Customer Reviews

125 Cookies to Bake, Nibble, and Savor

5 star:		(5)
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2 star:		(1)
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These cookies are delicious and most are very easy to make! We made Cheese Crispies last night -- took 10 minutes to mix up and another 18 to bake. We were enjoying them as appetizers within a short while. Last week we made Tiffin Bars...gooey and chocolate-y. We can't wait to keep baking cookies and bars from this book. The instructions are easy to follow, the results are yummy.

I have never had such extremes of experience with a cookbook before. Some of the recipes have been great--for instance, the chocolate chip cookies with dried cherries were delicious, as were the DC toffee bars. But I have also had several batches of cookies made from recipes in this book totally fail. Not just turn out not to my liking, but completely fail. One such recipe was the white chocolate bars with raspberry swirl; I made them twice and they didn't turn out either time--they never cooked through no matter how long I baked them. Yesterday I made (or, shall I say, tried to make) the coffee toffee bars, and they didn't cook through, either. I am an experienced baker, there's nothing wrong with my oven (I checked it after the white chocolate brownie episode), and I followed the instructions in the recipe. And there have been other, similar flops. What a disappointment!

Totally agree with reviewer of ERRATIC from Indiana. I also made the coffee Toffee Bars but the filling totally engulfed the crumb topping and it was just a mess. I made the Toasted Hazelnut Shortbread Hearts (see glossy picture insert) and it totally failed. The 'hearts' cooked into blobs and were totally burnt because the recipe instructions says to bake the 2 inch hearts in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes. I thought the problem was in the editing, so I baked another batch at a lower oven temperature of 300 degrees. Same results, blobs of unrecognizable less burnt goo. This cookbook author writes for many newspapers and has other cookbooks, but has convinced me NOT to trust her recipes. The most frustrating fact is that I spent all this time and effort without having any cookies to eat!!

I got this book YEARS ago as a Christmas present, since my grandmother knew I was interested in baking. It collected dust on the shelf for a long time, as I was never all that interested in making cookies. But once I decided to start baking and shipping cookies to friends, I decided to give it a go.

It's worlds better than any other cookie recipes I've seen. The author is very clear with her instructions, which is a must since there are very few pages where you can actually see how the recipe is supposed to look when it's finished. I usually won't even touch a cookbook unless it's got pictures, but I did all right with this one. Better than all right!

She loads her pages with useful tips that can be applied to many other cookie recipes, like using sheets of parchment paper on the baking tray. I just made 7 recipes over the past week, and they've all turned out fantastic. I particularly recommend the Pecan Cinnamon Crisps, which turned out picture perfect and tasted amazing.

You'll also get a kick out of her extreme stories as to how she got the recipes, because this lady freaking LOVES cookies. Considering the results of the ones I've tried, I really can't complain. They're fun to make, and even more fun to shower on your coworkers. They'll worship you for a few days.

I love this book! I am blown away by the negative reviews of this book. This is my most used baking book.

So here are the comments I have written in my copy of this book. Swahili Shortbread - "Excellent" (underlined twice); Avenue "J" Butter Cookies - "Very Yummy-Buttery"; Triple-Chocolate-Topped Chocolate Butter Cookies - "Impressive Buttery, Crisp Cookie" and many more "very good", "yummy", "buttery".

"The Best of Everything Chocolate Chip Cookies" recipe is great. I have made this several times and usually put white chocolate chips on the chocolate half of the cookie and call them Yin Yang Cookies. They look cool and are easy to make.

The price of this book is worth it for the Swahili shortbread alone. It is simple and absolutely fabulous!

There are notes about the history of the recipes, and freezing and storage tips. We are having a bake sale next week at work and something from this book will defintely be successfully sold there.

Elinor is a wonderful and inspiring cook. Her books are all good and full of quality recipes, authentic flavors, good advice and clear instructions. I have had the pleasure of meeting this great cook and had a cooking lesson with her. Believe me she does test and test and test her recipes and listens to all kinds of feedback on her treats. I was scared to make pastry dough until she showed me how to do it, and so easily too. I love this book especially at the holidays. The cookies and bars are easy to make and store/ship well. My treat receivers always comment on the flavor, texture and variety of my efforts. I am Elinor's biggest fan-she is a wonderful cook and person!

During a brief stop in Camden, Maine in July, 1999, I startled my poor husband with my mad dash for the local bookstore. I knew this book had been published recently; and, after Bake and Freeze Chocolate Desserts, I knew I had to have it. My hope was to find an autographed copy in the author's hometown bookstore, which I did. (Contrary to my husband's claim, this does not constitute stalking Mrs. Klivans.) I've never been sorry, as it quickly became one of my very favorite cookbooks.

I have had great success with the many cookies I've tried, including Millionaire's Shortbread, Uncle Howie's Butterscotch Bars, Cherry Orange Flaky Flats, Chocolate-Dipped Hazelnut Shortbread, Summer Berry Picnic Bars, Key Lime Bars, and more. The Chocolate Peppermint-Crunch Sandwich Cookies are some of the prettiest and tastiest Christmas cookies I make; and the Chocolate Truffle Squares are cookies to make when no one else is home, so you can indulge, then hide the rest in the back of the freezer and never have to share. I always enjoy Elinor Klivans' notes and find her baking advice very helpful. The cookies in this book have made me famous with my family and friends. I'd give copies as gifts, but then everyone would know how easy it is to bake like this!