cover image Naturally, Delicious Desserts

Naturally, Delicious Desserts

Danny Seo. Gibbs Smith, $28 (224p) ISBN 978-1-4236-5537-4

Seo, editor-in-chief of Naturally, compiles 100 desserts that have featured in the magazine in this accessible collection of health-conscious desserts. There are plenty of avocado recipes, such as a black forest–avocado mousse, and readers will find other veggies hiding in surprising places, such as chewy cauliflower black sesame cookies; eggplant fudge bars; and parsnip–brown butter sugar cookies. Seo riffs on mainstream favorites with offerings that include black cocoa Oreos with cauliflower crème, and almond flour Twix. Other entries offers brown rice crispy squares, no-bake coconut lime-bars, and spiced gingerbread cookies. Directions are concise, but perhaps too sparse for less-experienced bakers: for several of the cashew-based recipes, Seo doesn’t indicate whether cashews must be raw, roasted, or salted. Bakers with more experience may be familiar with some of the less common ingredients like black lava rock salt, collagen powder, and blue spirulina, but readers who don’t have them in their pantry are left on their own to find them, as Seo doesn’t provide a list of vendors. This creative book will appeal most to advanced bakers looking to indulge in healthier versions of their favorite sweets. (Sept.)