Bread BasketsAmish Handmade Kitchen Bread Baskets

A bread basket, the way the families weave it, is rattan reed woven over a wood bottom with a wrapped hardwood rim, sized for the table rather than the counter: low sides, so a hand reaches the last roll, and a shape that sits between the plates. Some carry by leather loop handles riveted through the weave; others have no handles and slide between the settings. Every one is signed on the bottom by the Old Order Amish weaver who made it, on the Iowa-Missouri border, and carries our lifetime guarantee.

The Dinner Roll Basket (10 1/2 x 7 x 3 1/2 inches) holds six rolls or the biscuits with leather loop handles at each end. The Bread Serving Basket (13 x 7 x 3 1/2) is the long one for a sliced loaf, with the same handles and a solid wood bottom. The Woven Fruit & Bread Basket (11 1/2 inches across, 5 tall) is round, with an optional lift-off lid, at home on a restaurant table or under a bowl of fruit. The Square Woven Bread Basket (11 x 11 x 4) has slots at the corners that hold a cloth napkin, yours or the one sewn for it, so the liner changes with the season. The bread warming baskets, which hold heat with a microwave pad, are on their own page, and the bread boxes for the counter are on theirs.

Sizes are the outside of the rim. Each comes in three trims, Plain, Wine & Blue and Wine & Green, woven in as dyed reed. The hand-sewn, pre-shrunk cotton liner made for each basket is sold on its page and washes by machine, and it can be added any time. Protective feet are optional on each, and an engraved brass plate on the ones with handles. Shipping is free, returns are no questions asked, and many of these baskets are bought as gifts.

Dinner Roll Basket, 10 1/2 x 7 x 3 1/2

The small one, for six rolls, the biscuits or a plate of cornbread beside the butter. Leather loop handles at each end, a liner sewn for it. Aimee wrote that "This basket will definitely be on our table for years to come!" See the Dinner Roll Basket.

Bread Serving Basket, 13 x 7 x 3 1/2

The long one, for a loaf sliced on the board and carried to the table by its leather loop handles, with a solid wood bottom under it. Erin uses two "to display my tea for guests and they are the perfect size"; Elizabeth "like[s] the solid wood bottom." A liner is sewn for it. See the Bread Serving Basket.

Woven Fruit & Bread Basket, 11 1/2 across and 5 tall

The round one, for a round loaf, a bowl's worth of fruit, or the tortillas. A lift-off wood lid and a liner are each optional: "The lid keeps the fruit covered securely and it seems to stay fresh longer," Debra wrote, and Gina's "holds my loaves of sour dough bread perfectly." See the Woven Fruit & Bread Basket.

Square Woven Bread Basket, 11 x 11 x 4

The square one, made for a cloth napkin: the corners of the napkin pull through slots in the weave and hang out over the sides, so the liner is whichever napkin matches the table. Wanda turns her cornbread "onto a 10.5” dinner plate, which fits into this basket to be served at the table"; Patricia found "the design is brilliant, allowing the liner fabric to extend out the corners." Ellen calls it a "Great size for serving large number of people without having to refill." A cloth napkin liner is sewn for it. See the Square Woven Bread Basket.

Warm bread at the table

The bread warming baskets come in small, medium and large, on their own or as a set with a liner, a cloth cover and a microwave warming pad that keeps rolls warm through the meal. If the point is keeping bread warm rather than serving it, start there.

Liners, feet and plates

The liner made for each one is on its page: a hand-sewn, pre-shrunk cotton liner that washes by machine, in the same trims as the baskets, and it can be ordered any time after the basket. Protective feet keep the bottom off the counter and are optional on each; an engraved solid brass plate is optional on the Dinner Roll and the Serving baskets.

Bread on the counter

For a loaf that lives on the counter under a lid, the Amish Bread Box, the Corner Bread Box and the Large Rustic Bread Box are on the bread box page. The rest of the kitchen, from the lazy susans to the napkin baskets, is on the kitchen baskets page.