Baking that Suits Your Schedule

 

Weeknight Baking: Recipes to Fit Your Schedule
by Michelle Lopez
(Simon and Schuster, 2019)

As holiday obligations come in fast and furious, most people feel there are not enough hours in the day to get everything done. Thanks to a new book by Michelle Lopez, we have some much-needed assistance in the baking department.

Lopez knows about time management. Trained as an economist, she works full time in tech while also writing a popular baking blog and posting on Instagram for Hummingbird High, a site that has twice been a finalist for Saveur magazine’s “Best Baking Blog.”

The cookbook is filled with all kinds of efficiency tips and productivity hacks to make delicious sweets easily and reliably. Lopez offers advice on splitting up time-intensive recipes over several days, instructions for planning ahead, ideas on pantry stocking for spontaneous projects, and pointers for substituting ingredients.

Filled with basic recipes for favorites like chocolate chip cookies, banana bread, cinnamon rolls, pound cake, Weeknight Baking is a particularly useful book for new cooks looking to turn out toothsome confections quickly. It’s equally reliable for anyone scrambling to turn up with an easy, tasty dessert like Better Than Supernatural Brownies, Black and White Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies, or Choose-Your-Own Pumpkin Spice Bread (variation on a Tartine Bread!).

 

Edible East Bay’s book editor Kristina Sepetys is eager to share her ideas and book recommendations with our readers.