Bread Head

Of the dozens (or more!) of baking cookbooks released each year, it’s rare when one comes along made with such intention to be professional level. Bread Head: Baking for the Road Less Traveled (W.W. Norton & Company, 2022) by James Beard Award winner Greg Wade with Rachel Holtzman is such a book. As soon as you look at the recipes, the layout and use of not only weighted measurements, but bakers’ percentages as well, will jump right out to you. Given the name of the book, you can certainly expect go-to bread recipes like A Good White Loaf and Wheat Sandwich Loaf. But Wade also wants to show just how fun it can be to use organic flours in other baked goods like doughnuts, muffins and pies. And just because he approaches the book to be professional level, doesn’t mean the recipes are particularly difficult. We happen to love the Buckwheat Brownies, a twist on a classic that is straightforward and easy to follow.