Prolific cookbook author Stewart (Martha Stewart's American Food) lends her ideas to the popular quest for baking with healthier ingredients. Traditional methods have relied on white sugar, butter, and other ingredients that experts say can be harmful in the long run. The recipes presented here suggest substitutions such as whole-wheat flour instead of white flour and yogurt instead of whole milk. Fats that come from vegetable oils are replaced with olive or coconut oil. For sweeteners, white sugar is set aside for cane sugar, honey, or maple syrup. The health benefits of the substitutions are not addressed. Instead, this book jumps right into the recipes, offering chapters on breakfast items (pancakes, muffins, rolls, and biscuits), cookies, pies, cakes and breads. Recipes for making your own buttermilk, baking powder, and yogurt are also included. Familiar desserts such as German Chocolate Cake and Sticky Buns are featured along with perhaps lesser-known items such as mushroom tart with olive oil cracker crust. Most of the recipes are simple and straight-forward; all are illustrated with photographs.
VERDICT Bakers looking for healthier alternatives to traditional ingredients will find this book helpful. [See "Editors' Picks," p. 28.]
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