10 Must-Have Cookbooks!
In our latest episode of B**K It!, we sat down with home baker (and Michael’s husband!) Josh Lehenbauer to talk about all things food in books, cookbooks, cooking blogs, and more!
Food is a natural storyteller, and cookbooks do more than simply provide you with recipes for your next meal. They often tell stories, origins and memories, and offer insight into why their creators have decided to share them.
Below is a list of 10 must-have cookbooks that Josh believes every home cook or baker should have within arm’s reach!
10 Must-Have Cookbooks Curated by Josh Lehenbauer
Descriptions provided by Bookshop.org
French Pastry 101: Learn the Art of Classic Baking with 60 Beginner-Friendly Recipes
“French baking is now more approachable than ever with Beaucoup Bakery co-owner and Yummy Workshop founder Betty Hung's beginner-friendly, easy-to-follow recipes.
Start with basics like pastry cream and p t sucr e, then work your way up to indulgent all-time favorites such as Lemon Madeleines, Cr me Br l e, clairs, Lady Fingers and Chocolate Torte. You'll learn how to simplify recipes without sacrificing taste--like using ready-made puff pastry--or, if you prefer, how to whip up these sweet treats from scratch.
Whether you're new to baking or looking to expand your skills, with French Pastry 101 you're only a recipe away from delighting your family and friends with incredible French desserts.”
“Raise your desserts to a whole new level of flavor with The New Sugar & Spice, a collection of more than eighty unique, unexpected, and uniformly delicious recipes for spice-centric sweets. Veteran baker Samantha Seneviratne's recipes will open your eyes to a world of baking possibilities: Her spicy, pepper-flecked Chile-Chocolate Truffles prove that heat and sweet really do go hand-in-hand, and a fresh batch of aromatic, cinnamon-laced Maple Sticky Buns will have the whole family racing into the kitchen.
Discover new recipes from around the globe, such as Sri Lankan Love Cake or Swedish-inspired Saffron Currant Braid. Or, give your classic standbys a bold upgrade, such as making Raspberry Shortcakes with zingy Double Ginger Biscuits. Filled with fascinating histories, origin stories, and innovative uses for the world's most enticing spices--including vanilla, cinnamon, peppercorns, and cardamom--The New Sugar & Spice guarantees that dessert will be the most talked-about part of your meal.”
“From One-Bowl Devil’s Food Layer Cake to a flawless Cherry Pie that’s crisp even on the very bottom, BraveTart is a celebration of classic American desserts. Whether down-home delights like Blueberry Muffins and Glossy Fudge Brownies or supermarket mainstays such as Vanilla Wafers and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream, your favorites are all here. These meticulously tested recipes bring an award-winning pastry chef’s expertise into your kitchen, along with advice on how to “mix it up” with over 200 customizable variations—in short, exactly what you’d expect from a cookbook penned by a senior editor at Serious Eats. Yet BraveTart is much more than a cookbook, as Stella Parks delves into the surprising stories of how our favorite desserts came to be, from chocolate chip cookies that predate the Tollhouse Inn to the prohibition-era origins of ice cream sodas and floats. With a foreword by The Food Lab’s J. Kenji López-Alt, vintage advertisements for these historical desserts, and breathtaking photography from Penny De Los Santos, BraveTart is sure to become an American classic.”
Dessert Person: Recipes and Guidance for Baking with Confidence
“Claire Saffitz is a baking hero for a new generation. In Dessert Person, fans will find Claire's signature spin on sweet and savory recipes like Babkallah (a babka-Challah mashup), Apple and Concord Grape Crumble Pie, Strawberry-Cornmeal Layer Cake, Crispy Mushroom Galette, and Malted Forever Brownies. She outlines the problems and solutions for each recipe--like what to do if your pie dough for Sour Cherry Pie cracks (patch it with dough or a quiche flour paste )--as well as practical do's and don'ts, skill level, prep and bake time, step-by-step photography, and foundational know-how. With her trademark warmth and superpower ability to explain anything baking related, Claire is ready to make everyone a dessert person.”
The Cookie Collection: Artisan Baking for the Cookie Enthusiast
“Become a cookie connoisseur with a variety of flavors and cookie styles. From buttercream-filled sandwich cookies and berry-studded sugar cookies for summer to gingerbread and shortbread primed for the winter holidays, these recipes will see you through every season. Find all your chocolate chip-stuffed and caramel-filled favorites. With both classics and contemporary crowd-pleasers, this is the collection you'll turn to time and time again. No matter the occasion, we've got you covered with cookies.”
Where Cooking Begins: Uncomplicated Recipes to Make You a Great Cook: A Cookbook
“The indispensable recipes and streamlined cooking techniques in Where Cooking Begins are an open invitation to dive into Carla Lalli Music's laid-back cooking style. The food director at Bon App tit, her intuitive recipes are inspired by the meals she makes at home for her family and friends and the joy she takes in feeding them. Here, too, is her guide to the six essential cooking methods that will show you how to make everything without over-complicating anything--and every recipe includes suggestions for swaps and substitutions, so you'll never feel stuck or stymied.
Where Cooking Begins is also the first recent cookbook to connect the way we shop to the way we cook. Music's modern approach--pick up your fresh ingredients a few times a week, and fill your pantry with staples bought online--will make you want to click on a burner and slide out a cutting board the minute you get home.
The no-fail techniques, textured recipes, and strategies in Where Cooking Begins will make you a great cook.”
Rose's Baking Basics: 100 Essential Recipes, with More Than 600 Step-By-Step Photos
“In this book of no-fuss recipes everyone should know, trusted baking expert Rose Levy Beranbaum guides you through every recipe for can't-fail results--with a streamlined, simplified approach and more than 600 mouthwatering and instructive photos. Whether you're a baking enthusiast or just want to whip up the occasional treat, you will be able to easily make perfect brownies, banana bread, holiday pies, birthday cakes, homemade bread, and more, with recipes including: Chocolate Sheet Cake with Ganache Frosting, Peanut Butter and Jelly Thumbprints, Beer Bread, Apple Walnut Muffins, Peach Cobbler, Milk Chocolate Caramel Tart, and more. Throughout, Rose shares her unique tips and methods for unlocking the secrets to the best flavors and foolproof results, for a treasury of essential recipes you'll use forever.”
Even Better Brownies: 50 Standout Bar Recipes for Every Occasion
“Ditch boxed brownie mixes and other uninspired recipes in favor of Mike Johnson's amazingly decadent and rich homemade brownies and bars, from traditional brownies that will blow your mind to ones featuring inventive flavor combinations. Mike also includes other must-try recipes, like one-of-a-kind blondies, no-fuss cheesecake bars, fruity pie-inspired bars and so many more.”
Black Girl Baking: Wholesome Recipes Inspired by a Soulful Upbringing
“For Jerrelle Guy, food has always been what has shaped her--her body, her character, her experiences and her palate. Growing up as the sensitive, slightly awkward child of three in a race-conscious space, she decided early on that she'd rather spend her time eating cookies and honey buns than taking on the weight of worldly issues. It helped her see that good food is the most powerful way to connect, understand and heal.
Inspired by this realization, each one of her recipes tells a story. Orange Peel Pound Cake brings back memories of summer days eating Florida oranges at Big Ma's house, Rosketti cookies reimagine the treats her mother ate growing up in Guam, and Plaited Dukkah Bread parallels the braids worked into her hair as a child.
Jerrelle leads you on a sensual baking journey using the five senses, retelling and reinventing food memories while using ingredients that make her feel more in control and more connected to the world and the person she has become. Whole flours, less refined sugar and vegan alternatives make it easier to celebrate those sweet moments that made her who she is today.
Escape everyday life and get lost in the aromas, sounds, sights, textures and tastes of Black Girl Baking.”
New World Sourdough: Artisan Techniques for Creative Homemade Fermented Breads
“Learn how to make a sourdough starter, basic breads, as well as other innovative baked goods from start to finish with Instagram star Bryan Ford's inviting, nontraditional approach to home baking. With less emphasis on perfecting crumb structure or obsessive temperature monitoring, Ford focuses on the tips and techniques he's developed in his own practice, inspired by his Honduran roots and New Orleans upbringing, to ensure your success and a good return on your time and effort.
Ford's recipes include step-by-step instructions and photographs of all of the mixing, shaping, and baking techniques you'll need to know, with special attention paid to developing flavor as well as your own instincts. New World Sourdough offers practical, accessible techniques and enticing, creative recipes you'll want to return to again and again.”