Mom’s Big Baking Book

Lauren Chattman has written a delicious new book titled Mom’s Big Book of Baking: 200 Simple, Foolproof Family Favorites for Birthday Parties, Bake Sales, and More! Like many moms, I have a hectic schedule and, to be totally honest, the kitchen is not a safe or friendly place for me. However, I have found Lauren Chattman’s baking recipes to be really easy and even I can make them.

The book is divided into seven sections: Beyond the Freezer Case: Homemade Pancakes and Waffles; Mom’s Cafe – muffins, quick breads, cookies, and scones; The Cookie Jar: Old-fashioned Mommy Cookies; Easy Bake Oven: Simplified with Brownies and Bard; Mom’s Apple Pie – Cakes, pies, quiches, and cobblers that don’t fail; Birthdays and more: cakes for all occasions; and Yeast is Your Friend: Basic Bread and Pizza.

I love cake, I can’t help it. But I don’t like any kind of cake. It has to be yellow cake. So I thought I’d try making the classic yellow layer cake (or cupcakes) from the chapter on birthdays and beyond. I chose to make cupcakes over cake because I was more comfortable with my cupcake pans than my cake pans. The recipe was so easy that I couldn’t believe my luck. No cupcake would go to a party without frosting, so I topped my fresh baked goods with vanilla birthday cake frosting. I love parties! My friends couldn’t believe my new found talent.

I was very confident in the dessert category, so I decided to make my son some spiced apple pies and raisins from Mom’s apple pie chapter. The shortbread dough recipe was easy to make, as was the filling. My kitchen smelled divine while the empanadas were baking. Turnovers are a goalkeeper.

I invited my best friend (and her waffle maker) to breakfast on Sunday a few weeks ago so we could try one of the waffle recipes from the Beyond the Freezer section of the book. After much deliberation we chose ginger waffles. I think I can have a new career here and my list of new friends is constantly growing.

I plan to bake a lot more in the next few weeks. On my list to try are pizza dough, tasty cornbread, oatmeal cookies, and homemade microwave instant brownies.

I appreciated the time-saving tips and techniques provided in each chapter, as well as the mail-order information and online resources. The only complaint I have about this book is that it did not contain color photographs of the recipes, a feature that I really appreciate as I am a true newbie to the kitchen.

You can find this book at your local public library, but you probably want to buy a copy for your own collection.
ISBN: 9781558323957