Our Favorite Winter Cookbooks

Authors and readers share their go-to's. Plus, a big announcement!

In July we collectively made a list of summer cookbooks. I discovered so many new (to me) titles that I couldn’t resist pulling together a winter list. In December, I asked what books you reach for every year, either to cozy up and read with or to cook/bake from. I also queried a few of my favorite cookbook authors for their picks.

Several of the suggestions were holiday-related, and I’m going to hold onto those for a post next November or December. What we have here are the books for January and February when it feels like winter is endlesssssssssss (in the northern hemisphere, of course).

But first! I have been teasing a big project I’ve been working on for a while, and now I can finally share it.

My debut novel The Foreign Correspondent’s Wife will be published on October 20, 2026. I could not possibly be more excited. (Or more terrified, tbh.) It’s a historical mystery that takes place in Paris in 1949. I will explain more completely later, but the initial inspiration for the book came while reading Julia Child’s memoir My Life in France.

The Foreign Correspondent’s Wife was enormously fun to write because it marries so many of my favorite things: mystery novels, Paris, food, and World War II-era history. More soon, but in the meantime, on to cookbooks!

Winter Cookbooks We Love

Roast Figs, Sugar Snow by Diana Henry

I find everything about Roast Figs, Sugar Snow so dreamy. I am obsessed with the cover: the lyrical title, the swollen figs, the rich colors, the textured snowflakes. Of course, since it’s by Diana Henry, the writing is also swoon-worthy. I submit for your consideration this passage on cheese: “…a precipice of crumbling Parmesan; a ripe snowy Camembert, its insides full to bursting; Époisses, pungent and supple with an orange rind that sticks to your fingers.” Gorgeous.

Last week I made the first recipe in the book, Alsatian Tarte Flambée. Theoretically this recipe serves four people, but my husband and I ate every bite in one sitting. Recipes come from cold weather places, including the French and Italian Alps, the northern U.S, and Scandinavia, of which Henry writes, “Food is the Scandinavian antidote to darkness.” Yes, please.

Tartine Book No. 3 by Chad Robertson

This pick comes from carla lalli music, who writes the Food Processing newsletter and whose third cookbook, Food is a Feeling, pubs this fall. Carla says, “For the past few years, my hibernation kitchen has been ruled by Tartine Book No. 3 (Bookshop/Amazon) by Chad Robertson. I like to spend the short yet endlessly dark winter weekends reviving my leaven—a rebirth ritual in and of itself—and then another two days on the very first recipe in the book for White-Wheat Blend (Ode to Bourdon), on page 46. I was prepared to spend the rest of my years practicing that loaf, until I flipped to the back and discovered the Pastry chapter (it was there the whole time). I’m now stocked up on buckwheat flour, spelt flour, AND dark rye flour for making special cookies and things. Great blizzard prep—and another lifetime of recipes to attempt.”

Alpine Cooking by Meredith Erickson

Thanks to Domenica Marchetti, creator of Buona Domenica and author of the upcoming Italian Cookies, for suggesting Alpine Cooking (Bookshop/Amazon). What a cover! Domenica says, “I have an enduring love for the Italian Alps. The funny thing is, I haven’t actually spent much time there. My family is from farther south, in Abruzzo, so that is where I spend most of my time when I’m in Italy. When Meredith Erickson’s Alpine Cooking came out in 2019, I bought it immediately, and it is the book I pull out, without fail, every year at this time to get me through the winter doldrums.

“It’s so much more than a cookbook; it’s a travel guide through the Italian, Austrian, Swiss, and French Alps, and also a glimpse into Alpine life in those countries. There are profiles of hoteliers and chefs, vignettes about cheesemakers and Alpine art and traditions. It’s so evocative. And the recipes! Everything from beet gnocchi and vitello tonnato in the Italian chapter to exceedingly rich tartiflette (France), hazelnut croissants and apple strudel (Switzerland), and something called Salzburger Nockerl (Austria), which is essentially a soufflé shaped in peaks to resemble the Alps but it has a layer of cranberry jam at the bottom. And lots of cool pickles to offset the richness of the Alpine diet. I want to make everything–with the possible exception of Ricola ice cream (Switzerland).”

Classic German Cooking by Luisa Weiss

Lukas Volger, creator of the Family Friend Substack and author most recently of The Bread Machine Book, says that Classic German Cooking (Bookshop/Amazon) by Luisa Weiss is his favorite winter cookbook right now. “It has the inviting feel of a well loved, cozy blanket. And in that sense, I’ll curl up with it on the sofa to savor the homey photos, the warm, assertive voice, and all the simple but delicately perfect recipes. Before long, I’ll have fired up the stove or the oven to make sauerkraut pancakes or bread dumplings to smother in mushroom goulash, restored in my new conviction that German food is comfort food to the max.”

Baking and the Meaning of Life by Helen Goh

I’m so happy that Kate Leahy, cookbook author and co-host of Everything Cookbooks, highlighted Baking and the Meaning of Life (Bookshop/Amazon), one of my favorites from last year. Kate says, “Since it's new, it's not a book I've returned to every winter (yet), but I likely will. I made the persimmon cake from some persimmon puree I had frozen this past fall. It's the perfect kind of everyday cake for January days. The savory recipes, like the puttanesca galette and the cracked wheat loaf also are hearty and comforting for winter lunches or dinners. But what truly brings me back to the book are the essays. Helen examines what it means to live a meaningful life, and the thoughts she crafts around that essential question are thought-provoking and comforting.” (Read my interview with Helen Goh and my interview with Kate and listen to Kate’s interview with Helen on Everything Cookbooks!)

Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce

Maggie Hoffman, creator of The Dinner Plan newsletter and podcast and author of Batch Cocktails, says, “Winter makes me crave whole grains—maybe just a steaming bowl of nubby steel-cut oats, but also any baked good that offers the toasty, earthy flavors that you get when your pantry is stocked with more than just A.P. flour. Kim Boyce’s James Beard award-winning Good to the Grain was one of the first books that introduced me to these sorts of baking projects when it was published in 2010. Boyce was a pastry chef at Spago and Campanile; these days she sells figgy buckwheat scones and salted pecan ‘wonder buns’ at Bakeshop in my hometown of Portland, Oregon. The book doesn’t skip summer fruit (or veg…I want to make her zucchini bread with rye!), but it really calls to me in winter, when you can make her Muscovado sugar cake with amaranth and apple butter, the sweet potato muffins, and spicy kamut gingerbread cake. Her carrot muffins have a spelt and oat bran streusel and a mix of AP, spelt, and oat bran in the batter. Each chapter focuses on one grain—including whole-wheat, amaranth, barley, buckwheat, oat, quinoa, rye, spelt, and teff—highlighting its flavors and sharing a bit of history.”

Community Picks

In addition to a few more holiday-themed books, Kat mentions A Good Bake by Melissa Funk Weller, The Secret of Cooking by Bee Wilson, All About Braising by Molly Stevens, and Cook As You Are by Ruby Tandoh.

Jennie Brandon nominates Mamushka by Olia Hercules. “Eastern European food really works for me this time of year because they are good with cold weather veggies and fermented food which hits the spot in the midst of gravy-rich Christmas food.”

It was interesting how many people cited British cookbooks. Ellie explains, “It gets dark at 3:30pm in Britain in winter and is rainy and cold and so I think British cookbooks really nail the comfort food vibe . . . as we really need comfort.” She shouts out Diana Henry and Nigel Slater specifically. Chandra Ram blames her affinity for British food on the Christmas films Love, Actually and The Holiday.

Patricia Campbell loves Modern Comfort by Ina Garten.

Amanda Lawrence says that Ripe Figs by Yasmin Khan is a winter fave. “I just made her Beef Stifado, a cozy stew with layers of spice and flavor.”

Interview has been lightly edited. If you purchase a book through one of these links, I may receive a small commission.

Last Bites

• Believe Your Truth-Telling Eyes from Leah Koenig

• Wild Sorrel, a new culinary bookstore is coming to NYC. There are a few days left to support its Kickstarter¹

• An incredible story of resilience from cookbook author and NYTimes columnist Yewande Komolafe

• This week’s NYT Bestsellers: Of Course It’s Good! by Jessica Secrest, on the list for a third week at #4

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1. Thanks Phoebe Fry for sending this my way!