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The Harvest Baker: Sweet and Savory Baked Goods Made with Fresh Vegetables and Herbs
Let them eat cake — and vegetables, too! Award-winning cookbook author Ken Haedrich serves up 150 delicious baked goods that are full of fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs and go far beyond zucchini bread and carrot cake. From Bacon, Cheddar, and Fresh Corn Muffins to Fresh Fennel and Italian Sausage Pizza, Spaghetti Squash and Parmesan Quiche, and Brown Sugar Rhubarb Tart Squares, these scrumptious recipes add nutrition plus amazing flavor to every meal of the day. The breadth of this collection is stunning, and you’ll be amazed that baked goods this tasty also deliver your daily dose of fresh vegetables.
304 pages, Paperback
Published June 27, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
June 17, 2017
Great cover on this one. Visualy pleasing and eye-catching. Great compostion and typography. The photos on the cover are from the recipes found within.
This is a really superb little cookbook. It's full of mouthwatering photos. It has an eye pleasing and clean layout of the recipes. It makes great use of typography and color. The recipes are straightforward to follow, and there are tips and extra information about ingredients sprinkled throughout.The book starts out with a preface by the author followed by a very informative section titled TOOL TALK that includes an excellent array of things one might need to get started on their baking journey
The book is broken into four different parts...
For The Love of Bread (Muffins, Biscuits, and Scones, Quick Breads, and Tea loaves, Yeast Breads, Rolls, and Buns)
Crusty Entrees (Harvest Pizzas, Flatbreads, Calzones, and Other Stuffed Breads, Quiches, Tarts, and Pot Pies)
The Harvest Bakers Sweet Tooth (Cookies, and Bars, Pound, Coffee, Upsidedown Cakes, Sweet Pies, and Crostatas)
Top It Off (Sauce, Glaze, Streusel)
And here are just a few of the yummy recipes you will find within...
-- Whole Wheat Blueberry Beet Muffins
-- Sweet Potato Buttermilk Biscuits
-- Stuffed Spinach And Feta Cheese Scones
-- Roasted Carrot Tea Loaf
-- Shaker Fresh Herb Bread With Walnuts
-- Hand Method Pizza Dough
-- Pepperoni And Veggie Pull-Apart Pizza
-- Grilled Flatbread With Hummus And Veggies
-- Oat And Cornmeal Pie Dough
-- Carrot And Leek Pie
-- Bacon And Egg Breakfast Pie
-- Tomato Slab Pie
-- Biscuit Crusted Chicken Pot Pie
-- Vegetable And Beef Hand Pies
-- Rosemary Lemon Shortbread Cookies
-- Fresh Mint Brownies
-- Pecan Pumpkin Spice Cookies
-- Blueberry Gingerbread
-- Blackberry Upside-Down Cake
-- Moravian Sugar Cake
-- Maple Glazed All Pear Pie
-- Fresh Strawberry Crostata
-- Quick Summer Tomato Sauce
-- Mint Sugar
-- Chocolate Glaze
December 13, 2016
What an amazing book! The Harvest Baker shares with readers tons of delicious recipes for wholesome and scrumptious baked goods. I love that Ken Haedrich has given us tons of veggies and whole grains, but doesn't shy away from tasty ingredients like bacon, sausage, and cheese. Throw out those gruesome packages of 'bbq cauliflower' and whip up some Stuffed Spinach and Feta Cheese Scones. Grab boring frozen peas and turn them into Green Pea and Parmesan Tartlets. There are recipes for pizzas, breads, pies, and cookies -- all delicious! I know I'll be putting my son to work as soon as he gets home!
May 11, 2020
I may have to buy this book at some point.
P.S. After cooking a few of these recipes, I realize this is actually a 5 star book!
P.S. After cooking a few of these recipes, I realize this is actually a 5 star book!
December 27, 2017
The Harvest Baker focuses on all aspects of baking - not just sweets. Ken Haedrich covers everything from bread, pizza, tarts, pies, and more both savory and sweet and all with a focus on freshly harvested produce. The cookbook is divided into four parts - For the Love of Bread, Crusty Entrees, The Baker's Sweet Tooth, and Top It Off and then each section is further divided into chapters with more specific category recipes. If you enjoy baking or what to try your hand at baking this is the cookbook for you. Haedrich gives a lot of information at the beginning about ingredients and baking tools that is very helpful for the beginner or someone wanting to take their baking to the next level.
August 23, 2017
Liked it, made the carrot raisin bread and it was delicious, but am withholding stars for lack of pictures of the actual food. About half the recipes have either no pictures, or pictures of vegetables. So the photo with the carrot raisin bread is a photo of a pile of carrots. I know what a pile of carrots looks like. Show a photo of the bread.
December 19, 2016
Generally speaking I'm not a cookbook fan. That's mostly because I don't actually like cooking. Eating, yes! That I love, but cooking is just so much effort and then there's the clean up. But when I saw this book up for review I knew I wanted to read it to see if there were any recipes that would inspire me. There's lots of fresh produce vendors where I live, so harvest baking sounded interesting and feasible.
There were a few things I was curious about though. How in depth were the recipes going to be? How difficult might they be to pull off successfully? And were they going to be real time consuming or expensive to make? Well, the verdicts are in. While I didn't actually get to make any of the fabulous sounding recipes yet, I did read the book cover to cover and all of the recipes strike me as really pretty easy. If there were any tips or tricks needed for handling any of the particular veggies or fruits the author made sure to list them. Of course, some of the recipes were more in depth than others, think pies, but none appeared overly difficult. Likewise the ingredients lists all seemed reasonably sized and pretty basic. So, in my very non-expert opinion I'd say this is a cookbook that's great for someone like me who wants easy and inexpensive yet fun and delicious foods to fix.
The Harvest Baker was full of recipes that looked absolutely delightful. There were crisp, bright photos that showcased different items. The author included some truly helpful tips, early on, about what kitchen tools are most beneficial and what's not as necessary. He included both Fahrenheit and Celsius baking temps with every recipe. And he even included a chart for helping convert to metric measurements for those readers in areas outside the U.S. where metric measurements are still used. I found those to be very thoughtful bonuses.
All in all I'd say this is a very nice cookbook worthy of any baker, new or old. Whether you have lots of experience in the kitchen or tend to be at home outside the kitchen, this book is filled to the brim with recipes that will excite your tastebuds and should be fairly straightforward to replicate. I myself look forward to getting the chance to try my own hand at many of these like the Potato, Bacon, and Blue Cheese Pizza (pg 124); Curried Vegetable Pot Pies (pg 197); or even the Moravian Sugar Cake (pg 256).
Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review this book before it hits shelves. I already know who I'm buying a copy for once it's out.
There were a few things I was curious about though. How in depth were the recipes going to be? How difficult might they be to pull off successfully? And were they going to be real time consuming or expensive to make? Well, the verdicts are in. While I didn't actually get to make any of the fabulous sounding recipes yet, I did read the book cover to cover and all of the recipes strike me as really pretty easy. If there were any tips or tricks needed for handling any of the particular veggies or fruits the author made sure to list them. Of course, some of the recipes were more in depth than others, think pies, but none appeared overly difficult. Likewise the ingredients lists all seemed reasonably sized and pretty basic. So, in my very non-expert opinion I'd say this is a cookbook that's great for someone like me who wants easy and inexpensive yet fun and delicious foods to fix.
The Harvest Baker was full of recipes that looked absolutely delightful. There were crisp, bright photos that showcased different items. The author included some truly helpful tips, early on, about what kitchen tools are most beneficial and what's not as necessary. He included both Fahrenheit and Celsius baking temps with every recipe. And he even included a chart for helping convert to metric measurements for those readers in areas outside the U.S. where metric measurements are still used. I found those to be very thoughtful bonuses.
All in all I'd say this is a very nice cookbook worthy of any baker, new or old. Whether you have lots of experience in the kitchen or tend to be at home outside the kitchen, this book is filled to the brim with recipes that will excite your tastebuds and should be fairly straightforward to replicate. I myself look forward to getting the chance to try my own hand at many of these like the Potato, Bacon, and Blue Cheese Pizza (pg 124); Curried Vegetable Pot Pies (pg 197); or even the Moravian Sugar Cake (pg 256).
Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review this book before it hits shelves. I already know who I'm buying a copy for once it's out.
August 9, 2017
I was thrilled to find a cook book with recipes that are delicious and easy to make. Every recipe I tried in this book turned out and my family loved them. Every bite I took tasted like an explosion of yummy flavors. I was pleasantly surprised by the combinations of fruits and vegetables and how well they went together. I didn’t tell my family what was inside the muffin until they were raving about how the wonderful it tasted. For example, I made a beet and blueberry muffin. I never would think to put those together. What a wonderful taste. All these muffins were so fluffy and filled with wonderful flavors.
The recipes in this book are easy to follow and the ingredients are easy to find. I like how the author talks about the recipe before he tells you how to make it. There are dozens of beautiful color pictures sprinkled throughout the book along with helpful hints.
The recipes I tried and LOVED are Whole-Wheat Blueberry Beet Muffin, Bacon, Cheddar, and Fresh Corn Muffins, Ricotta, Lemon, and Blackberry Muffins, Peanut Butter and Apple Crumb Muffins, Glorious Morning Muffins, Butternut Squash Crumb Muffins, Great American Potato Bread and Cheddar and Vegetable Bread-A-Saurus loaf.
This author has written other books. This is his newest. I’ll definitely be checking out his other books. It’s rare to have so many wonderful recipes my family loved inside one books. Looking for some new family favorite for breakfast, lunch, dinner snack just take a peek inside. You’ll be glad you did.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the library. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”
Nora St. Laurent
TBCN Where Book Fun Begins! www.bookfun.org
The Book Club Network blog www.psalm516.blogspot.com
Book Fun Magazine
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The recipes in this book are easy to follow and the ingredients are easy to find. I like how the author talks about the recipe before he tells you how to make it. There are dozens of beautiful color pictures sprinkled throughout the book along with helpful hints.
The recipes I tried and LOVED are Whole-Wheat Blueberry Beet Muffin, Bacon, Cheddar, and Fresh Corn Muffins, Ricotta, Lemon, and Blackberry Muffins, Peanut Butter and Apple Crumb Muffins, Glorious Morning Muffins, Butternut Squash Crumb Muffins, Great American Potato Bread and Cheddar and Vegetable Bread-A-Saurus loaf.
This author has written other books. This is his newest. I’ll definitely be checking out his other books. It’s rare to have so many wonderful recipes my family loved inside one books. Looking for some new family favorite for breakfast, lunch, dinner snack just take a peek inside. You’ll be glad you did.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the library. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”
Nora St. Laurent
TBCN Where Book Fun Begins! www.bookfun.org
The Book Club Network blog www.psalm516.blogspot.com
Book Fun Magazine
SVP Promotions
September 15, 2017
I try to eat healthy, but I fail miserably way too often. I love books like this that give you great, easy recipes to incorporate fruits, vegetables and herbs into your baking.
The Harvest Baker gives you 150 sweet and savory recipes celebrating fresh produce, and it's a winner! Don't make boring popovers again, spice them up with Herbed Parmesan Popovers! Tweak your biscuit routine with either Sweet Potato Buttermilk Biscuits or Mashed Potato Biscuits. There's even a recipe for Everything Biscuits, combining your the flavors of biscuits and the everything bagel.
Yeast breads come into their own with everything from Great American Potato Bread to Shaker Fresh Herb Bread with Walnuts, Herb and Veggie Flourpot Bread, Mushroom, Spinach and Blue Cheese Stuffed Baguette and so much more.
Pizzas get a new spin with flavors such as Potato Bacon and Blue Cheese Pizza, Roasted Cauliflower Pizza or Roasted Winter Squash Pizza. There are also great calzone recipes as well as stuffed breads.
Pies get a new look with flavors such as Zucchini Taco Pie, Creamy Buffalo Chicken, Tomato and Corn Pie, and Collard, Quinoa and Sausage Dinner Pie with Sesame Seeded Crust, to name a few. Don't miss the Spiced Beef Pot Pie with Winter Vegetables!
The Harvest Baker is a treasure trove of recipes to delight both the baker, and the fresh produce lover. I'm sure you'll love it as much as I did!
I received a copy of this book from Storey Pubishing for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
The Harvest Baker gives you 150 sweet and savory recipes celebrating fresh produce, and it's a winner! Don't make boring popovers again, spice them up with Herbed Parmesan Popovers! Tweak your biscuit routine with either Sweet Potato Buttermilk Biscuits or Mashed Potato Biscuits. There's even a recipe for Everything Biscuits, combining your the flavors of biscuits and the everything bagel.
Yeast breads come into their own with everything from Great American Potato Bread to Shaker Fresh Herb Bread with Walnuts, Herb and Veggie Flourpot Bread, Mushroom, Spinach and Blue Cheese Stuffed Baguette and so much more.
Pizzas get a new spin with flavors such as Potato Bacon and Blue Cheese Pizza, Roasted Cauliflower Pizza or Roasted Winter Squash Pizza. There are also great calzone recipes as well as stuffed breads.
Pies get a new look with flavors such as Zucchini Taco Pie, Creamy Buffalo Chicken, Tomato and Corn Pie, and Collard, Quinoa and Sausage Dinner Pie with Sesame Seeded Crust, to name a few. Don't miss the Spiced Beef Pot Pie with Winter Vegetables!
The Harvest Baker is a treasure trove of recipes to delight both the baker, and the fresh produce lover. I'm sure you'll love it as much as I did!
I received a copy of this book from Storey Pubishing for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
August 23, 2017
Glorious, luscious photos illustrate the from scratch recipes using recently harvested produce in "The Harvest Baker". Many of us are discovering the wonders of our CSA boxes, farmers markets, etc. to cook with local, in season, produce. We are seeking as many options as possible to use up this bounty while it is still fresh and at its peak. "The Harvest Baker" provides an amazing array of recipes using this same resource, but for baking, which is a real boon to the locavore looking for new ideas. Obviously, there have been appropriate recipes before, but this cookbook allows for those who wish the final product to be as wholesome and nutritious as possible. Thus, we are looking at only ingredients that fit that requirement, without prepared foods as a base. In addition, there are hints for storing and utilizing all this goodness without losing the advantages through waste or spoilage. I know that I can find tons of recipes on the internet these days, so the books that I want in my kitchen are technique heavy and chock full of photographs. The Harvest Baker looks like a winner, especially for those who have relied on prepared and prepackaged foods for their baking, or those who are new to baking.
September 17, 2017
Avoid veggie rot in the tastiest possible ways.
Come for the gorgeous photography, stay for the food. A quick flip through the pages will leave you drooling, regardless of when you last ate, and the easy-to-medium difficulty of the recipes will inspire all levels of home cooks with confidence. Divided into four parts by type of bake, this book pretty much covers everything you could possibly bake with herbs and veggies. "For the Love of Bread" is a pretty straightforward section, and similar to other books in this vein, but "Crusty Entrees" is where Haedrich ups his game: the ridiculous array of pizzas, calzones, and savory pies included here could be a cookbook unto itself. This is followed by "The Baker's Sweet Tooth," which manages to be ridiculously decadent without requiring intricate processes or long bake times. The "Top It Off" section includes the recipes for the fancy garnishes, glazes, spreads, and other accompaniments Haedrich references throughout the text (including, much to my amusement, creme fraiche #callback).
Very few cookbooks are perfect, but this one comes close. I want to bake everything in it, and you will, too. An essential cookbook for all public library collections.
Come for the gorgeous photography, stay for the food. A quick flip through the pages will leave you drooling, regardless of when you last ate, and the easy-to-medium difficulty of the recipes will inspire all levels of home cooks with confidence. Divided into four parts by type of bake, this book pretty much covers everything you could possibly bake with herbs and veggies. "For the Love of Bread" is a pretty straightforward section, and similar to other books in this vein, but "Crusty Entrees" is where Haedrich ups his game: the ridiculous array of pizzas, calzones, and savory pies included here could be a cookbook unto itself. This is followed by "The Baker's Sweet Tooth," which manages to be ridiculously decadent without requiring intricate processes or long bake times. The "Top It Off" section includes the recipes for the fancy garnishes, glazes, spreads, and other accompaniments Haedrich references throughout the text (including, much to my amusement, creme fraiche #callback).
Very few cookbooks are perfect, but this one comes close. I want to bake everything in it, and you will, too. An essential cookbook for all public library collections.
January 11, 2019
do a lot of baking and I look for baking books that either help me understand why their recipes are going to be really good or offer new ideas. For example, in this cookbook, Haedrich provides a ricotta berry muffin recipe, and I want to know what effect ricotta is going to have on a muffin. That level of information, unfortunately, is not provided. Book includes baking from muffins to yeast breads, pizzas and pies, cookies and bars. These are good, thorough, relatively healthy (whole wheat flour is often substituted for some of the white, for example) recipes that do not provide much additional information. Occasionally there are hints, but this is not the book for those hoping to understand baking.
The harvest in the title refers to the use of ingredients from the harvest in the baking. So if you are looking for baked goods that feature fruits and or vegetables, this cookbook will appeal.
Many of the recipes veer from the expected like a scone recipe with a feta and spinach filling and a roasted carrot quick bread. This cookbook does not replicate other baking books.
The harvest in the title refers to the use of ingredients from the harvest in the baking. So if you are looking for baked goods that feature fruits and or vegetables, this cookbook will appeal.
Many of the recipes veer from the expected like a scone recipe with a feta and spinach filling and a roasted carrot quick bread. This cookbook does not replicate other baking books.
November 17, 2017
Have you ever read a cookbook and had to stop at the VERY FIRST RECIPE to make it? Such is the case with Ken Haedrich's The Harvest Baker: 150 Sweet and Savory Recipes Celebrating the Fresh-Picked Falvors of Fruits, Herbs, and Vegetables. I guarantee that if you pick up this book and start reading it, you're going to stop and make something right away, as we did this summer (and ever since). You might not even make it to the end of the book for months, because the recipes are so distracting - and delicious.
Read our author interview! https://www.wanderingeducators.com/fo...
Read our author interview! https://www.wanderingeducators.com/fo...
November 3, 2025
There is nothing technically wrong with this cookbook. It does lack photos of a lot of the recipes. For example, give me a photo of the finished blueberry oatmeal crumb bars instead of cartons of blueberries. The author highlights fresh produce, but I suspect a lot of recipes won’t be made because a lack of photos of the finished products. The curried sweet potato & spinach tart appeals to me but since I only have a photo of tubers, I’m not inclined to make it. I’d be hard pressed to get my family to willingly eat a roasted beet, spinach & feta cheese flatbread. I just don’t see the average cook making many of these recipes. 🤷🏼♀️
June 29, 2017
I couldn't wait for this book to be released! Where to start?! I was so excited to find this book! It's all about baking sweet and savory dishes:
breads, pies, tarts, potpies, etc..., using your garden or farmers market produce. I especially loved learning I could bake in flower pots! Recipes are wonderful: lots for those tomatoes if you grow too many, like me! and fresh fruit- I especially appreciated the peach ones as my family always loves those come August! But there are many, many more recipes to explore in this wonderful cookbook and I intend to use many of them!
breads, pies, tarts, potpies, etc..., using your garden or farmers market produce. I especially loved learning I could bake in flower pots! Recipes are wonderful: lots for those tomatoes if you grow too many, like me! and fresh fruit- I especially appreciated the peach ones as my family always loves those come August! But there are many, many more recipes to explore in this wonderful cookbook and I intend to use many of them!
September 21, 2017
A previous generation of home cooks may refer you to the Joy of Cooking for a general index of basic recipes. I get it, but when it comes to baking this is my new go to. For crostata dough, pies, muffins, etc., it's split up so that you can follow a crust recipe and make your own filling. Everything I've made from this has been perfect. Haedrich also supplies different methods of preparation for some recipes (for if you do not have a food processor like I do) which I found very helpful. Definitely one to add to your collection.
November 22, 2020
Loved this cookbook. It gives you some unique ways to use produce that you may not have thought of before. I really enjoyed it and will likely check it out again.
At times, however, he does refer to methods of baking or terms which I am unfamiliar with and that was a bit of a pain. Also, the food may not be the healthiest (butter, breads, etc.) but it still gives you good ideas.
At times, however, he does refer to methods of baking or terms which I am unfamiliar with and that was a bit of a pain. Also, the food may not be the healthiest (butter, breads, etc.) but it still gives you good ideas.
September 4, 2017
Read this book from cover to cover as soon as I received it. A lot of wonderful ways to bake with fresh produce --- I was impressed particularly with the savory dishes, the recipes for which are less common. Lots of great photographs and a helpful section on tools -- which tools Haedrich recommends and when you should splurge on the better ones.
December 29, 2017
I want to make about 3/4 of this book! A lot of the recipes are too cheese-heavy for at least one family member, but this gave me SO many great ideas. The packaging, sidebars, and photos are all wonderful, too.
July 16, 2017
Put this one on my to-buy list!
August 3, 2017
The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley.
The zucchini chocolate cake was well received!
The zucchini chocolate cake was well received!
October 5, 2017
This cookbook has a great selection of savory and sweet recipes to use up your garden produce. I checked this out of the library but now I'm planning to buy a copy for myself.
January 1, 2018
Lots of yummy recipes. This is a book worth owning.
January 21, 2018
I'd give this book ten stars if I could - phenomenal recipes that are very easy to follow. Buy this book!!!
March 20, 2018
More photographs would have been nice, but the recipes are solid.
October 27, 2019
Lots of fun baking ideas with lots of veggies. Wished there were more photos.
November 9, 2019
This is a cute book with some interesting ideas!
I wish there were pictures of each recipe, but there are some really unique bread recipes I hadn't seen anywhere else.
I wish there were pictures of each recipe, but there are some really unique bread recipes I hadn't seen anywhere else.
July 8, 2020
Good recipes!
May 15, 2022
Wouldn’t use these recipes
July 20, 2024
The lay out of this book is great. The pictures are beautiful and I love that most of these recipes have ingredients you already have or can easily get.
July 9, 2025
This is a fantastic cookbook! I borrowed this from the library but I liked the recipes so much that I'm going to buy a copy!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews