Can you imagine these little birdies peeking out of a bread basket? Or on the edge of a salad plate? Pretty adorable, right? Like any shaped bread, you'll never get two that look exactly alike, but that's part of the charm. More

I'd never heard of rowies until I saw this recipe in Fast Breads, but as soon as I saw the recipe, I knew I had to try it. The concept is something like a croissant, but with fewer folds, and with the dough cut so the butter leaks out during cooking. More

These corn sticks from Fast Breads use just a little bit of flour with a higher proportion of cornmeal. so they have a crisp crust and a soft interior. The recipe is made for use in a corn stick pan, so it probably wouldn't fare well in a regular pan. If you don't have a corn stick pan, there's also a recipe in the book for standard cornbread. More

Every bread baker should have at least one recipe for an artisan-style loaf and this one from Fast Breads fills that bill. Considering it has that long rest in the fridge, this isn't fast from start to table, but it doesn't take a lot of working time. And considering the flavor, it's well worth the wait. More

Fast Breads by Elinor Klivans doesn't have a huge number of recipes, just 50, but they're all very different from one another. You won't find one bread followed by five others that are variations on the same theme—you're getting a good range of bread (and bread-like) recipes including things like hush puppies and doughnuts. More

Ever thought about baking bread in a smoker? The idea intrigued me. I've baked bread in my gas grill, so why not try it in an electric smoker? More

This rye is one of the best recipes I've tried in a long time. The sauerkraut adds moisture, and both the sauerkraut and pickle juice add a nice sourness. Although the bread is packed with whole grains, it's also packed with flavor. Mustard, caraway, dried onions—it all adds up. More

This bread from King Arthur Flour's Whole Grain Baking book is soft, fluffy, and just a little bit sweet. The flavor will vary depending on the kind of beer you use, so choose wisely. I find that for most beer breads, a mild, light beer works much better than a stronger beer that can leave behind a bitter after-taste. More

I've had the Whole Grain Baking book from King Arthur Flour for some time, and it has yet to steer me wrong. Sure, you can haphazardly substitute whole grain flours for white flour in bread recipes, and most of the time it will work. But why not use recipes that were designed for whole grains? We'll be baking from the book all week. Enter to win a copy here! More

Rye doughs can be a bit difficult to work with because rye flour doesn't behave the same as wheat flour. What's the secret? A long rise and a bit of bread flour added to the mix. More