Taught by Andy Tyrrell

Next Level Bread & Baking

£45
Level: Peer






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Level: Peer

Course overview

Baker, chef and River Cottage bread expert Andy Tyrrell teaches you how to bake bread, brioche, and focaccia.

Bread is one of the most popular courses at River Cottage, and this extended, online version guides you through every stage of the baking process, giving you the knowledge and confidence to bake professional-level bread at home.

You’ll learn how to make many different styles of yeast breads including the famous River Cottage Farmhouse Loaf, as well as enriched doughs for sweeter bakes.

Andy also covers international breads like baguettes, through which you’ll learn how to fold and shape the perfect long loaf. You’ll gain skills to master wetter, olive oil-enriched doughs like ciabatta and focaccia, as well as sweet, buttery treats like brioche, doughnuts, cinnamon buns and a fruity spiced tea loaf.

Andy doesn’t just teach you the recipes, he will also help you understand the science of bread making, how flour works, which flours to use and how they magically transform with the aid of yeast, water, temperature and time.

This course will equip you with the skills to become an intuitive baker which will guide you to breadmaking perfection and endless moments of baking joy for years to come.

You'll learn:

  • which flour to use for different types of bread
  • how to make 'slow rise' loaves and bread
  • kneading techniques
  • dough proving
  • enriched loaves including brioche
  • Italian style bread including focaccia and ciabatta

The course includes:

  • 4 on-demand video lessons - presented by Andy Tyrrell and River Cottage
  • lifetime access to the videos, notes and interactive class
  • flexible classes - join and learn when and where you like
  • downloadable lesson notes
  • practical bread baking assignments and recipes (with tutor feedback available)
  • access on your mobile, PC, Mac or laptop
  • small interactive online classroom - chat online to students from around the world and share your creative ideas

Independent Cookery Schools Association approved

This course has been approved by the Independent Cookery Schools Association (ICSA), recognising the highest standards of training.

Time to complete the bread making course:

Every student is different but in general we think the whole course will take around 14 hours 50 minutes to complete including:

  • Video lessons: 2 hours 50 minutes in total
  • Course notes: 30 minutes per lesson
  • Your gut health recipe assignments: at least 2 hours per lesson
  • Interactive classroom time: 15 minutes per lesson
  • Tutor feedback review (Expert level): 15 minutes per lesson

You'll need:

Your lesson notes will include the full details of the ingredients you'll need, but you will be baking bread, so you'll need standard kitchen equipment.

Ready to get started?

Just add the course to your basket above - choose the 'Expert' option for personal feedback from Andy on your bread baking assignments.

If you know someone who'd love this course then give it as a gift - just tick "This is a gift" at the checkout.

Any questions? Contact us by clicking on the orange speech symbol - we'd love to hear from you.

Watch course trailer

Lesson summary

Understanding flour and making a farmhouse loaf
In the first lesson, Andy will teach you all about flour and how to be instinctive with breadmaking. You’ll learn about ratios of water to flour, fresh versus fast action yeast, and baker’s percentages before learning how to make a classic staple at River Cottage: our famous Farmhouse Loaf.
Slow it down for more flavour
This lesson dives into the popular subject of ‘slow rise’ loaves which are on the edge of sourdough and brilliant entry-level breads for those wanting to move into pre-fermentation. Andy will show you how to prove loaves over an extended amount of time as well as guiding you through the different stages of folding and shaping to give you loaves with the perfect rise. You'll make the Rustic Farmhouse Loaf and half baguettes with a pre-ferment.
Focaccia & Ciabatta
Master these two classic Italian breads with one brilliantly versatile dough. Andy will show you how to incorporate olive oil into this bake and how to make both a light, airy focaccia and beautiful slipper shaped, crispy, chewy open textured Italian ciabatta. Both are joyous to make and an even a greater treat to eat.
Finishing with something sweet
Enriched loaves are made by adding butter and eggs to a classic dough to give it a more cake-like texture and a luxurious richness famous in French baking. Andy will share his secrets for perfecting butter-rich brioche and then he’ll show you how to transform this dough into light and pillowy doughnuts and swirls of cinnamon buns. You’ll also get the secret recipe and step-by-step instruction to make a River Cottage favourite: our Spiced Fruit Loaf with tea-soaked fruit.

Choose how you want to learn

Expert-level

Develop your learning further with marked assignments and personal tuition:

  • Start the course whenever you like
  • Tutor access for personalised assignment feedback & coaching
  • Certificate of completion and CPD learning hours
  • Online classroom with up to 20 classmates
  • Lessons with expert videos & notes
  • Group chat & direct message with tutor & classmates
  • Lifetime access to videos, notes & classroom

Peer-level

Get the most from shared knowledge and community study:

  • Start course whenever you like
  • Practise what you learn with your peers
  • Online classroom with up to 20 classmates
  • Lessons with videos & notes
  • Course assignments
  • Group chat & direct message classmates
  • Lifetime access to videos, notes & classroom

meet the expert

Andy Tyrrell

Passionate baker and chef champions farm-to-fork ethos teaches nationwide and shares the joy of cooking.

Read more

Why choose Learning with Experts?

Start whenever it suits you, and immerse yourself in motivational lesson tutorials with expert guidance.
Enhance your learning and personal growth with lesson assignments. Each course includes an optional assignment at the end of every lesson.
Drop a friendly message or respond to your assignment feedback. Our world-class experts are just a click away, ready to help you!
Stay informed about your own progress and those of your peers, and take joy in celebrating achievements along the way.
Chat and share ideas with passionate communities of learners from around the world.

Frequently asked questions

What’s the difference between PEER and EXPERT options?

At Peer and Expert level, you get access to the same core content and features:

  • Video lesson tutorials led by your expert tutor
  • Downloadable lesson notes
  • Option to practise what you learn with lesson assignments
  • Group learning within an online interactive classroom of up to 20 classmates
  • Lifetime access to videos, notes and classroom

If you choose Expert level, you get all of the above plus the following:

  • Personalised assignment feedback and coaching from your expert tutor
  • Opportunity to interact with your expert tutor through a private messaging system
  • Certificate of completion.
What is an online classroom?

Our online classroom has been developed to allow you to learn from our experts in a sociable environment alongside up to 20 other students. After each video tutorial led by your expert, you will be encouraged to practice what you have learned with optional assignments - these can be seen by the other students in your class, who are free to share their own thoughts and questions with you.

You will be encouraged to take part in an ongoing class discussion where you can discuss ideas, post images or work, and comment on each other’s assignments. It’s a great way to learn from other like-minded people who share your passion from all over the world.

This means not only do you benefit from people who are outstanding in their field, but also from a close-knit group of like-minded people whom you can learn alongside. Group learning has shown to greatly improve not just the experience of studying, but also how well you retain the knowledge, and we have built our classroom experience around this fact.

When can I start my course and how long will it take?

You can start your course any time within 12 months after receipt of your purchase confirmation email. Once you start, you’ll have lifetime access — meaning you can revisit the lesson videos and notes whenever you want.

Our courses are designed so that you can study at your own pace, some prefer to binge learn while others like to spread their studying over a longer period of time - it’s completely up to you. To give you a rough time frame, each lesson video is approximately 30-40 minutes long, and we recommend that you spend around an hour on each assignment.

How often can I speak with the Expert?

If you opt for the Expert version of your course, the time you have to interact with your tutor is limited to course length. You will have one week per lesson to chat to your tutor and to have your assignments marked, and during this period you can ask them as many questions as you would like.

To find out the length of each course, head to the product page and look at the Course outline to see how many lessons it contains. e.g. a four lesson course assumes that you will have completed the assignments within four weeks.

Your tutor interaction period will start as soon as you enter the classroom. If you find that you are struggling to complete the assignments in the allocated time or you wish to put this function on hold, just get in contact with one of the team via the support button and we will help you out.

Support and full FAQs

If you need any help with a course, be it one you’ve started already, or one you are looking to purchase, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our Support email address, or view the full FAQ’s here.

You can also use the orange speech bubble on your page to start a conversation with us.

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Awards and accreditations