Vegan Baking Classics Cookbook Review

Vegan baking recipes which look and taste just like the recipes in a regular cookbook

Kelly Rudnicki's Vegan Baking Classics is refreshingly different from other vegan baking cookbooks.

The big difference is that this is a mainstream vegan cookbook - these delicious vegan baking recipes look and taste just like the recipes in a regular cookbook such The Joy of Cooking, but they don't have any eggs and dairy – or nuts.

That's because Kelly Rudnicki is a default vegan with a son who’s allergic to all three foods. If not, I'm sure she’d be using them in her recipes. If he were allergic to wheat, the recipes would be gluten free - and still taste amazing.

Kelly has five kids, and possibly a husband around somewhere, and only one is allergic. Naturally she wanted the rest of the family to enjoy her recipes too, so she had to make them look good, taste good, and appeal to children and husbands.

All of these are classic favorite comfort food recipes. That's a major strength of this cookbook. But perhaps for that reason, Kelly's are not what I'd call “healthy recipes”.

Apart from not having dairy or egg, these are regular recipes, with granulated sugar and white flour. I found not a smidgen of whole grain flour except in the wheat bread recipe. There was no agave nectar, nutritional yeast or tofu in these vegan recipes.

Nevertheless, I suspect that the Vegan Baking Classics cookbook will make a lot of default vegans very happy, if not ecstatic. I recommend this cookbook for anybody, vegan or non-vegan.

For one thing, the recipes have clear, complete directions, and they work exactly as given, every time. That's a sign of well-tested recipes from a talented, experienced cook.

Another thing is that these vegan recipes are simple and easy, with a minimum of ingredients, which most cooks will already have in their cupboards, or can easily find at a regular grocery store. Almost all food stores stock soy milk and rice milk, for example.

The other reason people will loooovvve Kelly Rudnicki's vegan baking recipes is that they are so delicious, without being overly sweet or fat-laden. You can serve these without a qualm to any non-vegan, and they won't know the difference, or care even if they do.

We tested the Cranberry Orange Muffins, and the Apple Muffins, because we have a serious muffin fixation. They are awesome! But we've got plans for the Cherry Cobbler, the Harvest Pumpkin Cake, Gingerbread Cake, Blueberry Buckle, Russian Teacakes, etc.

Classic favorite yeast bread recipes are in there too: Cinnamon Rolls, Old Fashioned White Bread, Old-Fashioned Whole Wheat Bread, Holiday Bread (a braided loaf), Italian Focaccia Bread, Quick Pizza Dough.

We can't put all of Kelly's recipes up on Savvy Vegetarian, unfortunately. So buy the book – you'll be glad you did!

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