Best Bread Cookbooks

Best Bread Cookbooks of 2021 – Complete Reviews with Comparisons

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Many people over the last year have taken up new hobbies, and one of the most popular was cooking or baking. Baking can be relaxing and a skill that can make sure you have access to delicious goodies like bread! There is a science to baking, and that means if you are new to it or not well versed, you will want to invest in a good cookbook.

There are tons of great cookbooks out there, and many of them focus on baking. But you want one that is full of great recipes that are easy to follow and can help you develop these skills. Below we have some of the best bread cookbooks out there today. No matter your level of experience, we are sure one of these amazing cookbooks will be a good fit for your needs.

Bread Cookbook Reviews

Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza

  • By: Ken Forkish
  • 272 pages
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Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza [A Cookbook]
  • Hardcover Book
  • Forkish, Ken (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 272 Pages - 09/18/2012 (Publication Date) - Ten Speed Press (Publisher)

Last update on 2024-03-28 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Ken Forkish is a Portland-based baker with a mad passion for rustic loaves of bread and Neapolitan-style pizza crusts. So he took that love and translated recipes he had tested in his own home kitchen into a 272-page book filled with delicious recipes. This book is written so that no matter your experience level, you will be able to understand and navigate the recipes with ease.

There is a lot of great content in this book, and it is a masterfully beautiful layout as well. From the bookbinding to the beautiful pictures that are spread throughout the pages, this book is stunning. The recipes themselves are easy to follow, which is important when baking. On top of that, these recipes call for the use of many different pieces of kitchen equipment, which may mean some things are finally going to get used.

But there are some things that we found a little frustrating. The biggest of these is the organization of the recipes, which we found a little lacking. Also, for those who enjoy experimenting with different flours, finding the sections on types of flours was a little more challenging. All in all, though, if you are looking for a good bread cookbook, this is a fine choice. You will be able to expand your baking repertoire and have some delicious bread along the way!

Bread Illustrated: A Step-By-Step Guide To Achieving Bakery-Quality Results At Home

  • By: America’s Test Kitchen
  • 432 pages
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Bread Illustrated: A Step-By-Step Guide to Achieving Bakery-Quality Results At Home
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 432 Pages - 09/06/2016 (Publication Date) - America's Test Kitchen (Publisher)

Last update on 2024-03-28 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

This book is compiled by the editors and staff at America’s Test Kitchen. That means that each of these recipes has been tested multiple times for quality. It also means that the recipes are crafted with as much information as can fit in the 432 pages of this book.

One of the best things about this book is its layout. Not only do you get a wide breadth of bread recipes, but they are placed in order of easiest to hardest. This will allow those that are new to baking to grow as they work their way through the recipes.

The pictures are gorgeous, and each recipe has a troubleshooting section at the end, which can be very helpful for beginners. This book is great for anyone, but as you can already guess, we think it is a perfect gift for a new baker. It gives a lot of explanation about the recipes and tools that will help them build their skills.

Even with all of that, there are some things that we think could have been done better. If you are someone who just wants to get down to baking, the explanation paragraph about the recipe may seem like a waste of time to you. Other than that, the text color for the ingredients is a little light and on glossy paper may be difficult for some to read.

Tartine Bread

  • By: Chad Robertson
  • Pictures By: Eric Wolfinger
  • 304 pages
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Tartine Bread (Artisan Bread Cookbook, Best Bread Recipes, Sourdough Book)
  • Good Meat: The Complete Guide to Sourcing and Cooking Sustainable Meat
  • Hardcover Book
  • Chad Robertson (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 304 Pages - 09/29/2010 (Publication Date) - Chronicle Books (Publisher)

Last update on 2024-03-28 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Written by a man that some have said is one of the best bakers in the US, this book takes a look at artisanal loaves of bread and everything that goes into crafting the perfect loaf. Every recipe is like a story of that bread and is detailed in clear and precise instructions. Along with each of the recipes are beautiful step-by-step photos so you can see if your bread is looking the way it is supposed to. The bread loaves themselves are beautiful and delicious.

When you look at the recipes, you will be gifted with beautiful pictures and easy-to-understand and follow recipes. The recipes are written so that they breakdown everything with a perfect explanation of why you are doing whatever the step entails.

But best of all, the recipes and explanations do not repeat themselves, so you will be able to gradually grow your skills. After using this book, you will be able to graduate to more intricate baking dishes because you will have a good foundation.

The detailed explanations are nice, but it also means that there is a lot of reading involved in executing these recipes. This also means that even though there are quite a few pages, there are not as many recipes as you may think. Some pieces of equipment you may need are not common in every kitchen, which means you will have some expenditures.

Bread Baking For Beginners: The Essential Guide To Baking Kneaded Breads, No-Knead Breads, and Enriched Breads

  • By: Bonnie O’Hara
  • 176 pages
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Bread Baking for Beginners: The Essential Guide to Baking Kneaded Breads, No-Knead Breads, and Enriched Breads
  • Ohara, Bonnie (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 176 Pages - 10/23/2018 (Publication Date) - Rockridge Press (Publisher)

Last update on 2024-03-28 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

The fact it is written by a self-taught baker gives this book a down-to-earth feel. This allows even the most inexperienced baker to feel comfortable in their new environment. The step-by-step photographs are a nice addition. Everything that Betty O’Hara included is designed to help you build your baking skills. In order to help the baker further, the writer includes a section of troubleshooting issues that may occur.

This book is well laid out, full of beautiful pictures, and the recipes are fantastic and well explained. The explanations are easy to follow for the most part. One of the best parts about this book is the explanations of how bread is formed and the breakdown of key terminology.

This helps the baker get accustomed to the words and concepts used as they dive into the recipes. All of this combines into a book that is a great addition to any cookbook shelf, no matter your experience level.  Even with the simple explanation, the title may be a bit of a misnomer as the recipes are not always the easiest for the beginner, as the title suggests.

There are ingredient metrics done for a specific reason, and one may not understand them if you are not familiar with baking. Also, the book is exclusively in grams which may mean some converting for the baker. Other than that, the book doesn’t give instructions for preserving the loaves of bread, nor does it give you internal temperature settings to watch for.

Mastering Bread: The Art And Practice Of Homemade Sourdough, Yeast Bread, and Pastry

  • By: Marc Vetri, Claire Kopp McWilliams, and David Joachim
  • 304 pages
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Mastering Bread: The Art and Practice of Handmade Sourdough, Yeast Bread, and Pastry [A Baking Book]
  • Hardcover Book
  • Vetri, Marc (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 304 Pages - 10/27/2020 (Publication Date) - Ten Speed Press (Publisher)

Last update on 2024-03-28 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

This cookbook is filled with wonderful recipes that make it an excellent book for someone looking to elevate their bread-making skills to the next level. With recipes from award-winning chefs, it is a tour de force of the art of bread making and one that will deliver tons of information to those looking for new recipes and skills in the kitchen.

The book starts with a simple three-chapter setup that talks about the process of bread making, which is a great primer for the adventure into all the amazing recipes. This book is chock full of wonderful information. It takes you inside the world of bakers, millers, and other professional artisans with a great passion for preserving the art of bread making.

With an easy-to-understand writing style, the beautiful stories and testimonials give the baker the knowledge to get creative in the world of bread. There are tons of great tips and many high-quality images to help you get even more inspired.

Though the introduction of flours and milling may help inspire some, and it is definitely a unique aspect of this book, it may be a bit much for a beginner baker to handle. Other than that, there are some flours that you will have to find at a specialty store.

Being able to prepare certain breads may take a little more prep work than others. That means if you have a limited budget or access to artisanal ingredients, you may need to look at one of the other options on this list.

Final Thoughts

Bread is a staple food in many households and can be costly if you have to go out and buy it every time you want some. If you enjoy eating fresh bread and would like to try out a few different kinds, why not teach yourself how to make it at home. Each of the books above can help you with that, so all you have to do is choose which is best for you and get baking!