Sure, challah’s known for the braid. For Shabbat. For being the bread you tear and share. But ask anybody what they actually do with a leftover loaf, and the answer comes back the same: French toast. There’s a reason for that, and it isn’t luck. I baked this loaf Thursday. It’s Sunday morning and look at the crumb. Still soft. Still moist. That’s not a coincidence, and it’s not just because it’s blessed. Challah is an enriched dough. Eggs, oil, a little sugar or honey. The fat coats the starch and slows down staling. The sugar pulls in moisture and holds onto it. The egg yolks act like a built-in emulsifier. Put it all together and you get a loaf that stays tender for days when a lean dough would already be drying out on you. That same structure is why it makes the best French toast you’ll ever put a fork through. It soaks up the custard without falling apart, and the inside turns to pudding while the outside crisps. French toast coming up next. Stay tuned. ~ Henry ⭐🔥

This week we're baking my Market Day White — the loaf I sold every Saturday at the farmers market. Simple ingredients, real technique, and a formula that works every single time. And here's something I love about this dough — it's a blank canvas. It handles inclusions beautifully. Cheese, seeds, roasted garlic, herbs, olives. We get into all of that in the video. One dough. Two engines. Pick your path — yeasted or sourdough — and bake the loaf that fits where you are right now. Both formulas are in the Recipe Pantry at the link below. 👉 https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/henrys-market-day-white?utm_source=skool&utm_medium=community&utm_campaign=recipe-share Now here's the fun part. We're running a giveaway with Wire Monkey — the premier manufacturer of bread lames in the world. It's the one I use. I actually have four of them. Here's how to enter: 📸 Post a picture of your bake this Saturday 📸 Post a picture of your bake next Saturday Two weekends. Two entries. Two chances to win one of these handcrafted Bread flames from Wire Monkey. Pick your path, bake the loaf, and post your pictures. Let's see what you've got this Saturday. — Henry ⭐🔥

Last week we made naan. You learned what happens when baking soda hits acid, when yeast does the lifting, and when a sourdough starter runs the show. Three versions of the same flatbread. Three different engines. Now we take that understanding and put it into a real loaf. Market Day White is the first bread I ever sold at a farmers market. It's a simple white loaf with a crackling crust, an open crumb, and a flavor that made people come back every single week. It's also one of the most important training breads you'll ever make. Here's what's different about this week: we're offering two versions. Yeasted — If you're a yeasted baker, this is your bread. Instant yeast, 75% hydration, 1-2 hour bulk. You're going to learn shaping, you're going to learn how to read your dough, and you're going to learn to score. This loaf is forgiving. It wants you to succeed. Sourdough — If your starter is active (or getting close), this is your bridge. Same recipe, same technique, same hydration. The only difference is the engine. You're going to handle a sourdough loaf for the first time using a bread you already understand. That's the whole point. No fear. No mystery. Just a different way to make the same bread rise. We're also introducing scoring this week. Market Day White is the perfect bread to learn on. The crust is forgiving, the dough holds its shape, and a simple cross or slash pattern will open up beautifully in the oven. This is where you start building the skill you'll need when we get to sourdough scoring in the weeks ahead. If you don't have a lame yet, don't worry. A sharp razor blade or a serrated knife will work. But if you want to invest in a real tool, I'll have more on that soon. If you don't have a starter yet, start one now. The full sourdough starter recipe is in the Recipe Pantry. You have time. By the time we get to the Foolproof Sourdough Loaf in two weeks, you'll be ready. 👉 Market Day White (both versions): https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/henrys-market-day-white

We just launched the official Crust & Crumb Academy Instagram page and I want you there first. It's @crustandcrumbacademy, and it's where I'll be sharing baking tips, behind-the-scenes content, recipe previews, and a few things I don't post anywhere else. Go give us a follow right here: https://www.instagram.com/crustandcrumbacademy/ Takes about 10 seconds and it helps us grow the reach of everything we're building here. And if you've got bakes you're proud of, tag us. Nothing better than seeing what you're making. See you over there. 🍞🔥 — Henry ⭐🔥

Angela Sides-McKay woke up Saturday morning, looked at her overnight sourdough naan dough, and realized there was no egg in it. Most people would've panicked. Angela grabbed a coffee, came back, mixed half an egg into that cold stubborn dough, and said "What's the worst that can happen?" By afternoon she was posting photos of a hybrid sourdough-yeasted naan she'd invented on the fly. Her sister Vera ran the yeasted version beside her. Side-by-side batches in an 80-degree kitchen. Angela's verdict by dinner? The hybrid was softer than the straight yeasted. She turned a mistake into a technique. That's how Saturday went. The main bake-along thread hit 896 comments. Thirty-eight members showed up across 9 separate threads — the main working thread, a laminated fold technique discussion, a sourdough naan showcase, a biga naan experiment, a naan pizza spin-off, a fresh yeast follow-up with 10 photos, a "did we all just crush this?" celebration post, and Henry's Baker Spotlight on Linda Dubuque. This wasn't a bake-along. This was a naan summit. Tracy Havlik kicked things off early: "First, we must caffeinate, then we hunt for Greek yogurt and non-Greek yogurt." She wasn't kidding. Tracy ran at least three versions throughout the day, posted photos of every one, and was still in the thread at midnight encouraging late bakers. Colleen Vergara posted shaping videos for the group — cheese-stuffed naan, pepperoni-filled naan, and two laminated shaping demos for Oliver Wing's butter-garlic-cilantro coil method. Those videos became the reference point for the entire day. Twelve likes on a single comment. That's community teaching at its best. Linda Glantz checked in with her starter looking happy and chose the sourdough path. Sandy Chong was right behind her. When Henry asked who was doing the laminated fold, the thread lit up. The laminated fold thread alone pulled 30 comments and turned into a real-time troubleshooting session when Corliss Groover's sourdough naan felt too stiff. Henry jumped in: check the recipe, the active sourdough version has an egg, the discard doesn't. Crisis managed.