When it comes to making delicious breads, pastries, and other baked goods, the type of dough you use can make all the difference. For our newest Quick & Easy Baking Tips Rarely Told Series, we focus on “Dough.”
Different types of dough have unique characteristics that can affect the texture, flavor, and overall outcome of your baked goods. We’ll explore here the various types of dough, troubleshoot common issues, discuss texture, and provide quick tutorials on the best ways to knead the dough properly. Additionally, we’ll identify the best doughs for certain recipes or as an accompaniment with other dishes you may make.
Types of Dough
- Yeast Dough: Yeast dough is made with flour, water, salt, sugar, and yeast. The yeast is what gives this dough its rise and airy texture. It’s commonly used for making bread, rolls, and certain types of pastries like donuts. Yeast dough requires time to rise, so it’s important to allow for adequate proofing to achieve the desired texture and flavor.
- Pastry Dough: Pastry dough is a versatile dough that can be used for both sweet and savory recipes. There are several types of pastry dough, including shortcrust (pie) pastry, puff pastry, and choux pastry. Each type has its own unique characteristics and is best suited for specific recipes. Shortcrust pastry is great for pies and tarts, while puff pastry is ideal for creating flaky layers in pastries and desserts, think crescent rolls or croissants.
- Pizza Dough: Pizza dough is a simple dough made with flour, water, yeast, salt, and olive oil. Sometimes seasonings are added to spruce up the dough. It’s typically rolled out thin and baked at a high temperature to create a crispy crust. The texture of pizza dough can vary depending on the recipe and method of preparation, but it should be elastic and easy to work with.
- Sourdough: Sourdough is a type of dough that is leavened using natural wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria. It has a distinct tangy flavor and chewy texture, making it perfect for artisan breads and rustic loaves. Sourdough requires a longer fermentation process compared to other types of dough, but the resulting flavor and texture are well worth the wait.
- Semolina: Semolina is primarily used for pasta making. For spaghetti and ravioli, both made from simple ingredients—semolina flour and eggs—but require different techniques compared to other flours for achieving the perfect texture.
Flour Varieties
The type of flour used in dough significantly impacts its texture, flavor, look and overall performance. Understanding the characteristics of different flour varieties is essential for selecting the most suitable option for your desired outcome. Here, we’ll talk about the most popular and used flours.
- All-Purpose Flour: All-purpose flour, including wheat flour, is a versatile and a readily available flour choice suitable for a wide range of baked goods, including bread, pizza dough, and pastry crusts. It strikes a balance between protein content and gluten development, making it a reliable option for everyday baking. Wheat is darker, contains bran and germ, and has a shorter shelf life, but can be used 1 to 1 with all-purpose flour.
- Bread Flour: With a higher protein content than all-purpose flour, bread flour is specifically formulated for yeast-risen breads and pizza dough. Its strength and elasticity yield superior structure and volume in baked goods.
- Semolina Flour: Semolina flour is commonly used in pasta making dough such as linguine or ravioli, due to its coarse texture and high protein content. It produces pasta with a firm bite and rough surface texture that holds sauces exceptionally well. It’s best for semolina dough to be kneaded until it is smooth and elastic before being rolled out and cut into thin strands or other shapes.
Self-Rising Flour
Self-rising flour is a type of all-purpose flour that’s pre-mixed with salt and baking powder. It’s a flour extremely popular with pastries in the UK. While this flour has certain functions, it eliminates a ton of recipes one can make with it, or you’ll have to substitute and adjust accordingly, which means time and math! The inclusion of baking powder restricts the duration for which the product can be used, as baking powder has a limited shelf life on its own, and also eliminates the flour to be used for most bread (yeast) recipes. Basically, it’s not a favorite. Self-rising flour are great for quick breads, biscuits, pancakes and a few other simple pastries.
To make a simple self-rising flour: add 125g of flour + 1.5 tsp. of baking powder + 1/4 tsp. of salt.
Gluten-Free Flour
With the increasing demand for gluten-free options, there are now a variety of gluten-free flours available, such as almond flour, coconut flour, cassava flour, rice flour and varieties of gluten free all-purpose flours that have a combination. These alternative flours offer unique flavors and textures and can be used in place of traditional wheat flour in many recipes, especially with those who have dietary restrictions. Understanding how to work with gluten-free flours is essential for achieving successful results in gluten-free baking. Not all gluten free flours work the same, not even brands. Finding the perfect flour for your baked goods takes time and a ton of effort. Some brands say 1 to 1, but actually its 1 to 3/4. Difficult, but trying can be the only way to perfect a gluten free recipe.
Have You Heard of Vital Wheat Gluten?
Vital Wheat Gluten are used by hard core bakers. It’s a protein derived from wheat. Its primary use is to enhance your dough’s elasticity, improve dough structure for strength, boost protein level of your baked goods and retain more moisture for a chewier baked good. Vital Wheat Gluten works best for low protein flours such as: rice flour, corn flour, potato flour and almond flour. Cake flour is another low protein flour for dough, but generally it’s ignored compared to other flours, gluten and gluten free, for any type of dough.
If adding Vital Wheat Gluten to your low protein flours, make sure you:
- Adding Gluten: Add approx. 1-2 tablespoons per cup of flour.
- Liquid: Monitor or even enhance your liquid content for the dough. Vital Wheat retains a lot of moisture.
- Kneading: Knead the dough thoroughly, since we’re adding extra gluten.
- Resting: Allow your dough to rest, as with any gluten flour requires.
Troubleshooting Dough
Even experienced bakers can run into issues with their dough from time to time. Breathe, we’re here. We understand. Temperature, climate, even just an off-day can send your baking off the mark. It happens to everyone. Here are some common problems and how to troubleshoot them:
- Tough or Dense Dough: If your dough is coming out tough or dense, it could be due to overworking the gluten. To avoid this issue, be mindful of how much you knead the dough and try using a lower protein flour. When you are done, you’re done.
- Sticky Dough: Sticky dough can be difficult to work with and may result in uneven textures in your baked goods. To remedy this issue, try adding a small amount of flour at a time until the dough reaches the desired consistency. To achieve the desired final texture, some recipes call for a sticky dough. Adding water or fat to your hands while rolling the dough, flouring your hands and surface before working with it, or chilling the dough in the fridge can help with the final handling of the dough.
- Crumbly Dough: Crumbly dough can be caused by not using enough liquid or fat in the recipe. Adding a bit more water or butter can help bind the ingredients together and improve the texture of the dough. Lightly incorporate flour to your dough, while kneading helps avoid this issue. The best dough has a dry, yet wet and non-sticky (unless required) texture.
Dough Texture
The texture of dough can greatly impact the final outcome of your baked goods. We need our biscuits to be flaky. We want our bread to be soft. Here are some common textures and their best uses:
- Tender and Flaky: Tender and flaky dough is perfect for creating delicate pastries such as croissants, biscuits, and pie crusts. This type of dough should have visible layers when baked and a light, airy texture. Butter and/or shortening are your friends, along with coolness.
- Elastic and Chewy: Elastic and chewy dough is ideal for breads that require a hearty texture and chewy crust. Sourdough and other artisan breads often have this type of texture, which adds depth of flavor and a satisfying bite.
- Crispy and Crunchy: Crispy and crunchy dough is best suited for items like pizza crusts, crackers, and certain types of cookies. Achieving this texture often requires rolling the dough thin and baking at a high temperature to create a golden brown finish.
Kneading the Best Way
Properly kneading dough is essential for developing gluten and achieving the desired texture in your baked goods. Kneading properly is an art. And art takes time and patience. Here are some tutorials on the best ways to knead different types of dough:
- Yeast Dough: To knead yeast dough, start by lightly flouring your work surface and hands. Use the heel of your hand to push the dough away from you, then fold it back over itself. Continue this motion for about 10-15 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic.
- Pastry Dough: For pastry dough, it’s important to handle the dough as little as possible to prevent the development of gluten. Gently press the dough together into a disc shape, then wrap it in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator before rolling it out. Pastry dough works best chill when working with it. Warmth, even from your hands are the enemy.
- Pizza Dough: Pizza dough should be kneaded until smooth and slightly elastic. Use a similar technique as with yeast dough, but be mindful not to overwork the dough, as this can result in a tough crust. A little secret not told about pizza dough is to cover it a is, for at least 5 minutes if the dough is difficult to roll out or collapses inward, after proofing. This prevents tears, overworking and helps with the chewiness of the dough we love. Shaping the dough should be easy.
Best Doughs for Different Recipes
Choosing the right type of dough for your recipe can greatly impact the final result. Which type of breads work with spaghetti, or a chicken sandwich? What’s the best bread for French toast? What should the crust look and taste like? Here are some recommendations for the best doughs for different recipes:
- Breads: For classic sandwich bread or dinner rolls, a yeast dough like sourdough or rye bread is the best choice. It provides a soft yet sturdy texture that’s perfect for sandwiches or as a side with soups and stews. Breads differ though. A brioche bread is fantastic for French toast, bread pudding and most recently, hamburgers. Sourdough, not so much. Brioche breads contain more fat, although cannot be lumped with shortcrusts, they have their similarities in ingredients, just not how it’s made.
- Pie Crust & Biscuits: When making a pie or tart, shortcrust pastry is the ideal choice. Its tender and flaky texture pairs perfectly with sweet or savory fillings. Pie crusts and biscuits are made similar, with similar ingredients, but used differently. Biscuits have the grand versatility of working with gravy, jams, chicken, beef, whipped cream, and pretty much anything you can imagine. Pie crust are rolled thin, biscuits are thick. They both have high butter or fat content, work for both savory or sweet dishes, and are best when worked on chill, but that’s the last of its similarities.
- Pizza: For homemade pizza, a simple pizza dough made with yeast, olive oil, water, flour, salt and sugar is a great option. It’s easy to work with and can be customized with various toppings, seasonings and flavors. The best part is it’s usually very simple and quick to make. Proofing is the longest aspect, and even those methods are on the simpler side compared to bread doughs.
Did You Learn Anything? We Hope!
Understanding the characteristics of different types of dough is essential for successful baking. By troubleshooting common issues, recognizing textures, learning proper kneading techniques, learning about dietary restrictions and substituting, and choosing the best doughs for specific recipes, you can elevate your baking skills and create delicious homemade treats for yourself and others to enjoy. While we’ve listed some common techniques depending on pastry type or dough, always try to stick with the recipe. Sometimes a unique technique can create a beautiful pastry. These quick tips are for your knowledge, especially when having to troubleshoot and issue, or even a new recipe that doesn’t work.
For a fantastic recipe from Whipped It, that uses a yeast dough, try our Drooling Donuts. With a perfect balance of sweetness and fluffiness, these donuts are sure to satisfy your cravings and impress your friends and family.
