Zingerman's Baking and Cooking Classes in Ann Arbor

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.

You can make your own fresh pasta at home! We’ll teach you how to make Egg Pasta Dough and turn it into noodles, as well as how to make and fill ravioli. We'll also demonstrate a simple Marinara Sauce and send you home with a batch to top all the pasta you make in class. These recipes and techniques can be the inspiration for all the pasta creations you can dream up at home.

You'll leave the BAKE! class with our recipes, the knowledge to recreate them at home, and the pasta and sauce you made in class.

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

Virtual: To make the best pasta, having a hand-cranked pasta machine or the appropriate attachments for a stand mixer will be extremely helpful and is highly recommended.

What our guests have to say about this class:

It was nice to see just how easy it can be to make pasta. —Andy G.

I'll certainly be making pasta at home now. Needed to take this class so I knew what pasta dough should feel and look like. — Helen P.

Informative, hands-on, just really fun! I can't wait to do this with my grandkids! My favorite class to date! —Claudia D.

Authentic—love the history and background presented
Thorough—ingredients and methods well-taught
Variety—different ways to prepare and customize
I am going to pull out my long-dormant pasta machine and have a pasta party. —Leigh H.

Every baker should know how to make a pie crust. You never stood on a chair to help Grandma bake a pie? You don’t get many second chances in life, but here’s your opportunity to learn how she did it.

In this hands-on class, we’ll deliver the techniques of how to make a pie crust the Zingerman's Bakehouse way—creating a flaky crust with butter, and another crust using lard and butter (no shortening allowed!). We'll teach you how to make the dough by hand and successfully roll it out, show you what "par-baking" and "blind-baking" a crust means, and also how to crimp the edges to make your pies look beautiful. Pie flavors for this class vary by season (April-Sept: Blueberry and Lemon Chess; Oct-Mar: Apple and Pecan). Roll up your sleeves and join in the fun so you can tell all your friends you learned how to make a pie crust.

For some history on the American pie classics, apple and pecan, head to our blog and read: "Baking Apple Pies A Plenty for the Holidays" and "The All-American Pecan Pie."

You'll leave the BAKE! class with our recipes, the knowledge to recreate them and make pie crust at home, and the two pies you made in class.

In-person: We'll end the in-person class with a pie tasting and you'll go home with some great coupons.

What our guests have to say about this class:

I thought I knew plenty about pie crust and was hoping for more confidence and consistency. I learned more than I could've ever imagined. Encouraging, no-judgment environment, knowledgable teachers, great value. —Josh B.

I am so much more confident and I can't wait to try these crusts at home. First time in 100 years that I made a crust that fit the pan, was delicious, and didn't come from a box. —Lee Anne S.

Have long feared the pie, even though I made okay ones. Techniques=confidence=more pies. My friends will thank you. —Susan L.

Join us for one of our best hands-on classes for new bakers, where you'll learn how to make traditional French baguettes the Zingerman's Bakehouse way. Most commercial bread in stores labeled “baguette”, are soft and bland, bearing no resemblance to the traditional French bread that Parisian bakers first developed around 1920. When a law went into effect forbidding them from starting to work before 4 am, they began baking the long thin loaves that are synonymous with French baking today.

In this class, we'll teach you to make our traditional French baguette recipe—starting with a flavorful poolish (bakers call it a pre-ferment, it’s like a starter) and mixing up our bread dough. We'll then go over the techniques of hand rolling and shaping the dough into baguettes, which we'll proof and then bake to a crispy golden brown. Imagine serving breakfast to out-of-town guests and bringing out a perfect baguette that they swear must have been airlifted from Paris.

You'll leave the BAKE! class with our French baguette recipe, the knowledge to recreate it at home, and the baked French baguettes you made in class as well as the dough you will make.

In-Person Class: We'll end class with a tasting and you'll also leave with some great coupons.

Virtual Class: We will send out a video two days before class showing how to make a poolish the day before class.

What our guests have to say about this class:

I came in never having tried making bread and I feel I'm leaving with the knowledge to try and create some on my own. —Nate R.

Everyone should know how to make baguettes like this. I've been trying to make good baguettes for awhile. This has opened my mind. —John D.

Taking your baking classes has given me the confidence to bake more frequently, trying new recipes to prepare for friends and family. —Lisa S.

Calling all chocolate lovers to make Mud Pie and dangerous cookies. You'll learn our newest American hit, the Mississippi Mud Pie. It's decadent for sure and full of new techniques to learn: a new brownie recipe, soft chocolate ganache, and toasted meringue! For a daily chocolate fix to nibble on, we'll teach you our Michigan Double Cookie, made with cocoa powder, melted dark chocolate, and Michigan-grown hard red spring. They're an insider favorite at the Bakehouse and dangerously good.

You'll leave the BAKE! class with our recipes, the knowledge to recreate them at home, and the Mississippi Mud Pie and Michigan Double Cookies you made in class.

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

Virtual: You'll need a stand mixer with a whip attachment or a hand-held mixer to make the Swiss meringue topping for the Mississippi Mud Pie. A torch for toasting the meringue is helpfully delicious but not required.