• pattidoyle on April 25, 2014

  I use this book as a guideline. I have been making Levain from the Tartine Bread book almost every day for the past two years, and I could not wait to get my hands on this book. I created my own standard recipe charts and I mix with my hands I have learned to judge the water flour ratios. I use the flours I have on hand and many times there is a little of this and that. I do not stick to the book however the book has unquestionably taught me how to make variations on the classic Levain. I am making sprouted grain breads (whatever is on hand) and various versions of Rene's rye (depending on what I have on hand) every week. PS, I cook lunch and dinner for 20 to 100 people five days a week. I am not a "home cook" although I work in a community home.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• White-wheat blend (ode to Bourdon)

  • Emily Hope on February 24, 2021

    Made this with locally grown Expresso wheat (Nash's) that I milled at home in my Mockmill. Rather than the combo of red wheat + white wheat, I just did 60% whole, freshly milled wheat, and 40% AP flour. Think I needed to add 40-50 extra grams of water. Use the stand mixer for some extra strength rather than relying on just stretch and fold. Bulk fermentation took a loooong time at coolish (68 or so) room temp. Was pretty please with the end result--fairly open crumb for such a high percentage of whole wheat. The loaf was a bit gummy toward the bottom middle; not sure whether that's because of the fresh flour or that I didn't let it rest long enough before cutting. Either way, still delicious!

  • sheaniqua on August 09, 2023

    Beautiful bread! love that design on the gorgeous golden brown crust. Curious to hear about using the stand mixer. Did it add extra strength to increase the gluten to make a better bread wall? Often the bread I make is less of a round ball and more of a flatter oval. Do you think a stand mixer would help with this? Also, what hydration level did you use?

• Sesame-wheat

  • Astrid5555 on January 04, 2021

    Instead of the high-extraction wheat flour I used my W1600 locally milled flour, left out the wheat germ and also added black sesame seeds. Great oven spring and a nice ear!

• Sprouted quinoa-Kamut

  • Astrid5555 on January 02, 2021

    Contrary to my expectations sprouting my quinoa happened overnight, so actually quite quick to make. My first time baking with Kamut flour, so I reduced the hydration to 75% to get a better feel for the flour. Next time would do the recommended 85%. The quinoa flavor is not very pronounced, which makes this bread also kid-friendly. Will repeat!

• René's rye

  • Emily Hope on February 10, 2014

    This is the best bread of this style (dense pan loaf with lots of seeds and grains) that I've made. The majority of the flour is wheat (spelt), so it doesn't have the gumminess/heaviness that mostly rye versions (like vollkorntbrot) can have. The bread is nutty and chewy from the seeds and grains, and has great depth of flavor from the sourdough, buttermilk, and beer (!) in the formula. Definitely takes some planning ahead--the rye berries need to be sprouted (mine took two days), then the dough is mixed, goes through a first rise with stretch and folds, is put in pans, rises a couple of hours more, and retards in the fridge overnight. I knew mine was going to be in the fridge for about 18 hours, so I only did a one-hour rise in the pan at room temp--this worked well. He says to cover with a dry towel in the fridge, but I had better luck with plastic wrap (otherwise the top dries out). My only issue is that the crust (especially the top crust) is a bit too crunchy.

• Salted chocolate-rye cookies

  • vfsalom on August 06, 2022

    Excellent recipe - it costs a small fortune in chocolate but worth it for probably the best chocolate cookies I can remember.

• Chamomile-Kamut shortbread

  • pslopegreg on February 09, 2014

    This recipe has errors- don't try to steep the chamomile flowers in honey, it will be a sticky disaster! Looks like the publisher has posted a correction on amazon- which calls for steeping the flowers in the butter instead of the honey. I tried it this way but it still didn't turn out quite right. Curious if other have tried this! amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/review/RVPBEAEKSRZRH/ref=cm_cr_dp_cmt?ie=UTF8&ASIN=1452114307&nodeID=133140011&store=digital-text#wasThisHelpful

  • e_ballad on July 15, 2017

    This recipe does NOT work. It will make a biscuit, but there is no honey or chamomile flavour, nor is it crumbly like a shortbread. It cannot possibly have been recipe-tested prior to publication. And that was using pslopegreg's post for extra guidance too.

• Barley-walnut-fig cookies

  • SproutWhisperer on August 04, 2019

    I made this exactly as specified in the recipe. The result is not anything like a cookie, It's more of a breakfast-style or energy bar, except with lots of butter. To work as a cookie, this needs a much more jam-like filling. I'd start by at least doubling the sugar.

• Buckwheat-hazelnut sablés

  • cwaller on November 10, 2021

    This recipe sounded amazing. I followed it to the letter, using hazelnuts from a nearby farm, European-style organic butter and buckwheat flour I ground myself. The dough came together well and sliced nicely when chilled. But after 7 minutes in the oven, when I went to turn the pan, I had piles of goop sitting in puddles of melted butter- it seemed like the buckwheat flour could not hold all that butter. After they had baked 8 more minutes, surprisingly enough all the butter had been absorbed. However, they had spread quite a bit. I think the dough might be better baked from frozen or chilled again after cutting. They were extremely delicate. The taste was delicious; the zests really came through well.

• Food52

  More importantly -- and this is why I think this book is a valuable addition to any cookbook collection -- Tartine 3 has changed the way we think about flour.

  Full review

• Food52

  Q&A with author Chad Robertson

  Full review