jeff, Author at Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

Olive Oil Flatbread with Asparagus and Caramelized Onion Spread

June 11, 2013May 7, 2015 jeff 42 Comments

The asparagus season is short, and since we’re on the very tail end of it, working it into a flatbread seemed like a good idea. Technically this might just as easily be a pizza, since there is sauce, some cheese, and a heaping of vegetables. Either way, it’s a delicious dinner. The caramelized onion spread is sweet, and adds a nice backdrop of flavor. The asparagus is peeled into ribbons, and this technique helps them bake easily, leaving a tender bite and a subtle flavor. Goat cheese lends just a bit of tang, and if you happen to have chives growing in your garden, topping it all off with chive flowers makes a beautiful presentation.

Soft Puerto Rican Sweet Buns (Mallorca)

April 30, 2013October 8, 2025 jeff 66 Comments

These buns are a sweet enriched dough that is wound up into a snail shell shape and dusted with a thick coating of powdered sugar. Eat them plain with coffee or split open, stuffed with eggs and bacon, as a breakfast sandwich. You can use brioche dough to recreate the sweet buns and they are delicious and easy to make. Read More

Thanks Michael Pollan, for telling MN Public Radio that you can live on bread alone…

April 29, 2013June 3, 2013 jeff 4 Comments

… at least if it’s got some whole grain. Michael Pollan was on MPR May 2, 2013, with Kerri Miller. Charming guy, you can listen to the interview (click here). He was in town to promote his new book Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation.

To our ever-lasting joy, he really focused on bread; that’s where the conversation started. Long-fermented (like ours), and home-baked. We have lots of whole-grain loaves in Healthy Bread In Five Minutes a Day, while most of our white-flour based breads are in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Michael, by the way, talked about the value of a little white bread now and then. Everything in moderation, including moderation.

Braided Black-and-White Pumpernickel and Rye Loaf

April 15, 2013November 1, 2023 jeff 26 Comments

Given all the baking I do, you’d think I’d have started using a stand mixer years ago. But believe it or not, I’ve recipe-tested for three books using nothing but a wooden spoon or a Danish dough whisk.

Well, I’m tired. So above, my new KitchenAid Professional 600 series, 6-quart capacity stand mixer, which is an outstandingly beautiful piece of industrial design that hasn’t really changed its look in about 100 years. More on the mixer in a bit.

So many doughs, so little time. I’m hooked on this machine, especially when I have to make more than one dough for a recipe, like in this very beautiful Braided Black-and-White Pumpernickel and Rye Loaf from two doughs in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day (this photo by Mark Luinenburg):

5-Minute Easter Bread – Tsoureki

March 20, 2013May 4, 2019 jeff 32 Comments

This beautiful Tsoureki loaf is the traditional bread of Easter in Greece and many other Christian countries. It is an enriched dough that is twisted around brightly dyed eggs. The bread is often braided with three strands to represent the holy trinity, formed into a circle as a reference to life and the eggs are dyed red as a symbol of Christ’s blood. The dough is lightly sweet, flavored with orange zest and a traditional Middle Eastern spice called Mahlepi, which is made from ground cherry pits. The spice can be found in Middle Eastern or Greek markets. If you don’t have the spice, you can make the dough with ground Anise seed or even Cardamom. Read More

Whole Wheat Pullman Loaf with Tapenade

February 28, 2013February 28, 2013 jeff 20 Comments

I must admit that I use my Pullman pan quite frequently – there is something about those neat, square pieces that seem to make my sandwich more special. However, I wanted to change things up a bit, and decided to get a little creative. Normally I prefer sweet swirled breads, but sometimes something savory is needed. I found that this French olive spread (tapenade) is just the thing.

TV spot on Pittsburgh’s CBS affiliate, making “Pain du Football” for Super Bowl Sunday (and eating raw bread dough with host Jon Burnett!)

January 27, 2013January 16, 2023 jeff 12 Comments

In 2009 I was in Pittsburgh just before SuperBowl (go Steelers!) and mixed up a batch of Master Recipe dough with host Jon Burnett on KDKA-TV Channel 2 (the CBS affiliate). Pittsburgh was awash in Steelers mania, and I couldn’t resist cutting a loaf of Pain d’Epi (wheat stalk bread) but calling it Pain du Football (page 75 in the book). I’m bringing this bread to a Super Bowl party because each individual roll is shaped like a football– well, something like a football. Perfect for dipping into chili in front of the game. Jon was disappointed that my baked bread was a bit stale (I’d had to bake it in Minneapolis and it was two days stale!) so he insisted on eating the RAW bread dough instead. Click here or on the video screen above to view the TV segment, this was great fun.

Have a look at this post on Pain d’Epi (wheat stalk bread) for some nice shots of the cutting technique. Remember to cut at a very shallow angle with long-bladed shears, almost all the way through the baguette you form.

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Ham and Cheese Pull-Apart Bread

January 14, 2013October 19, 2020 jeff 39 Comments

Here is a fun, easy way to pack lunch right into your loaf of bread. No, I don’t mean the typical sandwich our kids are sick to death of, I mean ham and cheese (or whatever you are in the mood for) is folded into the dough and baked as a loaf: pull-apart bread! Each slice is a sandwich. In order to get the layers to keep their shape, I made the dough with bread flour, which boosts the amount of gluten and gives the loaf a little more structure. To make it a touch healthier (I’m constantly sneaking whole grains where kids will never see them) I also used whole wheat flour. This technique would work equally well with many other doughs from our books.

As the name suggests you can just pull sections of the loaf apart, but I sliced into this one to show you how the ham and cheese ends up woven through the bread.

Ring in the New Year With Chocolate Espresso Mini Doughnuts

January 1, 2013January 1, 2013 jeff 32 Comments

Somehow another year has slipped by again. Many of us are winding down our holiday preparations, and we are packing up ornaments, changing our diets, and erasing holiday playlists from our iPods. However, there is one day left to celebrate with good cheer; one door left open to a little decadence and indulgence. This would, of course, be New Years, and we are ready to ring it in.

Chocolate Coffee Cardamom Bread! (CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED)

December 4, 2012January 15, 2018 jeff 444 Comments

Thanksgiving has come and gone too quickly yet again. We have finished eating our Thanksgiving Leftovers Torta, but we’ll continue to hold on to our reasons to stop and give thanks, especially as the holiday madness begins in earnest. We’ve come up with a great way to celebrate the season with you–and they don’t involve turkey or long lines of shoppers–a decadent chocolate bread, laced with coffee, cardamom, and more chocolate!