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All-Purpose Flour Sourdough Bread

No bread flour due to the pandemic? All-purpose flour lives up to its name. Due to the pandemic, I go to the grocery store only one day a week. Each time I walk the aisles in my mask, I look in the baking section for bread flour. Unfortunately, in the eight weeks I’ve been shelteringContinue reading “All-Purpose Flour Sourdough Bread”

Fast and Easy Flour Clean Up

Cleaning up flour can be super easy if you use the right tool. When my kids were small, I hated when they used Play-Doh. It created a mess that was a pain to clean up–little crumbs of blue, red, and yellow all over the kitchen counter and floor. Baking was just as bad, except insteadContinue reading “Fast and Easy Flour Clean Up”

Easy Sourdough Recipe

Recipes with a big time commitment, lots of ingredients, and many steps can intimidate. This recipe is the easiest I’ve tried. Since I started this blog, a few folks have said that the recipes seem overwhelming, so I decided to try a simple bread with just two flours–bread flour and dark rye–and a short prepContinue reading “Easy Sourdough Recipe”

Imperfection is Still Pretty Good

It’s a good idea to follow recipes precisely, but messing things up a bit can still have good results. I messed up. My timing was off. When I bake, I typically try to follow the recommended timing on recipes as closely as I can, with minor changes based on weather and our upper-Midwestern climate. ButContinue reading “Imperfection is Still Pretty Good”

Naan-like Bread

If you learn anything about me from this blog, it’s that I am not a bread purist. If it tastes good, it’s good. That’s true for this naan recipe too–not traditionally made, but delicious. That counts. Naan is a leavened flatbread, traditionally made in a tandoor, a cylindrical clay, open-fire oven. I love naan, butContinue reading “Naan-like Bread”

A New Recipe With Einkorn

Once you bake a few loaves, you may decide to explore other recipes. Mix and match flours to explore which flavor profiles you like best. My go-to bread recipe is a basic, lower hydration (read less water) dough that’s easy to work with. Every once in a while, I get the urge to experiment withContinue reading “A New Recipe With Einkorn”

Make Sourdough Fry-Bread With Excess Starter

You don’t have to waste your excess starter. Use it to make a pleasantly sour treat. I’ve taught a number of people how to make sourdough, including creating and sustaining a starter. When they learn that feeding their wild yeast only requires 20 grams of their starter, often they ask if they have to throwContinue reading “Make Sourdough Fry-Bread With Excess Starter”

Starter’s Resilient. Here’s Proof.

A starter left on the counter for a week came back to life. After I wrote Don’t Worry Too Much About Your Starter, I did an experiment. I left a jar of my sourdough starter on the counter for a week and neglected it. No flour. No water. It just sat there while its yeastsContinue reading “Starter’s Resilient. Here’s Proof.”

Sourdough Recipe

If you get this one right, you and your family can enjoy fresh baked bread anytime. Fancier recipes are just gilding the lily. Once you have an established sourdough starter, you’ll be ready to bake your first loaf. It’s not hard, but it takes several steps and patience. This recipe (my favorite) comes from TheContinue reading “Sourdough Recipe”

Don’t Worry Too Much About Your Starter

Your wild yeast is sturdier than you’ve heard. When I first started baking, I read all kinds of things about the importance of caring for your starter. Feed it the same time everyday. Carefully measure your flour and water. Use complex mixes of all-purpose, whole wheat, and rye flours. Some posts even said to neverContinue reading “Don’t Worry Too Much About Your Starter”