The cookbooks bringing us joy and changing our lives in the kitchen this spring

Spring’s parade of cookbooks are bringing a lot of joy into our kitchens. We read, cooked and baked our way through dozens of them, finding respite in some newfound culinary wisdom. Ace L.A. baker Nicole Rucker of Fat + Flour gave us recipes from her new book for London Fog brownies and her signature vegan lemon lavender cookies, using simplified methods that turned her baking world around. Ari Kolender, the chef whose East Hollywood raw bar Found Oyster won us over with pristine seafood and clam shack charm, wrote “How to Cook the Finest Things in the Sea” and helped us feel comfortable cooking all kinds of fish and shellfish. And along with chefs and other food lovers, we explored our own lived-in libraries, highlighting the cookbooks that have meant the most to us, the ones we most cherish, each for our own reasons. Here’s what we’re dog-earing right now.

Fat + Flour: The Art of a Simple Bake

THE RECIPES

Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Yields Makes 12 cookies

Time About 35 minutes, plus optional cooling time

Yields Makes one 9-by-13-inch tray of brownies

How to Cook the Finest Things in the Sea

Chef Ari Kolender’s L.A. restaurants Found Oyster and Queen St. combine the charm of Charleston and the cult of seafood with chill cross-coastal vibes. His first cookbook is out: “How to Cook the Finest Things in the Sea.”

THE RECIPES

Time 40 minutes

Yields Serves 4 to 6

Time 20 minutes

Yields Serves 4 to 6

Time 20 minutes

Yields Serves 2 to 4

Eating seafood sustainably is simpler than you think. Eat less salmon, tuna and shrimp and more of other kinds of fish and shellfish, for starters.