My Most Used Baking Cookbooks
Looking for a good cookbook? These tried and true cookbooks are my all time favorites.
I should start by saying that I have zero incentive to promote these cookbooks. They are simply my favorite. That is the best kind of review in my opinion. I will give a brief breakdown of each book and list specifically which recipes are my favorite.
My top five favorite cookbooks are as follows: Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, Home Baked Comfort a Williams-Sonoma cookbook by Kim Laidlaw, Make It Ahead by Ina Garten, Sally’s Baking Addiction by Sally McKenney and Dorie’s Cookies by Dorie Greenspan.
Both Dorie Greenspan's cookbooks, Baking: From My Home to Yours and Dorie’s Cookies are solid cookbooks that I can recommend with confidence. I haven’t made every single recipe in both books, but I have found recipes in each that are my go-to, and they have been tested in my kitchen and other trusted kitchens. My number one recommendation in Baking: From My Home to Yours is the Peanut Butter Crisscross cookies. They are absolutely fabulous with a soft and chewy texture and a peanut buttery punch in flavor. This cookbook is a large volume, ranging with recipes from peanut butter pie to biscotti—you can’t go wrong.
My go-to recipe in Dorie’s Cookies is her recipe for macarons. Macarons are challenging to master, but the recipe is straightforward, well written and within a few tries I made them successfully. I recommend going the harder route—Italian method—because I do feel it affects the nature of the macaron shell and although difficult once mastered it yields the most consistent results in a chewy and shiny shell. Cookies are my favorite item to bake so finding a cookbook that is dedicated solely to cookies speaks straight to my heart.
Home Baked Comfort is probably my most used cookbook overall. I was vacationing in Murphy’s California and within a quaint baking shop I found this cookbook. I flipped through a few recipes and bought it immediately. I have never regretted it. My go-to recipes in this cookbook are the filling for a Midnight Galette that you can sub any fruit of your choosing. I also like Figgy Cardamom Bread, Peanut Butter Chocolate Swirls, Chocolate Crinkles and Smore’s Brownies. Are you drooling yet? I can’t recommend this cookbook enough! As most of us know, Ina Garten has many cookbooks, but the cookbook Make It Ahead is a staple for one reason and one reason only—I adapted my chocolate cake from her chocolate cake in this book. I am still debating on how many cake recipes I will share, but honestly if you use this cake recipe it’s delicious even without my personal changes. Further, the mocha frosting is a bittersweet frosting that is delicious for any chocolate dessert. In this cookbook I also recommend Decadent (Gluten—Free!) Chocolate Cake, Jalapeño Margaritas, and Stuffed Zucchini for a savory appetizer.
Sally McKenney, of Sally’s Baking Addiction has become a household name in the blogging world. I actually have all her cookbooks and I would recommend any of them. But my favorite is her first. I will admit, as time goes I find myself straying from her recipes and diving a bit deeper as I test my own and others, but there a few favorites that have even become family staples. For example, every year when we go cut our Christmas tree in the woods, we make Sally’s Nutella-Stuffed Cinnamon Sugar Muffins. This is probably my most beloved Sally recipe. From this cookbook I can also recommend her Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate Cookies, Frosting Sugar Cookies and Dark Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Bars. If you are just starting on your baking adventure her recipes are a great place to start.
Happy baking!!
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