21 plain bread recipes

Just two ingredients: softened butter stirred with vanilla extract. Spread it on toast, pancakes, or warm bread for a fragrant, slightly sweet twist on plain butter.

Kraut burgers, also called bierocks or runzas, tuck a savory ground beef, cabbage, and onion filling inside soft baked bread dough. A hearty Great Plains hand pie, brushed with butter and great for packing in lunches.

Plain sourdough starter made from just flour and water. No commercial yeast needed. Mix, wait four to five days, and you have a wild-fermented base for bread.

Oven-baked "un-fried" chicken coated in yogurt and seasoned Italian bread crumbs with Old Bay and Creole spices. Crispy, flavorful, and low-fat with no deep frying required.

Stuffed French toast with crumbled tofu, brandy-soaked raisins, currants, and candied peel. Pan-fried golden in butter. A showstopping weekend brunch that freezes beautifully.