Review: Fat Witch Bake Sale

Title: Fat Witch Bake Sale: 67 Recipes from the Beloved Fat Witch Bakery for Your Next Bake Sale or Party
Authors: Patricia Helding, Lucy Baker
Format: egalley
Pub. Date: December 30th 2014
Source: Netgalley & Rodale Books


Book Description via Goodreads:

Fat Witch brownies are a chocolate obsession, not just for the locals from New York City, but also for the many tourists who visit Chelsea Market. Patricia Helding and staff bake tender, moist, classic, and decadent morsels that people are willing to wait in line to buy. And following on the heels of Helding’s very successful Fat Witch Brownies, which revealed the author’s secret recipe (at long last), comes her new personal collection of yummy brownies, blondies, barks, bars, and more . . . along with tips and tricks for packaging and selling them at your next bake sale.

Here are mouthwatering recipes for Pecan Caramel Brownies; Red Velvet Brownies; Five Layer Chocolate Bars; Jelly Blondies; Cinnamon Bars; Pumpkin Oatmeal Bars; Coconut Macadamia Cookies; uniquely grownup flavors like Fruitcake Brownies and Rum Raisin Spice Bars; and even gluten-free treats like Meringue Drops and Almond Flour White Chocolate Cookies. Packed with astonishingly good, easy-to-bake recipes that will leave your family and friends agog, Fat Witch Bake Sale will be the go-to recipe source for bake sale season—or anytime.

Review:

★★★★

Fat Witch Bake Sale is a baking cookbook that's filled with diverse recipes, tips on how to make the best baked goods possible, and advice on how to have a great and successful bake sale for your organization or cause. While I have no immediate plans to hold a bake sale (and requested this book for the recipes), there was still information that I found useful and mentally stored away for future reference.

This book is divided into categories such as healthy, vegan, and chocolate goodness. This makes it easy to locate particular recipes at any given time, which was a nice bonus. That being said, quite a few of these sections weren't ones that I'd utilize often. While I totally agree that gluten free, vegan, and healthy treats are a great bonus item to have at a bake sale to make sure that everyone is a potential customer for your sale. However personally, because I have no gluten allergy or dairy aversions, I'm not super-likely to make these recipes on the daily basis. They totally fill a need for this book though.

There were pictures for almost every (if not every) recipe included which is a huge plus to me. I like knowing what I'm supposed to be aiming for, at least aesthetically. The directions were easy to understand and well written, so whether you're a seasoned baker or a beginner, the recipes are easily approachable.

Some of the recipes I most look forward to trying are Apricot-Almond-Rosemary Bars, Stout Gingerbread, and Cayenne-Coffee Brownies. I think this collection has a recipe for everyone and a bunch of tips for hosting your own bake sale, whether you're a beginner or a master. Thanks to Netgalley & Rodale Books for my copy in exchange for my honest review.