The Good Cookie: Over 250 Delicious Recipes from Simple to Sublime [Hardcover]

Tish Boyle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 18, 2002

A delicious collection of cookie recipes of all kinds—now in paperback

Here's the book that no self-respecting cookie lover can resist. The Good Cookie shares a fresh and tantalizing selection of more than 250 recipes from around the globe—complete with expert instructions on how to bake them. From rugged Cranberry Orange Nut Bars and irresistible Bittersweet Chocolate Biscotti to sophisticated Chocolate-Filled Almond Hearts, you'll find recipes of every type and stripe.

The book features basic drop cookies, beautiful hand-formed cookies, delectable sandwich cookies, complex decorator cookies, and more. Plus, there's plenty of interesting and fun information on the cookie's history, technique, ingredients, and other tidbits of information.

• Combines a treasure-trove of classic and contemporary cookie recipes with expert baking advice in one handy volume
• Written by the food editor and test kitchen director of Chocolatier and Pastry Art & Design magazines
• Offers definitive advice on freezing, storing, packaging, and shipping cookies

For home bakers who love to bake cookies, whether they're novice bakers or experienced kitchen hands, The Good Cookie is an irresistibly delicious resource.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

There are thousands of cookie recipes out there already, and probably hundreds of cookie recipe books. What makes The Good Cookie different, and worth making room for, is Tish Boyle. Food editor of the magazines Chocolatier and Pastry Art & Design, Boyle uses her experience as a pastry chef to update, improve, and choose between all those thousands of recipes for classic and best-loved cookies. She also includes recipes contributed by other excellent pastry chefs she's met, and for the remainder she relies on her own creative genius.

With over 250 recipes to choose from, Boyle makes the task much easier with mouth-watering introductions that describe in detail the appearance, texture, and taste of every cookie. The chapters are organized by technique, but the recipes are reorganized in an ingenious index by occasion or use: Ship Well, For Grown-Ups, Over-the-Top Chocolate, Bake Sale Bonanza, and the like. You'll find favorites such as Russian Tea Cakes, Lattice-Topped Linzer Bars, and Hermits, and crowd pleasers like Citrus Sandwiches and Blueberry Crumble Bars. Contributions from others include Chocolate Cranberry Spice Cookies, Ginger Fortune Cookies, and Midnight Brownies (made with Midnight Milky Way bars!). But what makes The Good Cookie priceless are the gems such as the crispy, chewy Tangerine Kumquat Rounds, explosive with citrus flavor, and Boyle's clear, detailed instructions that ensure their success. --Leora Y. Bloom

From Library Journal

Boyle, food editor of Chocolatier and Pastry Art & Design magazines, presents more than 250 cookie recipes to satisfy every palate and skill level. Recipes are arranged by type of cookie, including drop, rolled, bar, refrigerator, filled, and decorator, as well as savory cookies and crackers. Readers will relish old favorites like lusty lemon bars and Russian tea cakes, but the strength of this title lies in the author's own imaginative and tempting recipes for orange cream bars, coconut custard squares, raspberry-filled shortbread fingers, monster fudge nut brownies, and other delectables. Recipes are well laid out, instructions are easy to follow, and the color photographs are an inspiration. Baking tips, sources for equipment, storing and shipping guidelines, and a "bite-sized history of the cookie" are informative and will be of particular interest to novices. The "Cookies for Every Occasion" index lists appropriate recipes for everything from "Quick and Easy" to "Bake Sale" to "Over-the-Top Chocolate." Recommended for most cookery collections.
Pauline Baughman, Multnomah Cty. Lib., Portland, OR
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (September 18, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471387916
• ISBN-13: 978-0471387916
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 1.3 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #312,616 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tish Boyle is a graduate of La Varenne École de Cuisine in Paris and has been in the food business for over 20 years. She is currently the editor of Dessert Professional magazine (formerly Chocolatier magazine), a bi-monthly publication for the pastry and dessert industry. Tish was previously an editor at Good Housekeeping magazine and has worked as a recipe developer for many large food corporations and national magazines. She is the author of Diner Desserts (Chronicle Books, 2000), The Good Cookie (John Wiley, 2002) and The Cake Book (John Wiley, 2006), and the co-author of five other cookbooks. Visit her website at www.tishboyle.com and her blog at www.tishboyle.blogspot.com.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Cookies ever! August 3, 2005

By Jo Ann Peitzmeier

Format:Hardcover

The Good Cookie is the best cookbook I own because every recipe I have tried has been fantastic! (I agree with another reviewer - the chocolate chip cookie recipe is the best ever; I just made another batch today). There is a marvellously wide range of types (bar, refrigerator, decorator, drop, cut-out, etc) and flavors. And there are even cookies from around the world, from fortune cookies to hamentaschen to biscotti (several flavors) to ANZAC cookies to various British cookies. The recipe layout is visually pleasing and easy to follow. There are several pages of color photos to get your saliva glands and desire to bake really going. And every cookie I have tried has been perfectly delectable. I really love this cookbook and couldn't give it enough praise. Comprehensive, easy to use, nice to look at, and delicious. It is the best cookbook I've ever bought!

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars You Only Need One Good Cookie February 10, 2003

By "schirls"

Format:Hardcover

Maida Heatter, a long-trusted name in baking, said "Happiness is baking cookies -- especially when they are as delicious as all these are." I cannot agree with her more. Because of time constraints, I tend toward the easier recipes in this book, and there are so many to choose from. My pregnant cousin does not allow me to visit her anymore without Tish's Chocolate Chunk Cookies; my children finish a dish before I can even get to them. For fans of wonderfully rich, chocolate-y cookies, make sure you try this recipe first! For a great after school treat, be sure to try the Classic Vanilla Sugar Cookies. You can taste each of the simple ingredients that is part of this recipe, and your children will gladly help you sprinkle the coarse sugar. There are many, many more recipes to try, and they range from simple to sophisticated and sweet to savory. In the end, one needs only one good cookie. But it is nice to know that, with this book, you will have many more favorites from which to choose!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Delicious! October 20, 2002

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

I love to bake. I am so glad that I ordered this cookbook! I have made the white chocolate key lime bars and the peanut butter cookies. The bars were delicious and everyone told me that the peanut butter cookies were the best they had ever had. I brought some to work and people said "I can't believe you made these, these are something you get at a really good bakery or deli". I can't wait to bake my way through this book. Thank you Trish!

28 of 33 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Roadmap to Great Cookies with a Little Tweaking April 13, 2004

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

There's a reason this cookbook is called "The Good Cookie" and not "The GREAT Cookie". This is a well researched & well written compendium covering many types of cookies and full of recipes that will give you tasty, satisfactory results. Hoever, it's especially good if you are looking for basic recipes to use as a springboard to truly fantastic cookies or for someone relatively new to baking. I have made about fifteen of the recipes as written and the cookies were tasty but not fantastic or out of the ordinary. However, when I then went back and tweaked the ingredients, I ended up with wonderful results without having to create a recipe on my own. For instance, the ginger cookie recipe is basically a sugar cookie with the addition of a small amount of ginger, which is perfectly fine for people who don't want a spicy, crunchy cookie -- however I wanted a more traditional product. The linzer cookies as-written are too delicate to truly be called a "linzer" cookie and the nuttiness is overwhelmed by the butter. Yet by increasing the nuts, I was able to make a terrific cookie that was sturdier and nuttier, more like a real linzer torte. Having said all this, nevertheless, I salute anyone who takes the time to bake homemade cookies in this day and age so don't be put off: the recipes as-is will make everyone around you very happy. Overall I am glad to have this book on my shelf and I applaud the author for its clarity, the ease of the recipes and the depth of the content, however I now know that I must be prepared to play around after trying the recipes if I want to achieve outstanding results.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Not Just Good... Great! October 10, 2002

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

I just recieved this book and I am gratefull that I ordered it! This book is not just the same old cookie recipes put together in a new book. Ms. Boyle has taken the time to update classic recipes and give new, interesting, flavorful recipes, such as her take on the popular chocolate sandwich cookie. She includes some history of cookies, as well as very good guidance for packing and sending cookies. I wish that there were a few more photos, but only because the photos in the book are so good. The recipes seem very well written, and different enough to more than justify the book. With Ms. Boyle being a trained pastry chef and food editor of Choclatier magazine, she has used her experience very well in creating delicious, non-pedestrian recipes.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing variety February 24, 2004

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

This cookie book has the best chocolate chip cookie recipe I have ever tried. And believe me I have tried several! The variety of cookies and brownies in this book are amazing! Chocolate, fruity, savory, and even cookies for the special furry pet in your life. I collect cookbooks and have been searching for a great chocolate chip recipe for a long time. This is the best I've found!

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars It's Crunch Time! December 21, 2002

By Bill Marsano

Format:Hardcover

If you're the sort of person whose devotion to cookies stops at a stack of Oreos, you may as well go somewhere else: This book is not for you unless you're daring enough to buy it and give it to someone who <bakes> cookies. At that point your horizons will be enlarged.

Tish Boyle, of the magazines Chocolatier and Pastry Art & Design, knows her cookies, and she's put about 250 recipes for them in this neat, well-organized book: one to a page, clear instructions, easy to read. All kinds of cookies: drop, rolled, hand-formed, bar types and piped/molded types. Also icebox cookies (aka 'refrigerator' today) and filled cookies. Plain and decorated cookies. There's even a recipe here for Ginger Quakes made with (optional) bacon fat--not a lot but just enough to really make a difference. And recipes for pet cookies like Seafood Cat Cookies and Miss Kitty Dog Biscuits.

There are also plenty of handy tips, such as not using a nonstick pan when baking madeleines (they'll be over-browned). Here's my own tip: Get the kids involved and start them young. It's good for them to learn how to do instead of buy, and real home-made cookies are so good they'll be less likely to fall for the kind of junk that stores offer in cellophane packages.