Synopses & Reviews
Updating classic baked goods with flavorful whole grains, nuts, flours, fruits, vegetables, and fats.
After more than a dozen years developing recipes for food and health magazines and collaborating with noted pastry chefs, Genevieve Ko was determined to create treats that were just as indulgent as their original counterparts, as well as more full flavored and nourishing. In a word, better. Healthful oils prove superior to butter, giving Mocha Chip Cookies crisp shells and molten insides, liberating the citrus in Lemon Layer Cake with Olive Oil Curd, and tenderizing Melting Walnut Snowballs. Refined white sugar pales beside concentrated sweeteners like pure maple syrup, brown sugar, and molasses in muffins and granola. Pomegranate Pistachio Baklava uses reduced pomegranate syrup instead of the usual saccharine one. Nubby flours with personality—whole wheat, spelt, rye, buckwheat, graham flour, and almond flour—bring richness to such desserts as Glazed Apple Cider Doughnuts. And pureed fruits and vegetables (beets in Red Velvet Roulade with Strawberry Cream Cheese; grated zucchini in Chocolate School Party Sheet Cake) keep desserts extra moist.
Review
“Genevieve Ko has cracked the code: She’s found a way to make beloved sweets good and good for us. Ever wonder what your favorite cookie, cake or muffin would be like with less sugar? No eggs? Different oils? Healthful flours? Nuts? Grains? Ko’s got the smart answers.” Dorie Greenspan, author, Baking: From My Home to Yours and Dorie’s Cookies
Review
"It’s hard to find a dependable baking cookbook, but look no further. Baking expert Genevieve Ko brings you flawless recipes that use modern, healthful ingredients." RealSimple.com
Review
"Genevieve Ko’s Better Baking explores how more healthful ingredients (whole grain flours, natural sweeteners) enliven desserts.” The New York Times
About the Author
Genevieve Ko has collaborated with many chefs on cookbooks, including Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Carla Hall, Pichet Ong, and Sarabeth Levine. She has been an editor at Good Housekeeping, Martha Stewart Living, and Gourmet and has written for Lucky Peach, Food & Wine, Real Simple, Shape, and more.