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American Girl: Molly
Molly's Cookbook: A Peek at Dining in the Past With Meals You Can Cook Today
Describes what it was like living in the 1940s, and shares 40s-style recipes
44 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 29, 2014
Acquired this alongside Samantha's Craftbook. Some lady who was in College then borrowed it and she never returned it. Trust me, the only reason I still remember that lady and I continually search for her is because she never returned this book. Time must have passed, but she remains unforgiven. Lol!
[Read in the 90s].
[Read in the 90s].
January 23, 2013
This book is out-of-print, but has been repackaged as Molly's Cooking Studio with the same recipes. My daughter has the Molly doll and I found this book at her school library. We decided to have a Molly-themed cooking weekend. She picked out some breakfast and dinner recipes. Our Molly breakfast included: Toad-in-a-Hole, Fried Bacon, Quick Coffee Cake, and Frozen Fruit Cups. The only one I wouldn't make again is the Frozen Fruit Cup. It was difficult to eat, not too tasty and made a ton. I ended up throwing the extras away. Quick Coffee Cake was basic, but my daughter really liked it. For dinner she picked out Vitality Meat Loaf and Volcano Potatoes. I have to say, I've made a number of different meatloaf recipes, but this was a very good one. A nice tasty classic meatloaf. And the Volcano Potatoes were cute and fun to make as well as being yummy. My daughter helped with all of the cooking and Molly got dressed up and joined us for breakfast and dinner. It was a fun time and if your daughter has the Molly doll, I'd recommend this cookbook if you want to cook together.
January 21, 2026
I just finished Molly's series for the first time and while the books were a little...bit of a roller coaster, I'm really happy to have this gorgeous cookbook to explore her world a bit more.
Without further ado, here's the review:
This book starts with a brief blurb about cooking in the the 1940s - specifically how the meals contained less meat, sugar, and canned vegetables so that the soldiers could have a majority of the food.
This was followed by information regarding how the families shopped and prepared meals despite the constant shortages. We also learn about how Molly would set the table in that era -- include the information that she used Fiesta dishes and always gave Ricky the green plate (cause she didn't like the color).
From there we split into three main sections: Breakfast, Dinner and Favorite Foods.
Breakfast - we learn about how vigilant Molly and her family was about not wasting food due to the war effort. Breakfasts were quick on weekdays - with the children having to go to school and Mrs. McIntire needing to work at the Red Cross - but on weekends, the family could relax and enjoy a more leisurely meal.
Recipes include:
--Fried Potatoes (using precooked potatoes, fried up on a pan)
--Toad-in-a-Hole (toast with a hole cut out and eggs dropped in the middle to cook)
--Fried Bacon
--Quick Coffee Cake (with a cinnamon and brown sugar topping)
--Frozen Fruit Cups (orange juice, crushed pineapples, and other fruit mixed together and frozen)
Dinner - we are taught about the Seven Food Groups (the food pyramid of the 1940s) where Molly would try to eat everything from the seven groups each night.
Recipes Include:
--Vitamin A Salad (lemon gelatin, apricot nectar, cottage cheese and apricots made into a jello mold)
--Deviled Eggs (a classic dish, seasoned with salt, pepper, and pickle relish)
--Carrot Curls & Celery Fans (made with a vegetable peeler)
--Vitality Meat Loaf (ground beef and pork with various add-ins like egg, oatmeal, evaporated milk)
--Parsley Biscuits
--Volcano Potatoes (mashed potatoes shaped like volcanos and topped with cheese)
--Applesauce Cupcakes
Favorite Foods - these food items are more similar to snacks and extras that Molly would get between meals. We learn about why breadmaking helped the war effort.
Recipes include:
--French Toast
--Waldorf Salad (with apples, celery, mayo, lettuce, and walnuts)
--PB&J Roll-Ups (a pb&j sandwich, but rolled up and cut into pinwheels)
--Jelly Flags (layered bread with jam, cut to look like the flag)
--Victory Garden Soup (a veggie soup made with similar items that Mrs. Gilford grew in her garden)
--Nut-and-Raisin Bread (baked in a coffee can to get a fully-round loaf)
--Fruit Bars (chewy bars with a fruit topping and then a oatmeal topping on that)
Party Ideas
This last section of the cookbook provides suggestions on how to host a 1940s themed party - including a backward slumber party, an indoor camp, a patriotic party and a top-secret party. There's also information about activities you could do, decorations, clothes, and music.
Overall thoughts
I am really enjoying all of the themed cookbooks that go along with the American Girls. One thing that did bug me a bit was that several of the recipes just felt so...normal? Bacon, deviled eggs, PB&J roll-ups are all staples in the modern diet and I would have liked to get more unique food items that belonged in the 1940s.
That being said, I did really like historical context provided for the recipes and the little blurbs about the various cooking techniques or reasoning behind why certain recipes were chosen.
I do think we missed an opportunity to include oatmeal (which was showcased in Brave Emily) and mashed turnips (from Meet Molly).
I understand neither of those foods were particularly loved by the characters, but they were authentic to the time and there are way to make them taste better (the author could have shown the original way and then added a section about how to jazz the food up a bit, like Molly's mom did in Meet Molly)
But that's just my only gripe with the books. Overall, I love them and I'm looking forward to trying more of the recipes!
Without further ado, here's the review:
This book starts with a brief blurb about cooking in the the 1940s - specifically how the meals contained less meat, sugar, and canned vegetables so that the soldiers could have a majority of the food.
This was followed by information regarding how the families shopped and prepared meals despite the constant shortages. We also learn about how Molly would set the table in that era -- include the information that she used Fiesta dishes and always gave Ricky the green plate (cause she didn't like the color).
From there we split into three main sections: Breakfast, Dinner and Favorite Foods.
Breakfast - we learn about how vigilant Molly and her family was about not wasting food due to the war effort. Breakfasts were quick on weekdays - with the children having to go to school and Mrs. McIntire needing to work at the Red Cross - but on weekends, the family could relax and enjoy a more leisurely meal.
Recipes include:
--Fried Potatoes (using precooked potatoes, fried up on a pan)
--Toad-in-a-Hole (toast with a hole cut out and eggs dropped in the middle to cook)
--Fried Bacon
--Quick Coffee Cake (with a cinnamon and brown sugar topping)
--Frozen Fruit Cups (orange juice, crushed pineapples, and other fruit mixed together and frozen)
Dinner - we are taught about the Seven Food Groups (the food pyramid of the 1940s) where Molly would try to eat everything from the seven groups each night.
Recipes Include:
--Vitamin A Salad (lemon gelatin, apricot nectar, cottage cheese and apricots made into a jello mold)
--Deviled Eggs (a classic dish, seasoned with salt, pepper, and pickle relish)
--Carrot Curls & Celery Fans (made with a vegetable peeler)
--Vitality Meat Loaf (ground beef and pork with various add-ins like egg, oatmeal, evaporated milk)
--Parsley Biscuits
--Volcano Potatoes (mashed potatoes shaped like volcanos and topped with cheese)
--Applesauce Cupcakes
Favorite Foods - these food items are more similar to snacks and extras that Molly would get between meals. We learn about why breadmaking helped the war effort.
Recipes include:
--French Toast
--Waldorf Salad (with apples, celery, mayo, lettuce, and walnuts)
--PB&J Roll-Ups (a pb&j sandwich, but rolled up and cut into pinwheels)
--Jelly Flags (layered bread with jam, cut to look like the flag)
--Victory Garden Soup (a veggie soup made with similar items that Mrs. Gilford grew in her garden)
--Nut-and-Raisin Bread (baked in a coffee can to get a fully-round loaf)
--Fruit Bars (chewy bars with a fruit topping and then a oatmeal topping on that)
Party Ideas
This last section of the cookbook provides suggestions on how to host a 1940s themed party - including a backward slumber party, an indoor camp, a patriotic party and a top-secret party. There's also information about activities you could do, decorations, clothes, and music.
Overall thoughts
I am really enjoying all of the themed cookbooks that go along with the American Girls. One thing that did bug me a bit was that several of the recipes just felt so...normal? Bacon, deviled eggs, PB&J roll-ups are all staples in the modern diet and I would have liked to get more unique food items that belonged in the 1940s.
That being said, I did really like historical context provided for the recipes and the little blurbs about the various cooking techniques or reasoning behind why certain recipes were chosen.
I do think we missed an opportunity to include oatmeal (which was showcased in Brave Emily) and mashed turnips (from Meet Molly).
I understand neither of those foods were particularly loved by the characters, but they were authentic to the time and there are way to make them taste better (the author could have shown the original way and then added a section about how to jazz the food up a bit, like Molly's mom did in Meet Molly)
But that's just my only gripe with the books. Overall, I love them and I'm looking forward to trying more of the recipes!
May 1, 2015
nice book about food during ww2!
Read
October 18, 2022Why yes, I did check this out at my local library in order to veganize the recipes. Note: Date finished reading is literally just that, not the competition of making the recipes vegan.
September 21, 2021
I read this series months ago, and am wildly delayed in sharing my thoughts. However, I really loved this! I enjoyed the historic photographs, the cultural context for WWII America, the rations-based recipe ideas, and the delightful fun fact sidebars. I have enjoyed telling people that U.S. stores stopped selling sliced bread in 1943 to reduce food waste, and that pilots used to make ice cream by putting the ingredients in a can, leaving it in the back of their plane, and letting the turbulence do its work. This book is a trove of interesting information and fun tie-ins to Molly's established character and circumstances, and I am very glad that I added it to my American Girl library.
---
When I first pursued the American Girl craft books, I wasn't sure if I was even interested in the cooking series, since I am on a very restricted diet for health reasons and wouldn't be able to use almost any of these recipes in the kitchen. However, I knew that I should get the Molly cookbook for the WWII-specific recipe ideas and historical information about rationing, and I decided that I may as well get all of the books. After all, after being on a very restricted diet for the past ten years, it's hard for me to come up with stuff for my characters to eat when I'm writing. It's all research!
I am very glad that I got these books, and they far surpassed my expectations. Although I enjoyed the craft-related books and would be far more likely to use them, the domestic history in the cookbooks absolutely fascinated me. These are far more than just recipe collections, and include detailed, specific information about domestic life and women's experiences. I would recommend the series to kids who are interested in making food that their favorite American Girl characters ate, but I would also recommend this series to adults who are interested in women's history or cultural anthropology related to food.
Each book includes introductory information and sidebars related to what cooking was like during the character's era, how cooking and food connected with the daily rhythms of family life, how people preserved food, and what was unique about cookbooks during that time. The recipes themselves also briefly include historical information, and the team responsible for these cookbooks did an amazing job of selecting recipes that kids and their parents can realistically make with minimal hassle, while still truly experiencing the types of foods that were common during specific times in history. Each book also concludes with ideas for themed parties that would connect to the character's background and celebrations that they would have participated in.
---
When I first pursued the American Girl craft books, I wasn't sure if I was even interested in the cooking series, since I am on a very restricted diet for health reasons and wouldn't be able to use almost any of these recipes in the kitchen. However, I knew that I should get the Molly cookbook for the WWII-specific recipe ideas and historical information about rationing, and I decided that I may as well get all of the books. After all, after being on a very restricted diet for the past ten years, it's hard for me to come up with stuff for my characters to eat when I'm writing. It's all research!
I am very glad that I got these books, and they far surpassed my expectations. Although I enjoyed the craft-related books and would be far more likely to use them, the domestic history in the cookbooks absolutely fascinated me. These are far more than just recipe collections, and include detailed, specific information about domestic life and women's experiences. I would recommend the series to kids who are interested in making food that their favorite American Girl characters ate, but I would also recommend this series to adults who are interested in women's history or cultural anthropology related to food.
Each book includes introductory information and sidebars related to what cooking was like during the character's era, how cooking and food connected with the daily rhythms of family life, how people preserved food, and what was unique about cookbooks during that time. The recipes themselves also briefly include historical information, and the team responsible for these cookbooks did an amazing job of selecting recipes that kids and their parents can realistically make with minimal hassle, while still truly experiencing the types of foods that were common during specific times in history. Each book also concludes with ideas for themed parties that would connect to the character's background and celebrations that they would have participated in.
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August 29, 2020I was all in on American Girls as a kid and I loved these cookbooks. This one was pretty good, with some recipes I recognize now as really kitschy and fun but as a kid seemed normal? Mashed potato volcano -- sure why not.
September 27, 2025
Sweet nostalgia strikes again!
June 19, 2025
so far the least exciting in the american girl cookbook line, maybe it’s bc i’m from the central usa but this also feels very normal and some things as simple as “crispy bacon”.
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September 10, 2009J6415Ath
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews