Hodgson Mill Whole Grain Baking: 400 Healthy and Delicious Recipes for Muffins, Breads, Cookies, and More [Paperback]

the bakers of Hodgson Mill (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 2007

A comprehensive guide to baking with whole grains from one of America's leading flour mills.Features 100 gluten-free recipes and 50 bread machine recipes!

If your experience of whole grains translates into heavy, bitter, stale, or (in the case of pasta) mushy, take heart. A revolution in whole-grain flours and a better understanding of the techniques needed to create delicious whole-grain baked goods that are as good to eat as they are good for you has taken place in the last few years. With new flours like white whole wheat, white wheat bran, and white spelt, whole-grain baking has finally come into its own. And here to help health-conscious cooks take advantage of the new developments is The Official Hodgson Mill Whole-Grain Baking Companion. From scrumptious breads like Multigrain Currant Loaf, Sourdough Rye, and California Soy Crunch to White Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins and Perfect Buckwheat Pancakes, from Cranberry-Marmalade Scones to Cardamom Coffee Braid, 400 recipes present the best of whole-grain baking in easy-to-follow step by-step format.

Readers will be introduced to whole-grain flours (including the many kinds of whole wheat, rye, corn, spelt, oat, soy, rice, bean, buckwheat, flax, barley, quinoa, millet and more) and learn special tips for using each kind of flour, what its nutrient value is, how to store it to preserve freshness, and how to combine different flours for maximum flavor and nutrition. A chapter on baking basics takes readers with illustrated step-by-step directions through the bread making process, whether they-re creating whole-grain baked goods by hand, in a bread machine, or with a food processor, and illustrates techniques like braiding.

All of this comes from the authority of Hodgson Mill, a flour company that has been grinding whole grains for 120 years.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Hodgson Mill is a well-established, well-known, widely-available brand of flours. Visit their website at www.hodgsonmill.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Fair Winds Press (June 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592332617
• ISBN-13: 978-1592332618
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #153,868 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #44 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Cooking by Ingredient > Rice & Grains

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Decent whole-grains book, with a caviat, February 18, 2008

By 

Matthew K. Morgan (Ruther Glen, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hodgson Mill Whole Grain Baking: 400 Healthy and Delicious Recipes for Muffins, Breads, Cookies, and More (Paperback)

I bought this book on first sight, after deciding that I wanted to do more whole-grain baking. I like and very much trust Hodgson Mill products and I thought that this cookbook would be an excellent resource. I was right, to a point.

This cookbook is filled with good recipes for all kinds of baked goods, using whole-grain products produced by Hodgson Mill. This is to be expected since every manufacturer that distributes any kind of recipe always specifies that their product is the one to use. That in itself is not an issue here, but what IS an issue is that many of the recipes contained therein require special boxed mixes. It is one thing to specify a particular brand of flour; it is quite another to require a specialty mix that is manufactured by no one else.

Many of these special box mixes are not readily available on store shelves but require a mail-order purchase. The end result is that many of the recipes in this book are not something that can be thrown together on a whim but require advance planning. Often this kind of planning is not done and as a result many of the recipes likely will go unused.

Now, all of that said, there are a good many recipes in this book that do not require special mixes or mail-order ingredients. Of those that I have tried there have been no duds - each resulting loaf/batch of muffins/etc. has turned out to be excellent with my family disappointed when the last is eaten. In that regard this book has been a huge success.

An interesting aspect of this book is the inclusion of gluten-free recipes. For those with gluten intolerance, this is a blessing and will put great-tasting breads on the table for all. Granted, some of these still require special mixes but this is a small price to pay in such a circumstance.

This cookbook is a good choice for people who like whole-grain breads and are willing to sift through a collection for recipes that do not require specialty mixes. For those with access to those mixes, the value of this collection goes up dramatically.

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Glad I got it from the library, May 11, 2008

By 

D. Olsen (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hodgson Mill Whole Grain Baking: 400 Healthy and Delicious Recipes for Muffins, Breads, Cookies, and More (Paperback)

First, I agree with the previous reviewer who stated this cookbook is like a Hodgon product usage manual. Many recipes call for their muffin mixes, gingerbread mix, etc. I live in Oregon and have not seen Hodgson products. Also, the recipes aren't always clear. The Carrot Cake Muffins caught my eye, but it calls for an 8 oz can of pineapple and doesn't note if you should include the juice or not. As far as gluten-free (GF) - most of these recipes just substitute rice flour. Anyone who has tried GF baking knows baked goods made with straight rice flour go right into the garbage - you only make this mistake once. You need a mix of different types of flours to make GF baked goods edible. If you have access to Hodgson's products and aren't buying this for GF recipes, it might work for you. It seemed like some of the recipes came right off the back of their muffin mix boxes.

29 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Goof if you're prepared to buy special Hodgson Mill products, July 18, 2007

By 

Tiny Kitchen "Chris" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hodgson Mill Whole Grain Baking: 400 Healthy and Delicious Recipes for Muffins, Breads, Cookies, and More (Paperback)

This cookbook is fine -- but many of the recipes incorporate specialty Hodgson Mill mixes and other products, and therefore do not readily lend themselves to someone who may not have these items on hand or want to get them. This is a Hodgson Mill product usage manual as much as it is a cookbook.