Want Bakery-Quality Bread at Home? Start With These 20 Pastry Chef-Approved Recipes

My favorite memory of working as the executive pastry chef at a hotel restaurant in downtown San Francisco is of opening the door to the pastry department and feeling the blast of warm, yeasty, toasty, faintly sweet air envelope my entire body with the endorphin-boosting aroma of freshly baked bread. For a woman who dedicated her life to carbs, this was heaven! So even though I’m no longer greeted with racks and racks of fresh bread every morning, I still want to recreate that experience at home.

I’ve rounded up some of our favorite homemade bread recipes—including classic brioche, pillowy Japanese milk bread, crusty sourdough, no-knead focaccia, and bagels—that are guaranteed to make anyone’s home smell like a bakery. Whether you’re a beginner starting on a baking journey, a weekend baking enthusiast, or a seasoned baker looking for new ideas, we’ve got a time-tested, editor-approved homemade bread recipe for you to try.