profile

The Perfect Loaf 🍞

🍞 A year of baking (and what's next)

Published about 2 months ago • 3 min read

Celebrating a New Bread-Year

Hey, everyone! Maurizio here from The Perfect Loaf.

As I've done at the close of past years, I wanted to take a quick look back at everything we baked together over the past 12 months.

This isn't a "look what I did" recap—it's more of a check-in: did I hit the mark this year in helping you bake incredible stuff at home? That's always been the goal.

Most days, I'm here in my kitchen testing recipes over and over until they hit just right—and this isn't a complaint. That iteration is what I actually love. Creating recipes from some latent inspiration, a sudden impulse, or simple curiosity is what motivates me in the kitchen. Finally publishing and sharing them with you is the real reward (okay, the eating part isn't bad either).

Between the new recipes, the guides, and the in-person events, it was a full year.

Here's what we covered:

👋🏼 A reminder: this is The Perfect Loaf's newsletter by Maurizio Leo. It's wonderful to have you. You subscribed for all things sourdough, but you can always unsubscribe instantly (though I hope you don't!).

Recipes Published in 2025

First, on the recipe front, the year started with super light and fluffy sourdough challah to flaky, buttery discard biscuits, chocolate chip cookies, a plum torte, oatmeal cookies, and easy sourdough discard crackers—plus a bunch more.

Tap the images below to go straight to the recipes!

Baking Guides Published in 2025

On the baking guide's side, I continued fleshing out the Beginner's Guide to Sourdough with in-depth articles (many with videos!) on each step of the baking process. I hope this is your go-to place if you're unsure of a technique or want to take a deep dive into a single step.

From there, I published in-depth guides to working with the new Ooni Halo Pro home spiral mixer, which I think is a beneficial and significant step up for many home bakers who have been previously mixing by hand (not that this isn't effective, I still do it many days!).

Next was my comprehensive and step-by-step approach to baking sourdough with an open crumb. While achieving a wildly open interior shouldn't be the primary goal for baking (IMO), the guide helps point out issues if you've had closed areas in your loaves. As I always say, it's all about balance: open but not too open; sour but not too sour, tall but not too tall.

Baking Classes and Tours

Beyond the recipes and guides, I got to teach in person this year. I co-led a baking workshop at idyllic Chimacum Valley Grainery in Washington with incredible bakers and students.

Later in the year, I had the opportunity to spend two weeks in Italy—one week teaching (okay, some eating, too!), one week eating at the best bakeries and restaurants in the north. It's such an incredible opportunity for me to share the best of Italy with other fellow bread lovers.

(For more about classes, trips, and travel, see the Travel Page!)

Looking Ahead to 2026

I'm taking a break from the European baking tours in 2026 to focus on some projects I'm excited about, but they'll return in 2027 with some incredible destinations.

In the meantime, expect more in-person baking classes and plenty of new recipes—including some I've been testing for a while. The focus, as always: creating the best sourdough content I can to help you improve your craft. That means not just more recipes, but the kind of detail that helps you understand why something works—so you can adapt, experiment, and bake with more confidence.

More details in the new year.

The Baker's Corner

​The Baker's Corner is the membership program here at The Perfect Loaf, and if you can believe it, it's entering its 7th year. This membership provides the core support for all the material I create.

Thank you to everyone new and those who've been around for years. This membership enables me to do my best work while keeping the whole bakery running.

If you've been thinking about joining, I'd love to have you.

One Last Thing

I'll close by saying I'd love to hear from you. Anything you'd like to see more of from me in 2026?

Pick what you'd like to see more of below; it genuinely helps me shape what to focus on next.

Thanks for being here and for baking along with me this year.

​Join me in the member's community, master sourdough, and get baker's perks.

Thank you for subscribing 🩶. Sent from Maurizio at The Perfect Loaf, 8100 Wyoming Blvd NE Ste M4, #343, Albuquerque, NM 87113.
​Unsubscribe · Preferences​

The Perfect Loaf 🍞

Maurizio Leo

Want to make bakery-quality sourdough bread from home? Subscribe for the best sourdough guides and recipes to take your bread from ordinary to incredible.

Read more from The Perfect Loaf 🍞

Focaccia, but with a surprising twist This week I made focaccia—but with a surprising little twist that totally transformed it. I used my simple sourdough focaccia but instead of topping it with savory herbs and spices, I used... White sesame seeds. Such a seemingly simple thing, but the seeds brought this incredible pop of umami that I just can't shake. I use sesame often in bread (this one being my all-time favorite), but I'm not sure why I haven't used it on focaccia before. My simple...

1 day ago • 2 min read

Scalded buckwheat and malt sourdough bread This spice-forward, hearty sourdough is exactly the kind of bread I needed to drag me through the cold that's clung to this month far longer than it had any right to. Ground aniseed (or caraway, if you'd like!), barley malt syrup, and a buckwheat flour scald—pouring boiling water over the flour—which amplifies the flavor and aroma. Kind of a tricky way to work in this grain without it compromising the crumb structure too much. If you're a fan of...

8 days ago • 1 min read

A Sourdough Baker's Valentine's There's something to be said for giving someone a gift that didn't exist until you made it, and even better when it began with just flour, water, and a jar of bubbling starter on your counter. Whether it's for someone you love or just for yourself (both equally valid), a handmade bread, a twisted knot, a tender roll, or a chewy cookie carries a weight that store-bought never will. It's unhurried. It's deliberate. And honestly, it's the kind of thing you simply...

15 days ago • 2 min read