• KatieK1 on March 16, 2021

  I make the rye bread recipe a lot. The bread has a propensity to stick to the bottom of the pot so I do the final rise in parchment paper which I later lift into the pot. The recipe also tends to make a wet loaf. I leave the lid on for 40 instead of 30 minutes. Works out much better.

• lorihenry on February 18, 2010

  Best bread ever! Even though I am not a baker I make at least one loaf of this bread every other week. The basic white is wonderful and the rye is super delicious...a perfect accompanyment to soup on a cold, wet winter day.

• Substances on January 18, 2010

  The basic no-knead recipe is my go-to for easy weekly bread and oh so tasty!

• nomadchowwoman on January 08, 2010

  A revelation: this book has recently turned me into a bread baker. Brilliant. The basic recipe seems foolproof. The reassuring step-by-step instructions and photos guide you easily through the process.

• Nancy Levy on December 31, 2009

  Need at least 1 day for preparation. If you don't have time go to Artisian Bread in Five minutes a day

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Almond-apricot bread

  • bching on December 24, 2017

    Delicious. I used dried pears and hazelnuts instead of apricots and almonds. I intend to do the recipe as written soon.

• Apple bread

  • eliza on September 22, 2016

    Another winner from this book. It's important to cut the apples the size stated in the recipe (1/4 inch). My tendency was to cut them larger which wasn't as good. There are 3 forms of apple in this bread, fresh, dried, and juice making for good apple flavour. As with all the breads in this book it's very easy. I especially like it with savoury soups and cheeses.

• Basic pizza dough

  • sturlington on December 09, 2012

    Easy pizza dough. Needs about 2-1/2 hours resting time (not overnight). Makes a crispy crust. I think it might be better to pre-bake the crust before adding toppings, rather than baking with the toppings as the recipe directs. Leftover dough can be frozen.

  • eliza on November 06, 2015

    This is my favourite pizza dough. I've made many others and always come back to this one.

• Carrot bread

  • katieate on January 13, 2012

    Delicious and easy to make. I just used bottled carrot and fruit juice. It was better when I went to the effort of making my own carrot juice.

• Coconut-chocolate bread

  • Rella on December 18, 2015

    I own this book and have made Lahey's basic no-knead bread for several years now. Today 12-18-15 I ventured to bake this recipe. After baking this bread, I went to the internet to see if anyone had the same experience that I had about the time needed to bake this Coconut-chocolate bread. http://www.breadexperience.com/no-knead-coconut-chocolate-bread/ If you decide to bake this bread, I would take the internal temperature of this bread after it had spent 40 minutes in the oven with the pot's cover on. Then decide whether you wish to bake it for longer than the initial 40 minutes. At the end of 40 minutes, mine was burnt, and I used the same enameled cast iron pans as used in his basic recipe. The calibration for my oven is correct.

  • Rella on December 19, 2015

    Another site which mentions the timing of baking (reduction in time to bake)this recipe is http://www.staceysnacksonline.com/2012/02/my-second-loaf-chocolate-coconut.html

• Marinated beets

  • sturlington on March 17, 2015

    Very tasty on a strong-flavored bread like rye. Can be made ahead.

• Marinated eggplant

  • sturlington on May 17, 2013

    P160. Make ahead -- marinate at least 12 hours, up to 5 days. Serve as appetizer or sandwich filling.

• Pan co'Santi: walnut bread

  • Lepa on July 10, 2019

    This bread didn't do it for me. It may be my fault. I not only let it rise for twenty hours instead of 18 (which made a weepy dough) but also mistakenly baked it at 450 instead of 475. Nevertheless, I didn't love the flavor profile here and doubt I'll make it again. Perhaps I prefer an enriched dough when baking with raisins and it just didn't work with this type of bread (in my opinion).

• Pane all'Olive: olive bread

  • eliza on September 20, 2016

    My go to olive bread. I've also adapted this to make a sourdough olive bread. Very little work and tastes great. Can substitute a bit of whole wheat flour for some of the white flour with good results.

  • rionafaith on March 31, 2020

    Unfortunately the olives I used were pretty average canned Kalamatas rather than fancy salt-packed ones, so the dough lacked seasoning. Next time I would use a more flavorful or high quality olive, or at least compensate by adding salt to the dough. That said, the texture of this bread is fantastic as usual with Jim Lahey's no-knead breads. I was all out of bread flour so I used AP and it was fine.

• Pane integrale: whole wheat bread

  • rionafaith on October 27, 2018

    p. 61 -- Just as good as the regular all-white no-knead bread. Since I had some trouble transferring that one to the Dutch oven, this time I did the shaping on a piece of parchment and just plopped the whole thing in together, paper and all. I would still flour more heavily next time though as I did have some paper fuse to the bottom of the loaf... oops. I'm sure I'll figure out the best way to get the bread in the oven eventually....

  • Lepa on July 10, 2019

    As the other post noted, this is just as good as the regular recipe. I didn't experience any of the issues I often have when baking whole wheat bread. I used white whole wheat flour.

  • eliza on March 23, 2020

    Very easy bread. I've adapted this to sourdough (I use 1/4 cup fed starter at 100% hydration) and it's my most requested bread!

• Peanut butter and jelly bread

  • SpatulaClark on March 14, 2020

    Good concept for a 'special' loaf. Used orange-ginger jam, which lacked colour but paired delightfully with peanuts. Overall though, the bread didn't have much flavour (rye sourdough is my standby!) so next time I'd try double quantity of PB and jam. Peanuts on top charred by the time bread was baked, and tended to fall off when slicing, so might leave them out. Toasted nicely.

• Pizza cavolfiore: cauliflower pizza

  • eliza on November 28, 2022

    This was a really good pizza. The cauliflower needs to be thin so using the mandolin is important. The combination with green olives, Parmesan, and cauliflower with the pangrattato on top is excellent.

• Pizza cipolla: onion pizza

  • SpatulaClark on March 14, 2020

    This is a favourite pizza recipe! Light crispy crust and a simple, flavourful topping.

• Pizza funghi: mushroom pizza

  • gastronom on February 27, 2015

    Have made this several times very successfully. Thinly sliced mushrooms in food processor, tossed them with sliced red onion & olive oil to top dough. Does need quite a bit of salt sprinkled on top. Crispy crust with flavorful juice of mushrooms on top. Excellent!

• Pizza patate: potato pizza

  • okmosa on July 01, 2019

    I’ve never been able to make a potato pizza like I had in Rome until now. I found JIm Lahey's method via @smittenkitchen and it appears to have cracked the code! I didn’t use the dough recipe listed because ours was already started and I added some zucchini blossoms from the garden that were waiting to be used (although they didn’t add much in the end), but this method will be used again and again. Yay!

  • SpatulaClark on March 14, 2020

    Made the sweet potato variation. The soak-and-dry effort is worth it, for a crispy topping that isn't soggy.

  • eliza on August 02, 2021

    The soaking method for the potatoes works well; according to the recipe it needs to be done 90 minutes ahead. I have done the soaking for as little as 30 minutes and it still worked well. I slice the potatoes very thinly on the mandolin. I sometimes add some cheese to mine. As he says in the recipe, spread topping to the edge as it's likely to burn there. Mine was done in 25 minutes. Very good pizza.

• Pizza pomodoro: tomato pizza

  • sturlington on April 11, 2013

    Could not be easier. We also add cheese.

  • eliza on November 28, 2022

    This couldn’t be easier and it’s very good. We also add cheese, or use it in other recipes. I usually use my home grown jarred tomatoes in this.

• Rye bread

  • gastronom on February 27, 2015

    Easy, crusty, tasty!

  • stockholm28 on January 05, 2020

    This is a very mild rye bread. Just as good as the basic recipe.

  • Lepa on March 18, 2020

    As another poster noted, this was a really mild and delicious rye!

  • KatieK1 on May 20, 2021

    This is a recipe I make all the time. I use 1/6 cp less than the 1 1/3 cp water because otherwise the dough is too wet. For the second rise I turn the dough into a parchment-lined bowl, and then when it's time to bake it I lift the parchment out of the bowl and place it in the Dutch oven and bake it for 40 minutes covered instead of 30, then 15 minutes or so uncovered. Without the parchment the dough has a tendency to stick to the bottom of the pot which is a serious bummer.

• Stecca: stick or small baguette

  • eliza on August 30, 2025

    Very easy breads, and as he mentions, very good for sandwiches. I’ve added up to 25% wholegrain flour or sifted wholegrain flour with good results. I’ve also converted to use sourdough starter. These are best eaten fresh or frozen for later meals. For the tomato version, be sure to press them well into the dough and brush with olive oil after.

• Stirato: Italian baguette

  • bob.mack on January 10, 2022

    Very happy with this one. The recipe in the cookbook recommends a “Römertopf French Bread Baker” but I believe that is no longer available for sale. I used the Oblong Cloche Clay Baker from Breadtopia that is about the same dimensions.

  • radishseed on May 18, 2024

    I had good results baking these on a pizza stone covered with an upside-down oblong metal pan.

• The basic no-knead bread recipe

  • DianeKirkland on February 15, 2011

    I have made over 200 loaves of this bread for friends and family. The best flour combo I've found is one-half durum wheat flour (not cornmeal) from King Arthur Flour and one-half King Arthur Bread flour.

  • rionafaith on October 21, 2018

    p. 50 -- While this takes a full 24 hours or so, almost all of that is hands-off, so as long as you start it the day before you want to eat it there's basically less than 5 minutes of actual work, making this the easiest bread ever. Basically foolproof, too -- I even messed up by not flouring my tea towel enough for the second rise (though I thought I had used quite a bit of flour...), so it stuck pretty badly and I deflated the dough quite a bit when trying to transfer it to the preheated Dutch oven. Disaster, or so I thought.... but it puffed right back up again in the oven and was totally fine, if maybe a touch smaller than it should have been in the end? Amazing, rustic texture -- super crusty crackly exterior and moist, chewy interior with big bubbles. Will be perfect alongside soup. I'll be making this again and want to try many of the other variations in this book now!

  • Lepa on July 01, 2019

    I still cannot get over the fact that I made such amazing bread. The charred crust is absolutely perfect. I made it once with bread flour, following the recipe in the book, but today I made it with half durum flour, as suggested by @DianeKirkland and it really was over the top delicious (so thank you!)

  • blazin on March 22, 2020

    The online recipe differs from the book in a couple ways. First, the online version bakes at 450 while the book is 475. Second, the book does not instruct to preheat the lid, only the pot. I think those changes would produce a better result and will verify next time I make this (which I most definitely will, and soon!)

  • eliza on March 27, 2023

    Very easy bread, well explained. I bake at about 425 convection and always get good results. Would be a great bread if you’re just getting into baking bread. I have converted this to sourdough with very good results.

  • jenmacgregor18 on September 22, 2024

    Easy. Made 1/2 white and 1/2 whole wheat flour. Good crust and texture. Not very yeasty tasting. But for the effort, a good result.

• Fine Cooking

  Also included is a fantastic chapter on sandwich making and several recipes for using up stale bread, which you’ll have plenty of if this book gets you hooked on baking. And chances are, it will.

  Full review