Need a last-minute gift? These 12 food books by Minnesota authors are a place to start

By Stephanie Hansen (Minnesota Historical Society, $29.95)

That homey personality you see as the host of the Emmy-winning “Taste Buds with Stephanie” comes through in Hansen’s cookbooks, too. The popularity of the first “True North” cookbook, which was divided into chapters that spanned the summer growing season, quickly spurred a sequel. This volume takes on the cozy months, with soups, hot dishes and other comfort food as well as holiday favorites. Among the recipes are stories about both the recipes and Hansen’s life, all told with the local media personality’s signature hospitable warmth. Plus, her Beer Cheese Wild Rice Soup is exactly what you need to get through winter.

By Alia Elkaffas and Radwa Elkaffas (Clarkson Potter, $32.99)

The suburban sisters known as the Food Dolls became an internet sensation by creating easy-to-follow recipes that blend their Egyptian heritage and Midwestern upbringing. Their debut cookbook, officially called “Pretty Delicious: Simple, Modern Mediterranean Served with Style,” was an immediate hit when it was released late last year and became a New York Times bestseller. The stylish cookbook mimics the authors’ stylish aesthetics, and is filled with tips and tricks as well as approachable (and pretty delicious) recipes. They have 5 million-plus social media followers for a reason.

By Andrew Zimmern and Barton Seaver (Harvest, $45)

Sustainability advocates and seafood fans alike will find Zimmern’s book fascinatingly comprehensive, both from culinary and knowledge standpoints. Fresh off his PBS docuseries “Hope on the Water,” the tome (more than 400 pages) is a collaboration between Minnesota’s Zimmern, Seaver, a chef and food educator, and Fed by Blue, a marine conservation group. The result is a guide to buying and cooking seafood that seamlessly answers questions about farmed vs. wild salmon to buying frozen seafood in land-locked states. With nearly 150 recipes to try and plenty of fish in the sea, it really is quite a catch.

By Emily Maxson (Family Foundry, $38)

By Dan Buettner (National Geographic, $35)

The Minnesota-raised author and researcher never set out to be a cookbook author. Yet this year he released his third one and it was an instant hit, shooting to the top of the New York Times’ bestseller list. While all of his cookbooks follow the Blue Zone way — recipes that help you eat better and live longer — this one has a side of science, too. Buettner and his collaborators used artificial intelligence to make eating healthy “irresistible,” developing recipes from flavor profiles they found to be most popular after scraping more than a half-million recipes from top cooking websites. The results are a busy cook’s dream: delicious, attainable recipes that are nutritious and just use one pot.

By Molly Yeh (William Morrow, $32.50)

The subtitle of the Food Network star’s new cookbook, ”More Than 100 Cookies, Cakes, Salads (!), and Other Delights from My Kitchen on a Sugar Beet Farm” says it all. There’s a buffet worth of recipes that draw from her rural East Grand Forks, Minn., life on a sugar beet farm as well as her Asian and Jewish backgrounds and life as a mom, author and restaurateur. You’ll find sprinkle cakes, saffron and cardamom tiramisu and Midwestern favorites with a twist, like rhubarb bars with rose. Does she have a take on church cookbook favorites like Apple-Snickers Salad? You’ll have to read to find out.

By Sarah Kieffer (Chronicle, $19.95)

By Sean Sherman (Clarkson Potter, $45)

The James Beard Award-winning chef and author collaborated with Kate Nelson and Kristin Donnelly on this beautiful book about the foods and traditions of North America’s Indigenous people. At more than 400 pages, it’s a fascinating journey from the Canadian tundra to the tip of Mexico. The recipes are arranged in 13 chapters, echoing the 13 segments of a turtle’s shell (hence the title “Turtle Island”) and the 13 moons many tribes recognize in their calendars, offering culinary histories that often have been erased. This is fireside reading at its finest.

By Linda S. Svitak, Christin Jaye Eaton and Lee Svitak Dean (University of Minnesota Press, $29.95)

This book, written by two attorneys and the former Star Tribune Taste editor, weaves together stories and recipes from Minnesota immigrants from more than 30 countries, from Latvia, Cuba, Somalia, Turkey, Mexico and beyond. Their paths to the United States differ, as do their backgrounds. There are chefs, entrepreneurs and human rights advocates — all who left a familiar home to build something better. Recipes fit into themes of community, resilience, opportunity, justice, hope and celebration, and proceeds from the book benefit the Advocates for Human Rights.

By Diana Albrecht and Ryan Stopera ($45, currently sold out)

By Edie Baumgart (RaeBeat Records, $39.99)

This book is more for Twin Cities music fans who like to cook, rather than diehard cookbook lovers (think more church cookbook than America’s Test Kitchen). Still, it shines a light on Minnesota’s music scene as much as it’s a love letter to it — all via food. Baumgart, the president of Minneapolis’ RaeBeat Records, wants to make sure everyone knows about our great music scene. And if that’s through a recipe for meatloaf cupcakes, so be it.

JD Fratzke (Liquid Publishing, $24)