets recipe an authentic texture.