Bake Better Treats with ‘Martha Stewart’s Cookie Perfection’ [REVIEW]

Up your cookie baking game with Martha Stewart’s latest cookbook! (Photo by Canva).

Cookies. We all love them—even when we are avoiding them—because who can resist their yummy, crumbly, decadent goodness? It reminds us of the Borg’s trademark tagline in Star Trek: The Next Generation, “Resistance is futile!” So when you’re tired of the fight and want to cheat a little, we have the cookbook for you: Martha Stewart’s Cookie Perfection. It’s full of delicious recipes and glorious photographs that will have you baking up a batch of deliciousness in no time!

Clarkson Potter

If you follow our blog, you undoubtedly noticed all the great cookie recipes we featured last week, including those for carrot-cake thumbprint cookies, big almond-orange ginger cookies, and plum-and-blackberry cornmeal-almond crumb bars. All of them came from this new trove of unbeatable, over-the-top recipes that raises the bar for bakers everywhere.

We are big fans of Martha’s previous cookbooks, Martha Stewart’s Cookies and Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook, both of which are pretty much two of our baking bibles. But whereas the handbook covers every aspect of baking and the original cookie cookbook provides recipes for everyone’s favorites, this newest volume in Stewart’s arsenal ups the ante and puts new spins on old classics. It turns already tasty treats into blow-the-roof-off-the-house masterpieces that deliver mind-bending flavor combinations that will make you the unrivaled star at the next cookie swap party you attend!

We both love coconut, so the first recipe we made was the one for Macaroon Sandwich Cookies (page 105). All we can say is: OMG! Not only is this a terrific recipe for macaroons in general, but by adding the jam filling they burst with flavor and become sweet, textured, addictive balls of shredded coconut fluff. They really are to die for!

Do you like biscotti with your coffee at break time? Martha’s got you covered there too with not one… not two… but three recipes to elevate your mid-morning nosh. Varieties include rum raisin, Mexican chocolate, and brown-sugar and date biscotti! And if you are totally altruistic and decide to share, these would make great gifts wrapped in cellophane and tied with a ribbon.

One of the first cookies I ever made—which I think is true for a lot of people—is a snickerdoodle. Typically it’s a straight-forward dough rolled in cinnamon and sugar and baked, and it makes for a great beginner cookie which goes perfectly with a glass of milk. But leave it to Martha to pull a switcheroo and add something different. Her version adds seasonal goodness and the result is pumpkin snickerdoodles that are delightfully chewy and addictive.

So whether you’re making an after-school treat for the kids, a loving surprise for your spouse’s lunch box, or simply indulging your own sweet tooth, you can’t go wrong with Martha Stewart’s Cookie Perfection. It is the ultimate guidebook for your kitchen shelf, one which will deliver plenty of smiles and long, satisfied hums of appreciation as your loved ones sink their teeth into your exquisite, fresh-from-the-oven cookies. Enjoy!

Martha Stewart

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Martha Stewart is America’s most trusted lifestyle expert and teacher and the author of more than 90 books on cooking, entertaining, crafts, homekeeping, gardens, weddings, and decorating.

To find out more, visit MarthaStewart.com, like her on Facebook, subscribe to her on YouTube, and follow her on Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

MARTHA STEWART’S COOKIE PERFECTION
From the Kitchens of Martha Stewart Living
256 pp. Clarkson Potter. $26.

Purchase Martha Stewart’s Cookie Perfection at one of these fine online retailers: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Half Price Books, IndieBound, and Powell’s.