Great Breads: Home-Baked Favorites from Europe, the British Isles and North America

This was the first true, dedicated bread cookbook I ever bought. I believe I bought it when I was 19... and it is still one of my favorites. Though I now own around 30 bread books, this book using many straight dough recipes that still produce full-flavored breads. There are quite a variety of recipes but nothing too complicated that a beginner would feel intimidated. Try the oatmeal bread- the technique produces the nicest textured, best flavored oatmeal bread I have ever made. 12 years after buying this book, it remains one of my all-time favorite breads.

This is the most reliable bread book in my kitchen. I have all the new Star Artisan Baker hoopla books, but this is the one that I use most. It skips all the bread pieties but still gives you artisan flavors and good recipes. Publicity is not the same thing as quality in a book of recipes.If you want super bread along artisan lines, try this book. It also has some standard American pan loaves, if that's your thing. And did I say it was reliable? I've had no failures with it in dozens of tries.

I found this book at the library and checked it out several times over the course of a few months.I liked the readability of the recipes...and the fact that the author gives directions for both traditional kneading methods and using an electric mixer for the same recipe.The recipes are peppered with anecdotes from someone who loves travelling and loves breadmaking. But it is not a tedious recounting of tales and travels.I find the book practical comforting and friendly...but it also stretches my skills as a baker. It is not trendy but one of those cookbooks that gets dog-eared and used for years.