Rose's Christmas Cookies

Christmas and cookies are synonymous. Extolling that happy truth, Rose Levy Beranbaum's Rose's Christmas Cookies provides a comprehensive selection of 60 cookie recipes for eating and decoration, for keeping and giving, that is probably the last word on the subject. The author of the award-winning The Cake Bible, Beranbaum has applied her passion for precise, foolproof recipes to the pleasurable business of cookie making. Including full-page color photos of every cookie, and more than 50 line drawings of techniques and templates, the award-winning book is both easy to use and a delight to the eye. Novice bakers and old hands alike will enjoy baking from it.

The recipes are arranged in chapters devoted to tree and mantelpiece cookies; cookies to make for and/or with kids; cookies for sending, for open house, and holiday dinner parties, among others. Included are recipes for classics such as Scottish Shortbread, Chocolate-Dipped Melting Moments, Mexican Wedding Cakes, Spritz Butter Cookies, Springerle, and Pfeffernüsse. Also offered are Beranbaum's own creations, such as Maple Walnut Sablé Sandwiches, and those of her friends, like Lora Brody's Christmas Phantoms and Mrs. King's Irresistibles. Where applicable, recipes offer optional mixing methods for food processor or electric mixer (or by hand). Beranbaum's "Smart Cookie" accompanies each recipe and provides hints on ingredients and techniques. Decoration, storage, and cookie-sending information abounds. Concluding with a color-photo-illustrated glossary of ingredients and equipment, the book is encyclopedic on its subject and virtually guarantees Christmas (or any time) cookie-making success. --Arthur Boehm