Artisan Sourdough Made Simple: A Beginner's Guide to Delicious Handcrafted Bread with Minimal Kneading

This book is a warm invitation into the world of sourdough, especially for those who crave structure without sacrificing creativity. Emilie Raffa blends culinary precision with an approachable tone, making Artisan Sourdough Made Simple a standout resource for both beginners and seasoned bakers looking to refine their craft. What sets it apart....the starter guide is crystal clear—no jargon, no guesswork. Raffa walks you through feeding schedules and troubleshooting with the calm confidence of someone who’s been there. Recipes are diverse and inspiring: from classic country loaves to cinnamon raisin swirls and blistered Asiago rolls, each one is thoughtfully constructed and beautifully photographed. Her “minimal kneading” approach is ideal for busy schedules, yet still yields loaves with impressive oven spring and open crumb. For the analytical baker: Raffa’s explanations of hydration, fermentation timing, and shaping techniques are grounded in experience but never overwhelming. The book encourages intuitive baking—learning to read your dough rather than rigidly following a clock. Best for home bakers who want to master sourdough without diving into overly technical territory, or for anyone seeking a reliable, repeatable method that still leaves room for experimentation.

This is the best sourdough cookbook! I’ve tried most recipes and they have turned out really good! Love how simple her basic sourdough process is and she explains it all very well. Definitely recommend for beginners but also people who have been making sourdough for awhile too!

This is an excellent sourdough bread book. Good basic recipes and easy to follow instructions without all the extra steps sourdough bakers seem to add. I’ve been baking bread for a while before I got the book and I still found it useful and have made a number of the recipes. The cinnamon raisin swirl bread is amazing and I don’t even like raisins that much!

I would give this book 10+ stars if I could. LOVE LOVE LOVE this amazing cookbook. Every page is filled with amazing recipes, that you WILL want to try, they are all delicious, and the photos are awesome. Step by step photos shown for some of the techniques. I was using (prior to this book) a very complicated sourdough bread recipe, that was a pain in the neck to make. I tried the high-hydration sourdough - which made things SO much easier, I cannot even begin to tell you, none of the stretch and fold nonsense. Anyways, the bread came out fabulous, and I will use this recipe as my go-to from now on. I can't wait to try so many of the recipes in this book, this is literally my favorite cookbook I own - and I cannot recommend it highly enough. BUY IT!

It is a beginners guide and so most of what's written in this book can be found for free doing your fair research on the net and taking notes while watching how to make sourdough bread YouTube vids. So do not buy this book If you think it is a holly grial of knowledge, buy it if want to have a handy pretty cheat sheet to consult anytime quick and easy instead of doing a search in your favorite search engine. I recommend this book to anyone who has done none or little research on the net about how to bake sourdough bread , wants to save time and doesnt want to skim thro all the BS, click baits and ad spamming that most sites have to learn ALL the basics to start baking sourdough bread. its all layed out pretty good, easy to read with lots of eye candy pictures. All the recipes are excellent for a beginner baker and most of the ingredient measurements are on point with bakers percentages so as you gain more confidence in your sourdough skills and "learn to read your dough " you can easily tune any recipe in this book to your needs. Also 90% of the recipes in this book make "salty" breads so if you were looking forward to bake sweet bread recipes either you take the brioche recipe from this book as a template and make it sweet or invest in another book with sweet sourdough bread recipes with all kinds of babka and panettone variations but most important it wouldn't matter if it was a beginner or expert guide with tons of recipes and in depth step by step , you need to bake some bricks if you want to learn :)

I bought this book a couple years ago and it is the only book for sourdough recipes I use. The recipes are simple and delicious. I make the everyday sourdough, farmhouse white bread and the fruit and nut bread on a weekly basis and love them all. When my extended family gets together they always request that I make the sundried tomatoe focacia bread, it is so good, everyone always wants to know how to make it. I always recommend this book to anyone I know starting their sourdough journey, it just that good! But mostly it makes baking sourdough simple and uncomplicated.

Artisan Sourdough Made Simple by Emilie Raffa I ordered this book about 6 months ago and have made a number of the recipes. While the flavor has been excellent, I've found the directions to be somewhat difficult to follow, even for a fairly experienced sourdough (although not expert) bread baker. Her baking times are too long as well and the bread ends up burned if you follow her times - and yes, my oven temperature is accurate. That being said, I love the book! There is a nice variety of recipes and the photography is beautiful. I can't look at the pictures without wanting to bake. My solution has been to follow my own basic directions and baking times and use the book for flavors, since that's its real strength. I haven't tried all the recipes, but I've liked all the breads I've tried. The Everyday Sourdough is good and the Golden Sesame Semolina Sourdough is excellent. My favorite (so far) from the book is the Decadent Chocolate Chip Sourdough. Oh my, is it ever good!!! Unless you're fairly experienced with high hydration bread, you might want to reduce the water by a little bit - maybe 15-20 grams, so it isn't quite so sticky. I use Ghirardelli semi-sweet baking chips instead of regular chocolate chips because I think that the larger chunks of chocolate add a lot to the bread. I usually warm it up just a little before eating so the chocolate is a little gooey. 😋 To keep myself from overeating, I slice and freeze most of the loaf. It's wonderful to be able to take a slice out now and then for a treat. If you want to make it really decadent, add some dried cherries! Soak the cherries in hot water to hydrate, then drain them and substitute the cherry water for some of the water in the recipe. The Sticky Date, Walnut and Orange Sourdough loaf is also very, very good, as are the bagels. If you’re not an experienced bread maker and would like some simplified instructions, here are the ones I use for almost all my bread. These instructions do not include caring for your starter. Add any additional ingredients when book directions indicate. Mix starter and warm water. Add flour(s) and salt and mix until all the flour is incorporated. Cover and let rest 30 minutes to 1 hour. Do 3-4 sets of stretch and folds every 45 minutes. Cover and bulk rise until dough is nearly doubled. Preshape on lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 20 minutes. Final shape and transfer to well-floured and cloth lined bowl or well floured banneton. I usually cover at this point and refrigerate overnight, but you can allow it to rest according to the directions in the book. The next day, preheat oven to 450 degrees F for 30-45 min, with Dutch oven inside. (I bake my bread in a Dutch oven.) When oven is preheated, remove bread from refrigerator and use parchment sling to transfer to hot Dutch oven. Slash the top with a razor or bread lame and bake covered for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove cover and continue to bake for 10 minutes. Remove bread from Dutch oven and bake it for 10-15 minutes directly on the oven rack. Bread is done when center reaches 195-200 degrees. Let cool on wire rack for at least an hour. Bread will stay fresh longer if you allow it to cool completely before slicing.

Absolutely LOVE this book! Has great recipes and very clear directions for making the perfect sourdough starter, bread, and other recipes. Highly recommend this book for any beginner or experienced baker.

I had been baking sourdough for several months, had a stack of recipes I'd found on the internet and printed out, but I wanted some inspiration; what else could I do with sourdough? I researched lots of books, bought one in Kindle version (not recommended, difficult to use and unsatisfying). Then I came across this. Good reviews and looked attractive with the kind of recipes I was looking for. I purchased the paperback version. I was not disappointed! Beautifully presented with lots of beautiful photographs, the book is ideal for someone just starting their sourdough adventure and for someone with a bit of experience. All the basics are there; equipment, making a starter, creating your first loaves. Well written and easy to follow. Steps and processes clearly laid out. What I was looking for was there too. The flavoured breads that are so tempting in the supermarket, rolls, buns, flatbreads, Focaccia, etc. And what to do with your sourdough discard! So far have made Soft Tear and Share rolls, Pickled Jalapeno, Cheddar & Chive bread, Break-apart Sesame Spelt Crackers and Skillet Greek Yogurt Flatbreads. Very pleased with the results. You might have to tweak things, sourdough is like that, so many variations affected by temperature of kitchen, etc. Already recommended this book and my friend has purchased it! Buy the paperback version, so much more satisfying than the Kindle. You will just want to sit down and pour over the recipes. Now, what shall I bake next?

Muy buen libro. Perfecto para aprender y hornear en casa. Tiene una gran variedad de recetas desde saladas a dulces y extras para acompañar el pan. Todo viene perfectamente explicado.

Delicious is the reading of this book. Emilie is such a good writer and goes directly to the point. During the reading of this book I felt as an old friend of hers

Ho seguito il metodo descritto dal libro per creare il lievito madre liquido e finalmente da più di 6 mesi ho il mio lievito che utilizzo per fare il pane, sempre seguendo una ricetta del libro. Ci sono delle immagini molto belle e le ricette sono ben descritte. Quando ho avuto un problema durante la "creazione" del licoli perché in casa mia faceva troppo caldo sono andata a leggere il suo blog, dove ci sono ulteriori spiegazioni sulla lievitazione. Ovviamente sia il libro che il blog sono in inglese. Per ora ho utilizzato sempre 2-3 ricette "classiche" ma presto vorrei provare anche quelle un po' più particolari!

Great easy to understand, produces good bread. Nice variety of recipes