When its lunchtime, the panini is the king. Not only can you make this delicacy with a number of innovative and creative recipe ideas, but the healthy snack is also sure to fill you up and satisfy your friends and family for lunch. You can also feel free to prepare a dessert Panini to enjoy at the end of the night.
If this introduction has caught your attention and you’d like to try out the delicacy, here is a list of different types of bread you can use in your Panini maker for excellent results.
Brioche
Brioche is a type of bread from France made with butter and eggs. It is extremely light, with a subtle sweetness and a tight crumb. When you hold it in your hands, you’ll also notice that it boasts a completely soft crust with a golden hue from the egg that’s usually applied to the dough immediately before baking.
If you’re trying to prepare one of the most delicious Paninis, then Brioche is the way to go. You can also try it for French Toasts.
Baguettes
Baguettes are perfect for nearly any Panini sandwiches since they’re so light and versatile. This bread can get sliced thin to better highlight ingredients as well and will handle more serious toppings when you’re trying to feed a crowd.
The bread’s versatility lends to open-faced tartine and sandwiches.
Multigrain
This type of bread is precisely what its name sounds like: Bread that has been loaded with different grains like oats, millet, flax, and barley. Multigrain bread is also super hearty and boasts a rich earthy flavor that makes it perfect for your morning avocado toasties.
Pita Bread
Pita is a leavened type of flatbread made of wheat flour and it originated in the Middle East. This delicacy is baked at extremely high temperatures, which causes the liquid in the dough to escape, creating a huge air bubble in the center that’ll become a pocket when you cut it in half.
This bread is perfect for handheld falafel sandwiches and will also be great for dipping if cut into wedges.
Rye Bread
Rye bread is made using a combination of rye flour and bread flour. This gives it a tight crumb and an assertive rye flavor. Often, depending on who is preparing the bread, dill or caraway seed will be added for an earthy flavor.
What’s more? Rye bread is the delicacy that gives corned beef sandwiches and pastrami their signature flavors.
Sourdough
Sourdough is basically a yeasted type of bread made from a starter. A starter is a fermented mixture of water and flour that makes a lot of batches of bread. As a matter of fact, it can be stored for a very long period of time.
The resulting loaves usually have a substantial crust with soft, chewy centers and huge air bubbles. They make BOMB grilled cheeses.
Whole Wheat Bread
Unlike white bread, this whole wheat bread is made using flour that utilizes almost entire wheat grains – with their germ and brans still intact. This means more fiber per slice and more nutrients, so if like me, you are health-conscious, then this is the bread you’ll want to use.
This type of bread is also perfect for making sandwiches, or my other favorite delicacy, egg in a hole.
Ciabatta
Ciabatta, whose name translates to slippers, is an Italian loaf made with water, yeast, salt, and wheat flour. Even though its crust and texture vary slightly throughout Italy, the loaf’s essential ingredients always remain the same.
Needless to say, Ciabatta is naturally best for Paninis and sandwiches.
Rolls and Thick Cut Slices
For a hearty Panini, you are going to need some of the heartiest bread. For instance, meatball sandwiches or pulled pork require a little more support, and for that reason, go better with a roll or bun. That said, if you prefer sliced bread, ensure you remember that fillings that are likely to get soggy (think tomatoes for bruschetta or marinated steak) are the best coupled with thick-cut bread slices.
Hawaiian Sweet Bread
Portuguese sugarcane planters brought with them a recipe of Portuguese sweet bread to Hawaii. This bread is today known as the Hawaiian sweet bread. Back in the 1950s, a manufacturer, today known as King’s Hawaiian, founded its 1st bakery in Hilo, Hawaii.
For more than a century, visitors of the islands enjoyed the light, soft, sweet colored bread as did the island locals.
By the early 1980s, however, King’s Hawaiian had already brought its sweet bread to the mainland. And while most individuals serve this delicacy in much the same way they do dinner rolls, it can also make soft and delicious Paninis and is even available in hot dog rolls and hamburger buns.
Focaccia Bread
Focaccia is one of the most ancient flatbreads. Older versions of the bread were usually unleavened, but today you’ll find that bakers add some leavening ingredients to the dough, including a little bit of yeast. Bakers also embellish the dough with herbs and cheeses, which gives the focaccia bread a distinct texture and flavor.
Conclusion
If you’ve loved this wide array of bread types you can use to make sandwiches and Paninis, then all you need now is one of the best Panini presses to prepare your desired delicacies. Here is a detailed guide that will help you learn how to separate the best from the rest and pick a unit that can meet your needs and requirements.