30+ of our favourite bread recipes
From simple sourdough to hot cross buns, here are our favourite bread recipes to celebrate Real Bread Week.
Real bread week, run by the Real Bread Campaign, is back from the 17th-25th February this year. Since 2010 the charity has been celebrating additive-free bread, and with the conversation around ultra-processed food on the rise, now is the perfect time to give baking your own loaf a go.
If you don’t fancy getting your hands dirty, check out the GHI’s best bread makers, for that home-made taste, without the faff.
Goat’s Cheese, Rosemary and Red Grape Focaccia
We’ve suggested using a freestanding mixer, as this dough is fairly sticky (this gives the bread its unique texture), but it can be achieved by hand. Grease your worksurface and hands with a little extra oil and knead for 10min, until dough its elastic and soft.
Malted Seedy Baguettes
Swap the dried yeast for double the quantity of fresh, if you can get it (this will really heighten the doughy, savoury flavour). Simply whisk into the tepid water and set aside for 5min before mixing with the remaining ingredients.
Recipe: Malted Seedy Baguettes
Tiger Bread Rolls
A yeasty paste gives these rolls their signature cracked look and savoury chew. Use whole milk in your dough for a richer flavour.
Recipe: Tiger Bread Rolls
Piadina
This Italian flatbread is perfect for lunches as you can add your own choice of fillings
Recipe: Piadina
Sourdough
Follow our recipe to make a sourdough loaf from scratch. Our recipe for a sourdough starter will get you started.
Recipe: Sourdough
Black Olive Ciabatta
Biga is the Italian word for starter, which is left to lightly ferment before being kneaded into the main dough. It helps to develop the bread’s flavour and airy texture. Best eaten on day of baking but see below for freeze ahead instructions.
Recipe: Black Olive Ciabatta
Focaccia
Breads made with olive oil are best enjoyed on the day of baking, but can be frozen.
Recipe: Focaccia
Challah
This enriched bread, usually plaited, is a symbolic centrepiece at the heart of many Jewish celebrations, including Shabbat and Purim. The baked delicious golden dough, here made with plain flour, has a cakey, doughy texture. As wonderful fresh from the oven as it is toasted.
Recipe: Challah
Pitta Breads
A very hot oven is needed to induce the magic puffing of these versatile breads.
Recipe: Pitta Breads
Gluten-Free Brown Loaf
This unusual bread recipe is made with a batter, rather than by kneading a dough. Because it’s so wet, it only needs one rise. It doesn’t have a heavy chew, but it makes the perfect sandwich loaf.
Recipe: Gluten-Free Brown Loaf
Gluten-free loaf
Our best gluten-free loaf, this bread is perfect for sandwiches.
Recipe: Gluten-free loaf
Brown bloomer
A wonderful bread for everyday. Letting the dough rise twice before the prove helps to give it a lighter texture.
Recipe: Brown bloomer
Bagels
If you mastered baking a basic white loaf, bagels are the next step up.
Recipe: Bagels
The perfect soda bread
Soda bread, originally from Ireland, is the clever cook’s loaf which can be mixed, shaped and baked in less than an hour. Serve with smoked salmon for a leisurely breakfast or with butter and jam as an afternoon treat.
Recipe: The perfect soda bread
Cinnamon Buns
A classic Northern European bake, this sweet dough is enriched with butter.
Recipe: Cinnamon Buns
Stuffed Currywurst Pretzel Rolls
We have combined two German classics and created a delicious, cheesy roll with a Currywurst dipping sauce.
Recipe: Stuffed Currywurst Pretzel Rolls
Iced Buns
A nostalgic favourite, these soft, sweet buns are so much better than shop-bought!
Recipe: Iced Buns
Garlic and Coriander Naans
These simple unleavened breads are on the table in minutes.Serve alongside this Chicken Tikka Masala dish.
Recipe: Garlic and Coriander Naans
Savoury Goat's Cheese Hot Cross Bun Loaf
We love the mix of sweet and savoury flavours in this loaf! Serve warm with butter and extra honey, or toast slices and top with crispy streaky bacon for brunch.
Butter Chicken Stuffed Naan Spiral
This recipe requires a little love and attention, but you will be rewarded with a delicious curry that’s encased in naan bread. It’s sure to wow any guests around the dinner table.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
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