How to Make Cookie Jar Favorites
Cookie recipes: do wereallyneed more? Absolutely, provided they're fromHow to Make Cookie Jar Favorites, a truly useful guide. In fewer than 100 pages, it presents illustrated, step-by-step instructions for preparing all-time cookie delights, definitive recipes for the likes of oatmeal, sugar, icebox, and chocolate-chip cookies, and tips and information that all cooks can use.Beginning with an exploration of cookie ingredients, along with an investigation of baking equipment and mixing methods, the book then presents master formulas with interesting variations and related recipes. A typically concise chapter offers foolproof formulas for classic Toll House and chewy chocolate-chip cookies (an extra egg yolk and melted butter yield lasting chewiness), in addition to suggestions for coconut with toasted almonds and black-and-white chocolate-chip variations. Other exemplary recipes follow, such as those for snickerdoodles, peanut butter cookies, almond crescents, and sandies. Underlying techniques are explored and illustrated throughout (manipulating dough to achieve marbleized cookies is one) and sensible tips abound (for example, when making second and third batches, don't place the dough on hot cookie sheets or baking may be uneven).A true primer, the book is part of the Cook's Illustrated Library, a modest yet consistently authoritative series from the editors ofCook's Illustratedmagazine. Like the magazine, the books are dedicated to presenting tried-and-perfected recipes and cooking techniques in a concise, approachable way.--Arthur Boehm