Crumpets are sort of like thin English muffins. Since they're so thin, you don't cut them in half; you simply slather them with butter and eat them as they are. I love the crunchy hills and tender valleys of an English muffin, but this was an entirely different experience. 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

This recipe calls for a biscuit recipe as the dough, so it doesn't need that rise time. The resulting dough doesn't have the same chew as a traditional sweet bread. Instead, they're soft and fluffy like biscuits. An interesting idea, plus it means your sweet rolls are on the table in under an hour. 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

While these wouldn't be considered healthy, if you're going to eat cinnamon buns, you might as well add whole wheat. Except for the color, you'd never know these were whole grain buns. 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

When I was flipping through King Arthur Flour's Whole Grain Baking book, I knew I wanted to try at least one recipe that wasn't a typical loaf. These whole wheat crackers looked like they had a nice balance of wheat, sweet, and salty, and the result was even better than I expected. You'll need to double or third the recipe. More