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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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