Frequently Asked Questions

Most of our recipes include approximate nutrition information at the bottom of the recipe card. Please note that nutrition information is an estimate only: the exact nutrition of a recipe will vary widely depending on ingredient brands, substitutions you make, and other factors. Our nutrition information is calculated by a third-party program called Nutrifox; you can view the nutrition information they use to make their calculations on the Nutrifox Food Database. No nutrition information on lifeasastrawberry.com should be taken as medical advice. Please consult your doctor or nutritionist for personalized nutrition advice.

We know how frustrating it can be when a recipe doesn't work, but we're always here to help you troubleshoot! To ensure accuracy, new recipes are tested anywhere from 3-15 times by a minimum of 2 different recipe testers before they're published on our website (bread and dessert recipes are typically tested by 3+ people). We also try to test our recipes with a variety of equipment and varying brands of ingredients (like flour, salt, etc) to make sure each recipe will work under as many conditions as possible.

If you run into trouble with a recipe, the best way to get support is by 1) leaving a comment directly on the recipe post; or 2) emailing our team at hello {at} lifeasastrawberry {dot} com.

Since we aren't in the kitchen with you, it can be difficult to pinpoint exactly what may have gone wrong: For the best support, be sure to include as many details about your experience as you can! For example: Did you make any substitutions (like using gluten free flour instead of all purpose, or using table salt instead of kosher salt)? What brand(s) of ingredients did you use (some ingredients, like flour or salt, vary WIDELY by brand and can often be the culprit behind baking mishaps)? Are you new to a particular technique and just need some extra tips? Was a recipe missing a step or did you catch a typo? Did you double-check any ingredients for expiration dates (like yeast or baking soda)?

If you just tell us "ew, I hated it" with no extra information, it will be very difficult for us to help you. The more info you can share, the better!

And remember: A recipe is only one part of the equation when it comes to delicious homemade food! Cooking, like anything, takes practice: there are a TON of variables that can affect a final dish. If you hit a snag, reach out and let us know - we're here to help!

Totally! We believe that anyone can make delicious food at home: no matter how much experience you have. We work really hard to make sure our recipes cover as MUCH information as possible without being overwhelming: You'll find plenty of tips, notes, and step by step photos to help you along. If you're not sure whether a recipe is right for your particular level of experience, shoot us an email! We're always happy to make recommendations and provide extra support to make sure you nail a new dish on the first try.

Most of the bread recipes on lifeasastrawberry.com are made in just a few hours: This short timeline typically gives you a shorter loaf with a tighter crumb (fewer air pockets) than a sourdough recipe or a yeast bread that rises for 8+ hours. Bread can also be on the flatter side if it didn't get enough gluten development (read the next FAQ for more on this). Always be sure to read through the full blog post and any recipe notes for on-site bread recipes - we include quite a few tips there! If you'd like a taller loaf of bread with bigger air pockets, try the techniques in our free bread bootcamp webinar or take our comprehensive bread baking course.

Typically, we get a flat or thin loaf of bread when we haven't built enough strength into the dough before baking (a lot of people think that the height of a loaf of bread depends on the amount of flour a recipe has - but it actually depends on gluten development, which is mostly about technique!)

Especially with our 2-3 hour bread recipes, we lose out on the strength we get when our gluten networks develop over a long, drawn-out rise. If your loaf isn't as tall as you'd like, first be sure to thoroughly mix the dough so that no dry bits of flour remain. You may also want to knead the dough a few times by hand (you can do this right in the mixing bowl) or let your mixer run an extra minute or two with the dough hook attachment if you are using all purpose or bread flour (not whole wheat flour).

You can also cover the dough and let it do its first rise overnight in the fridge for extra height and flavor. Next, while the dough does its first rise, you can perform one set of "stretch and folds" at the half hour mark to increase strength. Finally, when shaping the dough into a round, be sure to fold the dough over on itself several times until the dough feels tight and begins to resist your folding.

Keep in mind that quick timeline breads won't typically rise as high as a hearty sourdough loaf or other bread that has had hours or even days to proof.

PS - This is just the tip of the iceberg: We cover a ton of techniques to bake taller, more open bread (in a lot more detail!) in our free bread bootcamp webinar and our comprehensive bread baking course.

Many people assume that if their dough is too sticky, the solution is to add more flour - but a sticky dough is actually a result of poor gluten development (it has very little to do with how much flour there is!)

If you're making one of our bread recipes, have followed the gram measurements (using a kitchen scale to measure by weight), and are noticing your dough feels sticky, it means your dough needs some gluten development. You can let the dough rise for 30 minutes, then knead it a few times or add one set of "stretch and folds" to develop some more gluten, which will give you a smoother dough. Letting your dough do its first rise overnight in the fridge (covered) will also help gluten development.

If you're using whole wheat flour, don't spend a lot of time kneading it when you first mix the dough. Whole wheat flour is made with the full wheat kernel, which means it has a bunch of heartier, sharper pieces. As you knead the dough, these sharp pieces can actually slice through your valuable gluten strands, which prevents the dough from turning smooth/elastic and can make it feel sticky. If you're working with whole wheat flour, mix the dough until everything is just combined, then let it rise for at least half an hour before kneading so that those sharp, sturdy flour particles can absorb some of the liquid in the recipe: This softens them up so you can knead the dough without destroying your gluten networks. You can also add a step called an autolyse if you're working with whole wheat flour - this step softens the flour particles for better gluten development and a smoother dough.

PS - This is a very quick overview of dough strength: We cover this stuff in a lot more detail in our free bread bootcamp webinar and our comprehensive bread baking course.

The brand of flour you use has a profound effect on the feel of your dough and the final texture of your bread. High quality flours have a high protein content, which basically just means they give you the best possible gluten development (and as we know, gluten = smooth/stretchy dough = tall, airy loaves of bread). We recommend baking with King Arthur Flour for best results (their flours are the most consistent from bag to bag). Bob's Red Mill flours are also great for baking. You can use all purpose flour or bread flour from either of these brands - they're both very high quality. If you use a different brand of flour, we recommend grabbing bread flour, which has the highest protein content.

PS - Curious about how we arrived at these flour recommendations? We break down our massive flour experiment in our free bread bootcamp webinar and our Everyday Artisan Bread Course.

We don't recommend substituting whole wheat flour for all purpose flour or bread flour very often: It can behave quite differently! Whole wheat flour can be challenging to work with, especially for new bakers. If you'd like to use whole wheat flour, we recommend replacing no more than half of the all purpose flour in a recipe with whole wheat.

Whole wheat flour is made with the full wheat kernel, which means it has a bunch of heartier, sharper pieces. As you knead bread dough, these sharp pieces can actually slice through your valuable gluten strands, which prevents the dough from turning smooth/elastic and can make it feel sticky. If you're working with whole wheat flour, mix the dough until everything is just combined, then let it rise for at least half an hour before kneading so that those sharp, sturdy flour particles can absorb some of the liquid in the recipe: This softens them up so you can knead the dough without destroying your gluten networks. You can also add a step called an autolyse if you're working with whole wheat flour - this step softens the flour particles for better gluten development and a smoother dough.

Looking for beginner-friendly whole wheat recipes? Try our whole wheat hamburger buns, whole wheat bread bowls, or whole wheat pizza dough.

Yes! While a Dutch oven is great for creating steam (steam = key to a thin, crispy, crackly crust), you can certainly make great bread at home without investing in specialty equipment. We break down our favorite tried-and-true methods in this post: How to Bake Crusty Bread Without a Dutch Oven.

Generally, no. We do not test our recipes with gluten-free flour, so we can't speak to the results you'll get if you make this substitution. While some readers have successfully used 1:1 gluten free flour substitutes in cookie and cupcake recipes, gluten is an essential part of bread baking and GF substitutes just won't produce the same result. We're working on some gluten free options though, so stay tuned!

Yes! We teach sourdough from start to finish (including making your own starter!) in our online course, Everyday Artisan Bread. I firmly believe that this is the best bread-baking course available online, and we teach sourdough completely differently from anyone I've ever seen: I promise it is easy, approachable, and not-at-all scary (we walk you through EVERY. SINGLE. STEP. in the course).

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To save your favorite recipes right from our website, click the "heart" button on the bottom right hand corner of the screen, then enter your email address and create a password (this is just so the site can keep track of your personal recipe box - it won't add you to our email list!) You can hit that "heart" on any recipe you want to save (see this in action with our quick video tutorial). You can also save any of our recipes with Pinterest or use the Spillt app!

We are not currently hiring. If you're interested in hearing about future opportunities with Life As A Strawberry, be sure to join our email list or follow us on Instagram - we'll announce new opportunities there first!

You MAY use a single photo on your personal blog or recipe round-up as long as you give credit to Life As A Strawberry as the photographer and link back to our original post.

You MAY NOT repost our recipes. If you reprint our recipe, it discourages people from coming all the way to our website (which deprives me of both traffic and income). Plus, all our stuff is protected by copyright, so taking it for your own site is super uncool (in addition to being illegal!)

You MAY NOT copy or print our photos for commercial distribution or personal use. All photos and writing on this website are protected by copyright.

Bottom line: if you use our content in ANY way, please link back to our original post.

We do not accept requests to add links to our website. Due to the volume of inquiries we receive, emails requesting link exchanges will not receive a response.

We do not accept guest posts from brands or corporations. Due to the volume of inquiries we receive, emails requesting link exchanges will not receive a response.

If your company and my blog might be a good fit (if I already talk about your products, or if you work in areas similar to my undergraduate and Master's research, for example) please contact me and pitch your product! I'm available for recipe development, brand ambassadorship, and several other services - check out my Work With Me page for more details about how we can work together! I love working with great brands - especially those of you who are committed to social justice, the environment, and sustainability. Please note that the acceptance of promotional products (food, equipment, or otherwise) does not guarantee coverage on social media, this blog, or via my email list. While I frequently share products I'm enjoying with my social media followers and readers, the acceptance of any samples or gift items does not create a contract to share or post about said products.

We take on a very limited amount of sponsored work each year. If you're a brand interested in sharing your product(s) with our audience, learn more about how we work with companies on our Partner Portal. We've worked with dozens of small and global brands to create campaigns around new products, specific campaign objectives, and more. Visit our Partner Portal to view our media kit, learn about our packages, and see some case studies of our past work. Please note that we are very selective about the brands we work with: All potential partners are thoroughly vetted to ensure their commitment to sustainability, anti-racism, and healthy workplaces. We also have an inclusion rider attached to all contracts to ensure any brand campaigns we work on are striving for a diverse group of creators. Our brand work includes recipe development, food photography, videography (including short form video for platforms like TikTok, Reels, egt) and more.

I am happy with my current advertising contracts and am NOT accepting proposals from new advertisers at this time.

We primarily use a Canon 7D Mark ii, although we also shoot with a super old Canon Rebel T3i when our main camera is being used for video.

We occasionally run workshops or share business resources specific to running a food blog, but it's not our main focus. If you're interested in getting a peek at how we run Life As A Strawberry, check out the replay of our 2020 Strategy and Planning Masterclass.

Yup! Jessie went full-time with Life As A Strawberry in 2015. Rhonda joined us full time in 2019, and Sarah joined us part-time in 2020. More about us: Meet Team Life As A Strawberry.

We make money through a few different channels: On-site advertising, affiliate links (when we recommend a product and someone buys it, we earn a small commission), sponsored work (when a brand pays us to develop a recipe that features their product), and by selling our Everyday Artisan Bread course.

If we write out our email address normally, it gets scraped by bots and we end up on spam lists that take over our inbox. We used to have our email in an easy copy-paste format on the website, and we would get hundreds of spam emails every day. So we write it in this annoying way - hello {at} lifeasastrawberry {dot} com - to minimize the amount of junk emails we get. We know it's a little more annoying for real people that way - sorry!

We depend on advertising revenue to keep our website online and pay our staff. We try to keep our ads to a minimum in order to prioritize user experience, but they're a necessary evil if we want to keep the lights on. That said, we do not allow many types of ads on our website - including suggestive or inappropriate content, alcohol or cannabis products, weight-loss or get-rich-quick schemes, and political ads. If you notice one of those ads on our site, please take a screenshot and let us know so that we can get it removed! Thanks for understanding!