Kneadlessly Simple: Cookbook Review

I have a confession. Although I profess to have a love of all things "baking," I am scared to death of yeast breads. Throughout these past couple of months of faithfully blogging out a record of my baking indulgences, I've always had a nagging voice in my head insinuating that I'll never be a "real" baker until I can actually make bread dough from scratch. Fortunately, however, this voice does not imply that I should be in any hurry to master the art of pastry dough. Let's not go overboard here. Because making a yeast bread from scratch is time consuming and factor-dependent, I guess I'm afraid that I'll devote two hours of careful attention to my dough only to end up with flat, rock hard doorstops instead of soft, flaky dinner rolls, for example. Maybe another excuse is that I am exceedingly immautre and have never really been comfortable with the words "yeast," "yeasty," or "yeasted." So, imagine my joy when I came across a new cookbook devoted entirely to breads that don't require kneading, thereby removing the most labor-intensive part of the process.

Finally, a cookbook for lazy time-conscious bakers like me. Don't get me wrong, I know that one day I will finally give in to the yeast yen, as I can already tell that there would be something immensely satisfying about baking up my own foccacia and ciabatta. I daydream about smiling to myself while I lunch in my cubicle, enjoying a turkey-and-cheese between two slices of soft, home-baked white bread. How quaint. But, until I'm ready to take the plunge, thankfully Nancy Baggett has created Kneadlessly Simple: Fabulous, Fuss-Free, No-Knead Breads as a stepping stone to the yeasty world of homemade breads.

This book includes a full 75 recipes ranging from classics like honey wheat and sourdough, to specialities like rosemary foccacia and brioche, as well as pannettone and other sweet breads (Double Chocolate-Honey Bread--need I say more?). Filled with gorgeous pictures and with easy to follow instructions this is a great book for anyone looking to liven up their bread repetoire, save a little bit of time, and get a little bit of that bakery-fresh flavor right at home.

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