Notes about Recipes in this book

• The master recipe: Artisan free-form loaf (Boule)

  • Beeg on February 04, 2010

    Unbelieveably easy and delicious. This recipe has changed my thinking about baking bread.

  • fprincess on October 15, 2010

    Fast & easy. Great crust. My everyday bread recipe. I cook it in a Le Creuset dutch oven.

  • mfto on March 29, 2011

    p 26 I finally get great bread after baking the risen bread directly on a pizza stone on the lowest oven rack. I preheat a La Cloche top only along with the stone and cover the dough with the top for 15 minutes, remove the top and move the bread directly to a top rack for 20 mins. This avoids a burned bottom crust and nicely browns the top. When you remove the bread from the oven you will hear the bread snap and crackle as it cools, a wonderful sound. http://www.splendidtable.org/recipes/five-minute-artisan-bread

  • vickster on December 10, 2011

    Finally tried this. Followed their directions pretty much to the T the first time, except had to bake longer. Loaf was dense. Second time I let rest much longer before baking - about 1 1/2 hours and the last 20 minutes was in my warming drawer. The bread came out great!

  • mfto on February 09, 2019

    When I learned that the recent editions of this book listed ingredients by weight, I bought the kindle edition. There are a few additions but the basic recipes have not been changed except for weights, The all-purpose flour weight for this recipe is 2 pounds or 920 grams. Also the yeast is reduced to 1 tablespoon.

  • Shelmar on September 06, 2019

    Yummy.

  • Hannaha100 on April 04, 2020

    This was delicious and enjoyed by all. Pretty easy to make - I used dried active yeast. Heated a metal roasting pan instead of broiler and a metal baking tray instead of baking stone. Baked at 210C fan. Used half wholemeal half plain flour. Made 4 loaves, we have two portions of dough in freezer. A touch salty, might reduce next time.

  • Paulacastillo on June 23, 2021

    For years I had wanted to make bread and didn't because honestly dislike kneading. Then in 2014 I heard about the book on NPR's splendid table. This master recipe is our daily bread, literally. It's a decent boule for the effort, but the dough makes for outstanding pizza. And that is the genius of this recipe - not only is it knead-free, but also, depending on how you cook it you can make many variety of breads and even pizza.

• Ciabatta

  • louie734 on May 01, 2014

    This method works great with very wet dough, producing big holes and a chewy inside.

• Wheat stalk bread (Pain d'epi)

  • omegabeth on November 16, 2014

    This is my go-to recipe from this book. I have not yet mastered the shaping, exactly, but this dough even in a batard/baguette shape is a wonderful social-with-cheese-and-salami bread.

• European peasant bread

  • fprincess on November 07, 2010

    Rustic, tasty, delicious.

  • louie734 on May 01, 2014

    Probably my most-used recipe. Deeply satisfying baked as a loaf or baguette. Delicious as pizza or flatbread dough, too.

  • zorra on August 18, 2014

    When made with sourdough, the most delicious of all the Francois & Hertzberg breads. I add 1 + 1/2 cups sourdough, reducing AP flour & water accordingly. Preferring more whole grains, I make the recipes in their Healthy Bread book more often. But for us this is tops for flavor, & fast-disappearing.

• Deli-style rye

  • chawkins on March 22, 2014

    This is a decent bread. Last time I made it was when the book first came out about six years ago. I successfully quartered the recipe both times to make just one small loaf. I mixed the dough a day ahead, let it rise and collapse, and refrigerated overnight; shaped, proofed and baked the following afternoon. The small size of the loaf is perfect for the two of us.

• Light whole wheat bread

  • Rutabaga on October 29, 2015

    I used this base recipe to make the pita bread included in this book. It was very good, came together in a flash, and mixing the dough in the morning and using it later that evening worked well.

• Portuguese corn bread (Broa)

  • consortiumlibrary on March 27, 2015

    Made this as crust for Spicy Pork Buns (p.88). Super easy dough with good flavor. The recipe makes enough for 16 pork buns, so if you only want 4 pork buns, you can make only 1/4 of the recipe. I made the full batch and put the risen, unused dough in refrigerator and will use for loaves of bread. I used medium grind corn meal, with is okay, but I think it might be better with a finer grind to eliminate grittiness. Next time!

• Spicy pork buns

  • consortiumlibrary on March 27, 2015

    Excellent way to use leftover pork roast. The yeast dough with cornmeal made a sturdy, chewy, delicious crust that doesn't get soggy (I ate leftover bun cold for lunch the next day & crust was still great). I made with a combination of ground chilies (2 tsp. ground chipotle, 1 Tbsp. ground ancho, 1 Tbsp. commercial chile powder); the filling was spicy but not overwhelming. Serve with hot sauce, so people can make it hotter if they like. I didn't measure how much pork I had, but it was probably more like 2 cups (rater than 1-1.5 called for in recipe). The sauce to filling ratio was just right, though it made enough filling for 8 large buns (vs. the recipe's 4). The recipe calls for thickening the sauce with cornstarch. This was completely unnecessary. I quadrupled the amount of cilantro, adding about 2 Tbsp. chopped (not minced) cilantro to each roll. Roll out and bake rolls on 8" squares of parchment to make getting in and out of oven easier.

• Jamie Oliver's watercress, rocket, sweet pear, walnut, and Parmesan salad

  • tmjellicoe on January 15, 2025

    We enjoyed this more than I thought. I used canned pears (3 small halved for 2 of us) and I’ll use more next time. The instructions say mix greens and pears then add oil and lemon juice but the pears got lost and unevenly distributed so I’d mix greens first, then top with sliced pears. Could be good with all arugula if no watercress is available.

• Oatmeal pumpkin bread

  • louie734 on November 12, 2014

    I've made this 3 times since September with roasted pureed butternut from the freezer. Each time I've rolled it out, sprinkled with a few tablespoons of cinnamon sugar, spiraled it into a loaf, and baked it into a tall, soft, plush sandwich bread that's fragrant but not sweet and cuts like a dream with a gorgeous swirl in the center. I think I'll make it again tomorrow.

• Vermont cheddar bread

  • omegabeth on November 16, 2014

    A very good bread--not a greasy and dense as the Cook's Illustrated cheese bread~ much more bread-with-cheese-flavor, versus the pockets-of-cheese style. Might benefit from a shot of red pepper flakes? Could also be that I am not a cheese bread person, and that's the gap. Is a very nice example of the genre.

• Olive oil dough

  • fprincess on November 12, 2010

    Used to make pizza dough with good results.

  • fprincess on January 13, 2012

    Very flavorful if using a fruity olive oil. Did not use the right amount of water apparently (very watery dough, had to add flour).

  • Paojava on June 27, 2012

    I use a kitchen scale to measure flour out...works great. Often I use garlic infused oil in place of evoo. Just made amazing feta and spinach pan pizza.

  • louie734 on May 01, 2014

    This recipe was the start of a sad/glorious situation: most pizzas we eat out no longer measure up to homemade. I've since moved on to using the basic recipe in ABin5 Pizza cookbook (no olive oil, a slightly different yield), but this recipe/method began it all. The instructions in this book made homemade pizza go from a special project dinner to a quick, easy weeknight go-to.

• Olive fougasse

  • fprincess on July 18, 2013

    I had a very wet dough so I made the fougasse without the olives and it was great. Photos here: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/144705-artisan-bread-in-five-minutes-a-day-zoe-francois-2010/?p=1925423

• Fougasse stuffed with roasted red pepper

  • louie734 on May 01, 2014

    Yes, YES to this beautiful and fragrant stromboli-ish creation. Made quicker by roasting multiple red peppers and freezing them in individual baggies (they defrost in minutes under hot water). I've made this recipe with many different doughs successfully. Sticky dough is no problem if you bake on a silicon mat or parchment. Roll/press out the dough (who cares if it sticks underneath), cut the slits, spread to create the holes, then fold the mat/paper over the red pepper and then use fingers or a spatula to gradually peel it off.

• Za'atar flatbread

  • fprincess on September 19, 2011

    Good taste. I made this with the peasant dough. I stretched it a little too thin thinking it would make it super crispy but the thin parts actually became too hard. The rest of the bread was very good though. I added a little bit of spicy coppa on top and it was fantastic.

• Pita

  • swegener on February 01, 2015

    These are so quick and easy. The trick is to roll them thin enough and put them on a well heated pizza stone. I love to see them puffed up huge!

  • Rutabaga on October 29, 2015

    This pita bread recipe came together very quickly. I used the light whole wheat bread dough from the same book, and the pita were light and pleasantly chewy. Perhaps because I baked them directly on a baking steel on the lowest rack in the oven, I found that the pitas needed only 2.5-3 minutes in the oven, otherwise the bottom would get too hard and start to char. To make a more manageable number of pitas, I halved the dough recipe. It's wonderful to be able to mix the dough together quickly in the morning, and then roll it out for fresh pita with dinner that same evening.

• Fattoush

  • fprincess on July 31, 2012

    This is a delicious summer salad that I made a couple of times already. I used a slice of stale rustic bread as I did not have pita bread. Very flavorful and crunchy. Picture here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/50488464@N02/7660695040/

• Suvir Saran's chilled yogurt soup with cucumber and mint

  • fprincess on October 15, 2010

    Nice and fresh. Easy to make in the blender.

  • fprincess on August 01, 2013

    I love this soup because it is ready in 5 minutes in the blender and does not require any cooking. It’s really nice and fresh for the summer; it reminds me a little of cucumber raita in soup form. More details here: http://tartinestotikis.wordpress.com/2013/07/29/a-couple-of-quick-summer-soups/

  • chawkins on August 30, 2016

    Very refreshing and very easy soup for the summer.

• Challah

  • robinorig on August 24, 2012

    http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/2008/09/29/challah-done-two-ways-from-the-same-dough technique photos.

  • fprincess on February 27, 2024

    It's pretty easy and looks impressive. It's good, less rich than the French-style brioche. I used a wildflower honey from Idyllwid. Note: I used 140 g for 1 cup of flour to convert to weight, per what is indicated on their website. https://forums.egullet.org/topic/144705-artisan-bread-in-five-minutes-a-day-zoe-francois-2010%E2%80%93/?do=findComment&comment=2417188

• Brioche

  • fprincess on October 15, 2010

    Absolutely delicious and super easy to make. I use fresh organic eggs and local honey from the farmers market.

• Brioche à tête

  • fprincess on November 10, 2010

    I used little individual brioche molds and the result is outstanding. The trick is to put the right amount of brioche into the mold (which should be about half full) and to form the little ball at the top correctly. I formed a large ball as described in the book, then the small one with the sides of my hands, finally pinching firmly to stabilize the small one. It worked great the first time, not so great with my second attempt because my molds were overflowing with dough after the rising period (I had used too much dough).

  • fprincess on July 31, 2012

    I made brioches a tete recently. Still a favorite! Pictures of the process here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php/topic/111794-artisan-bread-in-five-minutes-a-day-with-zoe-francois/page__st__660__p__1883091#entry1883091

• Soft American-style white bread

  • fprincess on May 29, 2012

    Good reliable recipe, simple process. There is only a small amount of butter in it but you can really taste it. I was out of regular butter and used goat butter, and I can definitely recognize it (it's great). Pictures here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php/topic/111794-artisan-bread-in-5-min-with-zoe-francois/page__st__660__p__1879263#entry1879263

  • louie734 on December 11, 2014

    Tried to use this dough for soft, buttery dinner rolls; looking for a ABin5-style recipe without all the butter and egg of the brioche and challah. Baked up too crusty even when nestled in a cake pan and dipped/brushed with tons more butter. Great flavor and texture, just not what I was looking for at the time. Will make again as a sandwich bread.

• Sunflower seed breakfast loaf

  • DDPGirl001 on May 23, 2024

    Pretty good change-up from the regular master recipe. But WOW is it sticky. Ended up just plopping it into the pan and spreading it evenly without the regular process of rolling into a smooth ball because there was just no way. Very nice flavor and texture with the seeds.

• Associated Press by J. M. Hirsch

  Breads anyone would be happy to come home to... The concept is inspired. Total active time each day you bake is about five minutes...

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• Boston Globe

  Each loaf of bread I baked tasted better than the last, with a pleasant tang, a more nuanced wheaty flavor.

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• Seattle Post-Intelligencer

  The race to simplify bread baking is over. Who won? The home cook... An even more startling idea... is the thought that sweet enriched breads could be made successfully with shortcuts the same way...

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• New York Times

  Soon the bread will be making itself... The crusty, full-flavored loaf that results may be the world’s easiest yeast bread.

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