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Justine Lee
Justine LeeRecipe Production Coordinator
Justine Lee is Kitchn's Recipe Production Coordinator and a food writer and recipe developer based in NYC. Her writing frequently appears in Food52, Bon Appetit, Food Network, The Infatuation, among others. She has also been featured in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. In her past, Justine has worked in various professional kitchens and food companies. This, along with her Korean-American culinary identity and a lifelong passion for baking, often informs her work. You will find Justine drinking iced coffees year-round, even in a snowstorm with gloves on.
published Nov 27, 2023
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What’s not to love about bread? It can make you feel all warm and cozy inside, sure. But there’s another layer of bliss baked into the dough when you bake it yourself. Nothing compares to the gratification of tearing into a warm, fresh focaccia or a fluffy slice of milk bread fresh out of your oven.
When you bake bread, you’re also guaranteed ultimate bragging rights or, at the very least, to acquire confidence as a home baker. Yes, you made that! These carefully chosen recipes from our food editors will motivate you to stop loaf-ing around, grab your yeast, and cancel your weekend plans; they’re just that good.
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The Challah | Round Dukkah Challah
This fluffy and tender loaf from contributor Stephanie Ganz is the result of many challah trials spanning years and years. Stephanie likes to top the bread with dukkah, a crunchy, spice-tinged seed-and-nut blend that hails from Egypt and the Middle East. And although she says it's optional, we politely disagree. It adds an irresistible savory crunch that's not to be missed!
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Credit: Kitchn
The Milk Bread | Kristina Cho's Milk Bread
If you want to make Japanese-style egg salad sandos, you need a bread with bounce, aka milk bread. Like any top-notch milk bread, this recipe from Kristina Cho begins with the tangzhong, a moisture-locking concentration of flour and liquid that comes together like a roux. It makes the loaf extra-soft and keeps it from going stale, which shouldn't be a problem anyway, considering how quickly the loaf is bound to disappear.
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The Dinner Roll | Cast Iron Pandesal Pull-Apart Bread
The French have baguettes, Italians have ciabatta, and Filipinos have pandesal. This pull-apart version from contributor Yana Gilbuena is based on the one her lola (Filipino for "grandma") used to make. You can serve it alongside eggs, dip it in coffee (like Yana's lola), eat it with soup, or even stuff it with ice cream. Bottom line: There's not a time when pandesal doesn't work.
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Credit: Kitchn
The Focaccia | Samin Nosrat’s Ligurian Focaccia
The first time Associate Food Editor, Nicole Rufus, saw Ligurian focaccia being made on the Netflix series Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, she gasped. To the unfamiliar, the process of brining the dough (with a saltwater brine) can be jarring. Is it supposed to look that wet? But trust the process. The brine imparts such an unbelievable amount of flavor that adding an aromatic like rosemary is 100% unnecessary.
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The Tortilla | Quesadilla de Quelite y Champiñón
Nothing, and we mean nothing, compares to a freshly made maíz tortilla. Contributor Alex Cardenas breaks down the process step by step, giving you tons of tips along the way: new shape options, how to make them wihout a tortilla press, and more. Her beautiful blue corn tortillas are an integral part of her mushroom and purslane quesadillas, and after making the recipe once we're confident you'll be DIYing your tortillas much more often.
This article originally published on The Kitchn. See it there: 6 Amazing Bread Recipes That Will Make You Feel Like a Star Baker
