The Sophisticated Cookie [Paperback]

Jeanne Benedict (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1998

Baking personality Jeanne Benedict spices up the traditional cookie by adding a touch of liquor and a splash of spirits. This original cookbook is filled with the most delectable cookies to complement the holiday season, your next cocktail party, or simply a cold glass of milk. Includes recipes for: * Black Russian Espresso Cookies * Brandy Truffle Balls * Creme de Menthe Chocolate Brownies * Stoutly Gingerbread * Bourbon Pecan-Chocolate Chip Cookies * Tequila Sunrise Bars

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Klivans (Bake and Freeze Chocolate Desserts, LJ 8/97) is back with more delectable, indulgent recipes, from Super S'Mores to Grasmere Ginger Shortbread to Caramel Crunch Butter Cookies. A good introduction covers techniques, equipment, and ingredients as well as freezing and shipping cookies. There are "Kid Easy" cookies and more sophisticated ones, too, holiday favorites, bars and brownies of all types, even a whole chapter on shortbread, and more. Recommended for all baking collections. Benedict, who has worked as a bartender, cocktail waitress, and caterer, offers cookies flavored with liqueurs and other alcohol, grouped into chapters such as "America's Favorite Cocktail in a Hurry" and "Trendy Mixology." While a "spirited" glaze, for example, may add to a simple butter cookie, and bourbon balls are perennially popular, this seems like overkill: Strawberry Vodka Linzer Cookies, Raspberry Schnapps Thumbprints, Irish Whiskey Shortbread. Not a necessary purchase.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

What makes a cookie sophisticated? In Benedict's kitchen, it is the addition of liquor to an everyday recipe. Liquors and liqueurs are, in fact, close cousins to commonly used extracts such as almond and vanilla, where flavors and aromas that do not dissolve readily in water find themselves suspended in alcohol. Whether in extract or in liquor, once heated, the alcohol evaporates, and the flavor stays behind. Benedict takes advantage of this property of liquors to perform such culinary feats as adding the brilliant flavors of scotch whisky to shortbread. She also strengthens other cookies' nut flavors by incorporating nut-based liqueurs, such as Frangelico and Amaretto, to a basic dough. This use of liquors gives adults a rationale for enjoying the childhood comfort foods they crave. Benedict's book makes a good addition to any baking collection. Mark Knoblauch

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: HP Trade; 1st edition (September 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557882940
• ISBN-13: 978-1557882943
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,014,550 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulously Different Cookies, April 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Sophisticated Cookie (Paperback)

I make between 100 and 150 cookies each week for the S.C. House of Representatives of which my husband is a member. This is my fifth year of making the cookies and I never repeat a recipe, so I'm always on the lookout for good cookie recipes. I made the Wild Walnut Wheels this week and they were a huge hit. I was amazed at how good the Kamikaze cookies were - who ever heard of a lime cookie? This is the first cookie cookbook I have owned that truly has some new and different recipes. Highly recommended!!!!!!!!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Unique Guide, July 3, 2004

By 

Elliot Essman (Larchmont, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Sophisticated Cookie (Paperback)

The Sophisticated Cookie does an excellent job with a tricky subject: cooking with booze. While it is perhaps a fallacy that "all the alcohol bakes out;" at least most of it does, and we are frequently left with flavor that is, well, sophisticated. You might find your liquor cabinet woefully understocked for some of these delicacies; on the other hand, you might be inspired to finally reach for some of those neglected aperitifs you've been so carefully sheltering all these years. Thanks, Jeanne Benedict, for raising the humble cookie to its rightful place in the pantheon of ciusine.

Food writer Elliot Essman's other reviews and food articles are available at www.stylegourmet.com

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lots of good ideas for innovative cookie treats, November 27, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Sophisticated Cookie (Paperback)

This is a good collection of recipes using spirits in unusual ways. Some of the directions may be a little sketchy, but the ideas are "stimulating" and can be extrapolated to creations not suggested here. I would like to see a book with recipes for other baked goods using liquors and liqueurs.