Joy the Baker Cookbook: 100 Simple and Comforting Recipes

I've been following Joy's blog for a while and had to get this cookbook when it came out! I'm kind of a glutton for cookbooks (i have well over 100+) and bake in every spare moment I can, so I had to pick this up!The cookbook is beautiful and the price is fantastic for what you are getting. She has an excellent introduction / tips section with some wonderful tips for any novice bakers (re: temperature of butter / adding citrus zest to granulated sugar, improvising when you're out of buttermilk or brown sugar). She has photos for nearly every single recipe (over 95%) - which is an absolutely must-have for inspiration and just for drooling purposes as you browse through the cookbook. And i love her friendly tips and chattiness. She devotes an entire chapter to breakfast and prefaces it with "dear future husband and future children" - I almost died laughing. I love it! She seems so funny, warm and approachable and her love for food radiates through each recipe.So in sum:1) beautiful cookbook (visually just beautiful)2) excellent price3) wonderful tips throughout the book4) 5 stars for originality (brown butter cookies, using avocado creatively, carrot cake pancakes etc.)5) practical. I mean, pretty much every single recipe can be done with whatever you have at home and you won't need to hunt things down to them done.I've made three things:1) coconut /macaroon ice cream: i had to. i am in a coconut oil obsession phase, i love coconut (mounds/ macaroons) and i am obsessed with magic shell chocolate sauce (that i have not eaten in years b/c it's loaded w/ too much junk). the ice cream base couldn't be simpler (coconut milk + light coconut milk + sugar) as opposed to whipping cream + whole milk + sugar (btw, i am an ice cream person....have 2 ice cream makers and make it weekly). the base was delicious. i found the unsweetened shredded coconut at whole foods. the magic shell was absolutely divine and i have it in a squeeze bottle. my only change would be to reduce the shredded coconut by half (for my personal taste). the taste and texture reminded me of the coconut mexican paletas (which i love) but i wanted it a little smoother. either way, my first batch was a double batch and i have two quarts of coconut ice cream in my freezer and a bottle of chocolate sauce. i cannot be trusted around this tasty dessert! so delicious.2) brown butter chocolate chip cookies: her instructions for browning butter were spot on. i have an excellent chocolate chip cookie recipe i use very often and so that was what i was comparing it against. they were delicious and as she described "alluringly nutty." the texture and taste of the body of the cookie reminded me of what a heath bar (or english toffee) would taste like if it had to be a cookie. there is 3x amount of white sugar than brown, so it's more crispy than chewy. and i know she loves dark chocolate chips (b/c she calls for bittersweet). i like my cookies very chippy, so i doubled the chips and did 1 cup of bittersweet (63%) and 1 cup of semisweet. i am constantly adapting my recipes too, so if i made it again, i'd do an equal amount of granulated/brown sugar and up the chocolate chips.my husband loved them, but i think it's more of an adult cookie...my (4 yr old) son liked them but i think the taste was more complex / had more depth than he was used to. my 1 1/2 yr old just gobbled it up. :)3) carrot cake pancakes: delicious, desserty-pancakce for breakfast! i shredded the carrots the night before. the cream cheese frosting / topping is divine.i have tagged many pages in this book and am sure each one will be a success.for all the people (so far i saw one negative review) who are so critical of her or calling her "desperate for a husband" - please. don't make it personal. don't be haters people.

I have been a BIG fan of Joy for about a year now via her terrific blog.Her recipes are stunning and her writing is colloquially elegant. Joy has a way of making you feel like her truest friend. Her heartfelt blog has made its way into my daily routine and my heart and tummy are better off because of it.This book is designed very well and is easy to read.It is organized into clear sections and features beautiful full page pictures.There are MANY new recipes in this book that are not from her blog. Each recipe has a little note from Joy at the top, but it otherwise feels like a professional cookbook.The "kitchen tips" type section at the beginning was wonderful! I'm excited to try some of them... AND all the other recipes in the book. I love that Joy features so many 'basics with a twist' while also branching out. I would say that this cookbook is perfect for the average cook who is willing to experiment a little and try something new.ONLY con is that it is mostly a "sweets" book... I would have like to see a tad more variety... But hey it is a "celebration of butter and sugar"! It does have a great healthy cracker recipe, two smoothie recipes and a few others.Just tried my first recipe from the book...coffee cake... and it is SMELLING UP MY DARN HOUSE with the most beautiful aroma! It is taking all the patience I have to wait for it to cook all the way :)Anna

I've been a follower of Joy's blog well before the birth of this cookbook. I even checked how far back- April 2008 and it began with red velvet black and white cookies. It's safe to say I was WAY excited and totally pre-ordered this book. It's arrived, shiny and pink. To be honest, it's totally awesome. Here is why!Instead of printing out recipes, constantly peering at my smartphone, or getting flour all over my laptop, I have a real life cookbook with Joy the Baker's recipes. That's a selfish reason but here's the main thing about Joy's recipes: they are not at all complicated. She gets that you don't always have the finest of brown sugar, Madgascar vanilla bean, truffle oil or grey French sea salt on hand. She is a real person with a real kitchen, real budget, and the same kind of real life limitations that we all run in to when baking. The best part is that there's a whole section of this cookbook related to that. It also has little ways to get around those and still make a pretty delicious baked good!Joy's effervescent writing doesn't get as much chance to shine as it does when you read her blog but the little bits and pieces she threw in do her justice. (P.S. Negative Nancy, there's only one recipe called "Man Bait" and I find it cheeky and charming. The other whole two or so references to a future husband and children are just Joy's writing style - kind of daydreamy and witty.)BUT I digress to the thing that actually matters- the recipes look delicious and yep, are mostly idiot-proof.It is mostly sweets but on occasion in a chapter, you'll get a savory thing here or there. I was absolutely satisfied with the book and think that if you're out to bake a killer cake or batch of cookies, you'll be happy too.

This book is a bright spot on my cookbook shelf. Joy has such a friendly, warm style, and even a baking novice will feel like they can tackle every single recipe because of her simple, straightforward approach to each recipe. This book is homey and inviting in every way, just like Joy's blog. From her pancakes....oh, so many pancakes, to her cookies, to her no-roll pie crust (gotta love that), there is something for everyone, all presented and made with love and Joy.

I bought this for my husband and he loves the recipes. He also said that there is a lot of helpful information and explanations in the book along with the great recipes.

I bought this cookbook after following Joy the Baker's blog for the past two years. I frequently buy cookbooks and they sit on my shelves mostly unused, though I do read them -- it always just seems easier to search for recipes online. This cookbook is the exception for me. I've had it less than a month and have already made six recipes from it, every one a new delight. The recipes are straight forward, delicious, comforting. Joy Wilson's writing voice is casual & personal and she makes me laugh even when I'm in a nasty crunchy mood. She makes baking seem fun, accessible, and even therapeutic. I have brownies and cookies coming out my ears and I'm giving them away to my neighbors! I'm gonna be the new most popular girl on the block. I highly highly highly recommend this cookbook. Five gold stars.

For a British buyer, there are 2 things you need to know about Joy The Baker:1 - Joy is a blogger. This means that in this cookbook, her recipes are accompanied by the kinds of things she talks about on her blog. Sometimes she talks about relationships or future children, sometimes she will recall childhood memories, sometimes she will declare her undying love for peanut butter, sometimes she will be having an imaginary conversation with you and sometimes she will just be writing about how much she loves the recipe on that page. Her style is sweet, chatty and fun. The advantage of this is that you get the feeling that Joy is there with you, telling you how to make these gorgeous recipes and that everything is going to be alright. However, if you're just wanting a book that simply gives you instructions on how to make something, each recipe's introduction may get on your nerves.2 - Joy is American. This means that all her oven temperatures are given in Fahrenheit and her measurements are in cups or ounces. If you're not familiar with these measurements, find a conversion chart (easily done through a quick Google search), print out and keep inside the cover. Small hint, don't try to convert cups to grams - volume to weight rarely works well! The fact Joy is American also means that sometimes she uses spice blends that you can't get in the UK. Again, this is something that you can Google and find out the ingredients to replicate or alternatively, use your intuition and make up your own spice blend. Despite these transatlantic technical issues, the fact that Joy is American means that she does amazing things with bacon, peanut butter, buttermilk, avocados and popcorn - the kinds of which we don't often see over here.To me, Joy the Baker, is all about fun twists on old recipes, comfort baking and good writing. I've made a few of the recipes already and they're turning out really well (man-bait apple crisp was a big hit with my friends and I discovered how addictive bacon peanut butter cookies can be...!). I also found the kitchen tips section at the beginning really useful with really good advice on things like what to do when you can't get hold of buttermilk, how to make your own vanilla extract, how to get the most flavour out of citrus zest, etc.As you can tell, I really love this book. Whether you're just getting into baking or if you already have an abundance of cookbooks (like me!) I'm sure this will be a welcome addition to your collection.

Love Joy the Baker! She is adorable and her recipes are so delicious! I often give this book away as a gift because I love it so much!

This is my go to cookbook for so many cakes now. The kitchen sink carrot cake, simple vanilla cupcakes, chocolate bourbon-spiked banana bread, pumpkin bundt cake are just a few of the recipes I use time and time again. If you have an ice cream maker and you love peanut butter then try the chocolate and salty peanut butter ice cream. It was hard not to eat it all! And yes this book has American measurements and temps. In this modern world there is no excuse not to go out and buy yourself a set of cups. I bought this set on amazon and they work perfectly http://www.amazon.co.uk/VonShef-Quality-Stainless-Measuring-Measures/dp/B00DTTJR8K/ref=sr_1_5?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1412022178&sr=1-5&keywords=measuring+cups. Temps are easy to convert online. Her recipes are "never fail" and not complicated. You will not be disappointed!

las fotos no son nada del otro mundo y las recetas con muchos pasos o ingredientes. No está mal, pero no es de los mejores.