We’ve made our list and checked it twice. Here are our gift picks for the best books for foodies this year. This holiday gift guide includes great cookbooks for the foodies, young and young at heart, in your life. There is everything from fun Star Wars themed recipes for the kids to mouth watering baked goods from the creator of the cronut. You’re sure to find that perfect book to give as a gift and then find something for yourself.

Best Books For Foodies

Dominique Ansel: The Secret Recipes – Give loved ones a “cronut” without having to wait in line. Cronut creator, Chef Ansel shares personal stories behind his bakery’s staples and reveals the recipe for his infamous creation  and an at-home version called a natch, as well as 31 other whimsical confections, like a chocolate caviar tart and a gingerbread pinecone.

12 Bones Smokehouse: A Mountain BBQ Cookbook – For lovers of great BBQ. This North Carolina barbecue restaurant has been making people happy with their amazing barbecue. Now they are sharing their signature recipes and techniques with you for ribs, pulled pork, and all the fixin’s. It’s one smokin’ hot cookbook to give and receive this year.

Recipes from the Persian Kitchen – Get a taste of the exotics as you travel the world through Persian cuisine. Cooking teacher and author, Nasreen Zereshki takes you on a tour of amazing recipes, and offers tips, and shares stories that will have you wanting more.

The Free Range Cook: Simple Pleasures – Take time to savor life’s simple pleasures with this cookbook featuring over seasonal 200 recipes from celebrity chef, Annabel Langbeim. Her new book is full of healthy recipes, menus, and scannable codes linking to how to videos.

Cooking For Geeks: Real Science, Great Cooks, and Good Food by Jeff Potter is more than just a cookbook. It’s a filled with the what, why, and how of the way we cook. This book provides in-depth answers, and lets you experiment with more than 100 recipes–from the sweet (a patent-violating chocolate chip cookie) to the savory (pulled pork under pressure). The kitchen has never been to entertaining.

Franklin Barbecue: A Meat-Smoking Manifesto – A complete meat- and brisket-cooking education from the country’s most celebrated pitmaster and owner of the wildly popular Austin restaurant Franklin Barbecue–winner of Texas Monthly’s coveted Best Barbecue Joint in Texas award. This is a must have cookbook for any BBQ lover.

The Lemonade Cookbook: Southern California Comfort Food from L.A.’s Favorite Modern Cafeteria This cookbook is making healthy fast food something you want again and again. This cookbook is filled with more than simple 120 recipes that feature a “global taste” and are a perfect fit for today’s on-the-go families. This is my new favorite cookbook! It will be yours too.

100 Days of Real Food: How We Did It, What We Learned, and 100 Easy, Wholesome Recipes Your Family Will Love – When you want to eat healthy, real food, you need this cookbook in your kitchen. This cookbook shares simple, affordable, family-friendly recipes with practical advice for eliminating processed foods from your family’s diet.

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Dinnertime: Comfort Classics, Freezer Food, 16-Minute Meals, and Other Delicious Ways to Solve Supper! – Answering the age old question, “What’s for Dinner?”, this cookbook brings together more than 125 simple, scrumptious, step-by-step recipes for delicious dinners the whole family will love.

The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking  – This revolutionary approach to bread-making will have your mouth watering and will fill your home with the aroma of fresh baked bread.  Get this for anyone who wants fresh baked bread without all the work.

Clean Eats: Over 200 Delicious Recipes to Reset Your Body’s Natural Balance and Discover What It Means to Be Truly Healthy –  Discover what hundreds of thousands of people worldwide have experienced—the incredible life-enhancing benefits of the clean program. This cookbook features over 200 delicious, easy-to-prepare, healthy recipes all aimed at helping you restore your natural ability to heal yourself. This is great for everyone; paleo to vegetarian.

Mastering Pasta: The Art and Practice of Handmade Pasta, Gnocchi, and Risotto Become a master pasta maker with expert tips and techniques, and more than 100 recipes from award-winning chef Marc Vetri. You will be a better cook and live a much happier life just by owning this book. 

Wookiee Pies, Clone Scones, and Other Galactic Goodies: The Star Wars Cookbook This is the cookbook you are looking for. This is a fun cookbook for kids and Star Wars fans. It featured 30 easy recipes and Star Wars shaped cookie cutters. 

Real Snacks: Make Your Favorite Childhood Treats Without All the Junk Make wholeseome homemade Twinkies, Ding-Dongs, Doritos, and Cheez-Its, all with gluten-free and vegan variations! Here are 70 recipes for everyone’s favorite childhood snacks with whole grains and natural sweeteners, so you can make low-sugar treats the whole family will love.

Many of these titles are on my bookshelf and our family loved them. Others, we borrow from the library again and again. We collect cookbooks every time we travel to a new place and buy books often for ourselves and as gifts. A book makes a great stocking stuffer or stand alone gift. This holiday gift guide has some of the best books for foodies this year. You are sure to find a great gift and something for yourself.

Disclaimer: This article contains affiliate links. See my disclosure statement for full details. I received review copies of a few of these books. All opinions expressed are my own.