• Recluse on January 27, 2011

  A great no-frills baking book. The recipes were well-tested, and are absolutely reliable. I was devastated to hear that this book was out of print, but my Mom gave me her old copy for my birthday, and I treasure it.

• nielsena on August 20, 2010

  Amazing American old school, classic, recipes.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Amaretto butter cookies

  • jaelsne on June 05, 2022

    We loved these cookies. Not at all hard to make. They are buttery shortbread cookies with mild citrus and almond flavor. I thought they were worthy of a five. The only reason I didn’t give the cookies a five rating is that I brought them to a pot luck and very few people took any. Perhaps they looked boring? Not sure.

• Peppernuts or Pfeffernusse

  • Curlymirta on December 10, 2023

    I have always enjoyed the recipes froths book alas on the sweet side. This one did not really work for me. I tried twice. What seems odd is the cookie dough does not contain any added fat, while all the recipes I have seen do. The cookies crackles quite a bit. Other than that the flavor was good.

• Basic master recipe: Classic angel food cake with white mountain frosting

  • Gachabot on June 19, 2020

    Maple Angel Food Cake - substituted maple sugar and maple extract - used 16 large egg whites to get 2 cup yield - outstanding!!!! Served it with maple bourbon whipped cream and fresh strawberries- out of this world delicious.

• Sour-cream spice cake

  • stef on November 08, 2017

    Interesting cake. No butter or oils. I baked mine in a Bundt pan. 40 minutes. Nice and moist and spicey

• California poppy-seed cake

  • fultre on June 14, 2024

    Pleasantly seedy and enjoyed grapefruit-poppyseed combo. However, recipe amount is too little for the pan size specified, so it was dry and overdone, even removing many minutes early. Probably won’t try again.

• Chocolate bran cake

  • annapanna on August 30, 2013

    I really wanted to like this cake because I love to use buttermilk and I like the idea of combining bran and chocolate. I tried the recipe twice and both time the cake turned out a bit dry. I think I will try one last time and leave it in the oven for a shorter time. I added the honey chocolate frosting as suggested and the end result was very pretty and shiny. I liked the taste of honey in combination with the cake but my husband didn't, so next time I'll probably skip it.

• Basic master recipe: Quick bread

  • jaelsne on September 23, 2012

    I checked my chocolate quick bread early, and removed it from the oven. My oven is usually spot-on. The taste was fine, but it nwas very dry. If you make this recipe, check it much earlier than suggested!

• Kona Inn banana bread

  • jaelsne on December 06, 2011

    Wonderful recipe! The outside of the bread was very dark after baking for the recommended amount of time. I was afraid that the bread would be dry, but it was rich and moist and delicious.

  • fultre on June 14, 2024

    One of my top banana bread recipes, with assertive banana flavor and nice texture. It is very dark. Plan to try whole wheat variation next time.

  • EasyBakeThis on August 17, 2024

    Very good recipe. Made it throughout the winter of 2023. Occasionally make it in mini loaf pans and freeze it. That way we have fresh banana bread in the morning to enjoy with coffee.

• Rum-raisin banana bread

  • EasyBakeThis on August 17, 2024

    Made this recipe throughout winter 2023.

• Zucchini bread

  • laurenlangston on August 21, 2017

    This is decent but not particularly mindblowing. I used a very big, "old" (read: left on the vine for more than 3 hours) zucchini so it was on the dry side. I doubled it (see: big zucchini) and put it in a bunch of smaller loaf pans to give away and that worked fine.

• Pumpkin bread

  • sam_5z85x5 on March 05, 2026

    GREAT. Flax egg, gf flour, butter flavored shortening, almond milk, with no dates or walnuts on hand (though that sounds great.) baked as muffins, filled almost to the top of cups. Topped with sugar. Baked for 28 min at 350.

• Basic muffins

  • ashallen on October 26, 2020

    This basic recipe hasn't changed since my 1965 edition :). My older edition does mention the possibility of using an additional egg and up to 1/2 cup sugar, however, and omitting 2 tbsp from the 2 cups of flour if using all-purpose vs. pastry flour. It also has a variation called "orange muffins" which has disappeared from later editions that calls for mixing in 3/4 c diced candied orange peel. That's the variation I made, using homemade peel I'd packed in syrup that's very tender. I also used the extra egg, the 1/2 c sugar, and an extra 1/4 tsp salt since I thought all that orange peel might need some balancing out. I subtracted the 2 tbsp of flour. These were surprisingly good - the large amount of orange peel was really delicious. The basic cake part did its job supporting the peel and had a slightly springy (but not tough) texture. On its own, it'd be on the plain side, but it's a fine background for various add-ins or spreading with butter and jam.

• Whole-wheat prune pumpkin muffins

  • ricki on February 05, 2021

    An old favorite! Sweet enough with ½ cup of brown sugar. Works fine with a neutral oil instead of butter, either maple syrup or molasses, and just a little nutmeg. Yields 10 to 12 muffins, which take up to 20 minutes at 400.

• Bran muffins with pineapple

  • cherylfg on March 08, 2026

    Used wheat germ & WW pastry flour. Added 1 banana, flax meal, and chia seeds. Baked at 325 for 25 minutes. Didn’t add pineapple.

• Irish soda bread

  • louie734 on March 19, 2014

    Added 2 teaspoons of caraway seeds to this. Before I added the currants, the dough seemed too dry, but I'd plumped them in a couple of tablespoons of hot water, so I drizzled in the soaking liquid until I got the right consistency - in this type of bread I prefer a sticky dough. Made a nice big loaf with lots of currants and not too sweet or cakey. Exactly what I was looking for in an American-style Irish soda bread. Could add another teaspoon of caraway - we really like the flavor. PS Subbed skim milk soured with vinegar for buttermilk.

• Cinnamon rolled biscuits

  • stef on November 25, 2016

    Page 576. What a great fast recipe. Omitted raisins and walnuts and piped a little icing

• Sunday coffee cake

  • goodfruit on May 08, 2023

    This a great, classic coffee cake with cinnamon and nutmeg added. Personally, I think it needs more streusal topping, 1/2 cup taken out of the mix is not enough! IMHO.