On the one hand, it felt a little weird to read a book about holiday baking less than a week after a historic, record-setting heat wave in the Pacific Northwest.

On the other hand, reading the book and thinking about winter was a blessed mental break and reminder that weather will, in fact, grow colder (and I’ll one day have to turn on my heater again, though it is not this day!).

Autumn is hands down my favorite season; it kicks off allllll the baking goodness I love, not to mention the glorious kitchen smells (and free residual oven heat to warm my apartment, if I’m honest). I happily daydream of and anticipate Thanksgiving and Christmas, listen to Christmas music, and visit Hobby Lobby for #allthehomedecor shopping. So reading Baking for the Holidays gave me a sneak peek of that in July (Christmas in July, anyone?!)–and I loved it on all the levels. (Oh, sorry, let me keep on with the hashtagging–#allthelevels.) This cookbook, focused on my favorite time of year and favorite things to eat, is utterly glorious, from the photography to the sheer ideas it gets me itching to start on (if only the oven wouldn’t heat things up before I want it to!).

And the stories Kieffer includes are so very relatable and entertaining, bringing back many a childhood memory as I read. (Plus, anyone that favorably mentions Amy Grant’s Christmas albums is all right in my book. And book quotes scattered throughout?! I think I’ve found a kindred spirit.)

Classic recipes (Cinnamon rolls! Streusel coffee cake!) appear alongside fresh takes and trendy-ish ingredients (Nutella star bread–and who can go wrong with the beautiful pattern it makes?!–and Meyer lemon-white chocolate scones!). And the season doesn’t get much more festive, food-wise, than with the white cake with cranberries and white chocolate buttercream; its incorporation of rosemary-sprig garnish truly elevates it. And, this may be the cookbook that finally gets me to try Nutella, haha. I love that the book includes tips and tricks for early prep, as well; we all know how crazy the hols can get, and anywhere we can save ourselves time and/or angst is always appreciated.

A true feast for the eyes as well as the taste buds.

I received an eARC of the book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Sarah Kieffer is quickly finding a place on my cookbook shelves. While many of the recipes in Baking for the Holidays are familiar to me, Kieffer has included plenty of suggestions for twists on originals - unusual thing you can add to cakes, breads, and pastries - that add new life to old classics.

Every recipe I tried resulted in delicious, well-baked goodies, due to Kieffer’s careful and detailed instructions. She’s a good writer, and very attentive to detail, which makes her a great writer of cookbooks! The photography is full of luscious images of cakes, cookies, pastries and other delectable items.

My favorite “new” recipe is the one for Morning Buns, which I will be adding to my rotation of special items to bake for holidays.

Buy this for the baker in your life!

The Book has a main recipe and also includes different ways to change the recipes. So you really get more recipes. The directions are very detailed.

Lovely book! I love all the pictures of the delicious looking treats and can’t wait to try some of these recipes.

Filled with stunning pictures, this book makes me want to bake all year round! It is so approachable with pictures of each step to follow along with. Not only will I be recommending this to my library to purchase, I will be purchasing a copy myself and making this book a part of my holiday traditions.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this publication! I really enjoyed this cooking book! It gave a bunch of good recipes!

Baking for the Holidays is an adorable cookbook. I see a ton of recipes I'd enjoy making and serving at family gatherings. I didn't want to review the book without trying a recipe, so I made the vanilla bean sables. They were a hit with my kids!

There were two things I didn't really like. For me personally, there were too many yeast recipes, which I have never successfully been able to bake. And I wish the recipes were broken up by steps or smaller paragraphs. I had to keep trying to find where I was, which to me is a little inconvenient.

Overall I really liked this cookbook and plan to buy a copy when it's released. The Hot Chocolate Cake will be a hit when I serve it at Christmas. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

#bakingfortheholidays #netgalley

Baking is one of my favorite things to do and I like to start trying recipes way ahead of the holidays. I tried a couple of the recipes in this book and loved them. Looking at the rest, the recipes are great additions for holiday dinners, and they will help me complement my dessert table this year.

I got the book with the intention of baking throughout the year for different holidays - I have another book with candy for holidays throughout the year, so I thought this would be like that for baking. The cover should have tipped me off it was Christmas only. The recipes themselves were good. Did one with the idea I'll do more later..

One of the best holiday baking books I have read. The photographs are wintery, comforting, and compelling. The recipes have a holiday vibe, spice, and richness, but have so many variations and such well-grounded structure that you can use them year-round. There are old favorites like cinnamon roles and cheffy flourishes like burnt honey buttercream. There's even a suggestion of music to bake by to get in the holiday mood. This would make a great gift for anyone who loves baking or anyone who loves the winter holidays.

Highly recommended.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This book was received as an ARC from Chronicle Books in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I could not help but get excited and hungry when I saw the magnificent desserts and how easy the recipes were to follow. I love how Sarah Kieffer adds a personal connection to each recipe and it makes you want to eat the dish more. I can't wait to make a lot of these desserts including the Giant Cinnamon Rolls, Morning Buns, Star Braid with all of the different fillings and of course the creme brulee pumpkin pie. I know this book will be a hit and a candidate for a future cooking demo that will definitely be very popular. I can't wait to share all of these wonderful recipes with our library community.

We will consider adding this title to our TX Non-Fiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

Beautifully photographed cookbook filled with recipes for Holiday goodies. My mouth watered throughout the entire tome I was reading reading this cookbook. If you’re like me, you do 80% of your baking during a few weeks in December. It’s a frantic exercise to make sure everyone’s favorite food is created along with a few new treats for variety. Kieffer passed the cookbook organization test with flying colors, providing a good table of contents divided into five sections: Morning Breads and Pastries, Holiday Desserts, Gift Giving, Beyond Christmas, and Extras ( Marshmallows, Marshmallow Fluff, Caramel, No- Churn Ice Cream, Pastry Cream, etc.). Step -by -step illustrations on crafting several more complicated recipes are well done and I can’t wait to try the striking Nutella Star Bread.

All in all, an excellent holiday cookbook which is sure to spark enthusiasm for the years busiest baking season.

Baking for the Holidays is a fun and informative holiday baking book. It starts with clear information on ingredients and equipment before moving on to the recipes themselves. I love the number of pictures included, especially as it starts out with cinnamon rolls. The first time I tried making cinnamon rolls, I kept asking my sister if it looked right and this provides a quick check right then and their. All with classic recipes, there are lovely showpieces for when guests are over, like the Nutella Star Bread or the simpler Panettone Scone that I had never seen before. I think it had fun ideas, lots of good tips and tricks, and recipes for any sort of holiday event. I definitely recommend. My one downside is that this is more for entertaining but few recipes are fairly quick, so unless you plan and bake ahead you might be stuck in the kitchen for awhile. Also, as someone with a nut allergy, I wish there were fewer recipes with nuts (there are a significant amount with them) or at least substitutions included. Still, there were a ton of innovative desserts to try.

I Love this cookbook! The recipes contain simple everyday ingredients and still sound scrumptious and look elegant. Each recipe has a corresponding photo which is a must for me. Usually I'm a little hesitant when there is a section on "gift" foods but these actually look like things I would have no problem giving and someone would actually enjoy getting. I recieved this title as a digital e-galley for my honest feedback but I've already put the physical copy on my wish list. It's that good!

What a lovely book that brings back memories of many happy Christmases past.

The beautiful poem and the music list at the end really topped it off as not just a cookbook. The photography is gorgeous, the recipes easily adaptable and they all sound so yummy. They are also easy to understand, easy to follow and most of them are recipes we can all have a go at and succeed.

Great writing, great recipes and great fun.

What a fantastic holiday recipe book!

This book is sure to make you crave some baked goodies! There are so many recipes to try and I will definitely be buying a hard copy of this book to add to my cookbook collection. Something that stood out to me that I really appreciated was that there were lots of danish sweets for those that aren't huge fans of chocolate (sorry!). I can't way to try out some recipes soon!

These are perfect recipes for the winter but really any time of year! The release date in September is perfect so bakers can practice these recipes before the holiday season! The Crème Brûlée Pumpkin Pie is on my “to practice” list! All directions were clear and the photos provided were perfect.
Thank you to Netgalley and Chronically Books for this arc ebook in exchange for an honest review.

There are some recipes in there that I will for sure love to try. I loved this book included pictures of both the dish and the process. Thank you netgalley for providing me an arc.

This book is ending up in my holiday box. The recipes and the pictures are beautiful. The recipes appear to be ones that I would use 1000+ times for my family and might even end up heirlooms.
Excellent written! In the Amazon shopping cart it goes. It might even make it into my families christmas gifts!

I'm so glad that I got this book as now I have plenty of time to practice these recipes for the holiday season. I absolutely loved the Cheater's Croissant Dough and will be using it all the time now!