Some folks may collect stamps, trading cards or gnomes, but only true Wheaties keep their eye out for a specific collectible published for the past six decades — the annual recipe book from the Kansas Wheat Commission. The 2022 edition is now available — free of charge — and does not disappoint with classic recipes for bread bowls, pizza crust and pretzels in addition to soon-to-be family favorites like campfire biscuits, lemon Bundt cake and fudge nut bars.
“We’re excited to send you the 2022 Kansas Wheat Commission Recipe Book,” said Cindy Falk, Kansas Wheat nutrition educator and co-director of the National Festival of Breads. “The annual recipe booklet is a tradition that has represented Kansas as the wheat state and the Breadbasket of America.”
“We love to hear how folks use their recipe books. Whether it’s adding to their collection or using the recipes to earn a purple ribbon at their county, we hope these recipes become family favorites.”
Recipes for each year’s book are hand-selected and tested by Falk at the Syngenta Speak for Wheat Test Kitchen at the Kansas Wheat Innovation Center in Manhattan. Linda Beech, K-State Research and Extension agent, emeritus, helped test this year’s recipes and distributed nearly 1,000 recipe books in mid-October at the annual conference for K-State Research and Extension county agents. Free samples of the whole wheat sugar cookies featured on this year’s recipe book cover also helped entice attendees to pick up extra copies of the booklet.
“Kansas Wheat has a long history offering recipe books to extension agents, and extension has played a big role in having those books on hand for people to pick up in their local communities,” Beech said. “These are recipes you can always count on to work and be delicious. This year’s book is a really interesting collection of recipes that is a mini-history lesson of 50 years of home-baked products.”
The 2022 book pays homage to the 50th anniversary of the Wheat Foods Council and National Bake and Take Day. Bake and Take Day began on the fourth Saturday in March 1970 in Sumner County as a community service project. The Kansas Wheathearts, an auxiliary organization of the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers, set out to share baked goods with family members, friends, neighbors and others, generating community goodwill. The concept was so successful that it was expanded to National Bake and Take Month in 1973.
“While the purpose of Bake and Take Day is to encourage participants to bake a product made from wheat and take it to a neighbor, friend or relative, the personal visit to members of the community has become as rewarding and important as the baked goods you deliver,” Falk said. “Now, more than 50 years later, we can still enjoy sharing baked goods with others.”
Also celebrating the five-decade mark, the Wheat Foods Council educates consumers about the nutritional benefits of consuming a variety of wheat foods. Since 1972, the Wheat Foods Council has done this through its industry-wide partnerships dedicated to increasing the consumption of wheat and other grain foods through nutrition information, education, research and other promotional activities.
“The Wheat Foods Council is supported voluntarily by wheat producers, millers, bakers and related industries,” Falk said. “The Kansas Wheat Commission has been instrumental in organizing and leading the Council since its inception.”
Interested in a recipe book for your collection, local library, extension office, classroom or anywhere else? Let us know! Request a free copy of the recipe book or check out this year’s recipes online at kswheat.com/recipebook.
Written by Julia Debes for Kansas Wheat