My top picks for baking books will get your collection off the ground. Every home cookbook library needs a nice collection of baking books. These books should cover the basics of baking and is a jump start the development an outstanding collection of resources for your home library.
The Bread Baker’s Apprentice – Peter Reinhart: Peter Reinhart is a master baker. My first experience with his techniques was after reading his book The Brother Juniper’s Bread Book. He introduced me to the slow rise method and my bread has never been the same.
Crust and Crumb: Master Formulas for Serious Bread Bakers – Peter Reinhart: If you can detect my love for Peter Reinhart, Crust and Crumb is another fantastic bread book. This is a “serious” bread book for serious home bakers.
Tartine Bread – Chad Robertson: The author is the owner of the legendary Tartine Bakery in San Francisco. This book will teach you how to make a starter that will result in fantastic bread.
Baking Bible – Rose Levy Beranbaum: There are a lot of baking books on the market. This is one that I totally recommend. Any book by Rose Levy Beranbaum is fantastic. This book is filled with cakes, cookies, breads, and pastries. A copy should be in your cookbook library.
The Bread Bible – Rose Levy Beranbaum: This is another outstanding book by Rose Levy Beranbaum on breads. The results that you will achieve from her will be great. Her “10 essential steps of Making Bread” are very helpful as well.
The Cake Bible – Rose Levy Beranbaum: If you want to learn the art of making cakes, this is the book to consult. You will learn a lot about the cake making process as well as the reasons behind each step. This book has a wide variety of cakes and the recipes will not let you down.
Mary Berry’s Baking Bible – Mary Berry: The author is one of my favorite cookbook writers as well as cooking show hosts. Her work is amazing, simple to follow, and results in great cakes. The oven settings are based on UK standards but are easily converted by conducting a simple Google search.
Cook’s Illustrated Baking Book – America’s Test Kitchen: Every cookbook library should have a fair amount of books from America’s Test Kitchen. Their books are fantastic. This baking book is no exception. It has 450 recipes and it will become one of your go-to books on baking.
Bouchon Bakery – Thomas Keller: This book is one of my favorites. It is not just because I am a huge Thomas Keller fan. The book is fantastic. For the home cook, the recipes are on the difficult side and very detailed. However, you will learn a lot from this book.
Baking with Julia – Dorie Greenspan & Julia Child: Two of the greats come together in this collaboration about baking. The recipes come from the authors as well as from many talented bakers and chefs. The book covers breads, cakes, and pastries. To top it off, the photography is amazing!
How to Bake Everything – Mark Bittman: This is a comprehensive book on baking. It has more than 2,000 recipes and covers quick breads, muffins, pancakes, doughnuts, cakes, cookies, pies, breads, candies, and much more. It is a great all purpose baking book that covers all the basics.
Amy is the host of the cooking show "Amy Learns to Cook." She is a self confessed "cookware junkie" who has an entire room in her house filled with cookware and kitchen gadgets. She is on a mission to become a better cook. 
