Baking All Year Round: Holidays and Special Occasions

Pansino’s second cookbook (after The Nerdy Nummies Cookbook) is a delightful celebration of themed baked goods suitable for a myriad of occasions, including baby showers, birthdays, and religious holidays. Throughout, Pansino creatively utilizes store-bought candies for her confections: she uses Reese’s Pieces to create corn kernels for harvest corn–shaped peanut butter cookies; mini Cadbury eggs are painted to look like baby chicks for chocolate-coconut nest cookies; and Tootsie Rolls are formed into mini grilled hamburgers atop BBQ Grill Cupcakes (for Father’s Day). Many of the recipes require careful attention, such as Save-the-Date lemon sablé cookies (imprinted with a calendar and an event date), Conversation Heart petits fours, and a spiced reindeer-shaped cake, but all include step-by-step photographs. Pansino also includes several gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan recipes, such as wine gummy bears, strawberry champagne macarons, and salted whiskey caramels. Pansino’s anecdotes and family photos are as adorable as her culinary creations (“My elementary school teacher asked me what my favorite subject in school was and I answered ‘Snack Time!’ ”). From simpler projects like maple pecan blondies to more intricate ones like a beehive-shaped baby shower honey cake, this book will inspire bakers of all levels. (Oct.)