Search underway for America's top bread bakers

Competition seeks the best yeast bread recipes from home bakers and food bloggers 

Entries for the 2019 National Festival of Breads™, sponsored by Red Star® Yeast, King Arthur® Flour and the Kansas Wheat Commission, are being accepted through January 22, 2019. The competition seeks the best yeast bread recipes from home bakers and food bloggers throughout the United States.

“The National Festival of Breads™ builds upon a rich tradition of grassroots support and is the only baking competition of its kind in the country,” says Cindy Falk, co-chairperson of the event and nutrition educator for the Kansas Wheat Commission. “This contest is a way for bakers to be recognized for their baking skills and creativity.”

The 2019 contest will have two divisions: home bakers and food bloggers. Individuals who are avid amateur home bread bakers and do not make the major portion of their income by baking bread may enter the Home Baker Division. Individuals who currently maintain an active food blog and include wheat foods and yeast bread recipes as part of their content may enter the Food Blogger Division. Adult bakers, ages 18 and up, can self-identify their division and submit original recipes online at nationalfestivalofbreads.com. Submissions, which require photos of the entered bread, will only be accepted through the online form.

Judges will evaluate all entries and select eight adult finalists, four from each division, each of whom will receive airfare and accommodations to participate in the national competition on June 8, 2019, in Manhattan, Kansas. In addition, each finalist will receive a $500 cash award, participate in a wheat harvest tour to a working Kansas wheat farm and flour mill and learn about wheat research at the Kansas Wheat Innovation Center.

Two Grand Prize Winners will be awarded, one from each division. These Grand Prize winners will receive a trip to attend a baking class of their choice at the King Arthur® Flour Baking Education Center in Norwich, Vermont or Skagit Valley, Washington State, and a one-year supply of Red Star® Yeast. Complete rules are available at nationalfestivalofbreads.com.

The Festival of Breads was established in 1990 by the Kansas Wheat Commission and Kansas WheatHearts, an auxiliary group of the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers. In the original “Festival of Breads” baking competition, hundreds of amateur bakers from Kansas submitted their baked products during the biennial competition.

The National Festival of Breads™ is sponsored by two of the most trusted brands in baking, Red Star® Yeast and King Arthur® Flour.

Red Star® Yeast was founded in 1882 and over the years has developed a complete line of yeast products including PLATINUM Superior Baking Yeast, Active Dry Yeast, Quick Rise Yeast and Cake Yeast. Red Star® Yeast also has many tips and tricks of the trade and the science behind yeast on their website, redstaryeast.com.

King Arthur® Flour is America’s oldest flour company and premier baking resource, offering ingredients, mixes, tools, recipes, educational opportunities, and inspiration to bakers worldwide. For more information, visit kingarthurflour.com.

The Kansas Wheat Commission is a farmer-funded and governed advocacy organization working to secure the future of Kansas wheat globally and domestically through research, promotion, marketing and education. Kansas wheat farmers support the Kansas Wheat Commission with a voluntary two cent assessment on each bushel of wheat produced in Kansas. For more information, log onto www.kansaswheat.org.

Additional information, full list of rules, past recipes and a summary of the 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 competitions are available at nationalfestivalofbreads.com.