Baking Powder Muffins

Review

Clayton’s writing is, as always, friendly, clear, and concise. But there are disappointments as well as rewards. The butter crackers and hamburger buns were wonderful, but the hazelnut-buckwheat muffins were just so-so, and Mrs. McNab’s Scones were so salty I had to throw them out. The book is fun to explore, though, and there’s even a recipe for dog biscuits that my spaniel has been urging me to try…

Overview

Bernard Clayton has six very solid cookbooks to his credit, starting with The Complete Book of Breads, first published in the 1970s. Somehow it seems only fitting that he would wind his way, by book number seven, back to a big book about little breads. Does it fit in your palm? This appears to be the primary criterion for the breads in The Complete Book of Small Breads. There are beaten biscuits from the American South and steamed buns from China, pan dulce from Mexico and oatmeal flatbread from Norway, orange tiffin rolls from India and spice corn fritters from Indonesia–more than 100 recipes in all.

Some of the recipes will seem familiar to anyone who has used other Clayton cookbooks, for he has culled from his own greatest hits to fill this book. But he has downsized the recipes: “The book will appeal to those home bakers with small families or those with limited kitchen facilities,” he writes. “The yield of most of the recipes is small, reduced to about half the quantity found in others.”

Those new to baking and experienced bakers alike will enjoy Clayton’s clear instructions. He takes into account bakers doing everything by hand as well as those who use mixers or food processors. Once you’ve become accustomed to the way Clayton lays out a recipe, you’ll wonder what’s wrong with every other cookbook author in the business.

But most of all, there’s Clayton’s easygoing attitude to spur you on to even more delicious discoveries. “I urge the home baker to see baking as a relaxed art,” Clayton writes. “In bread making, if the dough you are shaping gets stubborn, pulls back, and refuses to be shaped, walk away from it for a few minutes. It will relax and so will you.” –Schuyler Ingle

Specifications

From the bestselling author of “The New Complete Book of Breads” comes this round-the-world celebration of small breads–including rolls, buns, biscuits, bagels, bialys, flatbreads, muffins, and other delicious treats. 100+ recipes. 30 line drawings National author publicity. .