The Scone Queen Bakes: 100 Recipes for Scones, Muffins, Cookies, and Cakes from the Founder of the Hungry Gnome

The debut baking book from Sepsy, creator of the online bakery Hungry Gnome, brims with comfort and nostalgia. The opening chapter includes a recipe for the chocolate chip scones that launched her baking career at 13, as well as 11 fun scone variations, including lavender lemon and butter pecan with a maple butter glaze, and helpful tips for success (when gathering the dough, she warns not to knead it, otherwise the cold butter will melt prematurely and make the scone dense and dry). Other baked goods range from sentimental American classics like chocolate chip crumb loaf, homemade galactic brownies (a riff on Little Debbie cosmic brownies), and cinnamon-sugar “mall pretzels,” to recipes that pay tribute to Sepsy’s Italian background, including fig cookies, anisette toast, and pignoli (pine nut) cookies. Sepsy’s clever original creations are not to be missed: Italian Rainbow buns, for instance, are a mash-up of rainbow cookies and sweet buns, while baci buns contain a crunchy, chocolate-hazelnut filling reminiscent of Perugina Baci candies. Equally enjoyable are Sepsy’s endearing family anecdotes (“To Grandma Rosemarie, any holiday warranted these crispy and spicy biscuits,” she says about gingerbread cookies). It’s a worthy addition to any home baker’s shelf. Agent: Rica Allannic, David Black Agency. (Mar.)