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After roughly 36 hours, the dough is finally ready to be baked into a stretchy, crunchy loaf of bread. Her work is best exemplified by their country levain, a tangy, sliced sourdough loaf.

Two would buy this dough, two might and one wouldn't. Third-ranked Essensia ($3.49 for 18 ounces, Albertsons), a break-and-bake type, had chunks of chocolate as well as chips, and made huge cookies.