Cook'n with Betty Crocker is as close as cookbook and recipe software will get to a physical cookbook. You will feel as though you are thumbing through physical pages. Photos are big and beautiful. Convenient, automated features such as generating a grocery list meet the needs of every kind of cook. However, purchase of the Cook'n Recipe Organizer is required in order to add your own recipes.

Ease of Use:

The first time you use Cook'n with Betty Crocker you'll feel at home. The program comes with helpful video tutorials that cover all the basics. The program's smooth navigation will allow you to freely move from one step to the next. Easily move healthy recipes to different chapters with the drag and drop feature.

Cook'n with Betty Crocker is structured like a cookbook and divided into topical chapters. Whether you are looking for easy recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, appetizers or desserts, Cook'n with Betty Crocker's organization by topic makes finding the right recipe simple and straightforward. Best of all, additional search filters help you find the recipe you want.

Recipe Manager:

A recipe manager is the core of any cookbook and recipe software, and Cook'n with Betty Crocker does an excellent job, as does all the DVO products we reviewed.

Each recipe is divided into three separate sections: view, edit and picture. You can edit any of the recipes that come with the program, as well as any downloaded recipes or ones you have added from your own collection.

The recipe manager also has auto-fill to make entering recipes fast. The software will automatically find the nutritional value of each recipe as long as you use the vocabulary that the program recognizes. You'll also be able to generate grocery lists and create weekly menus.

Menu Planner:

Click on the menu planner icon and you'll have a huge database of easy recipes and the best meal planning system available at your fingertips. You could literally plan your meals for an entire year. This would be especially helpful for people with special dietary needs such as athletes, or individuals with health conditions such as diabetes.

For each day, you can enter breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and more by simply dragging the recipe to the desired meal. The software will calculate the nutritional value of healthy recipes and take into consideration brand names such as Viva milk or Wonder Bread. When it's time to do your grocery shopping, the meal planner will compile a grocery list and group the foods according to where you'll find them in the market.

Feature Set:

Betty Crocker recipes are reliable, simple and traditional. Cook'n with Betty Crocker comes with the best recipes from The Big Red Cookbook and a sampling of easy recipes from Betty Crocker's Bisquick Cookbook.

Automatically adjust recipes according to the number of people you're going to serve. Great for biscuits, but you'll need a larger pan for brownies.

Share your recipes in several ways: email them or print them on recipe cards or full-sized paper. The software also provides a simple backup procedure to secure your files.

Bonus Feature: Friendly and helpful videos presented by founder Dan Oaks and his wife Kathy.

Ease of Installation:

We didn't have any problems during the installation of the program.

Help/Support:

DVO, the manufacturer of Cook'n with Betty Crocker, is dedicated to answering any questions or concerns you have with the program as quickly as possible. They offer email, phone and live chat so you can reach customer service a number of different ways. Customer service answered our email within minutes. When the program first loads, you can watch a video tutorial that will explain how to use the software and give you some helpful cooking tips and tricks.

Summary:

Cook'n with Betty Crocker is an adequate starter cookbook and recipe software program. Reliable recipes, big photographs to help with presentation and friendly tutorials will boost the beginner's confidence in the kitchen.