The Happy Baker

Since Christmas there has been one cookbook that I haven't bought. I have wanted and wanted and wanted it, yet every time I went into my local book store they never had it. I didn't want to order it online either since at the time I hadn't been working. I kept talking about this book to people, and funny enough when I moved back home and went to my dad's girlfriends place she surprised me with the book! The title is The Happy Baker by Erin Bolger. I absolutely LOOOOOVE this book! The pictures are beautiful, the recipes are simple, and there are whimsical heartbreak stories all through out the book. This book is incredibly genial. To be honest, this is the book that made me want to start blogging even though I didn't own it. This is definitely a must-own book.

So, I knew when I got this book I wanted to work through every single recipe. So far I'm at about 15. I figured I could definitely complete this book over the next few months. So far I'm doing pretty well. I decided that I am not going to change the recipes AT ALL. I wanted to make it exactly like the book. If for example the dough is too dry or such I will add water, but I will not change ingredients around to please my palette. I decided however that I will not be posting recipes unfortunately since it will take too long to type out. With that being said I am going to be giving honest opinions about the recipes.

I think this is a book that you shouldn't just take the recipes from as if they are random one's found on the internet, this is DEFINITELY a book that must be bought! I cannot brag enough about it. Trust me, the comments I get and the praise is definitely worth it.

Slow and steady wins the, peanut butter cupcakes - fan-friggin-tastic! These were so so so good. I had made these for a friends birthday, and they were definitely a hit. With the moist chocolate cupcakes, and the rich and creamy peanut buttery icing on top, these are sure to fill any craving. They were amaziiiing.

Better late than never peanut butter crispy cups - I have to admit this one I SORT of changed the recipe... I still used milk chocolate and peanut butter chipits, but I used Lindt instead. These were soooo awesome. As mentioned before I love Rice Krispies. They are so simple in flavour, but their crunchiness just does it for me. With the added Lindt chocolate, oh boy, they were to die for!

You are not as sweet as my sugar cookies - This recipe I was not very impressed with to be quite honest. The taste was absolutely impeccable, but the dough was one of the worst doughs I have ever worked with. If I were to make these cookies again, I would use another sugar cookie recipe and just add lemon juice and roll them in coconut.

Three's a crowd, rocky road bars - Two words: absolutely amazing! The shortbread base was really good, I had to add a bit more butter than stated since it was too crumbly with the amount in the recipe, but the taste was definitely there. Then the toppings, oh, just too perfect! Delicious!

So far so good bar - I had brought these to a party and they got eaten up in less than ten minutes, need I say more? The only thing I noticed about these bars is that the white chocolate didn't want to stay on top of the bars unfortunately, but they were still very good!

No pain no gain, raisin cookie - these cookies were definitely an oatmeal cookie. They were hardy, rich, crumbly, crunchy, anything you could ask for in an oatmeal raisin cookie. I liked these a lot, but after having the nice buttery oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, I would vote those ones number one. But these were definitely an awesome recipe, especially for those true "oatmeal raisin" lovers, which I am, but I just found these ones to get hard a little to quick, and I am a soft cookie lover. These did not last too long in the house though, that's for sure!

For the love of toffee cracker goodness – I personally didn’t try these because I can’t eat crackers, bread products etc… unless I make them, (don’t know why yet…) however, I did bring these into the office, and they were gone after a few minutes. My friend kept telling people, “these are horrible, you wouldn’t like them), needless to say many people ended up taking her favourite treats, she was very upset, while others were not so upset, hahaha.

Almost paradise bread - This was one of the first recipes from the book I tried. I had made it for the bf when I went to visit him. I cannot describe how amazing it is. I am a little biased however since it incorporates ALL of my favourite fruit EXCEPT canteloupe, however it includes: mango, pineapple, bananas and coconut. Could it get anymore perfect than that? This bread was amazingly moist, flavourful and smelt incredibly amazing, there is even cinnamon in it! AHHHH. I am currently drooling just thinking of how it tasted. Yummmmyyyy!

Short on love, not on shortbread - Not a fan AT all. The taste was there, yeah... but the recipe was so incredibly dry I was contemplating just throwing the whole darn thing out. I had to add so much water and it was still dryer than the Sahara. I will definitely not make these cookies again unfortunately.

Erin’s go-to cookie – these were definitely a great cookie. Anything with oatmeal, chocolate, peanut butter and COCONUT, is good in my books. These cookies definitely didn’t last long.

Bite my peanut brittle, bi-atch – ughhh... I don't know what is up with this recipe. I had to take it off much sooner than stated and it still burned like crazy. Even the burnt stuff didn't taste good. Awful, awful, awful!

My mom didn’t like you anyway, cupcake – these were a good cupcake, but out of the three cupcakes in the book definitely my least favourite. I’m not a GIGANTIC fan of chocolate cupcakes so with the chocolate frosting it was too much. Chocolate lovers definitely approved of this cupcake though, which is always a good thing!

I’m so done with you and the horse you rode in on, haystack cookies – to be honest, I haven’t tried these cookies yet nor has anyone else. However there are chocolate, marshmallows AND pretzels, all things of mine that work so well together and are some of my favourite sweets, so I’m pretty sure this will be a winner in my books.

I’m pretty awesome, yum yum squares – coconut, walnuts, and brown sugar, yuuuuuummmmy. She definitely hit the nail on the door with these bars, so so so good!

I need a real man, maple pumpkin pie - Pumpkin is one of those flavours that I cannot believe the whole world isn't hooked one. Whenever someone tells me they don't enjoy the flavour I literally want to strap them down and shove pumpkin down their throats. To me it is a necessary flavour in life. I mean, it is autumn, Hallowe'en, Thanksgiving, happiness, ugh everything about it just makes me feel warm inside. This recipe was so so so good. The crust was mouth watering and the pumpkin filling itself OH MY GOODNESS. The recipe for the filling was definitely proportioned wrong however... there was way too much for the pan measurement, so mini pumpkin pies it was! I am however glad that there was too much because these mini pumpkin pies were astounding. Ughhhh sooo goooddd!! My pictures may not be the best proof for how this pie actually was, but the pictures in the book and the flavours definitely say otherwise.

Best friends forever, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies - mouthwatering, amazing, orgasmic, drool, love, happiness, fantastic, buttery, sweet, nomnomnom, yuuuuuumm. Oh my goodness! Great great great recipe. This definitely wasn't as oatmeal-y as I was intending for it to be but it came out oh so amazingly. If I were to make it again I would just add more oatmeal because the flavours were there, every single necessary flavour was in that cookie! Fantasticcccc cookie.

Goodbye men, hello dolly squares – so so so so so so good. Oh they were FANTASTIC. They were soft, chewy, tasty, sweet, crunchy everything that is awesome. Oh I loveddddd these!

Maybe it’s destiny, dream bars – same as the above, so amazing! The only thing I liked less from these bars between the hello dolly squares is the fact that this was a brownie base, I much prefer a graham cracker crust, I love how sweet they are, brownie bases in my opinion are a little too heavy. With that being said however, it was perfect for this bar!

it’s not me it’s you, sea salted caramels – I didn’t try these… seeing as I know what went in them, I felt as though if I had of tasted them I would of probably fallen in love and developed diabetes. There was so much sugar in these, oh boy. I wasn’t too impressed by the look of these either. I did everything to a T and the caramel came out a little lumpy unfortunately. As well as, the sea salt wouldn’t stay on top of the caramel for whatever reason. However, everyone I gave these too that tried them loved them, but did say they were incredibly sweet. To be honest, I wouldn’t suggest making these… oh well you win some, you lose some.

I need a man that has bigger balls than my banana bread – as I have posted before, I have found my number one banana bread, and nothing has come close to it in my books. Erin’s “almost paradise bread” was definitely an amazing bread, but it wasn’t a banana bread. This bread was a hit with my family and friends, but myself personally I found it to be a little lacking in flavour, and it wasn’t moist enough for my liking. The thing I did like about this recipe is that it did include apple sauce which is always a nice touch, that many people don’t include in their baking.

Just me, myself, and pie – I personally didn’t try this because I really despise chocolate pudding. It makes me want to gag just looking at it, how I made this pie/cake I’m not sure but I did. I made it for my mom’s boyfriends birthday, there were kids at the celebration and if they have any say in how good this cake is, they definitely made me believe it was good. One little boy had two huge pieces, and asked for some to take home but his mom said no. I also brought two pieces into work for my friend and she devoured them like a little kid. If you’re a chocolate pudding lover and love golden graham crumbs this is sure to please.

Getting lucky ain’t just for the Irish cream cupcakes – oh so good! Bailey’s is definitely one of my favourite alcoholic drinks, just because it is so creamy. When incorporated into a baked good, it’s just that much better. And when it’s added TO the icing as well it’s just the cherry on the sundae. These were so good, and flavorful. The only downside to this recipe is that I did find the cupcake wasn’t moist enough. I would definitely make these again however. Very flavorful, I can still imagine the smell and how happy I was while I was making these!

Always a bridesmaid, Nanaimo bars – this may not be the prettiest Nanaimo bar picture you’ve ever seen, I had a really hard time cutting these out, but let me tell you, they were amaaaazing! I made these for the bf’s dads birthday. He absolutely loved them. I had kept a few for myself to bring into work. Well, let me put it this way… my one friend liked them so much she licked the bag clean. I mean, licked it CLEAN. No word of a lie. They were so rich and decadent, and they are sure to put any dieter back into limbo. They were fantastic… well the sliver of a piece I had, yes I resisted the temptation. But that itty bitty piece I did try was sinful. It was so tasty. Nanaimo bars are one of my all time favourites. After making it however, and knowing how much sugar and fat went into making these I was terrified at the nutritional value of these beautiful little friends. If you aren’t a giant pansy like me, and don’t care about how much junk you put in your body, MAKE THESE! If you’re going to make one thing, especially from THIS book, make THESE bad boys! Go on, go do it!

Wow, I’m still single in the city, munchies – oh boy! Salty and sweet could you ask for anything more? Simplicity? Yes, this recipe definitely serves that as well. Two ingredients, and it is a mad easy recipe. I don’t think any working person could ask for a simpler recipe that delivers taste.

I just bought my first condo because I’m still single caramel shortbread – my friend who licked the bag clean on the Nanaimo bars pretty much ate the WHOLE dish of these bars. These were definitely a rich and decadent treat. And for any caramel lover out there, this recipe is a must. Not only does it taste wonderful, the presentation is absolutely gorgeous as well!

Healthy maple almond granola – yuck. I absolutely adore granola, this however was horrible. I don’t know why. It looked amazing but tasted horrible. I’m not sure if it was from my side, or if the recipe just sucked. That’s all I have to say.