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Erin Clarke holding a stack of cookbooks

**UPDATE The Well Plated Cookbook is now available for preorder!**

Preorder from: AmazonBarnes and NobleIndieBoundHudson


I have a secret I’ve been DYING to tell you.

First, it was my answer to the What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Upessays that teachers like to assign in elementary school

Then, it turned into a grown-up dream, one that I prudently ignored. I pursued other “real jobs,” while it hung out in the back of my mind, first patiently…then, not so patiently.

Then, YOU came into the picture.

Even though you didn’t know it yet, your support—along with a lot of hard work, some good luck, buckets of coffee, and the unconditional support of Ben and my family and friends—that dream turned into the reality my eight-year-old self always knew that it would.

Erin Clarke sitting on a chair with a stack of cookbooks

I AM WRITING A COOKBOOK!

A real-deal, hardcover, available at Amazon/Barnes & Noble/hopefully every bookstore near you cookbook.

I am roughly halfway through the recipes, and I can tell you without a doubt that writing a cookbook is both the best and the hardest thing I have ever done. The recipes (125+ of them) are NEW, meaning you can’t find them on my blog or anywhere else.

These are THE BEST RECIPES I have ever cooked. I can’t wait for you to have them in your hands!

Every single recipe in this book makes me dance around my kitchen. If it doesn’t, I haven’t rested until it is just right. The brownies? I’ve baked them six times so far, and I might do it one more time to make sure that they are perfect.

Making healthy recipes that are approachable, affordable, and, most important of all, delicious is long what I have wanted my cooking style and this blog to be about. My cookbook will be an extension of that philosophy.

I’ve stuffed the book not only with the kinds of recipes you’ve come to know and love from me here—go-to one-pan dinners, healthier baked treats, slow cooker recipes, and hearty salads that are anything but ho-hum—but also fun, unexpected twists that are designed to make preparing healthy dinners even easier.

All of the recipes are made from ingredients that you can find at an average grocery store, are budget-conscious, and if Ben, myself, and my friends didn’t all fall in love with them, they didn’t make the cut.

This book has occupied my every waking hour, and then some. I’ve felt stretched to the max creatively, in my relationships, and in my work here too.

Erin Clarke working at a desk on her cookbook

It’s been worth it.

I can’t overstate what a dream come true this is for me. I’ve wanted to be an author since I was a little girl, and when I think about the fact that it’s a) actually happening and b) happening in a way that unites authorship with one of my greatest loves, FOOD, my heart feels overrun with happiness and emotion. I am truly, truly thrilled.

Seriously messy kitchen during the recipe development process for a healthy cookbook

This book would not be possible without YOU. It is because of your strong support that I have reached this point.

THANK YOU for reading my blog, for making my recipes, for commenting, and for every encouraging message on Insta, Facebook, and email. You, my wonderful readers, are the reason that this book is happening.

Erin Clarke cutting the top off a cake layer

Some details!

The cookbook’s release date is still being set but current forecasts state early Fall 2020. I know it feels forever away, but I promise it will be here before we know it! I plan to share updates, so keep following along for all the important details.

I’m so lucky not only to be writing a book, but also to be doing it with an incredible team. My fantastic agent, Janis Donnaud, believed in my ideas and writing from our first call. Without her, I never could have found my book a home at Avery, my publisher.

Speaking of Avery: PINCH ME. Not only has Avery produced best-selling cookbooks written by bloggers I admire deeply—The Oh She Glows Cookbook, Minimalist Baker’s Everyday CookingLove and LemonsThe Vanilla Bean Baking Book, and more—but also my editor, Lucia, actually edited every single one of these! I could not be in better hands and am in awe of my company. It’s both inspiring and a reminder of just how great I want my book to be.

Erin Clarke frosting a cake

In addition to my amazing publishing team, I also have another key partner who took a job I am very, very happy she accepted: my photographer!

Lucky lady that I am, one of the photographers I admire most, Becky of The Cookie Rookie, happens to be one of my dearest friends. When I approached her with the job description of cookbook photographer, she said yes!

While I am happy to take the photos for my site and intend to continue to do so, my skill level for my blog photos isn’t at the level that I want for my book. It’s important to me that the recipes look as jaw-dropping as they taste. I also discovered that worrying about the photos looking perfect was taking away from my focus on making the recipes their absolute best.

So far, we’ve completed one of what will be a series of shoots at Becky’s home studio in St. Louis, as well as one here in Milwaukee. It was quite the production (nearly 50 recipes in 5 days!), but it went soooo well. Not only are the recipes incredible, but the beauty of the photos matches their stellar-ness just as I hoped that it would.

Can I say again HOW EXCITED I AM for you to have this book???

Well Plated by Erin Healthy Food Blogger holding a cup of coffee

It feels so good to share this news with you, as if I and my book are more complete now that you are officially in the know. Be sure to follow me here and on Instagram (@wellplated) for updates along the way.

Thank you♥. You are why this dream is possible!


The Well Plated Cookbook cover in 3D

Get Your Copy

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Behind The Scenes.

I’ve been sharing fun behind the scenes posts about writing the book! Here are a few:

  • This post describes how I develop recipes.
  • This post goes into detail about how I test the recipes.
  • You can view all posts about my cookbook here.
  • You can sign up to receive an instant email alert whenever I share a new cookbook post, recipe, or tip here.

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Erin Clarke

Hi, I'm Erin Clarke, and I'm fearlessly dedicated to making healthy food that's affordable, easy-to-make, and best of all DELISH. I'm the author and recipe developer here at wellplated.com and of The Well Plated Cookbook. I adore both sweets and veggies, and I am on a mission to save you time and dishes. WELCOME!

Learn more about Erin

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  1. I can not wait that long! Very exciting news. I recently discovered your blog and am obsessed with it. My daughter is a student at UW-Madison and we love sharing recipes. She just texted me that she’s making dinner for her roommate’s birthday tonight using your recipes. I made your Ginger-Apple muffins for a girls weekend recently and they loved them. My daughter and I are also obsessed with your orange poppy seed muffins. Can’t wait for the cookbook so I can buy it for all of my friends. Congratulations!

  2. Congratulations to you! Your cookbook should be a great success just judging from the recipes you share with us on your blog.

  3. Erin,
    Love, love your recipes, your blog posts and your scintillating personality! I’m so happy to have found you, and I await impatiently for your cookbook!
    Stephanie 

    1. Stephanie, this makes my day!! I am so happy you found my blog <3 And I know you are going to LOVE the book. My best recipes ever!!

  4. Hello Erin,
    I was under the impression that by signing up and leaving my email I was going to get your cookbook for free.
    I hope the cookbook will not be sent by email for it will clog my computer. I’m very excited to learn about healthy recipes that will aide in losing weight. Thanks for taking the time and offering to help others.

    1. Hi Richel! Thank you so much for my interest in my cookbook and recipes! By leaving your email, you will receive updates about my cookbook and other recipes. Unfortunately, I will not be sending my cookbook out for free, but you will receive a link where you can pre-order the book once it’s available! Thank you again for your interest, and I’m SO excited to share the book with you!

  5. Brilliant – Can’t wait to get your book all the way to Scotland. It will save me printing, printing and more printing your recipes. Well Done.

  6. I’m so glad your dream is coming true. As a dreamer myself, I have to honestly say none of mine have come true over the years. I am sooo happy for you for yours?

  7. Awesome thank you!!  I cannot wait and I am so happy for you.  It’s a lot of hard work.  I wish I could just look at ingredients and whip something up but I need a recipe so I am looking forward to getting yours!!  Happy Cooking I love your recipes ❤️

  8. I have loved all your recipes that I have tried, and am thrilled for you to see that you are going to publish a cookbook. Thinking I will definitely be buying this one! Thanks for answering my question about the nutritional information on your site, and now wondering the same thing for your upcoming cookbook you are publishing… Will recipes include the nutritional information in your cookbook? Just curious. Thanks for great recipes!!

    1. Hi Erin, thank you for your kind words! We packed the book with so many resources and extra recipe tips like how to swap ingredients to suit what you have on hand, store and reheat leftovers, and more that nutritional information didn’t fit on the page. Also because nutritional information can vary so much from brand to brand depending upon the products you select, and because even the science used to calculate nutritional information can change, I didn’t end up printing it in the book, because I didn’t feel comfortable with its accuracy. Also, while the recipes are healthy, I also wanted to send a message that health is about much more than just a number. The great thing is you will absolutely be able to calculate it online for free with the exact brands of ingredients you select via myfitnesspal.com or a similar service. The recipes in the book are truly wonderful, and although that might not be the answer you were hoping to hear, I hope you can understand. The recipes and resources I do provide will more than make up for it I promise!

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