18 Homemade Breads to Fit Any Schedule

updated Jun 29, 2023
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(Image credit: Emma Christensen)

Fresh-baked bread is a special treat, a delicious treasure of a home-cooked meal. But we know how hard it can be to tackle bread. Some days you have a whole day to devote to the kneading, rising, and tending of a loaf of artisan bread. Other days, you don’t think about bread until 15 minutes before the meal. Well, you know what? We’re here to tell you that you can indeed get hot biscuits on the table in 15 minutes.

Today we’ve gathered up our favorite bread recipes — including the classic no-knead bread recipe — and sorted them by the time it takes to make them. How much time do you have to make bread today — 15 minutes? An hour? Three hours? More? Whether you have an hour or a day, you can enjoy fresh bread with your supper.

And for more, check out our five favorite no-knead bread recipes.

If You Have a Half Hour or Less

1 / 4
Cream Biscuits

These simple cream biscuits are a take on the ever-delicious and classic buttermilk biscuits. And just as you’d expect with any biscuit, these are slightly crisp on the outside and pillow-soft on the inside.

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2 / 4
Classic Buttermilk Biscuits

Classic buttermilk biscuits are a staple in my household. Quick, easy, and light as a feather, they can be served for breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner and even dessert.

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3 / 4
Yogurt Biscuits with Dill

Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian biscuit recipe calls for either yogurt or buttermilk, all-purpose or cake flour and butter. I had some low-fat Greek yogurt, bread flour and Earth Balance spread, and since I was making do, I decided to give it a try. The results? Fluffy, flavorful biscuits that disappeared pretty quickly. Turns out, making do tastes pretty good.

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4 / 4
Bacon and Cheddar Cheese Biscuits

Sometimes you just need a biscuit. One that’s warm from the oven and pillow-soft in the middle. These particular scruffy-looking biscuits have become a recent obsession of mine, owing in great part to the fact that they’re incredibly easy to throw together. They’re also studded with bits of smoky bacon and flavored with sharp cheddar cheese – who can resist that?

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If You Have Hour

1 / 2
No-Time Bread
If you have time, make a slow-rise dough. If you don't have time, don't forgo bread — try no-time bread.
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2 / 2
Homemade Flour Tortillas
You needs just a few ingredients to make great homemade flour tortillas from scratch.
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If You Have 3 Hours

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Flatbread with Olive Oil and Sea Salt

This flatbread is the perfect preamble to the wide world of bread baking. The method, ingredients and all around experience is simple and the results spectacular. It can be adapted to taste with the addition of chopped herbs or flavored olive oil and the final result is fabulous sandwiched with a few slices of cured meat.

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2 / 3
Homemade Pita Bread

The pitas you make at home are worlds apart from the stuff you buy in stores, and watching them puff to glorious heights in your oven or on your stovetop is culinary magic at its best. Here’s how we do it.

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3 / 3
Credit: David Lebovitz
Chickpea Socca Flatbread

A great gluten-free treat from Nice, France.

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If You Have 5 Hours

1 / 2
Homemade Ciabatta

Who doesn’t love a good ciabatta roll? There’s the crust that is first crisp, then chewy. And then that soft spongy crumb with all its beautiful holes, perfect for mopping up the last bits of sauce from the plate. Or if you prefer, smearing with jam and eating while still warm from the oven.

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2 / 2
Herbed Olive Oil Fantail Rolls

This type of roll is probably my new favorite sort of bread for dinner parties. Yes, it takes a little while to put together, but if you are at home all day, it’s so easy. There is very little hands-on time, and the payoff is just so worth it.

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If You Have All Day (Or Want To Start The Night Before)

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How To Make No-Knead Bread
This loaf is the simplest bread we know how to bake at home and it requires no stand mixer, no starter, no special knowledge, and no kneading.
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2 / 7
Beginner Sourdough Sandwich Loaf

When you’re ready to take your new sourdough starter for a spin, I have just the recipe. Consider this beginner loaf a bridge between regular white sandwich bread and Tartine-style artisan loaves.

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3 / 7
No-Knead Bread in a Hurry

Here is how we bake our no-knead bread in the grill. You'll need a batch of no-knead bread or quicker no-knead bread to make this.

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4 / 7
No-Knead Multigrain Peasant Bread

Whole-wheat breads are an acquired taste, in my opinion. Some people love them, some people learn to love them, and some people (like me) never quite warm up to their bitter, earthy flavors.

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5 / 7
Potato Dough Rolls

These are simple, enriched rolls, tarted up with butter, eggs, and sugar, which means they are never dry. They bake in a tightly packed pan for a rustic, pull-apart presentation, and I love how the slightly craggy tops get browned and toasty, while the insides stay moist and soft.

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6 / 7
No-Knead Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls

These rolls get a very mild sweetness from the mashed sweet potatoes. We think they go perfectly with all the sweet and savory foods on a holiday buffet table, plus they’re pretty great slathered with jam for breakfast the next morning! You can also substitute regular potatoes, yams, or pumpkin for the sweet potatoes.

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7 / 7
Pan co'Santi - Walnut Bread

This simple no-knead bread is studded with walnuts and raisins, and has just a hint of cinnamon. We could have this for breakfast or we could just as easily serve it alongside a hearty meal.

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