Zingerman's Baking and Cooking Classes in Ann Arbor

Have you always wondered how to make naturally leavened bread at home? What is a sourdough starter anyway? In this class, we will demystify naturally leavened bread for you, teach you how to make and maintain 2 different types of sourdough starter (one being the starter we use here at the Bakehouse and one 100% whole grain starter), mix and treat the dough, and make flavorful bread at home.

You will make our classic Farm bread as well as 100% Whole Grain loaves.

Your class includes a great Zingerman's Bakehouse lunch, too. This is a day-long, advanced class for the dedicated baker. It's an action-packed class with a deep dive discussion into the science of naturally leavened breads.

You'll leave BAKE! with Zingerman's naturally leavened bread and sourdough starter recipes, the knowledge to recreate them at home, 4 loaves of bread, 2 sourdough starters to make more bread at home, and great coupons. Not to mention a full tummy from lunch and bread snacking in class.
 

What our guests have to say about this class:

I'm hoping to move to exclusively naturally leavened breads. Will totally try my best to recreate these recipes at home. Excited for some cranberry pecan for Thanksgiving leftovers. —Jessie S.

Gives me the help I need to up my baking game. —Mike C.

Good place to start your sourdough journey. —Cynthia D.

Join us for this hands-on class, as we make two of our favorite Jewish jewels in the Bakehouse's crown. 

First, a loaf rooted in age-old Jewish tradition and laden with symbolism: Challah, a soft bread enriched with eggs, oil, and honey that was first made by Ashkenazi Jews in 15th-century Central Europe. We'll teach you to make your own rich challah dough from scratch and then how to shape your loaf into a traditional six-stranded braid. The braiding of challah was originally an adaptation from a local Teutonic solstice bread and its strands—resembling arms intertwined—came to symbolize love as well as truth, peace, creation, freedom, harmony, family connection, unity, and justice.

The next Jewish jewel we'll make is one of the Bakehouse's best-selling Jewish pastries: Rugelach (Yiddish for "little twists"). These royally delicious cookies are made with a crispy, flaky, cream cheese pastry, sprinkled in cinnamon sugar, and rolled around a sweet filling. Together, we'll make the Bakehouse's cream cheese pastry from scratch, roll it around our favorite walnut and currant filling and then bake our rugelach to crispy, flaky, perfection. 

If you've not yet tried one of these traditional Jewish jewels, now is the time.

You'll leave the BAKE! class with our recipes, the knowledge to create them at home, and the challah and rugelach you made in class.

In-Person: We'll end class with a tasting and you'll go home with some great coupons.

For more challah history, head to our blog and read: "Hurray for Holiday Challah!"

Ah, the pizza pie! It's a cornerstone of the American diet, and yet so few folks actually make pizza at home! In this hands-on class, we'll teach you how easy and fun it can be to make New York-style and Chicago-style pizzas from scratch, with a variety of cheeses, including Parmigiano Reggiano®, and toppings. We'll also share our recipe for Pizza Bianca, a flavorful Italian bread, topped with olive oil, salt, and Parmesan cheese, that is a great accompaniment to any dinner. The next time you reach for the phone to order pizza delivery, you'll remember it's fun and a lot more flavorful to make it yourself.

You'll leave the BAKE! class with our recipes, the knowledge to recreate them at home, and all the pizza doughs and pizzas you made in class. 

In-Person: We'll end class with a tasting of what we made and you'll go home with some great coupons.

What our guests have to say about this class:

I'm going to make pizza at home. I've taken 4 classes and this feels the most applicable to everyday life. — Kelsey C.

I learned a lot about the structure, ingredients, and baking of a variety of pizzas. —Pat M.

Join us for one of our most popular hands-on classes! Your family and house guests won't soon forget waking up to the aroma of butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar from freshly baked sweet rolls. Learn how it's done! In this hands-on class, we'll teach you the basic techniques of creating a sweet dough. You'll get plenty of hands-on practice in class with mixing, kneading, hand-shaping, and proofing yeasted doughs. 

You'll leave the BAKE! class with our recipes, the knowledge to recreate them at home, and all the sweet dough baked goods you made in class. 

In-Person: We'll end class with a tasting of what we made and you'll leave with sweet dough to bake at home later as well as some great coupons. If you're traveling more than an hour to attend, you may want to bring a cooler and ice pack to class with you for storing your bake-at-home sweet dough on the ride home.

Virtual (2-day): On Day 1, we'll make our sweet dough, before refrigerating it overnight. On Day 2, we'll teach you to make and bake three delicious treats both sweet and savory.

What our guests have to say about this class:

I've been baking for years and have worked in a bakery—I just love learning new tricks I might not know. —Barb S.

The cinnamon rolls were as light as pillows and the taste was pure heaven. —Joyce S.

Such a nice experience! I don't have much baking experience and I loved every minute of it! —Jolie S.

This was my best class yet, out of probably a dozen. I love the versatility of what I can do with the dough. —Beth S.

Ever wonder how to make those tender hollow éclair shells? Well, join us to find out in this hands-on class! We'll teach you the basic techniques of creating Pâte à Choux Dough (pronounced, pot-a-shoo). You'll make your own Bakehouse Éclairs, along with our Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream to fill them, and Dark Chocolate Ganache for a delicious glossy finish. These Bakehouse recipes will kick your entertaining up several notches.

Virtual: You'll need a stand mixer or a hand-held mixer to make the Pâte à Choux and the Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream, as well as a pastry bag and a closed star tip, such as Ateco 848.