Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day: 100 New Recipes Featuring Whole Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, and Gluten-Free Ingredients by Jeff Hertzberg, M.D., and Zoë François
Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books (October 27, 2009)
ISBN-13: 978-0312545529
Back-of-the-book blurb: Jeff & Zoë wrote their first book, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day (2007) so that baking homemade bread would be easy enough to become a daily ritual for everyone. That includes people struggling to balance work, family, friends, & social life (pretty much all of us). They refined their methods for refrigerator-stored artisan dough while juggling busy careers and families.
Their second book, Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day (2009), takes that same super-fast approach but applies it to healthier ingredients like whole grains, fruits, & vegetables. A dozen of the recipes are 100% whole grain, & for the first time, they’ve included a chapter on gluten-free breads.
She is Too Fond of Books’ review: Wow! Can I tell you how happy this book has made me!? It has helped me conquer my fear of bread baking! My Gram was an amazing baker, my father baked bread, and now I can (finally) join the club!
The publisher’s marketing department contacted me about reviewing Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, and suggested I take a look at this video, in which Jeff and Zoë demonstrate their quick and simple method:
I e-mailed a newly confident, “Yes! I can do this,” and set off for a local store to purchase some kitchen equipment I didn’t yet own (baking stone and pizza peel), and the vital wheat gluten which “helps the whole grain dough rise and keeps the mix resilient and storable.” My local grocery store (a small local grocery store) doesn’t carry it, but I picked up Bob’s Red Mill brand at our health food store; King Arthur Flour also sells it.
It really is that straight-forward to make the master recipe:
- whisk the dry ingredients
- stir in wet ingredients
- allow it to rise on the counter for a few hours
- refrigerate overnight
- form loaf and allow to rest
- brush loaf with water, add seeds if desired, score
- bake on stone, creating steam as indicated
What’s not to like about a recipe which includes this option, to encourage the baker to sit and rest while the dough does the same (page 41):
Have a glass of red wine … while your whole wheat loaf is resting
Here are a few pictures from my first batch of dough:
The dry ingredients (before whisking, just ’cause I like that sand art look!). I haven’ yet purchased a dough bucket; this large lidded Tupperware container worked fine.
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Dough after sitting on the counter for two hours for the initial rise. Jeff and Zoë advise a two-hour (or more) rise at room temperature. Then the dough will start to collapse or flatten. This rising dough business was all new to me (I’ve worked with yeast in a bread maker, but never had mixed *real* bread dough); I may allow a longer countertop rise time with my next batch.
This is the first bread I baked, a “whole grain artisan free-form loaf” from the master recipe. You can see that the crust is a little bumpy because I haven’t yet mastered the quick pull of the dough which forms a smooth top. No worries – it tastes delicious, and I’m calling those bumps the ‘rustic’ quality.
Here’s a loaf of ‘moon and stars’ (yes, it looks more like a fish, I know). I went all out with the seeds on this one – sesame, poppy, and kosher salt.
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Finally, I made seven (a baker’s half dozen?) garlic knots. The recipe called for olive oil, garlic, and chopped fresh parsley to be drizzled on top before baking. I didn’t have fresh parsley, so I stirred in some of my pesto instead (see how confident I’ve become?!? Improvising like a madwoman!).
These three different breads are all from that original batch of dough – I simply pulled the appropriate size (“as big as a grapefruit,” “like a large peach”) from my Tupperware container each time I wanted to bake. Each bread should take no more than 5 minutes active prep time, hence the title of the book! Yes, there’s resting and baking time, but that’s hands off. Here’s the equation: Easy + Tasty+ Healthy = Satisfying!
Other recipes include 100% whole grain breads, flatbreads, pizzas, and breads with hidden fruits and vegetables. There’s a chapter on using this technique with a gluten-free diet. Jeff and Zoë discuss ingredients (in my next batch I’ll substitute Trader Joe’s white whole wheat flour for traditional whole wheat; my kids might like the bread a little less “wheat-y”), equipment, tips and techniques (including troubleshooting. I learned that the reason my first loaf was dense was that I was anxious to taste the warm bread and didn’t let it cool enough before slicing), and resources.
I’m so pleased with the bread I made using the techniques and recipes in Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day! Some of my friends and family will be making healthy bread of their own after Christmas – check out my to-be-wrapped pile!
About the authors: Jeff Hertzberg, M.D., is a physician who combines his vocation of preventive health with an avocation for baking. Zoë François is a pastry chef trained at the Culinary Institute of America; she teaches baking and pastry courses, and writes the blog Zoë Bakes. Together Jeff and Zoë wrote both Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day and Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day.
FTC Disclosure: one review copy provided by the publisher. All the books and supplies piled under the Christmas tree were purchased locally.
Improvising is the spice of life. I’m proud of you. It’s how we get new recipes!
That bread looks yummy. I’m coming over with my mug of tea!
Great review!!!!!! This book has made me so very happy too (although I think I eat way too much bread now.) I made the master recipe yesterday using white whole wheat flour. The kids are all eating it right now for breakfast. I also made the rye dough yesterday for later this week!
Guess what I’m getting for Christmas — the Artisan bread book!
Your bread looks delicious! I’m totally intimidated by yeast, so I should probably try this book.
You did awesome! Wow, fantastic. I used to love baking bread with my nana, but I haven’t done it since she passed on about 10 years ago. Maybe I should get this book and start again. Great review. Thanks for including the photos of your experiments.
I read Julie’s review yesterday and immediately ordered their first book, Artisian Bread in 5 minutes, from the library. I am hoping that it arrives next week and I can “perfect” homemade bread before I have to go back to school.
Awesome review! Thanks for including the pics. I think this is one cookbook I’d actually use. I didn’t realize that fresh bread could be that easy!
Sigh. I need to start tweaking the recipe by adding flour a quarter cup at a time . .. Do I want to bother?
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Oh wow, you have been busy baking. Your breads are gorgeous! Thank you for trying the recipes and I’m thrilled that you are baking so much and enjoying it!
Happy holidays! Zoë François
I am so glad that you included that video. I was going to skim over the content thinking (Me? A bread maker?) but the video made it look so easy. I even have a pizza stone!
Nicole – I know! I’m getting so bold!
and, you’re welcome anytime!
Julie – I’ve added ARTISAN BREAD IN 5 to my wish list, too
Kathy – I’ve never tried the ‘old fashioned way’; I’m too intimidated by the many steps in the process.
Serena – my Gram was a wonderful baker, cook, gardener, sewer, everything. I just took it all for granted and never took notes or learned from her. I’d love to have her recipe for gingerbread hermits …
Molly – There’s a good variety in HEALTHY BREAD, but I’d also like to try ARTISAN BREAD. Let us know how it works for you.
Anna – I’m not exaggerating – follow the steps (let it REST, don’t handle it too much when forming the loaves) and you’ll have success.
Beth F – OK, I don’t know what happened with the batches you made! I’m sure it’s frustrating to not be able to salvage it and to have to throw away the ingredients. Maybe it was beginner’s luck for me ?!
Zoe – I was like a kid with my first papers from Kindergarten … I emailed those pics to my parents and put them on Twitter. So much fun, deliciously satisfying.
Ti – very smart video! That tipped the scales when I was asked if it was something I’d consider for review. Brilliant idea, and it really is as straight-forward as they explain. It was fun to add to my kitchen supplies with the pizza stone and peel. I was looking a baguette pans online last night (Jeff and Zoe: you’ve created a monster!)
I ordered this and it arrived yesterday. Now I just need to get my supplies and I’m ready to bake. I’m looking forward to it, since I love homemade bread. The honey wheat is calling my name.
Dawn, Your first attempt at making bread looks awesome!! I wish that I could taste it as freshly baked bread is better to me than chocolate is to most folks!! I remember my grandmother in Canada baking bread every day for the family. She had a woodburning stove and yet her bread was a masterpiece and she truely was an artist in her kitchen.
Ummm, YUM. That looks wonderful. I’ve made my own bread (with yeast!) a couple of times, and love it – I will definitely check this book out.
Oh my, I love this book even more than the Artisan one you reviewed here, since whole wheat is much more healthy. Yum! I haven’t read these books but the idea greatly appeals to me.
softdrink – have you made it yet? This master recipe is a weekly staple in our house.
Thanks, Mum!
Elizabeth – these breads do use yeast, but you don’t have to proof the yeast, or punch down the dough for a second rise.
Terra – I’ve made only a few loaves from the ARTISAN BREAD book; this HEALTHY BREAD has been used so much that the pages fall open to the master recipe.
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You go girl! Improvising like a madwoman, indeed! This is a brilliant book (and the earlier one too), and I’d thoroughly recommend them to anyone as well. It’s a great place to start if you haven’t made bread before too.