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The 25 Best Baking Cookbooks, According to Our Resident Pastry Expert

Our top picks include books with technique-driven recipes and others with one-bowl cakes and cookies.

By
Genevieve Yam
Headshot of Genevieve Yam
Genevieve Yam
Culinary Editor
After graduating from the International Culinary Center, Genevieve cooked at Blue Hill at Stone Barns and Per Se. Prior to joining Serious Eats, she was an editor at Epicurious. She grew up between Toronto and Hong Kong and is a graduate of the University of St Andrews in Scotland. She currently lives in New York with her husband and two cats.
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Published June 27, 2024
Three cookbooks on a grid background.

Serious Eats / David Hattan

As an avid baker, former pastry cook, and editor at Serious Eats, I am often asked what my favorite baking cookbook is. My response is always the same: It depends on what you’re looking for. Is it sourdough baking, elegant desserts, or one-bowl cookies that pique your interest? 

Below, I’ve gathered a list of what I consider the best baking cookbooks. Some are technique-driven and will help you form a foundational understanding of baking science, while others offer great, minimal-effort recipes. A few of these books, filled with intricate baking projects, make you feel like you’re on the Great British Bake Off. There’s a book for every occasion, and regardless of which you choose, I promise the titles below will inspire you to whisk, whip, and knead.

The Best Books for Baking Technique

Former biochemist Shirley Corriher’s BakeWise is an essential book for anyone who wants to better understand the science of baking. Through more than 200 tried-and-true recipes, Corriher walks readers through common pitfalls, like deflated soufflés, seized chocolate, and broken custard. Like our very own site, Corriher explains why each recipe and solution provided works and breaks down the science in an accessible, enjoyable way. 

At the beginning of my professional culinary career, I devoured all of Rose Levy Beranbaum’s books. (Her most recent book, The Cookie Bible, is also one of my go-to’s.) If I had to pick one RLB book to recommend, though, it would be The Baking Bible, as it’s the broadest of her works. Her recipes are concise, her testing meticulous, and her writing conversational. I feel like I’m baking alongside an old friend. Follow her directions and you’ll find yourself whipping up bakery-worthy layer cakes, cookies, and pies. (If you are a chocolate lover, you can’t go wrong with the Double Damage Oblivion, Beranbaum’s deliciously rich flourless chocolate cake.)

If you have ever embarked on sourdough baking, you have likely heard of Chad Robertson, the baker behind San Francisco’s renowned Tartine Bakery, which is also the name of his book. Writing for Vogue, reporter Oliver Strand described Tartine Bread as “a masterpiece along the lines of a Martin Scorsese tracking shot or a Marcel Proust sentence: It goes on forever, and when you get to the end you realize it shouldn’t be any shorter.” The book is filled with intricate details and instructions on how to develop your own starter and baking practice, and, at times, the recipes can be intimidating. Roberton’s Basic Country Bread runs 38 pages—but follow through, and you’ll find yourself making crusty loaves with incredible flavor.

In pastry chef Nicola Lamb’s newsletter Kitchen Projects, she shares “deep dives” into desserts, where she walks her 53,000 readers through the trial and error that goes into developing a recipe. She takes the same methodical, detailed approach in her book Sift, which she describes as the book she wishes she had when she first started baking. Lamb explains how flour, sugar, eggs, and fat interact in baked goods. It’s a very Serious Eats-y book, and if you want to understand not just how—but why—something happens during baking, Sift is the book for you. (Editor’s note: This book will be released in November 2024, but it’s available for pre-order.)

After reading Tartine Bread, software engineer Maurizio Leo found himself enamored with sourdough baking. Leo started his blog The Perfect Loaf in 2012 and has since inspired readers worldwide to take up sourdough. Every recipe in Leo's book is accompanied by a timeline, which not only helps bakers better understand how long things should take but allows them to plan ahead. The book is a comprehensive and straightforward guide to making great sourdough; readers will find step-by-step photos, QR codes for videos demonstrating key techniques, and answers to many frequently asked questions. His advice and recipes have helped me make many successful loaves, and The Perfect Loaf is the first book I recommend when someone tells me they’d like to become better at baking sourdough bread.

The Perfect Loaf cookbook on a grid background.

Serious Eats / David Hattan

In 2000, King Arthur Baking Company opened their school in Vermont, where they began teaching students key baking techniques. The recipes in this book are the same ones taught at their school, with additional notes and details to educate readers on the hows and whys of baking. “We aim to empower students with the knowledge and confidence to make baking their own,” says the author’s note in the introduction. The book’s recipes range in difficulty; you’ll find simple cookies alongside challenging projects like croissants and macarons.

As with all things Cook’s Illustrated, the recipes within this book are tried-and-true. The Cook’s Illustrated Baking Book is educational without being overbearing, and great for those casually interested in learning more about baking. My only criticism is that there aren't weight measures and all the recipes are in volume. Baking requires precision, so it seems silly not to include weights. Still, it’s a comprehensive book with foolproof recipes that I’d be remiss not to include. The tips within—like blooming cocoa powder in hot water to intensify its flavor for chocolate cake—are invaluable and make you a better, smarter baker.

At one of my first restaurant jobs, a baker I worked with recommended this book to me. Written by the founder of the San Francisco Baking Institute, Advanced Bread and Pastry is a textbook for culinary professionals and ideal for those who are interested in a rigorous approach to baking. You’ll find graphs, charts, and illustrations to demonstrate the nitty gritty science and chemistry of baking. In other words: the perfect baking book for the Serious Eats reader.

Diving into bread baking can be overwhelming, but Ken Forkish’s Flour Water Salt Yeast makes it feel intuitive. When I first started making bread, Forkish’s book helped me better understand the science of fermentation and all the jargon it came with, like autolyse and pre-ferments. For novice bread bakers interested in learning the ropes, most of this book’s recipes use instant dried yeast as a leavener, which is easier and faster than sourdough.

Before Melissa Weller became a pastry chef, she was a chemical engineer. Weller approaches her craft with the meticulous precision of her former occupation—which means her recipes are scientifically formulated to work every single time. Weller walks readers through how to set themselves up for success and breaks each recipe into different sections, making tedious projects like croissants, crêpe cakes, and brioche feel doable.

The Good Bake cookbook.

Serious Eats / David Hattan

When I first started my culinary career, I turned to Pfeiffer’s book for a better grasp of pastry and baking basics. Pfeiffer, the co-founder of The French Pastry School in Chicago, educates readers like he does his own students: with plenty of detailed instruction and patience. Throughout the book, you’ll find helpful illustrations demonstrating the proper way to execute a technique, along with key takeaways, notes for frequently asked questions, and how to fix a recipe if it’s gone awry. The Art of French Pastry will coach you through the building blocks of French dessert and pâtisserie, like choux pastry, puff pastry dough, meringues, and buttercreams, and enable you to create your own confections. It’s like getting a French pastry diploma without the big price tag.

Though chocolate and confectionary work doesn’t technically qualify as baking, there’s a lot of great information in this book. It's especially handy if you want a more thorough understanding of how different sugars and fats work, why some are better for certain applications, and how to pick the best one for whatever you’re making. It also is an excellent deep dive into chocolate: its journey from bean to bar and the fundamental techniques for cooking and baking with it. There are plenty of photos and illustrations to demonstrate these techniques, and with the recipes within, you’ll be able to produce the silkiest ganaches for homemade truffles and the shiniest glazes for your cakes.

I realize this is a tome…and an expensive one, at that. But it’s full of history, science, and technique, and it is unlikely you’ll find a more detailed resource on bread. The collection is essential for anyone looking to truly understand the craft of bread baking. There’s not much more to say!

The Best Books for Everyday Baking

Former Serious Eats editor Stella Parks’ recipes and writing on baking science was what turned me into a devoted reader of the site. Her work—both on Serious Eats and in her book BraveTart—has contributed greatly to my understanding of the fundamentals of pastry and baking. In BraveTart, Parks shares recipes for some of America’s most iconic confections, along with their origin stories. “This isn’t a cookbook about making anything fancy,” she writes in the book’s introduction. “It’s about making everything from scratch. Not because you have to, but because it’s fun. Or, at least, it can be, with the right recipes: one that cares about the process as much as the result.” Bake through the book, and soon many of these American desserts—like no-fuss apple pie, yeast-raised potato doughnuts, and homemade Nilla wafers—will become classics in your kitchen, too. 

Benjamina Ebuehi, a former contestant on the Great British Bake Off, understands that good baking doesn’t have to be complicated. A Good Day to Bake is all about baking for pleasure; Ebuehi encourages readers to slow down so they can enjoy the process of creating in the kitchen. Though the recipes are approachable, they don’t skimp on flavor. Fresh herbs, fruits, and vegetables—along with pantry staples like spices and teas—star in each recipe. The simple loaves, cakes, and cookies evoke comfort and coziness. I adore Ebuhi’s malted milk crème brûlée and “store-cupboard cake,” which requires just a few pantry staples and gets its deep flavor from cocoa powder and instant espresso. 

Before Mooncakes and Milk Bread came along, I had never considered making Chinese baked goods. Cho’s book shares recipes for many Chinese bakery classics, like fluffy pineapple buns and curry chicken puffs. Cho seamlessly walks readers through culinary and baking techniques, and thanks to her book, I now know how to shape Taiwanese pineapple buns, make mooncakes from scratch (something rarely done even in Asia), and prepare essential components of Chinese desserts like red bean paste. 

The Mooncakes and Milk Bread cookbook on a grid.

Serious Eats / David Hattan

Almost every pastry professional I’ve met has sung the praises of Claudia Fleming, the former pastry chef at Gramercy Tavern. While Fleming’s first book The Last Course (which New York Times reporter Julia Moskin describes as “a cult classic among pastry chefs”) contains fancy-feeling desserts like prosecco sabayon and citrus lace tuiles, Delectable feels more approachable. For example, love its recipes for plum cobbler, rhubarb scones, and almond and walnut brownies. 

Readers will find savory baking recipes, too, like her tomato crostata and Gruyère and onion cocktail biscuits. Fleming’s recipes are a celebration of seasonality, and if you have a bounty of summer produce that you have no plans for, a flip through Delectable will leave you with more than enough ideas to see you through the rest of the season.

Like Claire Saffitz, I am a dessert person. And if you aren’t a dessert person, reading Saffitz’s book will certainly turn you into one. Saffitz recognizes that baking can be intimidating, and her goal is to demystify the craft so readers can bake confidently. Each recipe has a difficulty rating, so you can start from the easiest recipes and work your way up. There are familiar favorites like chocolate chip cookies, as well as classics with a twist—think minty lime bars and rice pudding cake. 

Though most of the recipes are sweet, there are savory ones, too, like her tomato tart with herby feta and caramelized endive galette. Many flourless cakes tend to be rich, but her version—which is dairy-free—is light and melts in your mouth. And if you’re looking for an everyday snacking cake to enjoy with your cup of coffee, look no further than her poppy seed almond cake, which is moist and tender, with an extra zing from an orange juice glaze. 

Joanne Chang’s Flour cookbook, named after her bakery of the same name in Boston, is one I have turned to often through the years. The recipes are simple, straightforward, and—I don’t say this lightly—have never failed me. Chang’s tender banana bread, which gets moisture and tang from crème fraiche and a satisfying crunch from toasted, chopped walnuts, is my go-to. And her Best-Ever Chocolate Pudding is, well, the best-ever—really. Flour contains easy, minimal-effort recipes for pastries and desserts I’d like to eat all the time. 

Arabiyya is an excellent resource on Arabic cooking, and though it is not a baking cookbook, it’s worth purchasing just for its section on Levantine bread and pastries. Arabiyya has recipes for sweet and savory items you might find at an Arabic bakery and is a wonderful guide to preparing them at home. I often make her Khobz Arabi (pita or Arab bread) to enjoy with homemade hummus, and Assil’s ka’ak—sesame-crusted bread pouches—are so delicious I’d happily eat them unfilled and without any accompaniments. For dessert, give Assil’s spiced walnut baklava a try; it’s nutty, crisp, and drenched in an orange blossom syrup, and truly one of the most delicious sweets you can make at home.

After I gave birth to my son, I relied on Yossy Arefi’s Snacking Bakes to satisfy my sweet tooth. Arefi promises that “almost every treat can be made in under one hour, in one bowl, and with no fancy ingredients or equipment”—something especially appealing to me as I navigated the immediate postpartum period. There are many recipes on the internet that promise the same, but they are often boring or disappointing. Luckily, Arefi’s baked goods are anything but, and her recipes are fun, creative uses of pantry staples. Malted milk powder gives her malted chocolate cookies extra nuttiness, and a swirl of raspberry jam through peanut butter cake recreates the nostalgic flavors of PB&J sandwiches. All the baked goods are simple enough that you can, as I did, make them with a baby strapped to you. And if you’re a novice beginner, the ease of the recipes will equip you with basic baking techniques like whisking, folding, and glazing, while also boosting your confidence as you succeed, bake after bake. 

Snacking Bakes cookbook on a grid background.

Serious Eats / David Hattan

Reaching for that bag of all-purpose flour is convenient, but Roxanna Jullapat’s Mother Grains will inspire you to try baking with other flours. Jullapat, the baker behind Friends & Family in Los Angeles, makes the case for baking with locally grown and freshly milled grains. Because most of these grains are stone-ground and still contain the germ, bran, and endosperm—parts of the wheat berry that are typically sifted out when producing all-purpose flour—they are more nutritious, too. 

Though there are numerous grains, Jullapat’s book focuses on eight: barley, buckwheat, corn, oat, rice, rye, sorghum, and wheat. Mother Grains will help readers develop a greater understanding of and appreciation for these cereals. If you love oatmeal raisin cookies, give her oatmeal date cookies a whirl—the chopped Medjool dates give them a rich caramel-like flavor. And if you’re a chocolate fiend, then the chocolate dynamite cookies with earthy rye and bittersweet chocolate chips are for you.

Beloved for her charm and approachable recipes, Dorie Greenspan is the darling of the baking world. A Dorie cookbook has never failed me; her cocoa-packed world peace cookies from Dorie’s Cookies remain one of my favorite treats. Baking With Dorie is a comprehensive book with both sweet and savory recipes that all have fun twists. Greenspan transforms choux dough—traditionally used for cream puffs, éclairs, and gougères—into cheese sticks, and swirls miso paste and maple syrup into a loaf reminiscent of honey cake. Her flavor-packed banana cake makes for an excellent celebration dessert—and though the cake itself is delicious, it’s the frosting of cookie butter spread, butter, and confectioner sugar that keeps you coming back for more. Despite the complex flavors and textures in Greenspan’s recipes, each is simple to execute and will leave you feeling like an accomplished baker.

Fany Gerson’s My Sweet Mexico is a wonderful introduction to the country’s many regional confections. While My Sweet Mexico is an excellent cookbook, Gerson, the chef and owner of Brooklyn’s popular Fan Fan Doughnuts, also provides a great resource on the culinary history of Mexico, writing about the influences—especially Spanish colonization—on Mexican cooking today. The convent cookies, which get their rich, nutty flavor from ground caramelized almonds, are the ideal pairing for a cup of coffee. And once you make Gerson’s milhojas with mango and coconut, a pastry similar to mille feuille with its flaky puff pastry layers and luscious pastry cream, you’ll find yourself craving it constantly. My favorite recipes, though, may be the frozen treats. On a hot summer day, you just can’t go wrong with the spicy mango ice pops, rich cajeta ice cream, or tart tamarind sorbet.

Erika Council’s Still We Rise is a tribute to Black bakers and chefs who have not been recognized for their contributions to American cuisine. Council, the chef behind Bomb Biscuit Co. in Atlanta, shares recipes for countless biscuits, but the book is a wonderful tribute to Black cooks and a fascinating look at American culinary history. Dotted throughout Still We Rise are stories from her childhood about her grandmothers and nods to the other culinary influences in her life. There is no better cookbook to turn to if you love flaky, tender biscuits—the heavy cream biscuits, which come together in one bowl, are incredibly soft and fluffy.

Why We’re the Experts

  • Genevieve Yam is the culinary editor at Serious Eats. She’s been with the site since 2022. In her free time, you’ll find her chatting to people about produce at the farmers market and burying her nose in cookbooks.
  • Before becoming an editor, she was a cook at Per Se and Blue Hill at Stone Barns.
  • She has written stories and tested, edited, and developed recipes for Serious Eats, Bon Appétit, Epicurious, and Food52.

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