Cookies

Rating:
Summary: a simple good book
Review: First, this book is not a reprint of a previous title. It is a reprint of a selection of recipes culled from Maida Heatter's Book of Great Cookies, Maida Heatter's New Book of Great Desserts, and Maida Heatter's Book of Great American Desserts. The dust jacket claims that all the recipes have "been reviewed and updated." I compared numerous recipes to the originals and found no changes whatsoever. If you are serious about cookies and Heatter in particular, I recommend that that you search out used copies of the above cited books instead. They are very easy to find in used bookstores as they were also issued as book club selections.

Another complaint about this book and other two in the series (Cakes, Pies and Tarts) is the layout. Recipes are often placed in the wrong category and the recipes are run together, a particular pet peeve of mine. While her recipes do work, they could also benefit from an strong editor's hand. They tend to be over written and needlessly complex. Instructions are written in a long narrative, making it difficult to follow. A numbered step method would have been much better.

Rating:
Summary: Buy it, bake it, love it!
Review: For beginning or experienced bakers, this is a fantastic book. It is a compilation of all of Maida Heatter's published cookie recipes, plus some extras.

Her instructions are easy to follow and precise, letting you know exactly what you're getting into for each recipe. You can't go wrong if you follow her instructions. And, for the experienced baker, she offers modifications and suggestions to customize recipes as your own.

Many of the recipes have a short history or background blurb that explains their origin. It is fascinating to know and understand Maida's devotion to seeking out and perfecting the best cookies on the planet.

There are no photographs, but her descriptions are as rich as her recipes, so you can easily visualize the outcome.

Rating:
Summary: Beloved book for two generations....
Review: I bought this book for my cookbook collection. However, a dear friend visited one day and spied this cookbook in my bookcase. She sort of yelped with excitement and told me that this was the book her mother had used when she was a little girl and this was the book from which she learned to bake. She thought that the book was long ago out of print. So before she left that day, I wrapped the book and gave it to her as a gift. I had to go out and buy another for me! Now I'm planning to buy one for another friend who is a champion cookie baker!

Rating:
Summary: Great recipes for intermediate/experienced bakers
Review: I really like this book. I've done some of the recipes and they all came out great.
I'd just like to say that it's not a book for the novice baker. Doesn't have any pictures of the cookies featured here, nor general instructions on how to bake.
If it's your first time as a cookie baker, then you should buy other books like betty crocker or pillsbury, with basic cookie
recipes, great pictures and detailed instructions.

Rating:
Summary: Maida is the Queen of Cookies
Review: If you love to bake cookies, there's no way around it--you must have this cookbook. I have nearly every cookbook with cookie recipes that Maida has ever written, but this one reprints the majority of her cookie recipes from over the years, so if you can buy only one (and several are now out of print), snap this one up.

Maida's recipes are wonderful, her instructions are the best, and she gives you all the information you need to succeed every time. There are lots of bad recipes out there, but you won't find any of them in this cookbook. Every Christmas, it seems like at least half the recipes I'm using (and I have a whole shelf of just baking cookbooks to choose from) are hers. She and they are the best. After reading one of her recipes, you will seriously wonder why everyone doesn't write recipes like this. But literally no one else does, so Maida remains in a class by herself.

One of my top 5 all-time favorite cookies is in this cookbook--the Austrian Wienerstube--dark chocolate-pepper cookies that are to die for. I made them again this year, and they are wonderful. But it really is hard to go wrong with any of Maida's recipes--which is what makes her indispensable.

PS Buy parchment paper already! You'll never go back. I just made 38+ dozen cookies of many different types using two pans which I never needed to wash, thanks to parchment paper. You can buy it at any grocery store, but if you're serious, order it from a baking supply company in the same size as your pans. Once I did this, the only thing I wondered was why I hadn't done it years ago.

Rating:
Summary: At last, a reprint to replace my most-loved book!
Review: My original copy (1977) of Maida Heatter's Book of Great Cookies was just about to fall apart from all of the use it gets from me. I have yet to make a cookie from Maida's recipes that hasn't been delicious! I am thrilled to be able to purchase a new book to take over from my old tired copy! All my friends just love the cookies that come from this book and look forward to them every Christmas!

Rating:
Summary: At last, a reprint to replace my most-loved book!
Review: My original copy (1977) of Maida Heatter's Book of Great Cookies was just about to fall apart from all of the use it gets from me. I have yet to make a cookie from Maida's recipes that hasn't been delicious! I am thrilled to be able to purchase a new book to take over from my old tired copy! All my friends just love the cookies that come from this book and look forward to them every Christmas!