ISO Good Baking book

[hirokei]

good illustrated baking book

hi everyone! i'm a beginner in baking, and would like to buy a good baking book. i read u guys' old posts about.. kingarthur, Rose Levy Beranbaum, etc etc. i checked those books out at the store but.. there arent enough pictures in them!! im the type of person that.. just NEED colors and pictures. i saw a few that had a lot of pretty pictures and a lot of good recipes, but i dont know how good they are tho

Good Housekeeping Illustrated Book of Desserts (this one had tons of pics)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0688103561/104-5198768-0239127?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&v=glance

Joy of Cooking: All About Pies and Tarts
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/074322518X/104-5198768-0239127?v=glance&n=283155&v=glance


i'm also wondering.. how good are william sonoma's dessert books?! for some reason i seem to really like his books haha. i really really need to buy a muffin book because everyone around me just LOVE muffins (who doesn't tho ) and i'm thinking about buying william sonoma's muffin book.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743253965/104-5198768-0239127?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&v=glance

does anyone know anything about this book? is it good? bad?

what's one really really good book w/ lots of good muffin recipes in it! please suggest

oh my gosh. thank you everyone in advance for the help. have a great day!!!!

 

[corazon]

I really love the Weekend Baker by Abigail Johnson.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393058832/104-6956424-5787141?v=glance&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance
She is great at baking down the recipes into sections. For example, I'm making dinner rolls for thanksgiving. She says you can prepare through step 4, 24 hours in advance or through step 8, 12 hours in advance or bake the entire way through and freeze them (I'm making these rolls over three days, only doing a bit of it at a time). Basically, it's a great book for people who love to bake but don't have a lot of time. I'm very happy with this book and highly recommend it.

 

[htc]

I have the good housekeeping one and LOVE it. I highly recommend it because it teaches you a lot of relatively easy stuff that will make your baking look wonderful! I have all sorts of post its sticking out of this book.

 

[hirokei]

really?! oh wow great! i really like it too cuz all the pictures are just so pretty!! i hv to hv pictures when i read do u hv any other good recommendations?! anyone?! thanks all!

 

[htc]

H- I'm the exact same way. A good cookie book is the Mrs. Fields cookie book. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0783548303/104-0385795-5723155?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&v=glance Here best ever choc chip cookie is WONDERFUL. I use this as a base and sometimes change it up by doing choc chunk, walnuts, et. The cookies are soft and stay soft days later (if there are any left). I don't remember if I've made any other cookies from that book though.

 

[hirokei]

oh i hv mrs field's cookie book too. but its the old version. do u mind posting the recipe for the choc chip cookie? i wonder if they're the same.. thanks!

 

[htc]

H- please note that this recipe's not the exact wording as my cookbook, due to copyright, legal stuff. Ingredients are exactly the same though. Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/2 c all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 c packed dark brown sugar
1/2c granulated sugar
2 sticks salted butter, softened
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

turn on oven: 300 degrees.

mix: flour, soda, and salt. Mix well with wire whisk and set aside.

with an electric mixer, blend sugars at med. speed. Add butter and mix . add eggs and vanilla extract, and mix at med. speed until just blended. DON"T overmix.

add the flour mix and chocolate (either chips or chunks), and mix at low speed until just barely mixed. do not overmix.

drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. bake for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown. transfer cookies immediately to a cool surface with a spatula. I use a melon scoop and cook it for 18 minutes. If I use a bigger scoop, I go for the 22 minutes.

If you end up trying this, let me know what you think. I really enjoy them. I recently used this recipe and used sugar free choc. chunks and still had good results.

 

[hirokei]

mine pretty much says the same thing, cept mine calls for "1 cup salted butter" and yours say "2 sticks" are they the same?! mine also says 22-24 minutes. when i actually bake them, maybe i'll do 18, n just watch them.

by the way, does the type of cookie sheet i use matter? i have the dark metal kind, but i put wrap the whole thing w/ foil because i'm too lazy to wash it =P would that have any effect on time and temperature? is using foil a bad idea? thanks for the help in advance! =D

 

[htc]

yes 2 sticks is 1 cup of butter. As for the type, I think it might. I remember hearing somewhere that darker pans will cook faster. Maybe someone else will come along and confirm this...

why do you want to use foil? If your cookie sheet is nonstick, u r good to go. I have made cookies on the cookie sheet w/o washing between batches and haven't had the cookies stick.

 

[hirokei]

oh i just use foil because i dont want to wash the pan cuz im lazy

 

[hirokei]

what do u guys think about williams sonoma's books!! any good?