Our new kids’ cookbook has entered the chat

Yesterday, my 14-year-old son made his first quesadilla, starting with a homemade tortilla. A couple of weeks before that, his 12-year-old brother carefully piped frosting onto a giant layer cake bound for his grandfather’s 80th birthday. I texted my coworkers: It’s happening. My kids are becoming bakers. 

Photography by Rick Holbrook, food styling by Yekaterina Boytsova

The recipes they were using come straight from the pages of Sweet & Salty!, our new kids’ cookbook, which I’ve been working on for the last several years. The book is intended to give young bakers everything they need to have success in the kitchen: craveable recipes that kids actually want to make and eat (Hello, Pink Lemonade Cake! Hello, Pizza Party Buns!), useful lessons (in the form of easy-to-digest sidebars), loads of step-by-step photography, and tips and tricks sprinkled throughout. 

Photography by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Yekaterina Boytsova

The book has more than 100 recipes tagged by level of difficulty: beginner, medium, and project. Beginner recipes, including things like one-bowl brownies and those easy-to-roll tortillas, are perfect for bakers who are just starting out in the kitchen. As their skills develop, the book will grow with them; before long, they’ll be making flaky pastry pockets stuffed with spinach and cheese or slicing wedges of their first frosted layer cake. 

Photography by Rick Holbrook, food styling by Yekaterina Boytsova

Give this book to a kid you know and watch what happens: First, they’ll page through it, pausing on the photos they think look the most delicious. Then, they’ll get out a stack of Post-Its and stick one on every recipe they want to bake. (If my own children are any barometer, it’ll be a lot.) Before you know it, they’ll be asking: “Do we have any cocoa powder?” or “Can you help me turn on the oven?”  

The book, which is targeted to kids between ages 8 and 12, is intended to encourage independence in the kitchen. You can still bake alongside your children if you want, but you don’t have to: This book provides all the instruction (and inspiration!) they’ll need (along with reminders to clean up after themselves when they’re done — a parent can dream). And while the book, with its adorable photographs, cute illustrations, and kid-approved recipes, is intended for young bakers, I’ve had more than a few adult bakers tell me that it’s exactly the book they’ve been looking for, one filled with the kinds of simple-yet-scrumptious recipes we all love to bake and eat, no matter our age.