39 Bread Crust Toppings That Will Take Your Loaf To The Next Level

I have mastered many skills in the almost two decades I have worked as a chef. One of these is the art of bread baking. Baking is often a science, but when working with yeast, measurements become less crucial than intuition. Yeast is a living, breathing entity with a personality of its own, and it takes some finesse to discover what works and what doesn't when feeding this organism and cultivating the ideal loaf.

Every loaf of bread is a unique creation, calling for its adornments. Adding a topping is among the best ways to infuse bread with visual, aromatic, textural, and flavorful interest. These can vary from a glaze or wash to seeds, spices, herbs, fruits, and vegetables. Some are added before baking, while others must be reserved for the last minute just as the loaf or rolls emerge from the oven for best results.

The key is understanding what ingredients work in which circumstances and knowing how those need to be prepared for maximum impact on your bread. For those wanting to take their bread-baking game to the next level, this list is for you. You will quickly discover the myriad ways in which bread can be turned from basic to bejeweled.

Topping your proofed loaves with a layer of flour before baking is frequently seen with rustic peasant bread recipes. The contrast between the flour and the dough will enhance visual appeal when scoring loaves. Flour can also be used with various stencils to create elaborate designs atop your loaf.

Bread, rice, or a combination of both flours is best for this purpose. You can also use wheat bran or rye flour for something more provincial. Never cake the flour on too densely. Doing so will mask the design and make the bread taste pasty. Sift flour through a fine mesh sieve for best results.

Brushing the top of your yeasty dinner rolls or a loaf of bread before popping it into the oven with butter is common. Doing so encourages the crust to become glossy, remain supple, and develop a golden hue. It also tastes delicious.

Unsalted butter is ideal for this purpose, as salt can cause bread to become soggy. For an even better final product, clarify the butter before brushing it onto your bread using a nylon or animal hair pastry brush. Clarifying butter removes any excess water or milk proteins, leaving behind just the pure butterfat, which is less likely to burn the top of your bread.

Topping your bread with a milk glaze can help make the exterior crunchy while conferring a tan hue. Unlike many other washes and glazes you might use, milk seldom produces a glossy crust, though this is contingent on the type used.

The fat and sugar in milk are responsible for creating this browning effect. For this reason, you should opt for whole milk versus low or nonfat varieties. If you'd like a slightly darker crust, use heavy cream. Again, an animal hair or nylon pastry brush works best for this process, or you can use a spray bottle.

A honey glaze can create a darker crust that is only slightly shiny while infusing it with a hint of sweetness. It tends to be stickier, and its use can trap moisture in the final bread, causing it to spoil faster. For the best flavor, use more exotic types of honey, like lavender or orange blossom varieties.

To apply before baking, heat the honey gently to liquefy it and spread it over your bread using a pastry brush. You can also combine it with melted butter for a shinier finish. It is also a common post-baking application for a glossy crust.

A butter rub, or compound butter, is a common ingredient for enhancing flavors on meat and vegetables. It can also be a delicious way to finish a loaf of bread just after it is removed from the oven before it cools.

Though the possibilities are endless, garlic herb is one of the most well-known compound kinds of butter. Personal favorites include a cinnamon maple, orange honey, and spicy chipotle herb. Once you combine the softened butter with your seasonings, allow the mixture to set in the refrigerator before spreading the hardened rub atop your freshly baked bread.

Jams combine chopped or puréed fruit with sugar, pectin, and an acid. The ratio of fruit to sugar creates a distinctly thick, rich flavor that can easily be converted into a glaze to coat sweet and savory bread after it comes out of the oven. Mix your jam with a couple of tablespoons of water to help thin it out and bring it to a boil. Once liquefied, the resulting glaze can be brushed atop any loaf.

Don't limit yourself to classic fruit jams, like apricot or cherry. Take advantage of specialty jams, like mango jalapeño or strawberry balsamic, to deliver sweet and savory complexity to your bread.

The briny, chewy goodness of a black or green olive is a marvelous accent to liven up any loaf of bread. Though you could use plain black olives, we prefer something more exciting like a buttery, verdant Castelvetrano or a ripe, marinated Kalamata. Generally speaking, green olives are younger and less potent in flavor than black ones.

Always pit your olives before slicing or chopping them to add to your bread. To pit an olive, place it on your cutting board and smash it using the back end of a chef's knife. The pits should then be easy to squeeze out using your fingers.

Like fresh, dried herbs can be used in whatever combination you enjoy. Favorite toppings for bread include oregano, dill, herbes de Provence, Italian seasoning, and za'atar. When converting a recipe from fresh to dried herbs, you will want to use approximately one-third less of the dried. When herbs are dehydrated, their taste becomes more assertive than their fresh iterations.

Like other toppings, you may need water or an egg wash to get the dried herbs to adhere to the top of your bread. Try combining dried herbs with garlic and parmesan cheese for a savory blend that will knock your socks off.

Slightly sweet and acidic tomatoes are always a brilliant addition to bread. Though you can use fresh or sun-dried, you will want to factor in excess moisture that may leach from the former. They can cause the crust to become soggy rather than crisp. For this reason, I use halved small tomatoes and leave the cut side facing up so the juices can slowly evaporate while the bread bakes.

Sun-dried tomatoes will not cause your bread to become soggy and have a distinct savory flavor. If you are using ones packaged in oil, drain them well before chopping and sprinkling them atop your unbaked crust.

The combination of vibrant basil, garlic, parmesan, toasted pine nuts, olive oil, and lemon juice is a match made in culinary heaven. A specialty that originated in Genoa, Italy, pesto translates to pound, accurately describing the chunky paste. When delicately spread atop a loaf of bread, the paste develops a dark, verdant hue and infuses the bread with savory richness.

For a change of pace, consider using a different nut, like almonds or pistachios, or swapping basil with mint, parsley, cilantro, or arugula. Whatever you choose, you will want to apply the paste delicately so as not to deflate your bread dough.

Nuts and seeds are frequently added to bread crusts of all kinds. Nuts can confer textural complexity, flavor, and nutritional value to bread. Though you can use any combination of nuts and seeds, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, pepitas, sunflower seeds, almonds, walnuts, pecans, and pistachios are all common additions.

When adding nuts, it is important to brush or spray the top of your bread with water or an egg wash to give them something to adhere to. Also, consider chopping larger pieces of nuts into smaller ones for a more pleasant, balanced mouthfeel on the final baked bread.

The zest of lemons, oranges, tangerines, and other citrus fruits adds a hint of sweetness, tartness, acidity, and bitterness that can balance the flavors of a dish. When used atop bread, it may best be paired with sugar or honey glazes or combined with sweet spices like cinnamon and ginger.

Regardless of the zest you choose and how you use it, it is crucial to obtain only the zest of the fruit, not the bitter white pith underneath it. The best way to do this is using a microplane or the finest section of a box grater.

Eggplants, like zucchini, tend to develop bitter seeds the larger they grow and the more mature the plant. It is best to opt for small, thin eggplants, like Chinese or Japanese varieties, when you use their meat atop a loaf of bread. This eggplant should be sliced ¼ inch thin and layered onto paper towels before salting to remove excess moisture.

Once patted dry, fry or grill the eggplant lightly until crisp. You can layer these slices into decorative patterns atop your unbaked loaves of bread. They will begin to caramelize and sweeten as they bake in the oven.

Garlic, like onions, infuses bread with aromatic elements and sweet and savory flavors. Garlic can also be added raw or cooked. In this case, raw onion can be sliced or minced. This depends on how strong you like the flavor. The finer you chop your garlic, the more amplified its flavors become.

For a milder garlic flavor that is inherently nutty and caramel-like, use whole cloves of roasted garlic atop your loaf of bread. Roasted garlic allows the natural sugars within the cloves to sweeten without developing that sulfuric bite characteristic of the raw variety.

Capers are the immature buds of a wild Mediterranean bush that get dehydrated and pickled in a salty brine. They are sold in jars and frequently appear in sauces, like puttanesca, or dips, like tapenade. Their tangy, salty flavor and tapioca-like poppy texture make them a delightful topping for bread.

Capers can be used whole or chopped to diffuse some of their saltiness when added to an unbaked loaf of bread. Be careful not to purchase caperberries, which are larger and have a stem. Though they have similar flavor profiles, they are not intended to be used identically to capers.

Artichoke hearts come in myriad formats. You can find them whole and cut into quarters, brined or marinated in olive oil. The ones in oil have slightly more flavor, but you can use either. The key is to drain them thoroughly before adding them atop your unbaked bread dough, or they will weigh down the crust and make it soggy.

Chop the artichoke hearts into smaller chunks to encourage excess moisture to evaporate and make them easier to bite into. Artichoke hearts are delightful when paired with pungent, salty cheeses. These accentuate their inherent creaminess and tang.

Nutritional yeast, or nooch for short, is an inert form of Baker's yeast sold in powdered form. It is often dubbed the Cheeto-dust of the natural world for its inherent umami-rich, savory flavor profile and bright yellow hue.

Its superpower when added to recipes is how it mimics cheese. This is where it comes in handy when topping bread dough. If you want to capture some of that salty goodness that cheese would provide but are feeding vegans or someone with a dairy allergy, sprinkle your unbaked bread dough with nutritional yeast before you pop it in the oven.

The combination of sliced, pickled jalapeños and cheddar cheese atop bread or rolls is a tale as old as time. The heat from the pepper pairs with the salty richness of the cheese for a delectable gooey topping that will kick any bread recipe up a notch.

If you like things on the spicier side, try using canned chipotle peppers instead. Chipotles are dehydrated smoked jalapeños packed in an acidic, slightly sweet adobo sauce. They can lend even more pop to a recipe, but drain and chop them finely before using them atop your bread. And remember, a little goes a long way, so don't overdo it.

Rolled oats are often used as a topping for hearty whole-grain breads. You will need to use old-fashioned rolled oats instead of the quick-cooking variety. To ensure the oats stick to your bread, spray or brush your loaf with water or an egg wash. Then sprinkle or gently lay your rolls or bread onto a bed of oats to encase them.

Oats can be used as is or combined with other seeds and nuts. For a sweeter application, try coating your bread with a honey or sugar glaze, sprinkle with a hint of pumpkin pie spice, and add some oats for a spin on a granola bar.