Previously, I have reviewed 100 Cookies by Sarah Kieffer (of The Vanilla Bean Blog), a cookbook I bought even though I am lactose intolerant and it is chock full of recipes that are dairy dependent. Since reviewing that book two years ago, I am still lactose intolerant, but I have become much more comfortable adapting recipes to fit my dairy free needs. Oat milk and Earth Balance are my friends. I have also found that I am almost as happy to bake things I can’t eat for other people as I am to bake things I can eat for myself. I tested several of the recipes both as written and adapted for dairy free. I even made a couple vegan.
I love this cookbook. I am a recipe criminal in that I see recipes as a jumping off point for my imagination. What works best for me about this book is that the foundations are solid. Once I know a recipe works as written, I can play. Every recipe I tried works beautifully as written and as adapted to be dairy free.
There are two recipes in here that I have now made so many times I have them memorized – the Milk Bread Dough and the Toasting Bread. The milk bread dough is a dream to work with. It bakes up beautifully as a loaf and is endlessly adaptable. Kieffer gives credit to Kristina Cho and her cookbook Mooncakes and Milk Bread as the source for the milk bread recipe in 100 Morning Treats. I wish I had been more confident making dairy free substitutions when I was reviewing that cookbook. I couldn’t tell any difference in the loaf when I used dairy milk and butter versus when I used oat milk and Earth Balance Buttery Sticks. I also took the filling and glaze from the Orange Buns recipe and used the milk bread to make cinnamon orange knots. I am obsessed with them now.
The Toasting Bread is a sleeper of a recipe, but I fell in love with it. While I do make toast with it (spread with fake butter and drizzled with hot honey), It makes an excellent sandwich loaf. It’s oaty and soft. Making the bread is a fairly quick process, and if you have a standing mixer, the whole thing is very easy. Honestly, I would buy the cookbook for this recipe alone.
Other recipes I made which I will make again when I have the hard copy in my hands:
- Cardamom Bundt Cake with Coffee Glaze
- Morning Buns with Cheater Croissant Dough*
- Brioche Bagels
- Giant Carrot Cake Cinnamon Roll
- Ham and Cheese Breakfast Sliders
*I could definitely tell a difference when I used the dairy free butter in the cheater croissant dough, but it’s the closest I have come to making a good croissant since finally giving up butter. I will continue to play with it.
I have a list of people that I’m buying this for, including myself. I would have loved a few more savory morning recipes, but not enough to knock off a star. This cookbook also works best if you have a standing mixer.
I received this as an advance reader copy from Chronicle Books and NetGalley. My opinions are my own, freely and honestly given.
