Bernard Claytons Complete Book of Small Breads: More Than 100 Recipes for Rolls Buns Biscuits Flatbreads Muffins and Other [Hardcover]

Bernard Clayton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 4, 1998

From the bestselling author of "The New Complete Book of Breads" comes this round-the-world celebration of small breads--including rolls, buns, biscuits, bagels, bialys, flatbreads, muffins, and other delicious treats. 100+ recipes. 30 line drawings National author publicity. .

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Bernard Clayton has six very solid cookbooks to his credit, starting with The Complete Book of Breads, first published in the 1970s. Somehow it seems only fitting that he would wind his way, by book number seven, back to a big book about little breads. Does it fit in your palm? This appears to be the primary criterion for the breads in The Complete Book of Small Breads. There are beaten biscuits from the American South and steamed buns from China, pan dulce from Mexico and oatmeal flatbread from Norway, orange tiffin rolls from India and spice corn fritters from Indonesia--more than 100 recipes in all.

Some of the recipes will seem familiar to anyone who has used other Clayton cookbooks, for he has culled from his own greatest hits to fill this book. But he has downsized the recipes: "The book will appeal to those home bakers with small families or those with limited kitchen facilities," he writes. "The yield of most of the recipes is small, reduced to about half the quantity found in others."

Those new to baking and experienced bakers alike will enjoy Clayton's clear instructions. He takes into account bakers doing everything by hand as well as those who use mixers or food processors. Once you've become accustomed to the way Clayton lays out a recipe, you'll wonder what's wrong with every other cookbook author in the business.

But most of all, there's Clayton's easygoing attitude to spur you on to even more delicious discoveries. "I urge the home baker to see baking as a relaxed art," Clayton writes. "In bread making, if the dough you are shaping gets stubborn, pulls back, and refuses to be shaped, walk away from it for a few minutes. It will relax and so will you." --Schuyler Ingle

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition (March 4, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684826925
• ISBN-13: 978-0684826929
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #190,549 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars interesting collection of recipes, but uneven quality, May 29, 1999

By 

avidbaker (Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bernard Claytons Complete Book of Small Breads: More Than 100 Recipes for Rolls Buns Biscuits Flatbreads Muffins and Other (Hardcover)

Clayton's writing is, as always, friendly, clear, and concise. But there are disappointments as well as rewards. The butter crackers and hamburger buns were wonderful, but the hazelnut-buckwheat muffins were just so-so, and Mrs. McNab's Scones were so salty I had to throw them out. The book is fun to explore, though, and there's even a recipe for dog biscuits that my spaniel has been urging me to try...

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good and basic, May 10, 2011

By 

Karen Vedder (Friday Harbor, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bernard Claytons Complete Book of Small Breads: More Than 100 Recipes for Rolls Buns Biscuits Flatbreads Muffins and Other (Hardcover)

What makes this book special is the focus on little breads. You have to search most bread cookbooks for a single roll recipe. The book is basic which is why I gave it four stars instead of five. Someone who isn't interested in preferments and other ways of improving flavors might give it five stars just because it is basic. You choose.
I want to respond to the previous review. I have won a blue ribbon at the county fair for Mrs. McNab's scones. They are the best basic scones I have ever made and are relatively low fat as well. I have never had a problem with the salt. The hazlenut buckwheat scones I thought were a great accompaniment to dinner. I substituted walnuts and would add more next time. I probably wouldn't use them as a breakfast muffin because they are a little hearty for that.
Like all Clayton's books, he gets you off the couch and into the kitchen. Some of my other favorites are the naan and the dinner rolls (which won Clayton's Mom a blue ribbon at the Iowa state fair) which I make into hot dog buns that have been a huge success.