This is a great tool to have no matter what kind of brownies you want to make! There's all different kids and they all look so delicious.

Love brownies? Who doesn’t? The Brownie Diaries: My recipes for happy times, heartbreak and everything in between
is a love story to brownies, and the author, Leah Hyslop shows her love in delightful vignettes and stories about the brownies featured in this fun cookbook. Even though I think of brownies as chocolate (brown), Hyslop has included recipes for dozens of flavors of brownies and blondies. Actually, there isn’t one recipe that doesn’t appeal, and anyone reading this cookbook will immediately get to work preparing at least one type brownie or blondie every day.

The recipes are written in the traditional way so they are easy to follow, and the recipes are mostly quite easy. There is a recipe included for every day to fancy days. Hyslop has also thought of clever names for the myriad of brownies and blondies, and it is an enjoyable read whether you’re planning to bake or not.

The photographs are beautiful, and there is a photograph of every recipe, which is, as far as I’m concerned, absolutely necessary for those of us who choose our recipes based on visibility.

All told, this is not only an excellent cookbook, but it should be on every cookbook shelf. The recipes can be made easily by both beginning and seasoned bakers, and frankly, there is no excuse to skip making brownies for any occasion. Highly recommended.


Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

Leah Hyslop writes that her recipe for “Ultimate Fudge Brownies” is a classic for a reason, and the one recipe that everyone should have in their box. I agree wholeheartedly! Buy good ingredients, and mix up this simple but delicious recipe to cure what ails you or your family. (I stashed a few of them in the back of my freezer against a desperate day.)

Don’t be put off by the UK measurements and temperatures. A quick web search will help you convert anything you need.

I don’t bake a lot of sweets, and may not get far past the first recipe in the book, but its a great one to have and use over and over.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Pick this book up! Do you enjoy whimsy and decadent recipes? Look no further than Leah Hyslop's 'The Brownie Diaries'. When I opened this book initially I thought I would find a handful of permutations on a traditional brownie with straightforward titles, but I was wrong. What I found inside these pages were a range of recipes that took me by surprise. Hyslop chooses to employ whimsical title that are not just "peanut butter brownie" or "peppermint brownie" but rather "First Day on the Job Blondies" or "I like to recycle brownies". Readers are sure to be tickled by the inventive names and decadent but easy to follow recipes. I cannot wait to try my hand at "Spoil yourself brownie". Happy Baking!

An American NetGalley user searched "cookbooks" and was caught up by this delightful British volume. She enjoyed it, and eagerly awaits an opportunity to make some of these recipes. Alas, she ran out of chocolate. She is planning on updating with a more thorough review when the opportunity arises!

A delicious treat of a book.So many delicious recipes pictures that will make you start baking immediately.Ibenjoyed this cookbook from beginning to end,#netgalley#bloomsbury

The Brownie Diaries is a food therapy ode of love to brownies and chocolate-cakey things by Leah Hyslop. Due out 12th April 2022 from Bloomsbury, it's 176 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats, it makes it so easy to find info with the search function if needed.

This is such a fun and upbeat book, crammed with delicious brownie recipes. I've always been a fan of sweets and there are enough varied recipes here to keep the most dedicated brownie fan going for ages. The introduction does a much better than average job of introducing tools and ingredients for brownies and explaining what they do in context in the recipe to make the finished products not too cakey or too gooey or otherwise less-than-perfect.

The following chapters contain the recipes, grouped thematically: brownies for everyday, comfort, celebration (fancy!), and not-quite-traditional-brownie things.

Recipes contain a description and introduction, bullet lists of ingredients (measurements are given in metric units), followed by step-by-step instructions. All the recipes are photographed and illustrations are attractively styled and appetizing. Nearly all ingredients will be readily available at the local grocery store. Tutorial photos are accompanied by clear understandable captions which really help.The book is mostly slanted toward bakers in the UK and ingredient terms are in UK English (caster sugar, sultanas, golden syrup), but substitutions and conversions won't be a problem for readers elsewhere.

Five stars. Sensible. Beautifully written. High production quality throughout.I want to try all these recipes.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

I was so excited to be able to read this cookbook. Why? Because I love brownies! And a cookbook related to just brownies has to be perfection, right? Right! The Brownie Diaries is almost perfect for my household. Why? Because unfortunately, there is a nut allergy in my house, and some of the most delicious-sounding recipes contain nuts. Maybe I can kick the husband out to have nutty brownies? I won’t do that because I would miss him too much.

There are a couple of things of note about the book that I did not know before beginning. As the book is from the UK, a few items are unusual for a North American audience. The oven temperature in the recipes is Celsius instead of Fahrenheit. The measurements of the ingredients are by weight in grams instead of being measured in cups or even ounces.

Before this book, I was always anxious about making brownies that involved melting bars of chocolate because the recipes always made it sound like you had to use the expensive chocolate bars. The Brownie Diaries proves this wrong! Hyslop even states she used the cheap store brand bars while testing many of the recipes.

This book was archived before I could review and am a little confused because the release date hasn't come out yet. Sorry I couldn't review in time.

I mean how can you not love any cookbook that uses “thwacking great” as a term to describe their brownies? The author has a way of making even the most mundane ingredients sound exciting. You can totally get her love affair with the brownie through this book and I love her for it.

The recipes are easy to follow and most have easily found ingredients (or she tells you what you can use instead. Don’t have this special flour? Sod it use regular). There are a few recipes that we may have issues finding in America but I mean you can order anything on the internet right?

Highly delightful cookbook!

Thank you, NetGalley, Leah Hyslop and Bloomsbury USA for the book The Brownie Diaries. This is my personal review.
I am a cookbook lover. This one being about brownies was one I wanted to read.
I liked the variety of recipes in the book. The photos were appealing but I would liked to have seen more in the book. When a cookbook has a large number of photos showing the finished product it is a huge plus for me.
The recipes were all in metric so a few cooks would have to convert to do the recipe.
I have found that making brownies from scratch makes my family so happy. Brownies are a go to dessert in our house and I am eager to buy this book to add to my collection.

THE BROWNIE DIARIES is a sweet treat from cover to cover. I was really in the mood to bake up a couple of bathes for myself!

This is an excellent brownie cookbook...if you live in the UK. The variety of recipes is great and they all sound so appealing. There are explanations of food science that are helpful and easy to understand, as well as a good guide to basic baking techniques. The conversational tone, humor, and asides make for fun reading. The photography is truly outstanding for a cookbook--the brownies are presented very creatively and look delectable!

Unfortunately, some things just don't translate well. As an American, as awesome as these recipes look, I probably wouldn't go to the trouble of converting all the weights and measures, figuring out/finding uniquely British ingredients, and translating the "separated by a common language" text. That said, if you're in the UK or buying a book for someone who is, this is an excellent choice!

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review.

I love brownies, so I was excited for the opportunity to review this book. The recipes are in four chapters: Brownies for Everyday, for Comfort, for Celebration, and "Sort of." The last chapter is ones that are inspired by or transform brownies or blondies into something else.
I wanted to really like this book, but it was originally published in the UK, and the ARC version I received had gram measurements and celcius temps. Some of the ingredients and other writing used the British terms also. As the publisher was listed as USA, I was not expecting this.
I did enjoy the full color photos, the amusing recipe names, and how the recipe title headers referenced the main ingredients showcased in the recipe. There were a lot of flavors and combos in here that I felt were fairly unique.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“Brownies have a near miraculous ability to make us feel good” begins this ooey, gooey cookbook filled with irresistible brownie recipes. My only concern is that every recipe is written using metric measurements so conversion is required for us Americans. It would have been handy had the author included both measurement units. I really enjoyed the recipe titles, very cute! From “can I have brownies for breakfast brownies” made with Nutella, bananas and cereal crunch to “the emergency brownie” a brownie for one made in a mug. There is a vegan and a gluten free option and so many delicious blondies such as, Pina Colada and Red Velvet Raspberry Cheesecake, yum!

Thank you Netgalley, Bloomsbury USA, and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Pros: I wanted to read this book as soon as I saw the cover because brownies are one of my favorite desserts. I usually use a box mix to make brownies, so this book was a great inspiration to try to make brownies from scratch and to try out some fun twists on the basic recipe (red wine, Oreos, peanut butter, bacon, Toblerone, etc). I appreciated that this book included gluten free brownies. My favorite thing about this book were the footnotes--so charming! I also loved the photos--both because they help me know if what I'm baking looks correct but also because they showed me new ways I could cut and decorate brownies.

Cons: I live in the USA, so I would have loved to see the recipes in this book also use standard measurements. I'm happy to convert from metric, but I think it might scare some readers/bakers away.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Absolute for the opportunity to read this book!

I’ll admit that I was sucked in by the promise of the publisher’s blurb for this cookbook. My life could use a few brownie based solutions for its big and small challenges. I was really hoping that this would be a contemporary reboot of Culinarytherapy by Beverley West, which is my favorite cozy cookbook from twenty years ago, except with all the foods being different types of brownies. The Brownie Diaries didn’t exactly fulfill that promise because it wasn’t nearly as prescriptive as “if you’re feeling this, make that,” but this was an awesome cookbook because it was just so diverse and hilarious.

The Brownie Diaries cookbook begins with twenty-five pages or so of introductory material. After supporting the book’s primary hypothesis that a brownie can make any situation better, the introductory material turns into Brownie School, which examines the four key stages of making brownies. There was some really interesting information in the Brownie School section, such as which ingredients provide structure and how to treat those ingredients in order to obtain the best not too cakey not too gooey result. The next subsections in the introductory material deal with equipment and ingredients necessary to make good brownies. The recommendation is for a 20 centimeter square tin because that’s what all the recipes were tested in. That converts 7.87 inches, so I’d probably use an 8 inch square pan in my New England kitchen. With respect to chocolate, the recommendation is for 70% cocoa solids when dark chocolate is called for and 30% cocoa solids when milk chocolate is called for. So much for my tendency to use store brand semisweet chocolate chips in my brownie baking!

After the introductory material, the recipes were organized into four chapters: brownies for everyday, brownies for comfort, brownies for celebration, brownies (sort of). Because this is not an American book, the ingredients are measured by weight in grams and temperatures are measured in Celsius and by Gas Marks. These are minor obstacles that, if necessary, can be easily overcome by changing the setting on the kitchen scale and asking Siri to convert into Fahrenheit. There were a few unique ingredients - like custard powder and certain British chocolate candies - but most of the oddities were just British terms in need of translation (yes, raisins can be used for sultanas). In general, the recipe steps are clearly written and quite descriptive, with some entertaining wit tossed in when the opportunity arose. Almost every recipe is accompanied by a full color photograph of the finished brownie, usually quite cheeky in its styling.

The first four everyday brownie recipes were very basic, which I expected. After that, things got interesting, like a strawberry marshmallow layered brownie, an ancho chile and toffee popcorn brownie, a stout and peanut brownie, and a pistachio rose blondie. There were also recipes for vegan, gluten-free, and vegetable-laden brownies. The comfort chapter began with a Friday night special, which included red wine and was topped by a rich chocolate ganache. I really didn’t have to read much further. But I did, and I discovered later recipes that included gin with lime and scotch whisky (with a shortbread crust). There was a recipe for a single-serve microwave mug brownie, which required cocoa powder rather than chocolate. As well as no bake brownie, which includes dates and rolled oats. Butternut squash is used in another recipe as a sweetener to create a lighter brownie. The celebration chapter kicked off with a red raspberry red velvet cheesecake brownie and then a brownie version of millionaire’s shortbread. There’s an Easter brownie that includes mini eggs and chocolate egg shards and a Halloween brownie that includes pumpkin purée. And a wedding brownie. And a birthday brownie. And even a Guy Fawkes brownie. At the end of this chapter are questions and answers about common brownie problems. I love the answer to “how can I keep brownies from going stale?” - which is to eat faster or to make more friends. The last chapter is about baked goods other than brownies, like cookies, cobblers, tiramisu, trifles, truffles and so on.

This seems to be a very British book, which makes the narrative portions of the book super amusing to my American mind. The omnipresent word “squidgey,” as well its comparative and superlative forms, just makes me laugh. And some of the uniquely British imagery - like eggs being the stern headmistress of brownie school or a test toothpick emerging with a sexy cladding of crumbs - is really entertaining.

I received this book as a digital advance reader copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest opinion. I haven’t made any of the recipes from this book yet, but I will update this review when I do.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fun book!

There's so many brownie recipes to choose from! From blondies to gluten free brownies and everything in between this book has a variety of recipes to make brownies from scratch. There are some pictures of the brownies, but I would have liked more. The recipes are in metric by grams and not cups which requires some conversion for Americans. While some of the recipes require some time or knowledge of baking, they are generally easy to understand or do. There are also funny footnotes and anecdotes throughout the book.

Overall a nice find!

Decadent, decadent, oh so decadent!

This Brownie/Blondie cookbook has so many unique recipes and they all are certain to be delicious. (Even one that involves popcorn had me drooling). One warning for buyers though is that all of the recipes (except for one) are done by weight. While I feel that will scare off most I think it will also inspire others because I myself am seriously considering buying a food scale now. These recipes are just too good to pass up. I have to try at least some of them before tossing away the scale. One of the first I'm wanting to try is once I get my hands on a scale is the Netflix and Chilli Brownies (the aforementioned brownies containing popcorn!) The oddball recipes always stick out to me! There are also more traditional recipes like Fudgy Brownies and Cakey Brownies so have no fear in that department. Also, pleasantly this book goes over the science of brownies a little bit. Not to indepth to where you just want to skip over that chapter but enough to make you understand the science behind what you're making. Spoiler! Brownies are failed cakes. I think this is a great cookbook for experienced bakers but also a great one to take novice bakers to more serious and experienced ones.

I got this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for a free review. This in no way impacted my opinion.