If the baking shows you’ve been binging have inspired you, you’ve likely experimented with baking, perhaps for the first time. Full of plenty of design challenges for professionals, not in the baking, a seemingly easy pick was making bread at home. You don’t have to create a pattern and there’s no one to stop you from turning to Google for help. And when you finish, resume your show and take the praise for yourself. It’s perfect!
Or so you thought. Rather, it’s perfect to experiment and learn what each ingredient does. So you push on and provide commentary to the imaginary audience as you secretly compete. You will master baking bread. And if you’re looking for the secret ingredient for your new hobby, pour dairy into your dough.
Substituting milk for water in your bread recipes has several benefits in that it brings both milkfat and sugar to the recipe. Breads that include milk are richer with a soft texture, including a softer crust. Bread will be more of a treat when it has milk in it. When it’s time for the taste test, that great taste is a perfect distraction when you haven’t quite perfected removing your loaf from the pan.
Whole milk isn’t the only dairy that can improve your early attempts at loaves. Swapping water with buttermilk can bring its classic tangy taste to your loaf. But you need to expand your types of dairy bread to showcase to the prerecorded judges. Other dairy products improve the taste of your bread, too. This homemade bread uses cottage cheese, but yogurt and sour cream also help bread soften and expand for a faux sour bread when the judges set a challenging time limit.
If you’d rather leave the baking to the contestants, throw together a quick yogurt spread to smear on your store-bought loaf. Once you sprawl with your snack in hand, you’re ready to become an armchair baking judge for the next episode. With all this new bread knowledge, it’s the yeast you can do.