Notes about Recipes in this book

• Hot dog buns

  • jenburkholder on December 07, 2024

    Very good. The dough is a bit of a mess to work with, but a well-floured surface did the job. Ended up kneading it for close to 30 minutes in my mixer to get the gluten development needed. End result was a firm but tender bun with a rich flavor.

• Carrot currant pecan loaf

  • jenburkholder on July 02, 2024

    Good flavor, but even for a no-knead dough this was a sticky mess (the carrot juice?). Wouldn’t have been able to shape it, so I just plopped it into a very, very well-floured banneton. Burnt easily in the oven due to the sugar content.

• Whole-wheat pan au lait Pullman

  • dbuhler on March 30, 2026

    I did some baker's math and increased the dough to make (2) 9" pullman loaves and it worked wonderfully! This bread is incredibly tender and very buttery, which makes it especially delicious. It's not a bread I see myself making often, due to the butter quantity, but it will make very good grilled cheese sandwiches.

• Multigrain loaf

  • bwhip on January 03, 2021

    This bread turned out great, we really enjoyed it. Crispy, thin crust, nicely hearty from all the seeds. My wife doesn’t like sourdough, so I substituted a simple poolish I made the night before in the same quantity.

  • jenburkholder on July 04, 2024

    Good, toasty flavor, nice texture. Rose a bit much in the oven - the dough made a break for it out of the pan.

• Pull-apart Parker House rolls

  • kkmatti on November 27, 2025

    These were excellent. Very rich and buttery. The recipe calls for a 1/4 sheet pan - I didn't have one so I used the baking tray from my toaster oven which was the perfect size. There were some issues with the recipe: 1. The recipe calls for spreading the dough onto a cookie sheet in the fridge, but later tells you to remove the dough from a bowl. I believe the cookie sheet step is a mistake and the dough should go in a bowl in the fridge. 2.The recipe asks to divide the dough into 15 equal pieces at 65g for the rolls. 65g will not give you enough rolls. Instead, weigh the dough and divide that number by 15 to get the proper weight.

• Master recipe for challah dough

  • Meganwhitlock on June 19, 2021

    Absolutely love this challah - so unbelievably feathery and light! Although it takes a long time (long proving and overnight in the fridge) it’s not much hands on time and is straight forward and easy (especially with a stand mixer). The most time consuming part is shaping it, which I find really fun. It’s absolutely delicious as is, the sourdough starter and overnight prove give a gorgeous flavour, and I also love it lightly toasted with an egg. I bulk buy strong bread flour so made it once with that - the texture was not as light as with plain flour so wouldn’t recommend deviating from the recipe.

  • dbuhler on September 06, 2025

    This was wonderful! I used SAF Gold for the instant yeast and followed the recipe to the letter and was rewarded with two very delicious loaves...one was used for French toast and the other went to the freezer for a future bread pudding! This will be my challah recipe moving forward!

  • alysekstokes on December 04, 2025

    Best challah recipe I’ve made yet. Results in a feathery and soft loaf with great flavor.

• Six-strand challah loaf

  • dbuhler on September 06, 2025

    Delicious bread that looked as good as it tasted! This was my first attempt at a six-strand braid and the instructions were very clear and easy to follow! I can improve on my technique certainly, but for my first try, they don't look too bad! This will be my challah recipe moving forward!

• Cherry and pistachio panettone

  • alicek94 on October 15, 2023

    This Panettone is incredible! The major change I made was I omitted 100g of the orange in the second dough - I found that it was overwhelming when I made my first batch. I also used vanilla paste instead of vanilla bean. I took the average juice yielded from the oranges I had used for making candied orange peel and found that it was around ~80g To keep the hydration balanced I added in an extra 70g of water in the second dough (vanilla paste was about - 15g). Only other changes were minor! I soaked the dried cherries and raisins in a combo of rum and hot water and I omitted all the spices from the recipe- I wanted the sourdough flavor to shine through more The other note, is that the bake time for the panettone in the book is a bit low - it needs slightly more time

• Cranberry cream cheese babka

  • Admaran on January 03, 2022

    The instructions were very difficult to follow for this variation. The recipe directs you back to the main babka dough recipe for the dough, then to the chocolate babka variation for technique, then back to itself for ingredient quantities. I had to look up one of the author's babka recipes from Food & Wine to verify I was doing it right. The results were superb, but the editing could have been much better.

• Cardamom cinnamon rolls with buttermilk glaze

  • Emily Hope on January 06, 2021

    Tried these out for our traditional Christmas morning cinnamon rolls, and they have immediately become the standard recipe for me. (I used to use a Cook's Illustrated recipe that was fine but never great, and would often turn out too dry or gummy.) The dough is beautifully light and rich at the same time, there's plenty of cinnamon-sugar filling (though I did up the amount of cinnamon), and they came out looking like they were from a bakery. The recipe wasn't substantially more complicated to make than other cinnamon roll recipes, though you do have to chill the dough between the rise and the rolling (this also helps a lot with making the dough easy to roll). I did leave out the cardamom as there are some family members who don't care for it. If the other recipes in this book turn out as well I will be seriously impressed.

  • Rachaelsb on June 08, 2026

    Not was I was expecting. While flavor was delicious I found the dough to be more cakey than what I anticipated. Less about the quality-more about my preference.

• Strawberry jam and hazelnut rugelach

  • dbuhler on March 19, 2026

    These are delicious! I especially love the addition of while wheat pastry flour to the dough, and that the dough is laminated with sugar! I used our favorite jam, and it may have been too liquid and caused them to be doughy in the center, so next time I will make the homemade jam. I was able to get 28 pastries because I was slow and careful in my rolling and I didn't have to cut too much off my large rectangle before filling. I will definitely make these again!

• Flaky buttermilk biscuits

  • pavolva on August 18, 2022

    Scaled down to make 6 biscuits to accommodate some leftover buttermilk. Crisp and flaky, given the rough puff methodology, this is my platonic ideal of a buttermilk biscuit. Trim along the length of the folds after each lamination to ensure a maximum rise. Trim the edges after chilling (stuck mine in the freezer to get the butter back to a firm state on a hot summer day) for a more even rise. I’d add a touch more sugar and salt to the dough (1.5x) next time, and perhaps some malted milk powder, as I found myself craving a bit more depth of flavor.

• Johnny Cash's mother's pineapple rum chess pie

  • Astrid5555 on January 04, 2021

    Delicious! Admittedly made only the filling from this recipe and used the “All-buttah pie dough” from The Book on Pie for my crust. No way was I going to blind bake the recipe’s pâte brisée for an hour and then again with the filling for 45 minutes. My pineapple was extra sweet so I decreased the sugar by one third, still sweet enough.

• Swiss chard tart with Parmesan pâte brisée

  • bbroth355 on September 13, 2025

    I believe there is not enough milk in this recipe. Generally custard/quiche types are 1 egg to 1/2 cup milk/cream. this recipe calls for 4 eggs and only 1/2 cup of milk. I used 4 eggs and 1 milk and 1 cup of cream and it was beautiful and delicious.

• Wyatt's chocolate birthday cake with chocolate fudge frosting

  • Emily Hope on October 07, 2021

    Pretty close to the platonic ideal of a birthday cake. The frosting in particular was delicious, and not that much more work that a powdered-sugar frosting. The yellow cake was a tiny bit dry -- I may have left it in a little too long. C, true to form, was less than thrilled. Next year I will just do Betty Crocker and leave it at that!

  • VeesVersion on November 03, 2022

    I used the weight for vegetable oil with Grapeseed Oil; cocoa was Rodelle Dutch Baking Cocoa. All weight measures save leavenings where I used measuring spoons. The cake and it’s frosting were superb!! 01Nov22

  • Rachaelsb on November 24, 2022

    Sooooo delicious! The frosting is incredible and chocolate cake so moist. Truly loves up to its name.

• Perfect yellow cake with chocolate buttercream

  • jzanger on November 08, 2022

    This note is only about the buttercream: I’ve had this book for a few months and haven’t had a chance to make anything from it, but I needed an unfussy and reliable chocolate buttercream to go with the yellow cake from Bravetart and this one turned out beautifully. It was silky as hell and nicely bittersweet. It was definitely less fussy than Stella’s (admittedly delicious) cooked fudge frosting and I think I’d be likelier to use this recipe rather than try the Bravetart one again. Can’t wait to try more from this book!

  • jzanger on June 05, 2023

    I've now made the yellow cake as well. It turned out beautifully and we paired it with perfect strawberries from the farmers market and whipped cream. I will happily make this recipe again.

• White layer cake

  • jenburkholder on November 08, 2022

    Only made the cake, not the frosting. Flavored with pandan extract and cooked as cupcakes. Turned out fluffy and tender, very similar to a good boxed cake mix (as promised!)

• Ricotta chocolate chip pound cake

  • tarae1204 on April 12, 2021

    You must use the specified pan size of 9 x 4, or risk a terrible burnt oven mess. And cooking time may also be 1 hr 20-30 min. Use thermometer if you have one to confirm internal temp of 200 degrees.

  • aecooks on September 28, 2021

    Something seems off, this cake is super greasy and crumbly to the point of uncuttable. Maybe I measured wrong but I don’t think so. As someone else noted it takes quite a bit longer to bake than the recipe says.

  • Astrid5555 on October 14, 2021

    Despite scaling down the recipe to account for my leftover ricotta, this cake turned out beautifully (in contrast to the other 2 reviewers). The kids liked it a lot (chocolate chips!), big hit with their friends at school.

  • TheWayEyeRoll on December 11, 2021

    The flavor is great but it turned out very greasy. Like someone else commented I thought I measured wrong. My only change was my pan was not 9x4 - I used 8.5x4.5. But I don't think that would account for the greasiness. Perhaps I creamed the butter and sugar too long or maybe I should have kept the ricotta in the fridge while I spent so much time chopping the chocolate. I wound up having to bake for 90 minutes for the middle to reach 200 degrees. I may try it again to see if I have the same problem. One suggestion - chopping the chocolate chips and sifting them as the author suggests took some time. I'd do that ahead of time next time.

  • jzanger on December 26, 2022

    I thought this was a great ricotta cake. I didn’t have the same issue with greasiness that others did, and I would probably attribute the issues others had to a batter that didn’t emulsify successfully. I think this cake might be more picky in terms of temperatures because it has a relatively high ratio of both eggs and ricotta, which both add quite a bit of water to the batter. Take your ricotta out of the fridge and allow it to come to room temp. Also make sure your butter is cool room temp when you start. I’ll definitely make this again.

• Orange, coconut, and poppy seed cake

  • tarae1204 on April 14, 2021

    Not loving this cake. It only gently rose in the center. (Followed recipe to the T except I left dry ingredients in bag overnight and didn’t rewhisk. Used correct 10 inch pan.) Author says to test for done-ness by cake springing back from center. Well, mine didn’t at full cook time specified. And so I baked longer, tapping the center every five minutes. Finally the poor cake couldn’t take anymore and sank! Flavor wise: maybe the issue is Trader Joe’s unsweetened coconut. It’s readily available and affordable, but the pieces are just too big for baking I’ve decided, and won’t use them again. Cooking the 2 oranges takes 2 hours and much water replenishment, and you only use half the purée. The cake is very sweet, maybe a little sticky in the interstitial parts between the coconut. Positives: gluten free, healthy ingredients, very textural. The sliced almonds and jam on top are delicious!

  • elena1049 on April 09, 2023

    Not great. Had to take the cake out of the oven when the almonds on top started to get burnt even though I wasn’t confident the cake was done. Then the center completely sank. The flavor was good but texture was just fine, and the middle was goo. Not worth the effort.

• Spelt bull's-eye scones with raspberry jam

  • jackthebaker on June 29, 2021

    These are fantastic. One of the best tasting scones ever. Really easy and really tasty.

• Polenta cake with dried apricot compote

  • elena1049 on December 26, 2020

    Weight of apricots seems to be incorrect. Cake was good and would make it again with a variety of fruits.

  • jenburkholder on July 14, 2023

    Didn’t make the compote, but the cake was quite good - quite cornbread-y in flavor and texture. Held well, everyone liked.

  • shannon_0y493n on January 25, 2026

    I have made this a few time now! A little time consuming but not fussy. It is very dense but delicious. I usually have to bake longer than the recipe states. Freezes very well.

• Cinnamon swirl sour cream bundt cake

  • bwhip on May 08, 2021

    Wonderful recipe. I made ours as smaller individual cakes, in 4.25” paper molds, so they’d be sort of coffee cake muffins. They turned out great! Lovely tender crumb, nice ratio of topping to cake, excellent flavor. We enjoyed this very much.

  • Emily Hope on August 30, 2021

    Made this with R as a fun morning project, and forgot to add the baking powder! Despite this, my family of five demolished the whole thing in two days. Definitely a keeper--the sour cream makes the cake super moist and the lemon zest is a nice touch. I swapped out about 150 grams of ap flour for freshly milled pima soft wheat -- and might do a bit more next time. I also might try to cut back a bit on the sugar as it's a bit on the sweet side.

• Banana bread

  • lofolky on October 06, 2021

    So good!! The bread was incredibly moist, not too sweet in my opinion, great flavor. I added chocolate chips because that’s what I was in the mood for and it worked just fine.

  • jenburkholder on April 14, 2023

    This was a good banana bread, but not in the top few I’ve made. Prefer a mix of flours, such as barley or buckwheat, to straight all-purpose. Also didn’t have enough leavener for the heavy dough, and turned out slightly flat. Didn’t dislike, but probably won’t repeat.

  • yaleksly on November 12, 2024

    Just okay. It makes a decent banana bread that isn't too sweet, but otherwise has nothing much to show. I swapped the buttermilk for Greek yogurt thinned out with milk; I also had no butter on hand, so I replaced it with 65g of avocado oil. Agree with another review that it turned out a bit flat in comparison to other banana bread recipes I have tried, but fortunately the loaf was not dense. If you have a go-to banana bread recipe, you can most likely skip this one.

  • czalikowski on January 14, 2026

    Ended up coming out quite flat. Not my favorite banana bread recipe.

• Pumpkin muffins

  • skvalentine on October 05, 2022

    My kids liked these. I substituted fresh roasted Seminole Squash for canned pumpkin.

  • jenburkholder on March 03, 2023

    Great pumpkin muffins. Perfectly moist and just the right sweetness with regular canned pumpkin. Make-again worthy.

  • fultre on November 11, 2024

    Lovely texture, simple/plain pumpkin muffins. I like the spice mix and degree of sweetness.

  • Running_with_Wools on December 23, 2024

    A nice little recipe that turns out well. I substituted chocolate chips for the nuts since my kids love them this way.

• Tahini white chocolate chunk cookies

  • sdeathe on October 13, 2021

    I wasn’t sure about this recipe, but just had to try it. Delicious, unusual flavour, not too sweet. Makes a large, but light, cookie; easy to eat the whole thing. Into the rotation. Added bonus I didn’t realize at first, they are gluten free as brown rice flour is the only flour used.

• Chocolate chunk cookies

  • Rachaelsb on March 07, 2021

    Soooooo good!! I have always been partial to Alice Medrich recipes but these are great. Such different texture but great chewy thinner cookie with yummy flavor. It’s a toss up.

  • tarae1204 on April 14, 2021

    Promising but my cookies overbaked - first batch at 18 minutes as specified in book, second batch at 14 minutes, still very brown. Will try again using scale to weigh dough 50 grams.

• Oatmeal raisin cookies

  • Kinhawaii on November 14, 2022

    Good but mine were very soft & almost sticky. Not sure if I did something wrong like maybe not drain off the raisins enough or maybe it was humid but despite getting pretty brown the edges, they didn’t stay crisp. I let it sit for 3 days in the refrigerator. They did have a more complex flavor on the sweet side but I didn’t like the texture-I would prefer it firmer. I got 24 cookies so mine were a little smaller.

  • sdeathe on May 07, 2026

    These were all right, but nothing special (after taking space in my fridge for 4 days!). They were slightly crispy on the edges before being stored; a bit bland, I thought, could have used more spicing, perhaps some allspice or nutmeg. Very chewy and soft.

• Chocolate sugar cookies

  • blairla on January 18, 2026

    My favorite chocolate cookie. So simple and so good. It also makes a good base for a more elaborate cookie. I make a chocolate raspberry cookie for the holidays every year that uses this recipe as the base.

• Chocolate shortbread

  • Astrid5555 on April 17, 2023

    This was good but a little crumbly, not my favorite shortbread recipe.

• Spiced graham crackers with chocolate marshmallows

  • Admaran on January 03, 2022

    These chocolate marshmallows were delicious and unusual. I loved the note about how the author learned to always cook cocoa powder in milk to deepen the flavor, rather than just whisking it in and using the mixture right away.

• Milk chocolate and raspberry blondies

  • leilx on August 18, 2021

    These sound sweet but they are fabulous! and pretty to boot. Rich.

  • dbuhler on April 13, 2025

    These are great on day one, but I thought they were much better on day two. I also forgot to add the flaked salt on the top before the bake, so I sprinkled some after, and that worked out okay, but I wonder if my salted butter has a lower level of salt, because it did taste like it needed more (probably why she instructs you to sprinkle it with salt before it bakes). I didnt have the required pan size, so I baked these in a 10x10x2 pan and they were perfect at 30 minutes.