Two New Maida Heatter Books Out in April

Voracious Publishers (an imprint of Little, Brown & Co.) will publish two new books by Maida Heatter on April 7, 2020. Thanks to NetGalley, I was given the opportunity to review digital copies. Like last year's Happiness Is Baking, both books are compilations of her most popular recipes.

The first is Cookies Are Magic: Classic Cookies, Brownies, Bars, and More. The recipes in this book have been assembled from Maida Heatter’s previously published books, including Happiness Is Baking, Maida Heatter's Cakes,  Maida Heatter's Cookies, Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts, Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts, Maida Heatter's New Book of Great Desserts.

There are chapters on Drop Cookies, Bar Cookies, Icebox Cookies, Rolled Cookies and Hand-Formed Cookies. A More! chapter includes recipes for macaroons, crackers, marshmallows and other items that don't necessarily fit into any of the previous categories.

The book includes some of the recipes that I have tried and shared on the blog here, such as Palm Beach Brownies, Pennies From Heaven, Pinwheels, and Positively the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies. The large majority, however, are recipes that I haven't tried so I have my work cut out for me. Some of the ones that I need to try are Mrs. L.B.J's Moonrocks, Norman Rockwell's Oatmeal Wafers, Johnny Appleseed Squares, Lebkuchen, Vienesse Marzipan Bars, Maxines and the list goes on. 

The book contains a foreward by Deb Perelman which was unavailable on the galley. The colorful illustrations are by Alice Oehr, who also did the ones for Happiness is Baking. Maida Heatter's notes on equipment, ingredients and how-to's are included in the preface.

The book appears to be designed exactly like Happiness Is Baking, which has a very attractive layout. My only gripe with it was that it is impossible to keep the book open so you have to use a weight to hold the pages down.

Chocolate Is Forever: Classic Cakes, Cookies, Pastries, Pies, Puddings, Candies, Confections, and More  follows the same format and features Maida's chocolate delicacies.  The recipes in this book are compiled from the same titles listed above.

Chapters include Simple Cakes, Special Occasion Cakes, Cookies & Bars, Pastries, Pies, Puddings & More and Candy, Fudge and Chocolate Drinks. I have made many of these recipes and they include some of my all-time favorites, such as 86-Proof Chocolate Cake, St. Louis Chocolate Layer Cake, Country Fair Chocolate Cake, Frozen Chocolate Mousse and Rocky Roads. But there are also a number that I haven't tried, chief among them are the September 7th Cake, Robert Redford Cake, Queen Mother's Cake, Hungarian Seven Layer Cake, Mocha Velvet, Chocolate Bread and a host of others. Just seeing the list of contents reminds me, that despite blogging her recipes for the past decade, I still have tons of recipes to go!