King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking

There's only so much room on the kitchen bookshelf for those 600-page baking bibles on the kitchen bookshelf, but this one's worth its weight in whole wheat flour. This fun, easy-to-follow tome is broken down into 11 basic chapters (including Yeast Breads, Cakes, Pastry and Pies), and will satisfy both health conscious bakers (Spelt Pita, Sesame Barley Bread) as well as the more gluttonous (Carmel Blitz Torte, Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, and Triple Ginger Pancakes). Methods such as kneading dough and folding pie crust are depicted with easy-to-follow black-and-white illustrations. Sidebar topics, however, are a little haphazard—ranging from Enjoying Soybeans to Organic Plastic—yet recipe headnotes are helpful and worth the ink. Each recipe ends with detailed nutrition information, broken down per serving (including caffeine, calcium and iron amounts). In the end, this is a good buy for more than just the whole-grain enthusiast. (Oct.)