These stories are about home bakers – not pastry chefs or caterers, but people who genuinely like getting their hands into wet dough, rubbing butter into flour with fingertips for pie crust, and patiently shaping hundreds of cookies. They are curious and endlessly experimenting about what makes the most golden top crust on a loaf of bread or the best water for boiling bagels.

Some of these bakers have turned their passion into businesses, while others are content to share what they make with neighbors and friends. From the aunt who makes cinnamon quick breads expressly to give away to others, to millennials who have discovered the fascination of working with wild yeast, these bakers are unfailingly generous with their time, enthusiasm and creations.