The Complete Cookbook for Young Scientists: Good Science Makes Great Food: 70+ Recipes, Experiments, & Activities

by America's Test Kitchen Kids

America's Test Kitchen Kids brings delicious science to your kitchen! Over 75 kid-tested, kid-approved recipes and experiments teach young chefs about the fun and fascinating science of food. This is the fourth book in the New York Times bestselling cookbook series for Young Chefs.

Why do some cheeses melt better than others? Why does popcorn "pop"? How does gelatin work? Answer these questions (and wow your friends and family!) by cooking the best-ever skillet pizza, easy chocolate popcorn, and galactic mirror cake... and more! Plus, fun science experiments to do in your home kitchen. With The Complete Cookbook for Young Scientists , emerging scientists and young chefs will feel confident in the kitchen, proud of their accomplishments, and learn the basics of food science along the way.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Childrens, Nonfiction, Science, Reference, Middle Grade

240 pages, Hardcover

Published September 28, 2021

Reviews

[Christine Zandt · Rating 5 out of 5]

For science-minded kids or anyone looking to better understand the whys of cooking and baking, this book has the answers! It’s beautifully laid out with full-color photos throughout and fun experiments leading into recipes that put the science into delicious use. When I saw the cover (which features an unreal-looking cake with a gelatinous black, purple, and teal icing), I knew I had to get this book and learn how to make that recipe—it’s a showstopper.

Adults will enjoy this book much as kids because there’s much to learn. I’ve made berry muffins for years and didn’t realize that the addition of yogurt creates a lighter, fluffier texture, or that adding baking soda when caramelizing onions enhances the sweetness. The Edible Spheres recipe blew my mind: using gelatin plus a flavoring (even hot sauce works!) makes tiny boba-size spheres form because of the reaction between oil and water.

If you’re looking to perfect a cookie or cake recipe, this book’s tips will surely get you there. I like the experiment where you make two batches of cookies, one using white sugar and the other using brown sugar. The results clearly show how swapping out just one ingredient makes a big difference in taste, texture, and thickness.

Questions that kids would ask start out the chapters. Some examples include: Can you tell the difference between crispy and crunchy? Why do spices have so much flavor? Why do the different parts of the chicken taste and look different? Answers are provided in a way that’s easy to understand and thorough, involving hands-on experiments where kids test their theories.

This book is the fourth in the Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs series and it does not disappoint. While marketed for a middle-grade audience, the content is also relevant for elementary-schoolers who love to be in the kitchen (or the lab!) and has enough fascinating information to hold the attention of teens and adults. My copy has been well-used in the short time I’ve had it. I’m onboard for America’s Test Kitchen’s upcoming Teen Chefs book (March 2022) because this series is terrific.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun way to incorporate science into food preparation with kids. This would be a great resource for homeschoolers.

[Patsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book for young AND old. I learned a lot and would recommend it for anyone wanting to learn science through the kitchen.

[Dani]

What an impressive book! It's well-designed, well laid-out, and is truly a delight!

The book has recipes for breakfast; lunch, dinner, and sides; snacks and drinks; and sweets. The way the book is set up is that it poses a question, has step-by-step guides for doing the hands-on experiment to explore that question, breaks down the outcome of the experiment in a kid-friendly "understanding your results" section, and then has two separate recipes that explore aspects of the question. For example, the very first question posed is, "What is gluten?" There's an experiment involving finding the difference between how wheat flour and rice flour behave. The "understanding your results" walks you through the wheat- and rice-flour experiment, what gluten is, where it comes from, what it does, and how gluten-free flour is different. Then, the following recipes showcase gluten and utilize the knowledge gained about how it works and what it does. The first recipe, crepes, has only a little bit of gluten in order to keep them tender, whereas the second recipe, cinnamon swirl bread, builds up a lot of gluten in order to give the bread structure and shape.

The recipes are varied, so you and your young chef are likely to find things that interest you-- and if the recipes themselves don't pull you in, the cool experiments should! This book says it is for ages 8 and up, but adults will find they can learn a lot while going through this book, too! Learn things like why fruit browns, how salt affects food, why onions make you cry, why some cheeses melt better than others, and how gelatin works (as well as how to use gelatin to make totally awesome mirror glaze for a cake, or edible liquid spheres!).

This book is very user-friendly. The introduction even walks you through the symbols used in the book to quickly understanding the difficulty level of each recipe, as well as required kitchen equipment. The intro is also a great reference for new scientist-chefs, as it lays out how to prepare before beginning any recipe and how to systematically and thoughtfully do the experiments in the book. It has a glossary for common kitchen terms and common experiment terms, as well as explanations for many kitchen basics, such as how to soften butter, how to separate eggs, and how to zest and juice citrus. At the end of the book there is also conversions and equivalents, as well as nutrition facts for each recipe.

If you want to learn more science while being able to eat your results, this book is for you! It is both a quality guide to learning and experimenting while also being a quality guide to becoming a better chef. The team at ATK who built this book expertly brought all the aspects together to craft something truly great, and I recommend you give it a look.

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was so sad when we had to give this one back to the library! LOL! The introductory chapter alone had me sold on the book, and then I started reading the actual content...wow! So much to love!
I LOVE having children make predictions because the whole point of the predicting is that you DON'T know the answer already. It really good to practice being 'wrong.' I love being surprised by the results of an experiment, and it's really important for children to find joy in finding out their prediction was incorrect too. And what better joy to find than a warm cookie?
I also LOVE the how organized this book is. It's a left-brained approach to a traditionally right-brained topic. Does your child love following the instructions to build a LEGO model? Do they love following a schedule and making charts & lists for everyday things? Then they will probably love this book too.
There are 23 questions in this book, each one with an accompanying question (which is more specific than the 'theme' question), experiment (where the experimenter needs to make a prediction) & a couple of recipes. The 23 theme questions posed in this book are:
1. What is gluten anyway?
2. What's the difference between egg whites & egg yolks?
3. What can you do with yogurt?
4. Why do onions make you cry?
5. Why does food turn brown when you cook it?
6. Why do some cheeses melt better than others?
7. What is umami?
8. Why do we salt our food?
9. Why do spices have so much flavor?
10. Why do the different parts of the chicken taste & look so different?
11. How does pasta cook?
12. Why don't oil & water mix?
13. What makes green vegetables green?
14. What's the difference between brown & white rice?
15. Are beans a vegetable?
16. Why does corn pop?
17. Can you tell the difference between crispy & crunchy?
18. Why do some fruits turn brown when you leave them out?
19. What makes fizzy things fizzy?
20. What makes some cookies chewy & some crisp?
21. What makes whipped cream so fluffy?
22. Do all frozen foods feel equally cold?
23. How does gelatin work?

[Jessica Hicks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was so impressed with this book. Each chapter starts with a food experiment complete with instructions and questions to ask your child and then a detailed explanation of what happened. After these experiments, you get recipes that put the scientific principles to work. This would be great for curious kids or even a homeschool curriculum! Even better, the recipes are tasty; and of course they are- the book is from America’s Test Kitchen!
🧪
Here’s what we made:
☁️ Cloud Eggs- this was basically savory meringue with a runny yolk on top which was weird to me, but my daughter loved it! She was so fascinated by the texture and being able to pick up her fluffy egg that she tolerated a lecture from me on how untangled proteins can trap air 🤓
🍍 Pineapple-Mango Smoothie Bowls- Wow! This was easy and so delicious. No more paying $15 for an açaí bowl for me!! We had so much fun decorating our bowls too! We felt like food artists!
🍅 Pasta with Meat Sauce- this was in the umami chapter and my kids were surprised to learn that mushrooms can taste quite meaty. Additionally, I learned that baking soda can keep ground beef soft and moist!
🍓 Strawberry Fools- I was impressed with how well frozen strawberries worked in this recipe. My daughter and I loved the tangy homemade strawberry jam with the sweet whipped cream!

[Hal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cooking Science for Kids

While this book is heavily geared towards kids in the kitchen, the recipes are delicious and fun to make and we get to explore the science behind f how and why the recipes work.

[Ricarda Krenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this for my own young scientist, aged six. I hope it will engage him in cooking projects all the way to the end, which tends to be our biggest problem. I certainly feel that I learned quite a bit reading it.

[Lynn B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought it was great.

[PottWab Regional Library]

E

[Pinky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Want to try the Rainbow Grain Bowls, Frico Chips, and the Mirror Cake recipes.

[Anam Cara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful cookbook which is also a book of experiments that young people can learn from. The recipes that expound on the information learned from the experiments look wonderful although I haven't tried any yet.

I'm thinking this is a good gift for grandchildren.

[Jesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute mix between experiments and recipes, recipes themselves were okay but a good introduction to cooking/baking for kids