The Everything Bread Cookbook

I am the kind of person who makes almost all of our family’s food from scratch and bread is no exception. Before I got this book, I frequently only used one bread recipe and I would use it to make bread, pizza dough, fried scones, cinnamon rolls, and cinnamon raisin bread. Then I got this book and it has introduced me to a whole new world of bread baking; and our family thoroughly enjoys the variety. There are so many recipes in this book. Some of our favorites include: French Baguette, Hawaiian Bread, Italian Batard, Italian Ciabatta, Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomato Bread, Fry Bread, Pita Bread, Tomato Wraps, Apple Fritters, Apple Crumb Scones, English Muffins, Big Daddy Biscuits, Brown Sugar Apple Bread, Oatmeal Raisin Bread, and so much more. With 300 recipes our family never gets bored of bread anymore. I have even learned how to make starters such as friendship bread starter and sourdough bread starter.


This book is great for beginners or advanced bakers. I really like that the first chapter goes into detail about bread basics and describes everything from types of flours, mixing and kneading techniques, fermentation, baking, to tools, and other main ingredients. It’s a good learning tool for beginners and a good refresher course for advanced bread makers.

This book has taught me some great tips for making bread. For example, in the past I have always guessed as to when my bread was finished baking; sometimes I guessed right and sometimes I didn’t. One of my favorite tips this book has given me is that a loaf of bread is done baking when an instant read thermometer inserted in the bread reads between 200 and 210 degrees Fahrenheit. Little tips like this make this book even more useful.

The book is divided into 18 chapters with recipes grouped into the following categories: white bread, whole grain bread, braided breads, artisan loaves, flat breads, rolls, breadsticks, decadently rich breads, breakfast breaks, pancakes, waffles and griddle breads, scones and muffins, biscuits, the bread machine, quick breads, holiday breads, and breads in a hurry.

Each recipe includes a short introduction, an ingredient list, the yield, very detailed instructions, and some include tips.

The only thing that I do not like about this cookbook is that there are no pictures. But this is a minor inconvenience compared to all the delicious breads I have learned to create.

I received this book for free to review. However, this did not influence my opinions.

(Posted on 8/8/12)