Baking by Feel: Recipes to Sort Out Your Emotions (Whatever They Are Today!)

by Becca Rea-Tucker

Overview

From the creator of the popular Instagram account @thesweetfeminist comes a playful yet soulful guide to baking your way through your emotions.

Becca Rea-Tucker has been “saying it with sugar” since 2018 on her Instagram account @thesweetfeminist. From pro-abortion pies to prison abolitionist sugar cookies, Becca’s never shied away from adorning her baked goods with her opinions, including her belief that all feelings are valid and deserve to be fully experienced. As she knows, while baking can’t replace therapy, working with your hands can be incredibly therapeutic.

In Baking by Feel, she offers readers a unique guide to identifying and processing their emotions—in the kitchen. Organized by five emotional states—happy, sad, mad, anxious, and hopeful—the book includes 65 beautifully photographed recipes, each paired with an emotion. Feeling awkward? Try some Kitchen Sink Cookies (they’re made up of a little bit of everything, but somehow turn out great!); Having an optimistic moment? Enjoy something new like a Cardamom Caramel Poke Cake. Struggling with a moody moment? Thick & Chewy Maple Cookies, with their zing of sweet heat (secret ingredient is cayenne) are the perfect salve. And when you’re feeling lost and craving something familiar, there’s Becca’s Instagram-famous Brownies.

With stunning photography and deeply felt vignettes to accompany each emotion, this one-of-a-kind self-care cookbook will satisfy your sweet tooth and nourish your soul.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063160040
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	10/25/2022
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	215,699
Product dimensions:	7.60(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Becca Rea-Tucker's first foray into baking came in the form of licking the cookie dough off the beaters while watching her grandma make chocolate chip cookies. She is a baker, recipe-writer, feelings-haver, and the strong-willed voice behind the oft-shared Instagram account @thesweetfeminist. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband, Rhys, and pup, Otis.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 How to use this book

An Abbreviated List of the Therapeutic Benefits of Baking 5

Wait, How Do I Use This Book? 6

Identifying and Naming Emotions 6

My Feelings 9

Emotional Q&A 11

Grounding Activities 11

Supplies 13

Baking Tips & Tricks 14

Ready, Set, Bake! 16

Chapter 2 Happy

Carefree Spiced French Silk Pie 22

Caring Mini Limey Olive Oil Cakes 25

Cheerful Lemon Poppy Seed Cake 28

Content Peanut Butter Crunch Cookies 31

Delighted Yellow Cake W/ Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting 35

Excited Funnel Cake W/ Strawberry Sauce 37

Feisty Double Chocolate Frosted Cookies 40

Grateful Butterscotch Pudding Pie 43

In love Strawberries & Chocolate Cookies 45

Joyful Molasses Gingersnaps 47

Lighthearted Peach Cobbler 50

Nostalgie Egg Yolk Chocolate Chip Cookies 53

Playful Strawberry Funfetti Cake 57

Proud Salted Peanut Butter Pie 59

Relieved Oatmeal Cookies 62

Satisfied Walnut & Fig Shortbread 65

Silly Orange Creamsicle Cake 67

Surprised Apple Crumb Pie 71

Chapter 3 Sad

Awkward Kitchen Sink Cookies 78

Bored Coffee-Glazed Cinnamon Rolls 81

Discouraged Pineapple Spice Cake 85

Doubtful Blueberry Pancake Cake 89

Frazzled Pecan & Chocolate Sandies 91

Gloomy Ginger Pudding Pie 93

Heartbroken Peach Bourbon Cake 96

Homesick Sour Cream Sugar Cookies 101

Hopeless Peanut Butter Snickerdoodles 104

Inadequate Plain Old White Cake 107

Jealous Cherry Cream Cheese Muffins 110

Lonely S'Mores Rice Krispie Treats 112

Pessimistie Butterscotch Cake W/ Salted Honey Buttercream 116

Rejected Lime Zest Meltaways 119

Sad Chocolate Olive Oil Cake 121

Sorrowful Raspberry Tahint Linzers 124

Chapter 4 Mad

Angry Chocolate Graham Cracker Cookies 132

Annoyed Blueberry Buttermilk Donuts 134

Bitter Chocolate Espresso Shortbread 139

Furious Orange-Poppy Seed Mini Scones 141

Grouchy Banana Hand Pies 145

Insulted Triple Chocolate Cake 149

Moody Thick & Chewy Maple Cookies 152

Selfish Rainbow Cookie Cake 155

Stubborn Blueberry Almond Coffee Cake 158

Vengeful Black Pepper Snowballs 161

Chapter 5 Anxious

Confused Vanilla Chocolate Twist Cookies 168

Embarrassed Pumpkin Pie Bars 171

Impatient Pecan Morning Buns 174

Overwhelmed Coconut No Bakes 178

Lost Becca's Brownies 181

Panicked Salty Brown Butter Caramels 183

Restless Triple Coconut Cookies 187

Seared Carrot Cream Cheese Bars 191

Seattered Blackberry Lime Galette 193

Sorry Iced Pumpkin Bread 196

Stressed Buttermilk Pie 199

Trapped White Chocolate Ginger Biscotti 201

Worried Swirled Pound Cake 204

Chapter 6 Hopeful

Adventurous Glazed Donuts 212

Brave Pink Lemonade Bundt Cake 216

Confident Banana Layer Cake 221

Creative Almond Cherry Galette 223

Curious Peach Jam Thumbprints 226

Inspired Blueberry Cornmeal Muffins 229

Motivated Oat Pie 232

Optimistic Cardamom Caramel Poke Cake 234

Acknowledgments 240

Index 241

Editorial Reviews

11/07/2022

Instagram foodie Rea-Tucker urges bakers to let their feelings guide their creations in her quirky debut. The collection can be used like a traditional cookbook, but Rea-Tucker recommends consulting the included emotions wheel to identify one’s emotional state and find corresponding recipes, which are categorized by general feelings: a spiced French silk pie is labeled “happy,” chewy kitchen sink cookies are filed under “sad,” and blueberry buttermilk donuts covered in icing feature in “mad” (and are more specifically pegged to the feeling of “annoyed”). No matter the mood, there’s a variety of delectable treats to satisfy a sweet tooth. A stout beer adds full-bodied flavor to triple chocolate cake, and salty brown butter caramels are a melt-in-your-mouth delight, though the jury is out on whether butterscotch cake with salted honey buttercream can actually ward off pessimism. Even so, bakers will savor these tempting options. Agent: Jenni Ferrari Adler, Union Literary. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Becca's baked goods and bold activism have always made me feel inspired and supported, not only as a woman, but also as a BIPOC member of the baking community. I have no doubt her one-of-a-kind cookbook will do the same for home bakers: encouraging them to experiment with new flavors and techniques and, most importantly, to practice self-care in doing so."  — Michelle Lopez, creator of @hummingbirdhigh and author of Weeknight Baking

“Lots of people think eating baked goods makes you feel good, but Becca understands that the act of baking can be thoroughly transformative: a way to process, meditate, and even heal. This incredibly special book is unlike any other, and will hold a special place on my shelf—and in my heart—forever.” — Erin Jeanne McDowell, author of The Book on Pie and host of Bake it Up a Notch 

"If you, like me, love talking about feelings as much as food, you'll adore this book. Baking By Feel is a tangible way to literally get in touch with our emotions and is such a great reminder that baking is an embodied experience that allows us to be present, connected, and grounded."  — Julia Turshen, New York Times best-selling author of Simply Julia and host of Keep Calm & Cook On 

"Rea-Tucker urges bakers to let their feelings guide their creations in her quirky debut. No matter [their] mood...bakers will savor these tempting options." — Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher