• aistern on September 12, 2024

  Love the way the recipes are presented. The timings are very clearly laid out so its Easter to plan full-day on multi-day bakes. My only pet peeve is that the ingredients aren't shown order used in all cases.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• English muffins

  • eliza on March 15, 2023

    This was my first bake from this book; I built my levain overnight, mixed and folded dough the next day, then shaped the muffins followed by a long prove overnight. I did the mix in my bread machine, which worked well. I had to sub rye flour for the spelt; my dough was just a tiny bit too slack (maybe due to the change in flour), however I was able to shape them quite easily. I’m glad I used release spray on the pan for the overnight prove. The combo of cast iron pan followed by oven baking worked well and resulted in delicious English muffins. Will def repeat.

• Sourdough starter crackers

  • eliza on November 04, 2023

    These crackers are on p. 384 (not 380 as listed above). I used discard at 100% hydration and I subbed sifted red fife (Flourist) for the spelt. These are very good crackers, very easy to make, and adaptable to what you have on hand. I topped with tomato powder from Burlap and Barrel which put them over the top. Update: stored in an airtight container these stayed crisp for several days.

• Skillet corn bread

  • eliza on March 24, 2023

    I had lots of discard from another recipe, so used part of it in this. The resulting cornbread was very good, done in 35 minutes. I appreciate the detail in the instructions, even down to the internal temp when cooked. Enjoyed with a casual meal of chicken and carrot salad.

• Tuscan flatbread (Schiacciata)

  • eliza on May 20, 2023

    Made levain overnight. My dough was quite slack… (recipe gave hydration at 67%, but mine seemed wetter); I had to add some extra flour. Baked 425 fan and added steam for first 20 minutes. Needed an extra 5 min added to the oven time to brown the crust. Taste was good, but I wasn’t that happy with the texture; probably user error and will try again at some point.

• Focaccia

  • aistern on September 12, 2024

    Pretty easy and tasty!

  • dbuhler on March 08, 2024

    Divine! I've made the focaccia recipe that's on his website for a couple of years, but I really liked the ratio in this recipe. It seems like the ratio for this recipe was formulated for two 10-in round pans, and I baked in a 9x13 pan and it was probably a bit too much dough because it rose very high and it was difficult to eat the slices that came from the center. I topped mine with rosemary, salt, grape tomatoes, and black olives.

• Soft dinner rolls

  • Summerlandsky on April 01, 2024

    These are exceptional and if you have the time they’re worth the effort. You do have to plan ahead with the levain and the tangzhong. Multiple steps means you also have to pay attention. First knead comes together in a mixer. I did have to add a bit more flour as it was too wet even with letting it mix longer. Bulk fermentation also required three stretch and folds. I let them proof overnight to bake for Easter dinner the following evening. I was worried they would overflow the pan because with the extra flour it was pretty tight with 16 in a 9x9 pan. But they never did. Instead they bake up tall and soft. The flaky Maldon salt with the egg wash was the perfect finisher. My family devoured them.

  • dbuhler on April 16, 2024

    These were incredible! I followed the directions to the letter and was rewarded with very soft and very flavorful rolls. Like the other reviewer mentioned, I also had to add a little bit of additional flower but I think that's because I didn't cook my tangzhong long enough. The author has a video were he makes these and mentions a final temp for the tangzhong, so I will write that in my book to see if that is where I went wrong. I made mine all in one day because I planned to freeze them and use a slider buns a few days later. If I do want to eat them fresh for a meal, I'll be sure to do the fridge proof because they took me all day to prepare. I can't wait to make these again!

• Weekend cinnamon rolls

  • Lepa on January 18, 2023

    These were easy to make and just dreamy. The dough had the perfect texture. I used the cream cheese frosting. Highly recommend!

• Sunday morning pancakes

  • Lepa on January 18, 2023

    I made the overnight version, using discard. The pancakes had a wonderful taste and texture. I was worried one batch wouldn't be enough for our family of four (with two very hungry boys) so I made 1.5 batches and that was too much. A single batch is actually a good amount of food.

• Polenta [sourdough]

  • Lepa on January 18, 2023

    This is good but not my favorite. I didn't love the gritty bits of polenta in the bread. The texture of the crust was also impacted. This didn't have the wonderful flavor and texture I was expecting from a sourdough loaf.

  • jenburkholder on October 13, 2023

    I loved this one. The toasty, corny flavor made it into the perfect mix of cornbread and sourdough. Only quibble was that I should have let it rise longer, as the texture was a bit dense with the corn. Omitted rosemary.

  • LauraMB on August 21, 2024

    My husband and I both enjoyed the flavor of this bread. I liked the texture of the polenta in the crust. My husband did not. My dough temperature was 79 - 82 degrees, and my house was 77 degrees. But this dough took 6.5 hours in bulk fermentation, not the 3.5 hours stated in the recipe for a dough temp of 74 to 76 degrees. My crumb looked like the crumb pictured in the book. I like this bread, however, there are others I prefer in this book.

  • Wokmom on December 06, 2023

    Really really good as written, I used Bob's Red Mill polenta and homegrown rosemary. Toast made from this bread is absolutely superb.

• Banana bread 2.0

  • jenburkholder on January 13, 2023

    Omitted nuts and used a mix of spelt and AP flour. Very good, but not my favorite banana bread. Good way to use up starter discard - keeps it moist.

  • LauraMB on August 28, 2023

    This is a good, moist banana bread, but it is not my favorite. I prefer more banana.

• Five-grain sourdough

  • jenburkholder on July 09, 2023

    Subbed some bulgur for spelt berries and didn’t bother cracking the buckwheat, but otherwise made according to specs. Nice, balanced flavor, with a tight crumb. Slightly dry when working it and minimal oven spring, could have used more water. Will definitely play around with this one.

• Oat porridge [sourdough]

  • jenburkholder on February 08, 2023

    Final flavor of this loaf was great - really sweet and hearty, good for sandwiches. However, it was TIGHT when assembling, and stayed that way. Despite what he says in the instructions, definitely needed more water. Crumb was ok, but needed more moisture. Will tweak.

• Fifty-fifty [sourdough]

  • jenburkholder on January 13, 2023

    Turned out wonderfully. I underproofed it slightly, but flavor was great and instructions were almost foolproof. Great start into this book.

• Sunflower and sesame [sourdough]

  • jenburkholder on April 01, 2024

    Nicely nutty. Didn’t rise quite as well as some in this book - likely due to numerous heavy inclusions.

  • mdcbakers on November 12, 2022

    A hit! Never used sunflower seeds in sourdough before. Plays really well with the sesame. Taste testers definitely approved of this one. The directions were clear. My loaves did end up taking about 8-10min less than the described time. (Probably my oven or slightly smaller loaves)

  • LauraMB on November 19, 2023

    Very good. I used bread flour with 12.7% protein. The loaves turned out perfectly.

• Mediterranean olive & rosemary [sourdough]

  • jenburkholder on January 18, 2023

    Really fabulous. Subbed Castelvetrano olives for Kalamatas and proofed for an extra couple hours (my kitchen runs cold), but otherwise made as written. My hopes weren’t high - bread was very flat when it went into the oven - but sprang up beautifully. Only tweak is that I would add a bit more rosemary.

  • LauraMB on May 25, 2024

    This is a delicious bread. Based on Jenburkholder's comment about the amount of rosemary, which I love, I increased the amount to 13 grams (from the 9 grams stated in the recipe). I'm glad I did. I will definitely make this bread again.

• Rustico [sourdough]

  • jenburkholder on May 13, 2023

    The flavor of the bread was lovely, but I really struggled with the texture. Due to the spelt, it was crazy sticky, and refused to come out of the banneton. One loaf completely collapsed and I ended up baking it in a loaf pan (turned out much better than the other!). Also didn’t feel like it held up as well as some of the others in this book. May try again or may not.

• Everyday sandwich bread

  • sassy_momma on November 27, 2023

    This bread is so good. i left in the fridge over night for the second proof and it worked out great.

• Potato buns

  • dbuhler on April 08, 2024

    The only change I made on this recipe was that I split the dough into 12 buns instead of the recommended 10 (I watched a video of the author making these buns and they looked huge). Even though I didn't plan to top my buns with anything I still added the egg wash and I now wished I hadn't. The buns got a bit dark in my oven and the egg wash burned. In my haste to make the buns I forgot that I don't really like egg washes on rolls because I don't like the flavor it gives, so next time I will just spritz with water before putting them in the oven. These tasted pretty good. Next time I will try the sweet potato variation.

• Soft white sandwich bread (Pain de mie)

  • dbuhler on June 11, 2024

    My kitchen was pretty warm, so I may have had too much activity during bulk fermentation. The dough is very difficult to pre-shape and shape. The flavor of these was delicious and I will definitely make them again!

• Naan

  • dbuhler on March 17, 2024

    I've never made naan before, so I have no idea how authentic they are, but I do like them. My first few breads had much too much char on them and also stuck to the pan so I let the pan cool down and then reduced the heat significantly. I also added just a touch of oil before each bread to ensure it wouldn't stick. I added garlic to the butter and would definitely do that again. I plan to eat these throughout the week for lunch, so I used the freezer storage instructions for the tortillas in this same book and hope that that will work for these.

• Buttermilk waffles

  • dbuhler on February 08, 2024

    This is a good sourdough waffle. I follow the overnight waffles instructions and mix the batter in the morning and then I cook them up for dinner. The only thing that is keeping me from declaring these the best sourdough waffles is the texture inside the waffle. Once cooked, the exterior is deliciously crispy and remains that way for a long time, however the inside, no matter how long I cook it, still seems wet although completely cooked. It's hard to describe and I'm not sure what is causing this but it seems a little odd to me and it has happened every single time I've made these waffles (multiple times over the past 9 months).

• Cracked spelt [sourdough]

  • LauraMB on March 10, 2024

    This is a tasty hearty bread. The cracked grains did not really give me the nubby texture that I expected. But it may have been that my grain mill didn't mill large enough pieces.

• My best sourdough (High-hydration white)

  • LauraMB on August 28, 2023

    The taste of this bread is excellent. I made it twice. The first time I used all of the water in the autolyse. It was too much water for my flour. I, subsequently, added none of the second addition of water and made some tweaks. The bread was a little flat but very good. The second time I made it, I did not add all of the water in the autolyse. The bread turned out perfectly and was delicious.

• Cranberry and walnut [sourdough]

  • LauraMB on November 05, 2023

    I’ve made this bread three times. It is delicious. I have been baking bread for more than thirty years and have made many recipes. This recipe is one of my favorites.