Fat + Flour - by Nicole Rucker (Hardcover)

About the Book

A collection of dessert recipes that use the cold butter method. Includes many vegan variations.

Book Synopsis

ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF 2025: The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The New Yorker, Bon Appétit, The Boston Globe, Wired, and The Strategist

A fuss-free, downright delicious collection of recipes for pies, cookies, brownies, cakes, and more--from "pastry queen" (Bon Appétit) Nicole Rucker, chef/owner of Los Angeles's Fat + Flour

Fat + Flour is a celebration of the delights that abound when these two simple ingredients come together. Famed for her rustic desserts, homespun pies, and unique flavor combinations, Nicole Rucker is revered as one of America's best bakers, and in this baking bible she shares the accessible, unfussy recipes that made her name.

From Rucker's legendary pies--White Chocolate Banana Cream Pie! Stone Fruit Party Pie!--to cookies (Boozy Banana Snickerdoodles!), bars (Abuelita Milk Chocolate Brownies!), loaf cakes (Zucchini and Date Loaf Cake!), and much more, the book is a treasure trove of treats (including not one, not two, but five different chocolate chip cookies, six kinds of brownies, six unique apple pies, and five distinctly different banana breads).

Rucker gives readers everything they need to make bakery-quality baked goods at home--but without the fuss, in part thanks to what she calls the Cold Butter Method, a low-effort technique for melding fat and flour that produces perfect cookies and the tenderest pie dough every time. A cookbook guaranteed to take your baking to the next level.

Review Quotes

"Nicole is one of the only people I trust to write a recipe that I know will work, taste great, and probably make you laugh while reading it. This book is worth it for the banana bread(s) alone, but also the cookies, and, well, everything else." --Alison Roman, author of Sweet Enough, Nothing Fancy, and Dining In

"A just-plain-fun baking book packed with clever but home-cook-friendly recipes . . . Get your hands on a copy of Nicole Rucker's Fat + Flour and get ready to dog-ear a lot of pages . . . A delicious and doable delight." --The New York Times

"A lot of cookbook writers claim their recipes are unfussy, but in Fat + Flour, Nicole Rucker actually pulls it off, all while proving her status as one of the preeminent pro bakers in the country. This is a book that will truly empower readers to produce bakery-worthy goods at home without lots of extra steps or work." --Claire Saffitz, author of Dessert Person and What's for Dessert

"If you, like me, are a person who loves to bake and yet can never, ever remember to take your butter out of the refrigerator in time to bring it to room temperature, Nicole Rucker's Fat + Flour: The Art of a Simple Bake will change your life." --Hannah Goldfield, The New Yorker

"I would follow Nicole Rucker, of Fat + Flour: The Art of a Simple Bake, into a hot oven, hopefully one filled with her fantastic pies." --Devra First, The Boston Globe

"Nicole Rucker, professional baker extraordinaire, crafted such a wonderfully approachable cookbook that even the most apprehensive baker like myself would feel at ease amongst her recipes . . . Fat + Flour is visually such a joy to flip through, its pages loaded with tall stacks of cookies and bars, slices of loaf and bundt cakes, pies galore, and five(!) different banana breads . . . This book feels fuss-free with endless rewards." --Calvin Eng, chef-owner of Bonnie's and author of Salt Sugar MSG, Bon Appétit

"It has been a long time since I was so excited and inspired by a baking book. I love books that break the 'rules' that we've all come to know and love, and as a fellow rule breaker I love what Nicole has done with this book. Pie crust in a stand mixer? Cookies with cold butter? Cold oven cakes? I am a new fan of all of these techniques and every recipe I've tried has been better than the last." --Yossy Arefi, author of Snacking Cakes and Snacking Bakes

"I couldn't run to my kitchen fast enough after reading about Nicole's Cold Butter Method for cookies. And the results? Life changing! This is one of the most exciting baking books that I've seen in a long time, with inventive techniques and comforting flavors that truly highlight the joys of home baking. Fat + Flour is my new go-to baking bible." --Hetty Lui McKinnon, food writer and author of Tenderheart and To Asia, With Love

"Lucky for us, Nicole Rucker followed her true calling to develop creative and delicious recipes for every beautiful page of this book, without all the fuss. She shares her baking prowess and eliminates all the guesswork to achieve baking victory--all that every baker truly ever wants. Fat + Flour: The Art of a Simple Bake is a cookbook that will stand the test of time and influence how we, as bakers, create joy in our kitchens every single day!" --Cheryl Day, author Cheryl Day's Treasury of Southern Baking

"Nicole's cookies and pies are a highlight of my week at her bakeries in LA; she's perpetuated my sugar addiction for years. Now, in Fat + Flour, she shares inventive new bakes that'll take care of dessert for years to come." --Brian McGinn, executive producer, Chef's Table

"Do you believe in baking? Nicole Rucker does and deftly layers buttery wisdom, taut technique, and full-force flavor in EVERY SINGLE dang delicious recipe. Make pies of dreams, stacks of can't-stop-eating-them cookies, and brownies that will leave you breathless. Block out your calendar and bake the whole book! You'll never eat sweet the same way again." --Natalie Paull, author of Beatrix Bakes and Beatrix Bakes: Another Slice

About the Author

NICOLE RUCKER is a chef and author living and baking in Los Angeles. This is her second book. Her first, Dappled: Baking Recipes for Fruit Lovers, was nominated for a James Beard Award in 2020. Rucker owns Fat + Flour Bakery with her husband, Blaine.