Review
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Title: Kneaders Bakery and Cafe 25th Anniversary Cookbook
Author: Colleen Worthington
Publisher: Shadow Mountain Publishing
Genre: Cookbook
Year Published: 2023
Number of Pages: 352
Binding: Hardcover
ISBN-13: 978-1639931514
Price: $34.99
Reviewed for the Association for Mormon Letters by Heather Harris Bergevin
Upon receipt of Kneaders Bakery and Cafe 25th Anniversary Cookbook, I posted a picture on Instagram, as I usually do when things come across my desk. Immediately I began getting replies from hopeful friends. Is the mint brownie recipe in there? No, alas it is not. The standard brownie recipe is, though, and a couple of fun ways to dress it up, like with caramel and coconut. Is the chicken salad recipe in there, one friend begged? Nope. There are plenty of salad recipes, but not the chicken salad one. Tell me the cranberry sauce is in there, another hoped. Nope. However, as a non-Morridor reader who doesn’t eat at Kneaders often, this selection of other recipes, including lots of baked goods for your perusal. Between breakfast scones and strata, cinnamon rolls, and French onion soup, there are interspersed lovely mini biographical memories of the family and workers who have made Kneaders a success for over 25 years.
Many of the recipes are simple, homey creations meant to be enjoyed with the warm bread for which Kneaders is famous. Plenty of bread recipes are included, from Diné fry bread, their basic half wheat/half white flour loaf, and their focaccia loaf and Olive loaf recipes, which I can’t wait to try. Kneaders Bakery and Cafe 25th Anniversary Cookbook isn’t a terribly difficult cookbook, recipe-wise, which is a bonus. It would make a great wedding gift or gift for a new baker or cook in a family. Recipes are clear and well done, obviously have been tried many times to perfection, and are not difficult to follow. Pictures and instructions are clear, and none of the ingredients are particularly difficult to find, which makes it very accessible.