Weeknight Baking

Michelle Lopez—the wildly popular and critically acclaimed blogger behind Hummingbird High—teaches busy people how to make cookies, pies, cakes, and other treats, without spending hours in the kitchen.If anyone knows how to balance a baking obsession with a demanding schedule, it’s Michelle Lopez. Over the past several years that she’s been running her blog Hummingbird High, Lopez has kept a crucial aspect of her life hidden from her readers: she has a full-time, extremely demanding job in the tech world. But she’s figured out how to have her cake and eat it too. In Weeknight Baking, Lopez shares recipes for drool-worthy confections, along with charming stories and time-saving tips and tricks. From everyday favorites like “Almost No Mess Shortbread” and “Better-Than-Supernatural Fudge Brownies” to showstoppers like “a Modern Red Velvet Cake” and “Peanut Butter Pretzel Pie” (it’s vegan!), she reveals the secrets to baking on a schedule. With rigorously tested recipes, productivity hacks, and gorgeous photographs, this book is destined to become a busy baker’s go-to. Finally, dessert can be a part of every everyday meal!

“These are the recipes all home bakers want and need in their arsenal--plus tons of creative, inspiring variations—and Michelle breaks them all down into easy-to-execute parts. Weeknight Baking will turn any home baker, no matter their skill level, into a baking ninja.”—CLAIRE SAFFITZ, host and contributing editor at Bon Appétit “Michelle is not only an amazingly creative cake maker and pie artist but she’s also an efficiency queen! With this book, everything from a freshly baked cookie to a freaking from-scratch wedding cake is within reach, no matter how crazy your schedule is.”—MOLLY YEH, award-winning author of Molly on the Range and Food Network Host “Michelle is an incredibly smart baker, and it shows on every page of this book: in each delicious recipe, the detailed but achievable techniques, and her beautiful garnish and decor ideas. She has done all the legwork to make truly accessible recipes that taste (and look!) like you slaved over them all day.”—ERIN MCDOWELL, author of The Fearless Baker and frequent contributor to The New York Times Food Section and Food52 “Baking has a bit of a reputation for being the domain of ultra-meticulous chefs who might spend hours on end perfecting their confections, but Lopez shows readers how it can be pretty simple and even fun — like the icing on the cake of a productive day.”—NBC News “If you're looking for a how-to on balancing a love of baking with a busy schedule, Michelle Lopez is the right fit...In her cookbook, Lopez delivers delicious confections alongside cute stories and time-saving tips and tricks.”—Business Insider "The recipes are on the mark, and this volume of fun and accessible recipes will help beginning bakers work more efficiently."—Publishers Weekly “In Weeknight Baking, Lopez shares time-saving secrets, suggested staples, substitutions, and tested strategies for turning out decadent treats. Featuring more than 80 recipes (including some that are gluten-free, vegan or both) for cookies, cakes, brownies, pies, muffins, and more, Lopez’s approach is easy to follow. For more time-intensive recipes—white wedding cake, anymore?—Lopez uses her analytic business skills to split the steps into 30-minute-or-less increments over several days for “a damn good dessert any night of the week you want one.’”—Shelf Awareness “A book that solves baking for busy people…it will truly change your (baking) life.”—Eat This, Not That! “Baking becomes a weekday habit.” –Northern Virginia Magazine “Useful…some of these recipes are easy peasy (classic pound cake), others are more complex (vegan and gluten-free peanut butter pretzel pie). But all of them—cookies, cakes, pies, tarts, brownies, and more—can be fit into a busy schedule.”—AARP

Michelle Lopez is the baker, blogger, and photographer behind Hummingbird High, which has twice been a finalist for Saveur’s “Best Baking Blog.” Outside the blogosphere, she has worked in finance and tech. She currently lives in Portland, Oregon. Weeknight Baking is her first book.