Baking Soda

Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen By Trisha Yearwood Bon Appetit, Y'all By Virginia Willis Ten Speed Press / 2008 / $32.50 Virginia Willis, a French-trained chef, unapologetically presents a more refined Southern cookbook - with more than a few "exotic" ingredients that would probably have Trisha Yearwood in fits. The book reads as if Willis couldn't decide where her true allegiance lies - on the Georgia farm with her biscuit-making grandmother, or with her fellow gourmet graduates of L'Academie de Cuisine.

Susan Ingram of Winchester, Va., was looking for a recipe for low-cholesterol oatmeal muffins. She said that a recipe was printed on the back of a Quaker oatmeal box sometime in the late 1980s, but she no longer has it. Christine Todd of Cleveland searched the Quaker Oats Web site and sent in two different recipes for oatmeal muffins, both of which were low-fat. I tested the one that had a streusellike topping because I thought it sounded like the more interesting of the two. While this may not be the exact recipe from the 1980s that Ingram was searching for, it is without a doubt a heart-healthy and delicious muffin.

The Essential Chocolate Chip Cookbook By Elinor Klivans Little Cakes From the Whimsical Bakehouse Cupcakes, Small Cakes, Muffins and Other Mini Treats By Kaye and Liv Hansen Clarkson Potter Publishers / 2008 / $24.95 As a general rule, for me dessert does not need to be cute. The authors of Little Cakes, however, beg to differ. The cunning little creations in this book are bound to draws ooohs and ahhs for their resemblance to cheerful bumblebees or baskets of violets. But these little treats are more than what meets the eye. The recipe for Almond Coffeecakes caught my interest because I had some sour cherries frozen fresh last summer.

With their Italian name, their panoply of flavor options and their crunchy exterior made for dunking, biscotti might seem too exotic to attempt at home. But Shirley Coleman, a chef instructor at Baltimore International College, says that's a misconception. "They're actually very easy to make," she says. "Biscotti reminds me of a sugar cookie, just baked in a different way. You can add anything you like to biscotti - chocolate chips, cranberries." Or citrus zest, which gives these biscotti from Coleman a touch of spring.

A Baker's Odyssey By Greg Patent A Passion for Baking By Marcy Goldman Oxmoor House / 2007 / $29.95 Welcome to the world of Cheesy Garlic Twisty Bread, Sticky Ooey-Gooey Peanut Butter Cookies and Cheesecake Truffle Bombs. Author Marcy Goldman has a freewheeling Willy-Wonkaesque approach to baking that is both fun and tasty. Caramel Swirl Hunks oozed gobs of dulce de leche and begged for a cold glass of milk. Bookstore Cafe Apricot Squares were a pretty, not-too-sweet treat and Blueberry Hill Oatmeal Cookies were laced with toasted coconut and studded with blueberries.

I made a poundcake with blueberries in it. But the blueberries fell to the bottom. How do I get the blueberries to do what they are supposed to do? Tossing ingredients with flour is one way to keep them from sinking in batter, but that works best with dry things, such as dried fruit or nuts. For your blueberry poundcake, try frozen blueberries. Frozen berries are less likely to sink. Fold them into the batter very gently, or put the batter in the pan in layers, sprinkling in some blueberries before you add more batter.

The Pastry Queen Christmas By Rebecca Rather with Alison Oresman Christmas Sweets Georgeanne Brennan Chronicle Books / 2007 / $18.95 Talk about visions of sugarplums. This book will have you rolling dough and sharpening your X-Acto knife to create a gingerbread cookie box. Apricot-Pistachio Bars are gift-giving pretty. And the creative packaging ideas for your edible gifts spread the good cheer. joannah.hill@baltsun.com Apricot-Pistachio Bars -- Makes about sixty-five 1 1/2 -inch squares 1 teaspoon butter plus 1 cup (2 sticks)

Pure Dessert By Alice Medrich Desserts by the Yard By Sherry Yard Houghton Mifflin / 2007 / $35.95 I was thrilled to discover Sherry Yard's new dessert book, because now I know what to serve should Hugh Grant come calling (Chocolate-Caramel Tart). And if faced with a mob of sugar-starved Academy Award winners, I know exactly what to whip up (Chocolate Truffle Tarts with Chocolate Creme Brulee Diamonds and Seven-Bean Vanilla Ice Cream). Yard, the executive pastry chef at Spago Beverly Hills, combines cookbook and memoir in this collection of recipes that ranges from her Brooklyn beginnings to the razzle-dazzle of Hollywood.

It's raining 100-calorie snack packs. In 2004, Kraft launched the skinny-mini craze with teensy-tiny Oreo and Chips Ahoy cookies. Since then nearly every snack company has downsized a line of goodies. Portion control is a good idea, but sometimes the final dimensions can seem rather absurd. For instance, last summer Pepperidge Farms shrunk its chocolate chunk cookies to the size of a nickel. The pouch contains 11 tiny morsels, which pieced together equal about one average-size cookie.

Kenneth Kelm of Glen Burnie was hoping someone would have the recipe for the "delightful" gingerbread cupcakes with chocolate frosting made by the now-closed Wolfe's bakery, which was in downtown Baltimore. Unfortunately, no one has yet sent in the exact recipe from Wolfe's that Kelm was looking for, but I had a recipe in my own collection for Gingerbread Cupcakes With Lemon-Cream-Cheese Frosting from the January 1990 issue of Gourmet magazine. This is a favorite recipe in our house, particularly this time of year.