The Complete Book of Breads

by Bernard Clayton Jr.

In the 1970s, Bernard Clayton's The Complete Book of Breads became the bible for bread bakers everywhere. In the years since its publication, however, new equipment such as dough-mixing attachments and food processors, and new products such as fast-acting yeast and specialty bread flour, have revolutionized the kitchen. A new era requires a new book, and Bernard Clayton has obliged with his New Complete Book of Breads. Here you'll find 200 of Clayton's original recipes from his earlier book, all revised with modern equipment and products in mind. In addition, Clayton includes 100 new recipes gathered during the course of his research and travels as well as his interactions with friends and readers. Whether you're hungry for breads, rolls, muffins, popovers, seasonal favorites, or exotic delights destined to become favorites, you'll find them all in the New Complete Book of Breads.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking, Nonfiction, Reference

603 pages, Hardcover

First published January 22, 1973

About the author

Bernard Clayton Jr., a newspaper reporter whose love for fresh bread inspired him to master the art of baking and write several classic cookbooks on bread and pastry, died on March 28 in Bloomington, Ind. He was 94.

Reviews

[Leona · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned to bake bread with this book. The recipes are great and very easy to understand. It remains my "go to" bread baking book. I just love it.

Hopefully, it will come out in digital for others to enjoy.

[Meg Manning · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first bread book I bought, and I used it extensively in my first go-round with bread baking. I bought the second edition when it came out, but find myself going back to this version, even though it's falling apart. There are recipes in here (like the Custardy Corn Bread on page 224) that don't appear in the new edition. Now that I'm retired and have more time for exploring outside interests, I want to work on understanding bread recipes enough to reduce the recipes in this book to one loaf quantities.

[Emily M · Rating 5 out of 5]

As many people discovered during the pandemic, bread baking is a great stress-relieving hobby (after all, how many creative projects get better when you punch them a lot?). And this hefty book, which I discovered when I was in high school, is a great reference to get you started and keep you going for years.

If I had to pick a place to start with the yeast breads, it might be with “cottage bread”. This is an easy white flour recipe baked in standard loaf pans, which yields two loaves perfect for breakfast toast or sandwiches.

Other recipes I’ve tried and recommend include:
- Cuban bread (fluffy and crusty from twice the yeast)
- Irish soda bread (the white version with raisins)
- Barm brack (Irish fruit bread traditionally eaten on All Hallow’s Eve)
- “An English loaf” (Another good basic white bread)
- Bannock, or the Royal Hibernian brown loaf* (A basic and more upscale version – with egg and extra butter - of whole wheat soda bread.)
- Wheat-germ bread (The wheat germ adds nutrients, while molasses and butter make it not “health food tasting”)
- Plymouth bread (combines white flour with cornmeal and molasses)
- Yankee corn bread (the sweet, thick, yellow kind favored in northern states)
- Custardy corn bread (baked under a layer of milk that soaks in and keeps it moist)
- Cheese shortbread (finicky, but tasty)
- Sour skons (not-actually-sour Orkney scones made from oatmeal soaked in buttermilk and flavored with caraway)
- Mrs. Macnab’s scones (a basic unflavored scone that is quick to make and can be elaborated on if one desires)
- English muffins (time-consuming, but good)
- Bath buns (glazed sweet buns once favored by Jane Austen)
- Baps (Scottish breakfast rolls)
- Tea brack (a quick bread with spice and dried fruit made with cold tea. I’ve also turned this into a yeasted bread with good results)

* Made this just before posting this, and it was as delicious as I remember. But, as with all soda breads, it is important to use buttermilk not regular milk, or it won’t rise. I got a whole wheat brick that had to be turned into dog biscuits the first time I made that mistake! Luckily, you can buy dry buttermilk in the baking isle of most groceries now.

There are whole other sections of the book, too! For instance, there’s quite a few rye bread recipes…but since rye isn’t my favorite flavor, I haven’t delved into those. And certain types of recipes – French breads, brioche, fancy braided holiday loaves – were intimidating to me as a teenage cook. But I feel like my skills are at a place now that I might give them a second look…if I can find the time as a 40 YO professional, of course! (Dang, always the tradeoffs in life, aren’t there?)

[❆ Crystal ❆ · Rating 5 out of 5]

GREAT BOOK!