[Photographs: Joshua Bousel, Vicky Wasik, Robyn Lee]
When your Thanksgiving table is practically groaning under an array of elaborate dishes, the bread basket has an unfortunate tendency to get lost. Heck, at any big special-occasion meal, we're constantly warning each other not to "fill up on the bread," be it ever so inviting. On the other hand, bread needs to be a part of your Thanksgiving menu—A, for sopping up gravy, cranberry sauce, and anything else left on your plate, and B, for making the all-important leftovers sandwich the next day. (Unless you decide to go with stuffing waffles instead, but that's another post.) So, if you've got the time and inclination, you may as well deliver not just any old bread, but a heartwarming, homemade rendition of cornbread, biscuits, stuffing rolls, or focaccia that will be a temptation all on its own.
Cornbread
Sweet and Moist Northern-Style Cornbread
[Photograph: Joshua Bousel]
This recipe represents the best of Northern-style cornbread in its flavor and internal texture—sweet, moist, and cake-like—but its crackling brown crust is pure Southern. The base is a 50-50 mix of yellow cornmeal and all-purpose flour, with sour cream and buttermilk to add tanginess; pour the batter into a preheated, butter-coated cast iron skillet before baking to get that dark crust.
Get the recipe for Sweet and Moist Northern-Style Cornbread »
Maple and Walnut Cornbread
[Photograph: Joshua Bousel]
Our basic Northern-style cornbread recipe is well suited to add-ins and tweaks in flavoring. This simple variation uses maple syrup and toasted walnuts—the syrup replaces some of the sugar and gives the bread a deeper sweetness to complement the corn flavor, while chopped nuts add texture.
Get the recipe for Maple and Walnut Cornbread »
Orange and Cranberry Cornbread
[Photograph: Joshua Bousel]
The tartness of cranberries and the bright, refreshing flavor of orange pair just as well in cornbread as they do in Thanksgiving cranberry sauce. To balance out the mouth-puckering natural sourness of the cranberries, this recipe uses more sugar than our basic cornbread—we add honey and replace the white sugar with light brown, which gives the cornbread a subtle molasses note.
Get the recipe for Orange and Cranberry Cornbread »
Cheddar, Bacon, and Scallion Cornbread
[Photograph: Joshua Bousel]
For a more savory cornbread, infuse it with the salty, smoky, and sharp flavors of bacon, scallions, and cheddar cheese. Use the rendered bacon fat instead of butter when preheating your pan in order to maximize the meaty flavor, and cut down on the salt in the batter to account for the bacon.
Get the recipe for Cheddar, Bacon, and Scallion Cornbread »
Jalapeño Jack Cornbread
[Photograph: Joshua Bousel]
Jalapeños and pepper jack cheese turn our standard cornbread Tex-Mex. To make it more fruity than spicy, seed the jalapeños and, if you like, replace the pepper jack with Monterey Jack or cheddar. If you're a heat addict, feel free to leave those seeds in.
Get the recipe for Jalapeño Jack Cornbread »
Roasted Pepper Cornbread
[Photograph: Joshua Bousel]
Deepen the fruity notes of the poblanos and mild red peppers in this recipe by charring them first—holding them directly over a gas burner or placing them under a broiler is the quickest route—then peeling and chopping them. Frozen corn kernels give the bread little pockets of sweetness and builds the corn flavor, and cayenne lends a slight heat that doesn't overwhelm.
Get the recipe for Roasted Pepper Cornbread »
Moist and Tender Brown Butter Cornbread
[Photograph: J. Kenji López-Alt]
Process-wise, it's not much different from our basic recipe, but the addition of browned butter gives the cornbread a wonderfully nutty flavor and aroma. We also reduce the amount of sugar here to allow the brown butter free, delicious rein over our senses.
Get the recipe for Moist and Tender Brown Butter Cornbread »
Biscuits
Super Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits
[Photograph: Robyn Lee]
The American biscuit may take infinite forms, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a more popular one than the light, flaky buttermilk variety. We use butter instead of shortening, which makes them more tender and adds flavor. Pressing and folding the dough over itself repeatedly, in a process known as lamination, provides the layering that gives the biscuits their unbelievable flakiness.
Get the recipe for Super Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits »
Quick and Easy Drop Biscuits
[Photograph: Daniel Gritzer]
Drop biscuits are much easier and faster than laminated biscuits, but still offer a ton of fluffiness and buttery flavor. Mix up the five ingredients—butter, flour, baking soda, salt, and milk—quickly to limit gluten formation, then scoop the dough onto a baking sheet in walnut-sized pieces. The resulting biscuit is buttery, a bit salty, and light as a cloud.
Get the recipe for Quick and Easy Drop Biscuits »
Light and Tender Cream Biscuits
[Photograph: Marissa Sertich Velie]
For what is arguably the simplest route to tender, delicious biscuits, try replacing heavy cream with butter—the high level of butterfat contained within will provide all the rich, full-bodied texture and flavor you're after. Just whisk together the dry ingredients and stir in the cream. That's it, literally. The dough will be ready before your oven has even finished preheating.
Get the recipe for Light and Tender Cream Biscuits »
Two Ingredient Never-Fail Cream Biscuits
[Photograph: J. Kenji López-Alt]
Did we say that cream biscuit formulation was the simplest way to do it? Okay, to be honest, it gets even easier than that, and we all know how valuable ease of preparation is come Thanksgiving Day. Cream biscuits are made with cream, flour, salt, and baking powder (sugar, though called for in the above recipe, is optional). How do you simplify a four-ingredient recipe? You replace all the dry ingredients with self-rising flour, which is just flour with salt and baking powder added. If you want sweet, shortcake-style biscuits, add a couple of tablespoons of sugar, which brings the ingredient total to a whopping three.
Get the recipe for Two Ingredient Never-Fail Cream Biscuits »
Pillowy (and Pretty) Yeasted Angel Biscuits
[Photograph: Marissa Sertich Velie]
These angel biscuits—so called because a combination of multiple leavening agents renders them light as "angel's wings"—use both baking powder and yeast, making them something of a biscuit–roll hybrid. While their flavor is distinctly biscuit-y, the yeast all but guarantees that they'll rise to soft, pillowy heights. They're a beautiful addition to your Thanksgiving table, but also great for making sandwiches with leftovers the next day.
Get the recipe for Pillowy (and Pretty) Yeasted Angel Biscuits »
Mildly Sweet Sweet-Potato Biscuits
[Photograph: Marissa Sertich Velie]
Sweet potato biscuits were invented as a cost-cutting measure—the cheap tubers were incorporated into biscuit dough as a way of stretching refined flour, which was pricey back in the day. But despite being born of frugality, they're also moist, tender, and tasty. Mash the potatoes by hand to preserve a few chunks, so the biscuits end up studded with pockets of sweet potato.
Get the recipe for Mildly Sweet Sweet-Potato Biscuits »
Skillet Biscuits With Lamb Fat
[Photograph: Chichi Wang]
Thanksgiving is virtually synonymous with turkey, but when I was growing up, my dad would almost always cook up lamb, too. If your family traditions are cut from similar cloth, try saving any fat that renders out of the lamb and substituting it for some of the butter in a pan of biscuits. They'll pick up all that flavor, for a richer, meatier-tasting result.
Get the recipe for Skillet Biscuits With Lamb Fat »
Other Breads
Simple Crusty White Bread
[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]
Your basic loaf of white bread—not glamorous, not trendy, but classic and crowd-pleasing and versatile as all get-out. The light crumb and crispy, browned crust make our white bread perfect for slathering with butter (or mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole— whatever you've got lying around, really). If you plan to get serious about bread baking, invest in a kitchen scale—weight is a much more accurate measure than volume for dry ingredients.
Get the recipe for Simple Crusty White Bread »
Parker House Rolls
[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]
Again, not your fanciest option, but my hands-down favorite Thanksgiving bread has always been the Parker House roll—you can't beat the soft, fluffy texture and sweet, buttery flavor. Our secret for making them extra pillowy? Instant mashed potato flakes in the dough. Did we just blow your mind?
Get the recipe for Parker House Rolls »
Pull-Apart Stuffing Rolls
[Photograph: J. Kenji López-Alt]
They're like a combination of garlic knots and Thanksgiving stuffing, and we wouldn't be surprised if they stole the show from your turkey. Combine basic pizza dough (store-bought works just as well as homemade) with the traditional stuffing ingredients of sausage, onion, celery, sage, garlic, and parsley, and bake it up casserole-style in the oven. Just be prepared to make these every Thanksgiving, once your family gets a taste of them.
Get the recipe for Pull-Apart Stuffing Rolls »
Stuffing Buns
[Photograph: Donna Currie]
This slightly more restrained version calls for incorporating various stuffing-appropriate seasonings, like poultry seasoning, dried celery flakes, and dried parsley, into a simple roll. If you're really feeling the Thanksgiving spirit, go ahead and try adding some dried cranberries to the mix. And if you want to use these the day after for sandwiches (and trust us, you do!), make the buns a little bigger and thicker, for plenty of turkey-and-casserole capacity.
Get the recipe for Stuffing Buns »
Overnight Buns
[Photograph: Donna Currie]
You probably have plenty to juggle on Thanksgiving Day without taking out time to make bread dough, which makes these easy rolls a lifesaver: The mixing, kneading, rising, and even shaping of the individual pieces can all be done the day before. Throw the unbaked rolls in the fridge, let them sit overnight, and they'll be ready to slide into the oven just before dinnertime.
Get the recipe for Overnight Buns »
Easy No-Knead Olive-Rosemary Focaccia With Pistachios
[Photograph: J. Kenji López-Alt]
Most bread recipes call for kneading the dough to form the gluten that gives bread its structure. The big not-so-secret secret, though, is that you don't have to knead to form gluten—just letting the dough sit overnight gets the job done at least as well. And a highly hydrated dough, like this one infused with rosemary and olives, doesn't need to be stretched, either—it will naturally expand to fill your pan.
Get the recipe for Easy No-Knead Olive-Rosemary Focaccia With Pistachios »
Serious Rye Bread
[Photograph: Donna Currie]
As much as we all love those light, fluffy breads, Thanksgiving dinner is a meal full of hefty dishes, and there's something to be said for having a bread that can stand up to them. Packed with rye flour and flavored with caraway, this dense, chewy bread isn't meant for sandwiches—it's more appropriate for slicing thinly and using to mop up gravy, or (post-Thanksgiving) dabbing with cream cheese and raw onion.
Get the recipe for Serious Rye Bread »
Gluten-Free Potato Bread
[Photograph: Aki Kamozawa]
A gluten-free bread that still manages to be structured and springy? It's possible, albeit with a little extra effort. This recipe starts from a gluten-free flour mixture that can substitute gram for gram for all-purpose flour. The other special ingredient is cooked potato, which provides starch and keeps the bread moist.
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