Erin Elizabeth
If you plan on taking your baking to the next level, a book can be one of the best ways to improve your skills and provide you with new baking ideas for your new favorite dish.
Good baking cookbooks have extensive knowledge with easy-to-learn and understand recipes.
If you are new to baking, you do not necessarily require much experience since most books are beginner friendly.
Following one of the simpler baking cookbooks can be an excellent way to start your new hobby and amaze your friends and family.
Best Baking Cookbooks
Read on for my list of some of the best baking cookbooks that can elevate your baking game.
Cheryl Day’s Treasury of Southern Baking
The author, Cheryl Day is a skilled baker specializing in southern baking.
Cheryl Days runs a bakery called Back in the Day Bakery and is a co-founder of Southern Restaurants for Racial Justice.
Southern Restaurants for Racial Justice was so successful that Heinz reached out to enter a partnership with the business.
Cheryl Day’s Treasury of Southern Baking is an excellent gateway to southern baking, allowing readers to create countless recipes from scratch.
The cookbook includes simple items such as buttery biscuits; I like these best late afternoon with some tea.
For more ambitious bakers, there are large fantastic cakes that will always be a hit at any celebration.
Pastry Love
Joanne Chang is a winner of the James Beard Award.
The author is famed for her eight successful flour bakeries all over Boston. Her bakeries also extend to Cambridge and other areas of Massachusetts.
Pastry Love includes over 120 delicious dessert recipes, with most relating to house baking, meaning you cannot get them from a store.
My favorite recipes are the malted chocolate cake and mocha chip cookies.
The book will help you learn the techniques required to create pastry cream from scratch and many other similar crafts.
The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book
The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book is written by two sisters that run a famous pie shop in Brooklyn.
The shop is called Four & Twenty Blackbirds and makes some of the best pies I have tried.
This entry is a unique recommendation for those pie lovers.
There are around 60 delicious pies that are categorized by season, helping you find the perfect one for whichever time of the season it is.
If you love to have an image for inspiration, the book is full of mesmerizing pictures all over the book.
The pictures are shot by Gentl & Hyers, who is currently one of the most demanded duos in food photography.
The Art of Fine Baking
If you have been interested in getting into French baking recipes, The Art of Fine Baking is an excellent gateway.
The book focuses on French dessert recipes and is suitable for experts to newer bakers.
The book has simple terminology making it perfect for those wanting to learn from scratch.
It will also help you get an understanding of baking and help you progress to other difficult books.
With the knowledge gained, you will make French cakes that are irresistible to house guests.
You will also be able to make complex desserts such as a mille-feuille that taste better than some store-made pastry.
Baking: From My Home To Yours
Dorie Greenspan is another writer and baker on this list who won the James Beard award.
Greenspan has collected some of the best recipes from many top baking chefs, such as Daniel Boulud and Julia Child.
The book targets home bakers, requiring simple tools and a burning passion for baking.
There are over 300 recipes that will always keep you looking forward to a new baking project.
Greenspan’s recipes are in the cookbook, with a notable mention of her delicious big spicy muffins.
Baking: From My Home To Yours is full of tips to help beginners and intermediate bakers alike to master their craft and create stunning desserts.
The Savory Baker
If baking savory dishes are more your thing, this book is for you.
Here you will find cheeses, herbs, spices, and fresh produce used to their full potential to create dazzling dishes that are sure to be a hit. You will also find bread, pastries, and even scones.
The Savory Baker contains a balance most other baking cookbooks lack, which is something other than desserts.
One of my favorite recipes is the Korean kimchi jeon, and all the instructions are perfectly described and simple to follow.
I liked how the dish came out from this cookbook, and I would recommend anyone to give it a go.
Wild Sweetness by Thalia Ho
Wild Sweetness includes many ingredients you would not expect to find in a baking cookbook.
Ingredients are wild such as edible flowers, and include recipes that draw inspiration from nature.
The book has around 95 recipes sorted by season, making it easier for you to find the right recipe you are in the mood after.
This book is a little harder to learn for newer bakers and is meant to add fresh excitement in the kitchen for experienced bakers.
The photos in the book are gorgeous and will help you pick out what dish you want to try next.
Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan
Dorie Greenspan is a talented baker; and has another cookbook that focuses on easy recipes, with some salty and some sweet.
All recipes include simple ingredients found at your local supermarket without any difficulty.
One of my favorite dishes in this cookbook is tomato tart, which tasted fantastic.
Baking with Dorie is full of creative breakfast ideas, cakes, and great pies. One of the recipes that stood out the most was the lemon yogurt muffin which was better than expected.
The instructions are in-depth and provide lots of detail helpful for bakers trying their hand at new stuff.
The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs
This cookbook is perfect for kids trying out baking as a hobby.
Kids tested each recipe to make sure it was simple enough to make while still being enjoyable and delicious.
The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs has photographed step-by-step instructions for their recipes, making all dishes easy to follow and learn.
There are many recipes to try out and make with snacks, desserts, and even beverages.
The cookbook is an excellent gift for anyone between the ages of 8 to 15. Throughout the book, you will notice many helpful tips for newer cooks.
The All-Purpose Baker’s Companion
The All-Purpose Baker’s Companion is an excellent book for almost everyone. It won the James Beard award in 2004 for cookbook of the year.
The book is perfect for experienced bakers and suits newer bakers seeking to improve their skills and create more exotic desserts.
Baking techniques are discussed, and all recipes include detailed step-by-step instructions to provide an easier time.
Once you finish this cookbook, you will gain the ability to bake cakes, cookies, and even bread. You will also have a firm grasp on baking, allowing you to tackle other recipes with ease.
Kathleen’s Bake Shop Cookbook by Kathleen King
Kathleen King owns a store in New York called Kathleen’s Bake Ship. King has been baking at a very young age and was enrolled in a restaurant school to improve her skills.
Kathleen’s Bake Shop Cookbook contains several uncomplicated recipes that are exciting and delicious.
Among all recipes, my favorites are the lemon bar molasses cookies and yellow cake. All cookies in this baking book are out of this world and worth a try.
With simple recipes and good instructions, this cookbook is an excellent gift for newer chefs seeking to improve their baking game.
Tartine: Revised Edition by Elisabeth Prueitt and Chad Robertson
Tartine is a revised edition of an already-established book.
The revision adds over 50 new recipes and revamps all the photographs. The photos have become gorgeous and provide inspiration and an idea of what your dish will look like when completed.
This book is more complex, with more complicated pastries and ingredients.
Some new recipes are matcha strawberry tart, pecan diamonds, orange passionfruit reserves, and my favorite, peanut butter honey cookie.
The black tea brownies with caramel swirls are a must-try; the caramel flavor is perfectly blended.
The Bread Baker’s Apprentice
If you are fascinated by the idea of making your bread, The Bread Baker’s Apprentice is a great start.
There are many bread formulas ranging from New York bagels to rustic ciabattas.
This book will hold your hand and explain techniques such as slow-rise baking and help you take your bread-making skills to a new level.
Baking your bread at home results in tasty and fresh bread, which is very pleasing to cook.
The book is rich in detail and steps, which is perfect for those wanting to expand on their knowledge and learn.
Sweet: Desserts from London’s Ottolenghi
Sweet is full of delicious desserts and pastries to satisfy your sweet tooth for a long time.
The recipe variety is great, with ideas ranging from vineyard cake to cinnamon pavlova.
The majority of recipes include fruit, which is great for those that love to incorporate fruity ingredients into their sweets.
The recipes are well-described and straightforward to follow, making them great for any baker.
All the flavors combine beautifully and will keep your sweet cravings happy.
The first item I would recommend you try out is the cinnamon pavlova, which has an airy and light taste that remains sweet and pleasant.
The Modern Cafe
The Modern Cafe might be the most diverse book on this list, as it contains savory kitchen recipes, beverages, and even some retail shelf advice.
The book reads professionally, as it is aimed to help cafe owners, pastry chefs, and others in similar businesses.
There is a plethora of detail for pastries and baking.
Although an experienced reader would benefit most from reading the material, doing so will undoubtedly raise your skill and knowledge.
This cookbook also discusses food presentations and helpful tips to make your food stand out.
Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts
Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts is exactly what it says, quick desserts that taste stellar.
The cookbook is full of tips and great instructions to help anyone create their quick dessert fix.
If you’re not in the mood for baking but still crave something sweet, this book contains over 100 dessert ideas that are quick to make with little effort.
Some of the creative recipes in this cookbook include a grilled pineapple with coffee ice cream and salted-caramel banana bread pudding.
The salted-caramel banana bread pudding is one of my favorite quick-to-make desserts and turned out amazing with this book.
Modern Sourdough
This is another book for those interested in bread, especially sourdough. There are over 100 delicious recipes inspired by the author’s heritage.
Other than excellent bread and buns, the book also covers naturally leavened sourdough pizza dough, which amplifies any pizza you add it to.
There are also cakes and other savory bakes that you will fall in love with.
Modern Sourdough can be a little complex at times for beginners, but no matter what, you will end up with amazing sourdough bread that will add a whole new layer of excitement to your kitchen.
Fruit: The Art of Pastry
Fruit: The Art of Pastry is written by one of the world’s best pastry chefs.
The book is hard to follow and difficult to prepare for. Ingredients might not be readily available at your local store.
You need to have a solid foundation in baking and pastries before you can fully tackle this book, but it holds treasures for those who do.
The desserts in this book are from another world, Cedric’s lemon dessert has to be the best recipe in the book.
Lemons in desserts are my favorite, and the recipe provided the most playful, sweet dessert I have had in a while.
Pieometry
This cookbook is all about pies, as you’ll find countless mouth-watering pie recipes.
There is a great mix of sweet and savory pies, all of which are delicious.
My special recommendation pie is the Berried Treasure, which consists of a lavender blackberry cream and shortbread berries and crust.
The berry flavor mixes with the crust in an otherworldly sensation that will dazzle your tastebuds.
Pieometry will also provide you with help on how to make your pies look artistic and aesthetic.
Baking Cookbooks
- Cheryl Day’s Treasury of Southern Baking
- Pastry Love
- The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book
- The Art of Fine Baking
- Baking: From My Home To Yours
- The Savory Baker
- Wild Sweetness by Thalia Ho
- Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan
- The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs
- The All-Purpose Baker’s Companion
- Kathleen’s Bake Shop Cookbook by Kathleen King
- Tartine: Revised Edition by Elisabeth Prueitt and Chad Robertson
- The Bread Baker’s Apprentice
- Sweet: Desserts from London’s Ottolenghi
- The Modern Cafe
- Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts
- Modern Sourdough
- Fruit: The Art of Pastry
- Pieometry
Final Thoughts
There are lots of baking cookbooks that can enrich your culinary repertoire.
Whether you want to master preparing a challenging dessert or simply want to make some quick and easy delicacies, there’s bound to be a cookbook that matches your needs.
Did we leave some great baking cookbooks out of this list? Let us know in the comments below, and we’ll make sure to check it out!
Stock up on your baking essentials and get started!
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