Sourdough. Brownies. It’s the time of year I start baking all sorts of things for other people, and these sourdough brownies are what I bring. Dark and dense, with a thin, crackled top that shatters when the knife goes through. Using a starter adds a little acidity that balances the sugar, like a square of good salted dark chocolate, and they stay extra fudgy a little longer than you'd expect. No special equipment needed, no long ferment. Just grab your starter, mix, bake, and wait as long as...

What a home oven can actually do I went into writing my new book, The Perfect Pizza, assuming the best pizza needed a professional deck or wood-fired oven. It’s what my dad had at his restaurant, and what I’d eaten on every trip to Italy, after all. So I started testing in my regular kitchen oven mostly to prove the limits. A few hundred bakes later I’d proved the opposite. A simple baking surface (steel is my favorite), preheated at 550°F, and a dough fermented long enough to brown before...

Easy weekend bakes There’s a type of baking I come back to every fall, and it’s the kind that’s done before the coffee goes cold. No levain the night before, no overnight proof, nothing to fuss about. Just sourdough discard from the fridge, cold butter, and something flaky and sweet on the counter an hour later. That's what this recipe roundup is all about. Each recipe below is one that I reach for when I want the payoff without the schedule, and they taste right this time of year in a way...