5 Resources That Can Help You Learn To Make Bread

For those who have never tried it, baking bread without a fancy machine can sound quite intimidating. These people are here to help, sharing tips for how you can create delicious loaves right in your own kitchen, starting simple and working your way to more difficult challenges. This video was made with Ezvid Wikimaker.

5 Bread-Making Resources for Aspiring Bakers

Name Offerings
Northwest Sourdough Online courses from Teresa Greenway that teach students how to make real sourdough at a variety of skill levels
StoryCooking Ellie Markovitch offers recipes for everything from tomato soup to Brazilian cheese bread, using food as a starting point for conversations and community building
White Cottage Baking School Artisan bread and baking school run by award-winning sourdough baker Helen Underwood, with a range of workshops and occasional retreats
Jenny Can Cook Free recipes from Jenny Jones, with an emphasis on quick and easy meals perfect for busy families
Gartur Stitch Farm Kat and Kevin Goldin offer online courses, live "bakealongs" every month, and events at their farm

Easy Simple Whole Wheat Bread from Jenny Can Cook

Types Of Bread

Bread can be made out of many different variations of ingredients and baked into a variety of shapes and styles. Here are a few of the types of bread that people around the world enjoy:

  • Baguette
  • Boule
  • Brioche
  • Ciabatta
  • English muffin
  • Flatbread
  • Focaccia
  • Matzo
  • Naan
  • Rye
  • Sourdough
  • White
  • Whole wheat

Sourdough Hot Cross Buns with Orange Browned Butter Icing from Northwest Sourdough

In Depth

Bread, the foundation of almost every meal, is a food that most humans have depended on for centuries. It is eaten all over the world and shared with friends and family, yet most people do not know how to make it themselves. So here, listed in no particular order, are some talented bakers who can help you learn the fundamentals of making artisan-quality loaves at home.

#1 on our list is Northwest Sourdough. This website is run by Teresa Greenway, a sourdough fanatic and instructor of online bread baking courses. Teresa believes that with just a little bit of determination, anyone can bake a great loaf of artisan bread. Most of Teresa's classes employ the technique of manual, no-knead folding, though a few formulas require a dough mixer.

All of Northwest Sourdough's courses take place online, allowing users to go at their own pace. The courses provide step by step video and text instructions and direct support from Teresa, who teaches all of the classes. Sourdough baking is Teresa's passion and she loves teaching novices useful techniques to use when baking sourdough and other breads.

Sourdough baking is Teresa's passion and she loves teaching novices useful techniques to use when baking sourdough and other breads.

#2 on our list is StoryCooking, which is run by photojournalist, cook, and educator Ellie Markovitch, who lives in Maine with her husband, two children, and dog, Kora. Ellie's work revolves around media and food literacy. She uses cooking as a starting point for conversations and community building. In her career, she has helped develop programs that raise awareness about local food systems while collaborating with organic farmers.

Ellie was born in Brazil and spent most of her childhood weekends at her grandparents' small farm where there was a story behind everything that was done with food, from how it was harvested to how it was cooked and shared. StoryCooking seeks to capture how food impacts the lives of people in the community while also exploring people's relationships with cooking and eating.

Moving on to #3, White Cottage is an artisan bread and baking school run by award-winning sourdough baker Helen Underwood. Helen founded White Cottage Bakery in 2013 to put into practice her belief that delicious and wholesome baking should be accessible to all. She believes that everybody can make great bread, regardless of their prior experience.

She believes that everybody can make great bread, regardless of their prior experience.

Based just outside of Cambridge, White Cottage offers workshops for all skill levels. All of White Cottage's artisan breads are made from stoneground flour that is locally-sourced, pesticide-free, and made from wheat on the Wimpole Estate, located just down the road from the bakery.

#4 on our list is Jenny Can Cook, an online cookbook by author and former television host, fashion model, musician and comedian, Jenny Jones. Jones strives to make a difference in the world by sharing her recipes and cooking videos for free. Her goal is to motivate more people to cook healthy recipes at home.

When it comes to cooking, Jenny's three goals are to make food healthier, easier, and faster. Whenever she finds a way to do so, it is her goal to share her method. Jenny focuses specifically on developing quick and simple dishes that are made with easy-to-find ingredients that most people already have at home.

When it comes to cooking, Jenny's three goals are to make food healthier, easier, and faster.

Finally, at #5 on our list, Gartur Stitch Farm is both an online and in-person resource that teaches many courses on sourdough bread baking as well as cooking, canning and fermenting. Gartur Stitch Farm is located 14 miles from Stirling and Milngavie, and is situated at the edge of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park in Scotland.

Owners Kat and Kevin Goldin moved to their small farm in 2015 and spend most days chasing sheep, growing food, teaching courses, giving farm tours and hosting local events. The bread-making course aims to teach people the skills necessary to make bread at home with the most basic ingredients - flour, water and salt.