If there is one thing Baking School instructor Jen Rein wants you to know about homemade pasta, it’s this: “It’s super accessible!”

Bread flour is similar to all-purpose flour, with one significant difference: the protein content.

This month, we’re going big on flavor. The markets may not be bursting just yet, but we can still lean into bakes that pack a major punch. These include a flaky pastry with a hidden filling of vibrant guava; carrot cake in breakfast form; and a cake that calls for every part of an orange.  

Welcome to The Big Month of Bread. Whether you’re a beginner or just looking to get out of a baking rut, we have a bread baking plan for you that levels up each week.

Homemade pasta is great. Homemade pasta with a cheesy, herby, filling? Even better. 

Whether you’re comfortable making homemade pasta noodles and want to level up to filled shapes or just making fresh pasta for the first time, homemade ravioli is easier than you think. The whole process can basically be broken down into four steps: roll, fill, shape, and boil. 

Here’s how to master them, step by step:

I’ve never understood those specialty brownie pans that make each brownie an edge piece. I know intellectually that some people prefer crispy, crunchy brownie corners … but isn’t it basically a fact that the fudgy center is the best bite? 

Milk bread is a broad term used to describe light, fluffy breads made with the tangzhong method, a technique that involves pre-cooking some of the flour and milk into a soft paste before mixing the dough.

It’s a natural inclination to want to pizza-fy anything. Whether it’s garlic bread, Japanese milk bread, or bagels, pretty much everything gets an upgrade with the addition of tomato sauce and melted cheese.

Sometimes, you just want a quick, easy recipe — that's where Bake It Easy comes in.

Perhaps one of the biggest misconceptions about making homemade pasta is that you need an arsenal of expensive tools to do it. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. If you’re new to pasta-making, know that you can whip up delicious noodles with what you already have in your kitchen. Of course, that isn’t to say I don’t cherish my own collection of hand-crafted ravioli stamps and brass pasta cutters, or that there aren’t a few handy items I’d recommend to get started.

We all know and (secretly) adore the store-bought slice-and-bake sugar cookie logs that, when sliced, reveal a design in the center of the cookie. But as a professional baker, I couldn’t resist making a from-scratch version. So ahead of Valentine’s Day, I started working on a copycat recipe featuring a sweet red heart inside a lemon cookie dough. Behold, lovers: Slice-and-Bake Valentine Cookies. 

We’re in the depths of winter, which means it’s time to appreciate the great indoors. Good thing there are plenty of holidays and events to bake for this month, from romantic bakes on Valentine’s Day to trophy-winning snacks for your Super Bowl parties. It’s also an excellent time to cozy up with an inspiring project bake or comforting classic. Whatever the baking occasion (or even no occasion at all), we’ve got you covered this month.

Homemade pasta can be intimidating but trust me: It’s much simpler than you think. Fresh pasta dough is as easy as mixing flour and eggs — and then comes the rolling. If you’re new to using a pasta machine, there may be a slight learning curve, but it’s easy to get the hang of things.

The first loaf of bread I ever made, when I was 10 or 11 years old in the '90s, emerged from a bread machine. With its pale crust, squashed crumb, and lumpy shape, it wouldn’t have fared well on Instagram. But that didn’t stop my brother and me from devouring it, piping hot right out of the appliance and spread thickly with Country Crock margarine.