Author: Henry Hunter
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Pan de Muerto Bread: How to Shape the Bones and Bake It Beautiful
Orange zest, soft dough, and those little bones on top. Learn to shape Pan de Muerto bread, keep the decorations in place, and bake a golden loaf for Día de los Muertos. We’ve got sourdough and yeasted recipes, plus fixes for the things that trip bakers up.
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The People Behind the Bread: Leigh Skowronski
Meet Leigh Skowronski, an Academy baker and handweaver whose handmade kitchen towel became part of Henry Hunter’s baking routine.
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Ancient Grain Sourdough Starter: 5 Simple Fixes That Work
Your ancient grain sourdough starter can look flat, sticky, or unusually fast after a flour change. Learn five practical fixes for einkorn, spelt, and rye, then put the lesson to work in the free Ancient Grain Challenge.
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Fresh-Milled Brown Butter Pistachio Banana Bread
This fresh-milled banana bread uses Soft White wheat, very ripe bananas, brown butter, sour cream, and pistachios. The same batter makes either a 9 × 5-inch loaf or six Texas-size jumbo muffins.
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Fresh-Milled Spelt Bread: Why Fresh Flour Changes Your Dough
This fresh-milled whole grain Aroma Loaf uses a salted Kochstück to hold more water, soften the crumb, and build deeper flavor. It’s a practical way to turn freshly milled grain into a tender, everyday loaf.
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The Loaf and the Lie: How Industrial Bread Replaced Real Bread
In less than a century, industrial bread replaced the loaf our great-grandparents knew. Episode 1 of The Loaf and the Lie asks what we traded away.
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How to Braid a Round Challah That Holds Its Shape
Learn how to braid a round challah that holds its shape, with Henry Hunter’s honey-apple dough and five practical steps. Follow the photos, rest stubborn strands, and use proofing cues to bake a golden loaf for Rosh Hashanah or your next family table.
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The $8 Cinnamon Roll Argument
Comment section pricing is wrong. Here’s the real math behind farmers market cinnamon rolls, why $8 is fair, and why batch size decides the price, not the crowd.
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State Fair Bread Competition: A First-Timer’s Guide
Fair season is here and the entry deadlines close before most bakers start thinking about it. Here’s the six-week prep timeline, what judges actually score, how to pick your category, and the 2026 dates for South Carolina and North Carolina.
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Texas Cottage Food Law: Selling Bread From Home (2026)
Texas lets you sell homemade bread with no permit, a $150,000 yearly cap, and one exact label statement. Who qualifies, where to sell, and how to start.
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The Best Marketing at a Farmers Market Isn’t a Sign. It’s the Vendor Next to You.
Farmers market vendors aren’t competition, they’re your best sales team. See how simple cross-promotion turned neighbors into free advertising.
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Summer Garden Focaccia, Two Ways
A first-timer walked in nervous and walked out having taught the veterans a new trick. Inside: everything from Saturday’s Summer Garden Focaccia bake-along.
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Tomato Basil Sourdough: Summer’s Picnic Loaf
You thought you built a 73% dough. The tomatoes made it 94%. Here’s the water math nobody shows you, and the fix that actually works.
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The McRib Strategy for Your Farmers Market Booth
The McRib and the Pumpkin Spice Latte run on one trick: scarcity. Here’s how to use it at your farmers market booth and sell out before noon.
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The From Oven to Market Community Is Open, and This Week the Door Is Free
The From Oven to Market community is open on Skool. For one founding week, your seat stays free for life. Here is what is waiting inside.
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From Oven to Market: Best Places to Sell Your Bread
Where to sell your homemade bread: farmers markets, pop-ups, online preorders, wholesale, and subscriptions, and how to pick the right first channel.
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How to Start Selling Sourdough From Home
How to start a sourdough business from home: the legal first step, a tight menu, real pricing, and preorders. Sourdough outsells everything at markets.
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The Twenty-Foot Test: Why Customers Walk Past Your Farmers Market Booth
Shoppers judge your booth from twenty feet out, in half a second, before they read a word. Here’s what makes them walk over instead of past.
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How to Freeze Bread Without Wrecking the Crumb
The freezer is a pause button, not a time machine. Here’s how to freeze bread while it’s still good, and bring it back close to fresh.
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Scaling Your Bread Business Beyond One Market: From Oven to Market Growth
How to scale a bread business beyond one market: the second-market trap, wholesale math, preorders and subscriptions, and growing without burning out.
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Can You Legally Sell Bread From Home?
Is it legal to sell homemade bread? In most states, yes, under cottage food law. Here’s what qualifies, the labels you need, and how to start the right way.
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10 Best-Selling Breads at a Farmers Market (And Why They Sell)
The 10 breads that consistently sell out at a market table, who buys each one, and the aroma hook that pulls them in. From a baker who sold 80 to 90 loaves a Saturday.
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Can You Make Sourdough If You Work a 9-to-5? The Honest Answer From a Baker Who’s Done It Both Ways
The honest answer from a baker who’s done it both ways. Real schedules, minimum gear, starter care without the anxiety, and the long view of a lifelong practice. Written for working people with full calendars who were told sourdough takes too much time.
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Spring Changed the Room: How Warmer Weather Affects Your Sourdough
Warm weather sourdough behaves differently. Same flour, same starter, same recipe, warmer kitchen. Here’s how to read the dough and adjust the bake.
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Rustic Italian Ciabatta: Yeasted vs. Sourdough (And Why You Should Bake Both This Week)
Rustic Italian Ciabatta is the loaf that rewards everything you just learned about high hydration bread. No shaping. No scoring. No banneton. Just a wet, bubbly dough, a dusting of flour, and a hot oven. If this week’s wet dough post lit a fire under you, Rustic Italian Ciabatta is…
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Why Wet Dough Terrifies Beginners (And Why It Shouldn’t)
High hydration bread feels wrong the first time you touch it. Here’s what’s really happening inside that sticky wet dough, why it scares beginners, and how to handle it so you can pull a proper ciabatta, focaccia, or rustic sourdough out of the oven.
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Bulk Fermentation vs. Cold Retard: What Each Phase Actually Does
Bulk fermentation and cold retard are not the same thing. Here’s what each phase does, why order matters, and how to know when each one is done.
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Why Easter Is a Bread Holiday
From Paska and tsoureki to hot cross buns and Colomba, Easter is a bread holiday. Here’s how cultures preach with dough and how to bake yours.
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Hot Cross Buns at Home: History, Science, and Two Recipes You’ll Actually Love
Make hot cross buns at home with our tangzhong method, both yeasted and sourdough. Plus the fascinating history behind the cross.
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3 Signs Your Bulk Fermentation Is Done (Stop Guessing)
Bulk fermentation sourdough timing is not about the clock. Here are three visual signs your dough gives you, so you stop guessing and start baking with confidence.
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Bread Washes: What to Use and When
Not all bread washes give you the same result. This quick-reference guide breaks down egg wash, milk wash, butter finish, and more — what each one does, when to use it, and how to get that perfect bakery crust at home.
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What Are Pre-Ferments? The 5 Methods Every Baker Should Know
Pre-ferments are how bakers build deeper flavor, better texture, and longer freshness into bread. Here are the five methods and when to use each one.
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Japanese Milk Bread (Shokupan): The Softest Loaf You’ll Ever Bake
Japanese milk bread (shokupan) uses a simple tangzhong paste to create the softest, fluffiest sandwich loaf you’ll ever make at home. This bread stays fresh for days, tears apart in pillowy sheets, and only takes about 30 minutes of hands-on time. Full recipe with step-by-step instructions, troubleshooting tips, and the…
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When 20 Bakers Made Vietnamese Baguettes Through a Snowstorm (And What Happened Next)
Twenty-two bakers. One snowstorm. Four hundred forty-nine comments in a single thread. When we said “let’s make Vietnamese Banh Mi baguettes together” on Saturday, nobody expected blizzard conditions, melted butter disasters, or fogged glasses dumping bread onto oven racks—but that’s exactly what happened. This is the story of what real-time…
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Your Questions Keep Getting Buried. Here’s What We Did About It.
Your baking questions disappear in Facebook groups. Crust & Crumb Academy gives you structured courses, searchable recipes, and a community small enough that your question actually gets answered.
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Henry’s Decadent Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls
Rich, soft blueberry cinnamon rolls filled with real blueberries, toasted walnuts, and blueberry preserve, finished with swirled cream cheese frosting. Weekend-level indulgence.
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Henry’s Traditional Christmas Stollën
This traditional Christmas stollen is more than a holiday bread. It’s a memory carried home from a small German bakery, where I learned the craft from Mr. Sherman while stationed overseas. Rich with fruit, spice, and patience, this is a bread meant to be made ahead, wrapped, rested, and shared…
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Get Your Head in the Game
Learn why reading your recipe and prepping ingredients before baking bread sets you up for success. Mise en place isn’t fussiness—it’s how great bakers work.
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Holiday Chocolate Babka: The Perfect Gift Bread for Your Give Bread Instead Campaign
Nothing says “I care about you” like a homemade loaf of chocolate babka wrapped in cellophane with a ribbon. This rich, swirled bread is easier than you think, and it freezes like a dream. Why Babka Belongs in Your Gift Bread Rotation Let me be straight with you: if you…
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How to Ship Bread Without Ruining It
Learn how to ship homemade bread so it arrives fresh, soft, and gift-ready. This guide covers which breads travel best, how to wrap and pack them, freezing tips, and the right shipping timeline to keep your loaves tasting their best.
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Holiday Star Cinnamon Roll Bread with Beetroot Swirl
I roast beetroots, puree them, and keep bags in the freezer for when I need color. One tablespoon mixed into half the dough gives you this pink. Layer it with plain dough, add cinnamon filling, twist, and you’ve got a centerpiece people won’t forget.
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Mandarin Holiday Muffins: A Late-Night Bake Worth Sharing
It was late, my house was quiet, and those tall café-style muffin liners I ordered a month ago finally showed up at my door. They were sitting on the counter daring me to do something with them. I had a handful of Craisins, just enough chopped walnuts to matter, and…
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Black Friday 2025: My Holiday Gift Guide for Home Bakers
Every product in this guide is something I’ve tested in my own kitchen, baked with, and trusted enough to put my name behind. These aren’t random picks. These are the tools I reach for every single time I bake.
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The Best Sourdough ↔ Yeast Recipe Converter for Home Bakers
Tired of fighting the math? This new recipe converter lets you turn any bread recipe into sourdough or yeast with one click. Paste it, upload it, or snap a photo. Clean instructions, correct hydration, and real kitchen-ready results.
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Easy Rosemary Sea Salt Focaccia Recipe Summary:
A soft, aromatic focaccia topped with rosemary and sea salt. Easy, foolproof, and perfect for new bakers or weeknight meals, no special tools required.
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Henry’s Pistachio Babka Twists
These Pistachio Babka Twists are soft, rich, and buttery with deep pistachio flavor in every bite. Baked in muffin tins for even color and shape, they’re part babka, part sweet roll — the kind of late-night bake that quiets your mind and fills the kitchen with warmth. Coarse-ground pistachios bring…
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Rosemary & Sea Salt Focaccia
By Henry Hunter If you’ve been hesitant to dive into bread baking, let this Rosemary & Sea Salt Focaccia be your gateway recipe. It’s the kind of bread that makes you look like a professional baker while being surprisingly forgiving to make. The combination of fragrant rosemary and flaky sea…
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Perfect Your Pumpkin-Shaped Bread with Tension Tips
This festive pumpkin-shaped yeast bread is soft, savory, and full of fall flavor. Made with real pumpkin purée, rosemary, and a hint of sweetness, it’s perfect for sandwiches, soups, or your holiday table. Easy to shape, beautiful to serve.
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Member Spotlight: Kimberly Wasko’s County Fair Triumph
Four first-place ribbons at one of the toughest county fairs in Pennsylvania. When Kimberly Wasko posted her results from the Bloomsburg Fair, I knew we had to hear the full story. Not just the wins (though eight ribbons total is incredible), but the whole journey: the midnight baking sessions, the…
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Fall in Love with Baking: Spicing Up Your Bread Game 🍂🥖
“As the crisp air of autumn begins to settle in, there’s nothing quite like the warmth of a cozy kitchen filled with the scent of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. These warming spices not only bring comfort and nostalgia but also add a rich depth of flavor to your fall baking.…