Taste of Home Cookies: 623 Irresistible Delights! [Paperback]

This book is massive - every kind of cookie recipe you can imagine and many you couldn't until you see them there on the pages in all their glory!

The book is organized well with lots of pictures, although not pictures of every single recipe.

There are many cookie recipes that are similar in type, variations on a theme, oatmeal cookies, peanut butter cookies, etc.

But there are many, many, many, many unique recipes that more than make up the difference to me!

A large majority of the recipes would be perfect for the holidays (or any time of year) and there are many of what I would term "casual" kinds of cookies, perhaps more suited to after school snacks and summertime gatherings.

Bottom line, huge selection of recipes, great variety - it's a keeper!!!

Taste of Home has really created a BIG book, full of cookies and bars. This paperback is thick, glossy beautiful and full of photos of almost all the products included.
It features all types of cookies: Drop, rolled, cutter, shaped, fudgy, filled, bars etc.

The book starts with general advice on baking, storing, shipping and a problem solving section.
Next comes an absolutely excellent chart converting volume measures to weight (ounces not metric), very useful for those of us who weigh rather than measure ingredients. Of course it is somewhat of a hustle to keep converting recipes to see if they are to your taste, but at least they do include the aformentioned chart. Most books don't! This is followed by a chart of substitutions, in case you don't have on hand eg baking powder

There are hundreds of products in these pages (the book claims 623). True some recipes are similar but there is more than enough diversity here to keep everyone satisfied.

Many recipes depict comments by Taste of Home readers that have made them and this actually incides one to try their hand at them.

On the downside is the fact that many recipes use shortening rather than butter. For many years scientists and other experts have been warning against using trans fats, especially shortening, so I do not understand why a major magazine like Taste of Home would still use it in their kitchens. A homely taste HAS to also be a healthy taste. I substitude butter for the shortening in the recipes and they come out much better tasting.

It is hard to find favourites among so many hundreds of recipes so I will name only a few.

Championship cookies
Giant peanut brittle cookies
Scottish shortbread
Mocha crackle cookies
Toffee oat cookies
Mom's molasses cookies
Chippy peanut butter cookies
Monster cookies
Butterscotch cookies
Oaty cereal treats

At this price this book is a giveaway. Many lesser books cost twice as much.

Do not think that the only good part of this book are the cookie recipes... I have been baking and cooking for a long time and I really learned and relearned from many of the hints given in front of this book: cookies 101- hints to bake, storing and shipping cookies, problem solving, food equivalents, and ingredient substitutions. They were wonderful with things like insulated cookies sheets make the cookies pale in colour, and in this day of many different ingredients in butter and margarine that you might need 80% vegetable oil - boy what a help even for experienced cooks
And then there are the cookie recipes, that also have helpful notes sometimes, like do not use reduced fat peanut butter. You are sure to get wonderful cookies especially because most of them have pictures to let you know how they should turn out, always a great help. There are a couple slip ups in not showing a picture for raspberry swirls, but that's a minor gaffe. All your favorites are probably in here including brownies, bars, sandwich cookies, Christmas classics and big batch cookies. If you want a type of cookie this book in all probability includes it. The index is done well, in fact there are 2, one that gives the names of the cookies and the other has ingredients and type, like a spritz cookie or no bake.
This would be a wonderful book for anyone who like to bake cookies whether they are an experienced cook or a novice.