This is the time of year when the thoughts of novice and experienced cooks alike turn to baking fragrant, warm-from-the-oven, delicious cookies. But between the favorite family recipes and the thousands of cookie recipes online - let's face it - who needs another cookbook? The answer is, we all do, as long as it's the Everything Cookies and Brownies Cookbook by Marye Audet.
Though I am no domestic goddess, I have made my share of cookies over the years, and even I got a generous measure of good advice and new understanding in this cookbook of 300 cookie recipes. I tried three recipes, new to me: Cranberry Walnut Blondies, Whoopie Pies and Maple Snickerdoodles. I had outstanding, delicious success with all three, and I do believe the Whoopie Pies are my new favorite.
The Cookie Baking Basics in Chapter 1 are a must-read. Simple and helpful, there was information that I wish I had learned when I started out baking. Especially for a novice baker, the explanations of common cookie ingredients and techniques are confidence and success builders for all the recipes to come. Marye Audet includes short comments before each recipe, and sprinkles little facts throughout the book that enrich the recipes; which cookies freeze the best, this recipe is good for making with children, that is how to wrap cookies for shipping. There's also lots of advice on how to achieve lively variations of the cookies. Just as Julie Powell felt Julia Child's presence as she cooked through Mastering the Art of French Cooking, you can feel the warm and experienced presence of Marye Audet over your shoulder when you bake cookies from this book.
All the recipes I tried were clearly laid out and the results perfect. The Cranberry Walnut Blondies were simple, and delicious. I haven't made Snickerdoodles for years, but was intrigued by Marye's Maple version, which were subtle and marvelous. Finally, I made the Whoopie Pies, which was as easy as...pie. The Cream Filling was very unusual to make, microwaving milk and flour to make a paste, refrigerating it, and later beating it with other ingredients until it gets "light and airy" and doubles in volume. I was very skeptical of the gluey milk and flour, but sure enough, it magically turned into a fluffy filling, perfect between the cake-like chocolate cookies. I wanted them to keep for a while, so I wrapped them individually and froze them as was suggested, and they were absolutely fantastic. As much as I enjoyed them, they were also a big hit with my son's university roommates.
My only complaint of the book is that the index is far less helpful than it could be. That is a small negligence, however, in what is a very fine and useful cookbook. Donna Hay, who for a while wrote The Cookbook Critic blog, said that, "the main problem with most books is the description of HOW. How to prep the ingredients, how to assemble them, how to brown or broil or sauté -- the problem is very often a faulty description of HOW." The How, the Why and the Even More is clearly laid out in The Everything Cookies and Brownies cookbook, and the result is Delicious.
