Cook This Book
by Molly Baz
4.1/5
A technique-focused cookbook by Molly Baz pairing instructional lessons with repeatable recipes designed to build genuine cooking confidence at home.
$23.32 on AmazonAt a glance
About the Author
Molly Baz1 book reviewed · 4.1 avg
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- Summarize this book
- Cook This Book: Techniques That Teach is Molly Baz's case for learning to cook through understanding rather than rote recipe-following. The book pairs clear technique lessons with recipes specifically chosen to reinforce those lessons, so readers build repeatable skills rather than a list of one-off dishes. It's aimed at home cooks who've moved past complete beginner status but still feel dependent on recipes as a script.
- Is it worth reading?
- Yes — for intermediate home cooks, Cook This Book is one of the most honest and useful options currently available. Baz's technique-first structure gives the book lasting reference value beyond a single read, and recipes are explicitly designed for repetition and adaptation. Experienced cooks with a strong technique foundation will find diminishing returns, but for its target audience, the 4.1/5 rating reflects a genuinely strong delivery on its promise.
- About Molly Baz
- Molly Baz is a food writer and recipe developer best known for her work at Bon Appétit, where she built a following for her direct, personality-driven approach to teaching cooking. Her writing style is conversational, occasionally playful, and consistently confident — the review describes it as advice from someone who has made the mistakes, corrected them, and wants to save you the trouble. Cook This Book is among her most prominent standalone works, and her background in food media is visible in recipes calibrated to feel contemporary and weeknight-achievable.
- Similar books
- Readers who connect with Cook This Book's technique-first philosophy might also explore Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat, which similarly prioritizes understanding principles over following scripts. Jacques Pépin's New Complete Techniques offers a more formal and comprehensive technique foundation for those wanting deeper culinary science. For a conversational, food-media-adjacent voice similar to Baz's, Alison Roman's cookbooks share some stylistic DNA. The Food Lab by J. Kenji López-Alt is the go-to for cooks who want the rigorous culinary science that Baz's casual register deliberately steps back from.
- Who should read this?
- Cook This Book is ideal for home cooks who have moved past complete beginner status but feel like they're cooking from recipes rather than from real understanding — Baz directly addresses the gap between following instructions and actually knowing what you're doing. Those newer to cooking will find it accessible with some supplementary support, and experienced cooks will still enjoy Baz's voice and recipes, though they'll find less new technical ground. Readers wanting deep culinary science or adventurous global recipes should look elsewhere.
- How deep does it go into culinary science?
- Cook This Book prioritizes accessible, practical technique over rigorous culinary science. Baz's conversational register deliberately keeps things approachable, which the review notes has a ceiling — readers wanting formal explanations of the chemistry or physics behind cooking will find her approach somewhat breezy. For that level of depth, a book like The Food Lab by J. Kenji López-Alt is the more appropriate choice.
- What kinds of recipes are in the book?
- The recipes are calibrated to feel contemporary and weeknight-achievable — ambitious enough to be interesting but not intimidatingly cheffy. The selection leans toward familiar contemporary American cooking with occasional global influences, which means it covers substantial ground without pushing into particularly adventurous or culturally specific territory. Many recipes include explicit suggestions for variations and substitutions, reinforcing the book's core teaching philosophy.
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Editorial Review
Molly Baz's Cook This Book makes a compelling case for technique-led learning, pairing clear instructional content with recipes designed to be repeated. It's best suited to intermediate home cooks who want to understand the why behind what they're cooking, though those seeking deep culinary science or adventurous global recipes may find it limited in scope.
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Same technique-first philosophy as Cook This Book — teaches four foundational cooking principles so every recipe you make afterward improves.
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Technique-driven structure mirrors Baz's teaching approach, but goes deeper into culinary fundamentals for cooks who want more rigorous instruction.
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Barefoot Contessa Foolproof: Recipes You Can Trust
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Ina Garten's confidence-building philosophy — fewer recipes, deeper understanding — mirrors Baz's repeat-it-until-it's-yours teaching method.
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Shares Baz's accessible, personality-driven voice and visually driven instruction — great for intermediate cooks who want recipes that feel creative but approachable.
Not your thing?
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The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science
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For readers who wanted deeper culinary science than Baz provides — López-Alt explains the chemistry and physics behind every technique with obsessive, satisfying detail.