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Bien Cut
If you're cooped up at home, making bread can be a fun — and useful — skill to learn.
Here are 17 bread-making kits and mixes you need to bake a perfect loaf in no time.
There's something so satisfying about baking bread from scratch. Maybe it's the tactile feeling of kneading the dough, or the sweet smell that fills your home as your loaf cooks in the oven.
But if you ask me, it's because bread straight from the oven is fresher and tastier than anything you can buy at the store. And if you've been cooped up at home or aren't able to get fresh bread from your local bakery, now is the perfect time to try your hand at baking a loaf on your own.
Here are the 15 bread-making kits and bread mixes that take the guesswork out of baking even if you've never baked anything before in your life. Or if you prefer making bread from scratch, here's a tutorial on how to make bread with yeast.
Here are the 15 best bread-making kits and bread mixes:
Bread and beer might not sound like they should go together, but yet, they do. This 5-pack of pre-made bread mixes yields five artisan loaves, and each just needs a can of beer and about 45 minutes of baking.
Adorable little bread pots that make a great activity for kids
Instead of a bread pan, this clever kit includes terracotta pots to make "bread pots" instead of loaves, turning your baking activity into a fun little craft with kids or even adults who are young at heart. Each set comes with your mixes, four pots, and a beautifully illustrated recipe that includes instructions on how to make lavender butter.
Braided cardamom bread seems daunting, right? But this DIY kit makes it super easy to make these gorgeous loaves from the comfort of your own home. It comes with directions to plait, as well as almost everything you need to create three loaves. All you need to provide are eggs, milk, and butter.
Instead of water, you can add club soda or beer for a rustic loaf of rosemary parm bread. It's called a "quick bread" because it uses baking powder or baking soda in place of yeast so you can bake the bread immediately without needing it to rise. Some mixes, including this one, still include a bit of yeast.
The Heirloom Rainbows Sourdough Starter Kit might be the easiest kit on this list. It gives you the two things you need for the perfect sourdough loaf: a starter and flour. You have to provide your own baking tools, which you'd probably already have at home, like a basket or bowl for proofing and some kind of vessel for cooking. But considering you've got the starter, which is arguably the hardest part of this kind of bread baking, you're already in great shape.
A just-add-water option with a handful of different flavors
This kit from Williams Sonoma is perfect if you're looking for some variety. It comes in a three-pack with different flavors — French bread, Multigrain, and Parmesan Garlic Bread. All you have to do is add water, knead, and pop the loaf in the oven. It might be the easiest option on this list.
While the Breadsmart Artisan Bread Making Kit doesn't give you the ingredients to make bread, it does give you all the tools you need to DIY as well as access to a digital recipe book. This kit includes a whisk, a proofing basket, a scraper, and a loom for scoring, and comes in different four colors.
The Bread Experience Artisan Home Bread Making Kit is another kit that gives you tools to make bread. There are nine pieces here, as well as cute little labels and bags so you can gift your fresh loaves to your neighbors, friends, and family. But it does give you one thing that justifies the high price tag — an e-book with a step-by-step guide to creating 16 different types of artisan loaves, five types of sandwich loaves, and a sourdough starter, which is a must-have for anyone looking to really get into breadmaking.
A sourdough kit that uses a dehydrated starter for freshness
Worried about your starter staying fresh while shipping? This kit from England actually dehydrates its starters, ensuring it's as fresh as possible when it gets to you. It also comes with two different types of sourdough, so you can try different flavors.
A bulk case of sourdough mix for all the loaves you can make
If you're looking for the dough to go with your kit, you'll have more luck online than your local grocery store. You can either buy this sourdough bread mix in a 1-pound bag or stock up with a 5-lb bag or — and let's be real here — a 25-lb case.
Just add water and pop this bread into the oven for a delicious loaf in under an hour. This is also made with baking soda for a quick baking bread that doesn't need to rise.
A kit based on a recipe from the Bible
True Leaf Market
Handy Pantry Basic Organic Biblical Bread Making Kit
This kit uses ingredients from a passage in the Old Testament: wheat, barley, spelt, millets, lentils, and beans. The result is six loaves of a crumbly, multi-grain loaf with a totally unique flavor.
For bread that doubles as dessert, like cinnamon buns and Danishes, try a sweet bread mix. This one comes as a 1-pound bag, or a 25-lb case in case you want to split with friends.
A quick and easy kit that only takes 15 minutes for delicious bread
Not everyone loves the idea of sitting around and waiting for bread to rise. If you want the taste of a fresh loaf without the effort, this kit from Uncommon Goods is for you. It utilizes instant sourdough culture, so all you have to do is mix, roll, and bake. You only need to put in 15 minutes of hands-on time for a sourdough that tastes like it's from your local bakery.