The Pleasure of Whole Grain Breads (Paperback)

~ (Author), Daniel Clark (Photographer)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A is for amaranth, b for barley. Or buckwheat. Look for corn, millet, oats, quinoa, rice, rye, and teff as well. Wheat and wild rice bring up the rear, along with a handful of specialty flours. Such are the base ingredients in Beth Hensperger's inspiring The Pleasure of Whole Grain Breads. You may recognize Hensperger as the author of The Bread Bible, Beth's Basic Bread Book, and Baking Bread. She knows of what she speaks.

Hensperger includes recipes for everything from waffles to muffins (English and regular), tortillas and biscuits, spice bread and pancakes. But the heart of the book is a wonderful array of breads. Whole-wheat and unbleached all-purpose flour may be the workhorses of these recipes, but the magic happens with the addition of other whole grains you may not have considered. Each lends its own flavor and texture. You know going in that the Three-Grain Vanilla Waffles with amaranth flour and toasted amaranth seeds are going to take you places you have never been before.

The book opens with some brief yet concise basic instructions on bread making and baking, as well as the how-to of kneading and rising. Hensperger also tips her hat to machines with specific recipes and with explicit recommendations for machines that do the necessary work. Anyone who has experienced the delight of home-baked bread is going to love adding this extra layer of experience to their repertoire. Let Beth Hensperger show you the way with The Pleasure of Whole Grain Breads. --Schuyler Ingle

From Publishers Weekly

Hensperger, author of The Bread Bible, puts to rest the stodgy image of whole-grain baking and its hockey-puck results. Grain-filled versions of familiar breads, such as Multigrain Sandwich Buns made with instant mashed potatoes and Sesame Semolina Bread, are reliable, but when Hensperger lets her imagination run wild, she scores with such fanciful fare as Fig-Pumpernickel Quick Bread and Oaten Rolls with Herbs and Sun-Dried Tomatoes. She also includes recipes for nonbread food: Buckwheat Blini, Three-Grain Vanilla Waffles and Quinoa Tortillas. All types of grains are featured (Oven-Baked Four-Grain English Muffins contain millet, oats, wheat flour and amaranth flour), as are specialty flours such as chestnut (in Chestnut Bread with Hazelnuts). A mail-order index makes these products accessible, and clear descriptions of the grains are full of historical facts (barley is named in a set of Babylonian clay tabletsAthe first known mention of any grain in writing). The photos of the breads are stunning, and this book's larg-size format makes it extremely kitchen-friendly. (Jan.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 180 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books; illustrated edition edition (October 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811814556
• ISBN-13: 978-0811814553
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 9.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #486,585 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful book with great recipes, April 5, 2000

By A Customer

This is a great book with really interesting recipes. The photographs are beautiful and make you want to try the recipes. There's a good introduction to each grain and enough variety of recipes that there's a bread for just about everyone. My only disappointment is that almost all the recipes require at least some white flour.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Pleasure of Whole Grain Breads, January 17, 2000

By	Mia Farland (West Palm Beach, Florida) - See all my reviews

This books has excellent recipes in it and is a must for anybody with a bread machine. This is an excellent introduction to a new baker looking to work with whole grains. I am sending it as a gift to others. It's beautiful as well as fun to use.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great grains!, February 11, 2002

By A Customer

love the format/design of the book. and the recipes that i've tried so far have worked out great. the masa biscuits have already assumed a regular spot in my repetoire. the barley blueberry muffins are great too. can't wait to try more of them.