Author: jeff

How to Slash Dough – Video

jeff 26 Comments

slash Bin5 03

Slashing your dough properly creates a beautiful loaf of bread, but can also help it rise in the oven. If your slashes are not deep enough, the dough may tear open on the top or bottom of the loaf. Leaving you with bread that tastes delicious, but doesn’t live up to its artistic potential. The loaf can also end up being a touch dense if you don’t slash deep enough, because it won’t open up and make way for a dramatic oven spring. So, for the most beautiful crust and best interior crumb, you’ll want to follow these few tricks for slashing. Read More

No-Knead Peanut Butter Bread (can swap almond butter)

jeff 18 Comments

No-Knead Peanut Butter Bread | Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

Even as an adult, peanut butter and jelly is still a favorite combination. A few times a year I’ll still make a ‘pb & j’ with the kids for lunch, enjoying some junior high nostalgia along with a glass of milk and a handful of potato chips. I decided maybe it was time to class peanut butter up a bit, by turning it into an almost-brioche loaf that is perfect for toasting, or a sandwich bread with extra peanut butter power. Peanut butter swirl buns are also a good idea, and I think French toast might have to be next on my to-do list. Read More

Baked French Toast

jeff 15 Comments

Baked French Toast | Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

My mom informed me today that I was in charge of planning Mother’s Day this coming Sunday. Now that I have two children of my own, I thought that this duty could be passed along to someone else, perhaps someone planning my Mother’s Day. Apparently it doesn’t work like that. She vaguely mentioned something about being Queen Mother and I’ll just have to wait my turn, so Mother’s Day breakfast is on. Good thing I like her a lot, and also like baking bread.

I’ve found brunch to be ideal for that Sunday morning celebration, but eating out is usually a busy affair in these parts. Baked French toast is now my answer to the “what are we going to serve?” question. It is put together in the evening, where the milk and eggs soak into the layers of challah overnight. The next morning it is baked, served warm, and gone within minutes. It also makes me look like I worked much harder than I did.

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Epicurious names “The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day” as one of the greatest cookbooks of all time

jeff 22 Comments

NewArtisan is 1 of greatest

We are insanely flattered. Epicurious.com, which is the food website of Conde Nast, publisher of Bon Appetit and the late, lamented Gourmet, has named The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day as one of the 53 greatest cookbooks of all time. That’s our book in their picture, right in the middle of some very exhalted company. Bakers like Dorie Greenspan, Julia Child, Peter Reinhart. We’re hyperventilating. Thanks for the shout-out, Epicurious:

“We were surpised that more baking books weren’t nominated… all the baking frontrunners are bread books. The panel’s  favorites were Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois, and The Bread Baker’s Apprentice, by Peter Reinhart.”

For more, click on Epicurious.com, in “The Hunt for the Greatest Cookbooks of All Time”

Weighing The Ingredients: Whole Grain Baguette Buns With Extra Sourdough Kick

jeff 224 Comments

Whole Grain Baguette Buns | Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

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In this post, I’ll go through the method for using a kitchen scale to measure in flour and other ingredients, which some readers, especially outside the U.S., have said they prefer. In this recipe for whole grain baguette buns, I used these weight equivalents for scoop-and-swept cup measures:

1 cup white all-purpose flour:  5 ounces / 140 grams (or 141.7, to be more precise)

1 cup whole wheat flour:  4.5 ounces / 130 grams (127.6)

1 cup water:  8 ounces / 225 grams (226.8)

Most home scales aren’t accurate enough to weigh small quantities of yeast and salt for single recipes.

These whole grain baguette buns are from The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, being cut from a baguette-shaped cylinder, which gives the buns crusty little edges that will impress your guests. They’re incredibly easy to make from any of the lean stored doughs that you already have in your fridge, mixed up from our book. Read More

Our artisan loaf is the #1 recipe in the history of NPR’s The Splendid Table, chosen by listeners

jeff 6 Comments

#1 recipe on the Splendid Table

Whenever Zoe and I are on the Splendid Table, NPR’s cooking show starring Lynne Rossetto Kasper, we leave behind a recipe. Now the show’s national listeners have voted our basic recipe as their all-time favorite (click to view). Thanks Lynne, and all the great producers who create this national show right here in St. Paul, Minnesota.

One thing–an updated, and more extensive online version of our basic recipe is right here on the website, with pictures and more detail (click to view). 

Hear all three of our appearances on the show:

April 4, 2000, when Jeff called Lynne with the book idea.

December 15, 2007, right after the publication of the first edition of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, we talked bread with Lynne.

March 8, 2014, Jeff talked with Lynne about the changing world of cookbooks and the adventures we’ve had.

Super Peel Giveaway CONTEST CLOSED, WINNER HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED

jeff 379 Comments

Super Peel | Breadin5 04

This is a Super Peel. It is one of those products, like the Danish Dough Whisk, that changes the game for baking with our dough. I was skeptical that this cloth-covered peel would do the trick of transferring our wet dough onto the hot stone in the oven without sticking. I’ve come to use parchment to guarantee the dough won’t stick to the peel, but that’s not at all necessary with the Super Peel. Even after an 1 1/2 hour resting time the dough slid right off the cloth, no sticking, no prying it off with a dough scraper. Voila! The most exciting part is that it scoops the loaf off the hot stone with as much ease. No more chasing the loaf to the back of the oven while trying to get it back on the peel.

Now that we are heading into grilling season, and there is nothing better than pizza on the grill, you have to watch this video about using the Super Peel for transferring pizzas. Gary Casper invented the Super Peel and generously shared the Peel with me to try out. I loved it so much I asked him to do a giveaway so we could share one with you. *Leave a note in the comments below and you will be eligible to win a Super Peel. The winner is: Sandy! We’ll be in touch, Sandy. Read More

Cracker-crust pizza: you’ll need this French dowel rolling pin giveaway WINNERS HAVE BEEN CHOSEN

jeff 179 Comments

Cracker-crust pizza is so thin the light shines through it

This pizza is so thin and crackly that light shines through it!  It’s much easier to achieve perfection with this Tuscan specialty than you might think. You will need a good rolling pin, and the good folks at JK Adams in Vermont have a terrific French dowel rolling pin that we like (especially the thinner 1 1/2″ model), and they’re providing five of them  to give away in a drawing here. We prefer these tapered handle-less pins to the handled straight rollered versions–seems that you get better control of thinly-rolled items… Read More

Our Artisan Bread Baking Class on Craftsy!

jeff 43 Comments

Craftsy | Breadin5 titleCard

We are super excited to announce our new Craftsy bread baking video class. We’ve made a video of our most popular breads with lots of tips and techniques for getting a professional loaf every time you bake with very little time or effort! It is the perfect companion to all of our books. In the video we’ll use a single dough to create all the breads, but the techniques are useful for all the doughs from any of our books.

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Here’s some pictures from our video shoot in Denver. Our readers get 50% off the video by clicking the link below. This offer only lasts for two weeks, so join us soon!

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