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Molly's Cooking Studio
You're the chef! Roll up your sleeves and discover how fun it is to make the meals Molly loved. Chose from more than 20 easy-to-follow recipes. When you're ready to show off your cooking skills, turn to the party chapter for ideas on throwing three different Molly-inspired party! Molly's Cooking studio also includes a cookie cutter, 20 Table Talkers, and 10 reusable Place Cards.
Spiral-bound
Published January 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 20, 2026
Helllllllo fellow lovers of extremely niche historical doll-based cookbooks!
Now, I don't know if you've noticed but I've reviewed quite a few versions of American Girl Cookbooks and this is my fifth Molly cookbook. AND it's my favorite.
So if you don't know which one to get for your collection, allow me to throw my two cents in:
(It's this one! Buy this one! )
The Cooking Studio book does an amazing job of combining the best bits from previous Molly cookbooks into one gorgeous copy complete with little place cards, conversations starters, and even a star-shaped mini cookie cutter if you get the full version of the cookbook.
For context, from the Mollyverse, I have also reviewed:
--American Girls Cookbook, published 1989 and contains about a third of the recipes included in the Cooking Studio along with recipes for Samantha and Kirsten
--Molly's Cookbook, published 1994 and whose recipes all appear in the Cooking Studio
--The American Girls Party Book, published 1998 which contains several overlapped recipes with Cooking Studio
--American Girl Sweet & Savory Treats Cookbook, published 2021 and it's a hot mess and we are going to pretend it doesn't exist.
I love that we get all of the recipes from the American Girls Cookbook and Molly's Cookbook - the recipes are well-chosen and historically accurate.
In Cooking Studio, the recipes are the same but the formatting and layout is updated, which makes for a very clean cookbook.
When I compare the "extras' from American Girls Cookbook and Molly's Cookbook to the Cooking Stufio, I did notice that the Cooking Studio had a few less historical blurbs but most of them seem to be preserved. We still learn a lot about cooking culture from the 1940s.
Furthermore, the Cooking Studio included some of the content from the American Girls Party Book.
The Party Book contains themed parties for six of the American Girls (Felicity, Josefina, Kirsten, Addy, Samantha, and Molly). Each girl gets three themed parties (with varying level of planning complexity for the party host).
Now, we don't get EVERYTHING from the American Girls Party book but the spirit of the original is preserved. We still get three separate Molly parties with suggested activities and crafts. There's even more recipes included in the party section such as :
--Homefront Celebration (Home Front Cake, and Home-Front Apple Pie)
--Hawaiian Hula Party (Tropical Twists (a smoothie), and Hawaiian Banana Bread)
--Summer Camp-Out Party (Pigs in a Blanket and S'mores)
Overall, is it really a surprise that I rated an American Girl Cookbook 5 stars? I love it when they do deep dives into the historical cooking and provide such strong books that both teach and educate.
More reviews in the Molly-verse
Main Series:
Meet Molly - ★★★☆☆
Molly Learns a Lesson - ★★★☆☆
Molly's Surprise - ★★★★☆
Happy Birthday, Molly - ★★☆☆☆
Molly Saves the Day - ★★★★☆
Changes for Molly - ★★★★☆
Molly's Boxed Set - ★★★☆☆
Best Friend Book
Brave Emily - ★★★★★
Short Stories:
Molly's A+ Partner - ★★★★☆
Molly Takes Flight - ★★★★☆
Molly and the Movie Star - ★★★★☆
Molly's Puppy Tale - ★★★★★
Molly Marches On - ★★★★☆
Molly's Short Story Collection - ★★★★☆
Additional History Books
American Girls Cookbook - ★★★★★
American Girl Cross-Stitch - ★★☆☆☆
American Girl Sweet & Savory Treats Cookbook - ★☆☆☆☆
Everything I Need to Know I Learned From American Girl - ★★★☆☆
The Making of American Girl - ★★★★★
Molly's Cookbook - ★★★★☆
Molly's Cooking Studio - ★★★★★
Molly's Craft Book - ★★★★☆
Molly's Route 66 Adventure - ★★★★★
Molly's Theater Kit - ★★★★★
The Official American Girl Cookbook - ★★★★☆
Welcome to Molly's World - ★★★★★
Mystery Books
Clues in the Shadows - ★★★★☆
The Light in the Cellar - ★★★★☆
A Spy on the Home Front - ★★★☆☆
Beforever (Re-Release of Main Series in 2018)
A Winning Spirit: A Molly Classic Vol 1 - ★★★☆☆
Stars and Stripes: A Molly Classic Vol 2 - ★★★☆☆
Abridged Version (Re-Release of Main Series in 2022):
Molly: A Winning Spirit - ★★★★☆
(NOTE: They have not re-released the second book yet)
Beginner Reader & Picture Books
Molly's Christmas Surprise (Step Into Reading) - ★★★☆☆
Happy Birthday! (Little Golden Book) - ★★★★☆
Happy Holidays! (Little Golden Book) - ★★★★★
Time for School! (Little Golden Book) - ★★★★☆
Now, I don't know if you've noticed but I've reviewed quite a few versions of American Girl Cookbooks and this is my fifth Molly cookbook. AND it's my favorite.
So if you don't know which one to get for your collection, allow me to throw my two cents in:
(It's this one! Buy this one! )
The Cooking Studio book does an amazing job of combining the best bits from previous Molly cookbooks into one gorgeous copy complete with little place cards, conversations starters, and even a star-shaped mini cookie cutter if you get the full version of the cookbook.
For context, from the Mollyverse, I have also reviewed:
--American Girls Cookbook, published 1989 and contains about a third of the recipes included in the Cooking Studio along with recipes for Samantha and Kirsten
--Molly's Cookbook, published 1994 and whose recipes all appear in the Cooking Studio
--The American Girls Party Book, published 1998 which contains several overlapped recipes with Cooking Studio
--American Girl Sweet & Savory Treats Cookbook, published 2021 and it's a hot mess and we are going to pretend it doesn't exist.
I love that we get all of the recipes from the American Girls Cookbook and Molly's Cookbook - the recipes are well-chosen and historically accurate.
In Cooking Studio, the recipes are the same but the formatting and layout is updated, which makes for a very clean cookbook.
When I compare the "extras' from American Girls Cookbook and Molly's Cookbook to the Cooking Stufio, I did notice that the Cooking Studio had a few less historical blurbs but most of them seem to be preserved. We still learn a lot about cooking culture from the 1940s.
Furthermore, the Cooking Studio included some of the content from the American Girls Party Book.
The Party Book contains themed parties for six of the American Girls (Felicity, Josefina, Kirsten, Addy, Samantha, and Molly). Each girl gets three themed parties (with varying level of planning complexity for the party host).
Now, we don't get EVERYTHING from the American Girls Party book but the spirit of the original is preserved. We still get three separate Molly parties with suggested activities and crafts. There's even more recipes included in the party section such as :
--Homefront Celebration (Home Front Cake, and Home-Front Apple Pie)
--Hawaiian Hula Party (Tropical Twists (a smoothie), and Hawaiian Banana Bread)
--Summer Camp-Out Party (Pigs in a Blanket and S'mores)
Overall, is it really a surprise that I rated an American Girl Cookbook 5 stars? I love it when they do deep dives into the historical cooking and provide such strong books that both teach and educate.
More reviews in the Molly-verse
Main Series:
Meet Molly - ★★★☆☆
Molly Learns a Lesson - ★★★☆☆
Molly's Surprise - ★★★★☆
Happy Birthday, Molly - ★★☆☆☆
Molly Saves the Day - ★★★★☆
Changes for Molly - ★★★★☆
Molly's Boxed Set - ★★★☆☆
Best Friend Book
Brave Emily - ★★★★★
Short Stories:
Molly's A+ Partner - ★★★★☆
Molly Takes Flight - ★★★★☆
Molly and the Movie Star - ★★★★☆
Molly's Puppy Tale - ★★★★★
Molly Marches On - ★★★★☆
Molly's Short Story Collection - ★★★★☆
Additional History Books
American Girls Cookbook - ★★★★★
American Girl Cross-Stitch - ★★☆☆☆
American Girl Sweet & Savory Treats Cookbook - ★☆☆☆☆
Everything I Need to Know I Learned From American Girl - ★★★☆☆
The Making of American Girl - ★★★★★
Molly's Cookbook - ★★★★☆
Molly's Cooking Studio - ★★★★★
Molly's Craft Book - ★★★★☆
Molly's Route 66 Adventure - ★★★★★
Molly's Theater Kit - ★★★★★
The Official American Girl Cookbook - ★★★★☆
Welcome to Molly's World - ★★★★★
Mystery Books
Clues in the Shadows - ★★★★☆
The Light in the Cellar - ★★★★☆
A Spy on the Home Front - ★★★☆☆
Beforever (Re-Release of Main Series in 2018)
A Winning Spirit: A Molly Classic Vol 1 - ★★★☆☆
Stars and Stripes: A Molly Classic Vol 2 - ★★★☆☆
Abridged Version (Re-Release of Main Series in 2022):
Molly: A Winning Spirit - ★★★★☆
(NOTE: They have not re-released the second book yet)
Beginner Reader & Picture Books
Molly's Christmas Surprise (Step Into Reading) - ★★★☆☆
Happy Birthday! (Little Golden Book) - ★★★★☆
Happy Holidays! (Little Golden Book) - ★★★★★
Time for School! (Little Golden Book) - ★★★★☆
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews