Bread Baking for Beginners: The Essential Guide to Baking Kneaded Breads, No-Knead Breads, and Enriched Breads

by Bonnie Ohara

Overview

The guidance you need to go from absolute beginner to artisanal bread baker

Discover how anyone can combine flour, yeast, water, and salt to create hot and delicious bread in the comfort of your own kitchen. Filled with straightforward guidance, Bread Baking for Beginners is the ideal bread cookbook for new bakers. Complete with step-by-step photographs and instructions, this beautiful bread baking guide offers a tasty collection of recipes for kneaded, no-knead, and enriched breads that you'll love. In addition to important info on everything from prep and proof times to key terminology and kitchen essentials, you'll also get must-have tips for troubleshooting bread baking issues.

• KNEAD TO KNOW: Discover the science behind the bread baking process, popular techniques, and the tools needed to bake fluffy, flavorful loaves so you can bake bread for everyone at your table.
• STEPPING SCONES: Level up your bread baking skills with recipes that progress from a beginner's, easy-to-master recipe into dozens of intermediate and advanced sweet and savory breads.
• FROM 'D'OH!' TO DOUGH: Troubleshoot bread baking issues with FAQs that address everything from burnt brioche to deflated baguettes.

This bread cookbook will help you master the craft of bread making so you can share homemade loaves with the whole family.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781641521192
Publisher:	Callisto Publishing
Publication date:	10/23/2018
Pages:	176
Sales rank:	65,375
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

BONNIE OHARA is a self-taught sourdough bread baker who has been perfecting her craft since 2010. With a background in literature and art, she comes to baking with a visual style and runs her company with a heart for storytelling. When she’s not baking sourdoughs for Alchemy Bread in her 1920s bungalow, you can find her bicycling the trails with her three children, picking up veggies and fruit at the farmers market, or checking out cookbooks and picture books at the library.

Table of Contents

Introduction xi

Part 1 The Process of Baking Bread

Chapter 1 How Bread Is Formed 1

Ingredients 2

Key Terminology 4

An Overview of the Process 5

The Many Methods of Creating Bread 8

Straight Doughs Versus Pre-Ferments and Starters 10

To Knead or Not to Knead 11

Chapter 2 Preparing to Bake 15

Equipment 16

What to Know Before You Start 20

Temperature Calculation 21

Part 2 Recipes

Chapter 3 No-Knead Breads: Rustic Loaves, Focaccias, Pizza, and Fougasse 27

Master Recipe: No-Knead Bread 28

8-Hour Fermentation No-Knead Bread 34

12-Hour Fermentation No-Knead Bread 36

Panned Loaf 38

No-Knead Simple Focaccia 40

Focaccia with Parmesan, Figs, and Walnuts 43

Ficelles (Simple Rustic Baguettes) 45

Pizza with Tomato and Mozzarella 46

Rosemary and Lemon Zest Fougasse 51

Chapter 5 Kneaded Breads: Multigrains, Whole Grains, and Flavored Loaves 55

Master Recipe: Kneaded Bread: Boule 56

Kneaded Batard 62

Country Loaves 65

Country Raisin and Walnut Loaf 66

Country Parmesan and Black Pepper Loaf 70

Kindergarten Honey Wheat Bread 74

Brown Sugar Spice Oatmeal Bread 76

Chapter 5 Enriched Breads: Brioche, Cinnamon Rolls, Babka, Challah, and Variations 81

Master Recipe: Enriched Bread: Brioche 82

Orange Blossom Special Brioche 87

Brioche Cinnamon Rolls 88

Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread 92

Chocolate Babka 96

Challah 102

Springtime Challah Snails 106

Chapter 6 Breads with Pre-ferments and Sourdough Starter 111

Master Recipe: Bread with Pre-Ferment (Poolish or Biga) 112

Baguettes with Poolish 120

Boule with Biga 124

Ciabatta with Biga 129

Master Recipe Sourdough Starter 131

Beginner's Sourdough Loaf 135

Intermediate Folded Sourdough 140

Alchemy Sourdough 144

Resources 151

Measurement Conversions 152

Recipe Index 153

Index 154

Editorial Reviews

I can truly say that this is the only bread-making book that I have read from beginning to end, like a story. Bonnie takes her pupils by the hand and immerses them in a comprehensive conversation about the bread-making journey. With gentle encouragement, the reader is guided through bite-sized, digestible chunks of simple methodology and techniques. The baker is able to learn as they go. Bonnie masterfully invites the new baker to walk before they can run, starting with straightforward yeasted doughs, then adding inclusions, building ferments, and finally arriving at the recipe for her own bakery’s prized Alchemy Sourdough. Bonnie's book is enabling and easy-to-understand. It’s a must-have for anyone embarking on the enriching and therapeutic endeavor of making good daily bread. How I wish I had begun my journey with this book!”—Tami Isaacs Pearce, owner and bread baker, Karma Bread Bakehouse

“It’s so nice to have a bread book that’s genuine in its commitment to help you succeed! Bonnie’s line in the book that says, “what I hope to do with this book is take you seriously from the start,” is exactly what every home baker wants and needs to hear. Her message is clear: Get back to basics, use your instincts, relish the small victories, make the bread how you want to eat it, create something good, share it. Real bread is attainable. Bread Baking for Beginners is an inviting framework for successful bread-making, and Bonnie is a truly generous host who invites you into her kitchen.”—Jess Wagoner, bread baker and production manager at A&J King Artisan Bakers

“What a sweet joy I found in this book! Bread is the deepest symbol of community, and it is hard to find someone who has baked a more beautiful life than Bonnie O'hara. Here is a knowledgeable teacher, a tender cheerleader, and a joyful friend to teach you how to take the first steps—from building your first yeasted dough to playing with starters. The daunting task of making your own bread seems approachable and warm here, as Bonnie easily mixes anecdotes, bakers’ formulas, pictures of her kids laughing, terminology, and beautiful golden loaves within these pages. More than just for beginners, this book lays the foundation for anyone to become a great bread-maker."—Rose Lawrence, founder of Red Bread and pastry chef at Rustic Canyon

“From her self-made bakery at her home in California to the expertly-written pages of her book, Bonnie shows you how to get started—and succeed at—baking healthy, nutritious bread from your own home. As you make your way through her inspirational and approachable book, don't be surprised if the urge to create your very own home bakery starts to take root!”—Maurizio Leo, baker and founder of ThePerfectLoaf.com

“An uncomplicated explanation of a complicated subject. Clear and encouraging, this wonderful book will inspire confidence in those ready to bake their own bread at home.”—Rachel Frost, senior bread baker at Della Fattoria

From the Publisher