The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion: The Essential Cookie Cookbook (King Arthur Flour Cookbooks)

Most recipes call for flavorings. Expensive flavorings. And expensive specialty ingredients. Coconut cookies require coconut flavoring. Maple cookies require both maple sugar($$$$) and maple flavoring. Not for serious bakers who depend on actual ingredients to flavor their cookies. And cooincidentially, they happen to sell all of those flavorings and $$ ingredients on the King Arthur website. I get the feeling that this book is less about baking great cookies and more about upselling their products. Off to Goodwill with this one- don't waste your money when there are so many other excellent cookie books on the market. Think Maida Heatter or Marion Cunningham.

I am a professionally trained home baker and own over 250 baking books. I also have a set of 16 binders I made for various products and projects while in baking school in the early 2000s along with a ring set of master formulas and a laminated 'cheat sheet'so I can bake any product, anywhere. In fact, I am in the process of writing my own book for like-minded home bakers incorporating many of the tricks and techniques I learned in the fabulous States-side Cordon Bleu-based program I attended (a two year curriculum - now that's thorough!). So, I didn't need this book, but I was looking for a cookie book to give as a gift for my daughter -- who is a scientist and bakes on the fly -- that would present the standard variety (and hopefully more) in an accurate and easy to follow manner. None of the books I had on my own shelves fit all my criteria, so I did a little exploring on Amazon and found this one. I liked what I read enough to buy a copy for myself, first and have now given it as a gift to many people. I am very happy with it. Once you know the ratios for each baking product [after all, the same four basic ingredients make up 95% of all baking: flour (base), water/liquid ('reagent'), eggs (leavening), butter/oil (fat)] what matters are the details and particulates added along with the proportions. In culinary school students memorize these ratios so they know the difference between a pancake and a crepe, a biscuit and a muffin. The trained eye can also recognize incorrect 'recipes' and wrong proportions that mean many bookstore baking books are useless and lead to failed projects (this is not a problem in Europe where formulas are considered sacred and product names reflect a standardized version of any baked product - almost as controlled as wines and cheeses! It is more of a dilemma here in the US where anyone can publish a book and call him or herself an expert - thus the dizzying and confusing array of baking books on the market here and their cumbersome size. Recipe books in Europe are concise - a small picture, a bullet list of ingredients, a short paragraph of instruction, since most people know what goes into making a classic croissant, for example and don't need or want every author to repeat it). For that reason, when I peruse baking books, I skip the measurements and instructions and instead merely look for interesting flavors, particulates, embellishments, i.e., the creative and imaginative input of other minds. For the accurate formula for any product, I turn to professional resources. Now, having said all of that - back to the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion. This is a great start for home bakers who want accuracy and a thorough range of standard US cookies without being burdened with too much technical information or formulas (recipes) that take too long to prepare. Most people do not have any time to waste. For a professional version of this kind of baking, turn to Wayne Gisslen's two introductory culinary textbooks (baking and cooking) - they are well worth the investment. Short of Gisslen, this book fits the needs of any home baker. I am particularly impressed by the amount of professional instruction and explanation that they have managed to include without its interfering with getting the project done. There are simply shaded sidebars throughout that give the kind of tips that elevate the amateur product to the professional and commercial level. For example, using Fiori di Sicilia - standard in commercial kitchens, the principle of docking, without which many products will simply fail (pizza principal among them!) and dough relaxers, among others of this genre. As for the issue that someone raised about the book failing to discuss proper ingredient temperatures, I believe this was done within the descriptions and explanations of the individual products - perhaps not emphasized as much as would be ideal, but again, too much technical information can be offputting to people who are not meticulous. The important thing is to have formulas that work even when today's hurried home bakers are a bit careless. This book provides those kinds of recipes. But, for example, the concept of eggs brought to room temperature is dealt with on page 485. Softened butter is discussed on page 484. Some cookies doughs need to be chilled and that is addressed throughout the book. Cold butter and cold eggs can be a problem when incorporating hot liquids or other hot ingredients but for the most part these are not serious issues when making cookies (in contrast, cold ingredients are key to a successful pie dough, for example). Do not expect spectacular imagination and decoration from this basic, accurate, how-to instruction reference. You can find all of that in thousands of ordinary cookie books, online, most of them through Amazon. I still buy them from time to time, myself, to stimulate my own creativity. There are a handful of professional baking books that the serious baker should have (Amendola, Gisslen, etc.). I keep them in one spot on my cookbook shelves. The rest of my baking books are just for their imaginative details - they are inspirational but little more. The reason baking seems daunting is that it is grounded in math, chemistry and biology. The challenge of all that is they are a bit difficult to master at first, but the reward is, once understood and properly employed, a correct knowledge of baking science will mean perfect outcomes, every single time and the ability to make one or a thousand items with rather simple equipment and tools, anywhere you land. If I had to throw away all my famous-name, home baking cookie books and keep just one, it would be King Arthur's.

I ordered the Flexibound edition and am very impressed. At 528 pages this book is full of information and recipes from simple sugar cookies to more complex cookies and treats. Knowing that this book was written by the makers of King Arthur flour gives me confidence that the recipes will work and will work best with that particular product. Looking forward to baking lots and lots of cookies.

I make a lot of cookies,and this book offers excellent recipes, directions, and a good deal of additional information that helps any baker, new or experienced, to improve on baking skills. For example, butter and shortening are not precisely interchangeable. If you want less spreading as your cookies bake, use shortening; for a wider spread, use butter. That's just one example. Want to make your own marshmallow creme? It tells you how!

I have been collecting cookie cookbooks for decades. I'm not a professional baker, just a cookie enthusiast. this is the most comprehensive recipe & instruction book I have ever seen. the only cookie not covered are French Macarons. it does have other macaroon cookies including a brownie and an almond. there is a center section of color pictures and many diagrams throughout the book. this is a thick & heavy book because it is full of so many different cookie instructions. I may just weed out my other cookie books....except my French Macaron books. this will keep me busy for many years.

This book has it all. I can now get rid of all the quaint, but marginally useful Christmas cookie recipe books I've accumulated over the years. This one has all I need. Additionally, it is easy to write (in pencil) in the book, my changes to the recipes that worked out. I will come back and post an index page, but the recipes include seasonal cookies, bars, brownies, and all kinds of snacks. I am cooking more with monk fruit than sugar and many require changes to the flour quantity and leavening amount to prevent hard CAKE cookies.

After reading some of this book, I understand how the cookie ingredients work and how to make the cookie spread either a greater distance or a lesser distance. There is a detailed explanation on what changes to make if one is baking at a high altitude. I live in a place that is 4000 feet above sea level; that chapter alone makes buying the book worthwhile. The recipes call for common ingredients available at the grocery store. The recipes are simple and the instructions are clear. The cookies are right tasty. What more could anyone need from a cookie cookbook?

King Arthur Flour cookbooks have never let me down. This one is no exception. I love that this cookbook has over 500 pages of cookie, brownie, and bar recipes. Most cookie sections of a cookbook have your standard chocolate chip, peanut butter, oatmeal cookie recipes and a few variations of those recipes. This book has all of the standard recipes plus a ton of other great cookie recipes. The book is organized into sections (i.e. no bake cookies, decorated cookies). Most of the sections have some standard recipes and then variations using those standard recieps. This book also has a lot of good information and tips. I have been making cookies for years, but I learned a new new tricks from reading this cookbook. For example, if you stagger the cookies on the cookie sheet, you can get more cookies on a cookie sheet. This cookbook is a must have if you love cookies! *Note* King Arthur Flour is a high gluten flour. There are some recipes where substituting a different all-purpose flour will not come out with the same results.

I really enjoy King Arthur recipes, but there are hardly any photos in this cookbook. It’s time for a revision! Add some photos please. If you are the kind of baker that like process shots and pics of the final product, you will be disappointed.

There's no dislikes with the cookbook for me. The cookbook was very informative along with great cookie recipes like the chocolate chip cookies and brownies. This cookbook will get a lot use in my collection of over 1,200 cookbooks that I have collected over the years.

Most recipes call for flavorings. Expensive flavorings. And expensive specialty ingredients. Coconut cookies require coconut flavoring. Maple cookies require both maple sugar($$$$) and maple flavoring. Not for serious bakers who depend on actual ingredients to flavor their cookies. And cooincidentially, they happen to sell all of those flavorings and $$ ingredients on the King Arthur website. I get the feeling that this book is less about baking great cookies and more about upselling their products. Off to Goodwill with this one- don't waste your money when there are so many other excellent cookie books on the market. Think Maida Heatter or Marion Cunningham.

I am a professionally trained home baker and own over 250 baking books. I also have a set of 16 binders I made for various products and projects while in baking school in the early 2000s along with a ring set of master formulas and a laminated 'cheat sheet'so I can bake any product, anywhere. In fact, I am in the process of writing my own book for like-minded home bakers incorporating many of the tricks and techniques I learned in the fabulous States-side Cordon Bleu-based program I attended (a two year curriculum - now that's thorough!). So, I didn't need this book, but I was looking for a cookie book to give as a gift for my daughter -- who is a scientist and bakes on the fly -- that would present the standard variety (and hopefully more) in an accurate and easy to follow manner. None of the books I had on my own shelves fit all my criteria, so I did a little exploring on Amazon and found this one. I liked what I read enough to buy a copy for myself, first and have now given it as a gift to many people. I am very happy with it. Once you know the ratios for each baking product [after all, the same four basic ingredients make up 95% of all baking: flour (base), water/liquid ('reagent'), eggs (leavening), butter/oil (fat)] what matters are the details and particulates added along with the proportions. In culinary school students memorize these ratios so they know the difference between a pancake and a crepe, a biscuit and a muffin. The trained eye can also recognize incorrect 'recipes' and wrong proportions that mean many bookstore baking books are useless and lead to failed projects (this is not a problem in Europe where formulas are considered sacred and product names reflect a standardized version of any baked product - almost as controlled as wines and cheeses! It is more of a dilemma here in the US where anyone can publish a book and call him or herself an expert - thus the dizzying and confusing array of baking books on the market here and their cumbersome size. Recipe books in Europe are concise - a small picture, a bullet list of ingredients, a short paragraph of instruction, since most people know what goes into making a classic croissant, for example and don't need or want every author to repeat it). For that reason, when I peruse baking books, I skip the measurements and instructions and instead merely look for interesting flavors, particulates, embellishments, i.e., the creative and imaginative input of other minds. For the accurate formula for any product, I turn to professional resources. Now, having said all of that - back to the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion. This is a great start for home bakers who want accuracy and a thorough range of standard US cookies without being burdened with too much technical information or formulas (recipes) that take too long to prepare. Most people do not have any time to waste. For a professional version of this kind of baking, turn to Wayne Gisslen's two introductory culinary textbooks (baking and cooking) - they are well worth the investment. Short of Gisslen, this book fits the needs of any home baker. I am particularly impressed by the amount of professional instruction and explanation that they have managed to include without its interfering with getting the project done. There are simply shaded sidebars throughout that give the kind of tips that elevate the amateur product to the professional and commercial level. For example, using Fiori di Sicilia - standard in commercial kitchens, the principle of docking, without which many products will simply fail (pizza principal among them!) and dough relaxers, among others of this genre. As for the issue that someone raised about the book failing to discuss proper ingredient temperatures, I believe this was done within the descriptions and explanations of the individual products - perhaps not emphasized as much as would be ideal, but again, too much technical information can be offputting to people who are not meticulous. The important thing is to have formulas that work even when today's hurried home bakers are a bit careless. This book provides those kinds of recipes. But, for example, the concept of eggs brought to room temperature is dealt with on page 485. Softened butter is discussed on page 484. Some cookies doughs need to be chilled and that is addressed throughout the book. Cold butter and cold eggs can be a problem when incorporating hot liquids or other hot ingredients but for the most part these are not serious issues when making cookies (in contrast, cold ingredients are key to a successful pie dough, for example). Do not expect spectacular imagination and decoration from this basic, accurate, how-to instruction reference. You can find all of that in thousands of ordinary cookie books, online, most of them through Amazon. I still buy them from time to time, myself, to stimulate my own creativity. There are a handful of professional baking books that the serious baker should have (Amendola, Gisslen, etc.). I keep them in one spot on my cookbook shelves. The rest of my baking books are just for their imaginative details - they are inspirational but little more. The reason baking seems daunting is that it is grounded in math, chemistry and biology. The challenge of all that is they are a bit difficult to master at first, but the reward is, once understood and properly employed, a correct knowledge of baking science will mean perfect outcomes, every single time and the ability to make one or a thousand items with rather simple equipment and tools, anywhere you land. If I had to throw away all my famous-name, home baking cookie books and keep just one, it would be King Arthur's.

I ordered the Flexibound edition and am very impressed. At 528 pages this book is full of information and recipes from simple sugar cookies to more complex cookies and treats. Knowing that this book was written by the makers of King Arthur flour gives me confidence that the recipes will work and will work best with that particular product. Looking forward to baking lots and lots of cookies.

I make a lot of cookies,and this book offers excellent recipes, directions, and a good deal of additional information that helps any baker, new or experienced, to improve on baking skills. For example, butter and shortening are not precisely interchangeable. If you want less spreading as your cookies bake, use shortening; for a wider spread, use butter. That's just one example. Want to make your own marshmallow creme? It tells you how!

I have been collecting cookie cookbooks for decades. I'm not a professional baker, just a cookie enthusiast. this is the most comprehensive recipe & instruction book I have ever seen. the only cookie not covered are French Macarons. it does have other macaroon cookies including a brownie and an almond. there is a center section of color pictures and many diagrams throughout the book. this is a thick & heavy book because it is full of so many different cookie instructions. I may just weed out my other cookie books....except my French Macaron books. this will keep me busy for many years.

This book has it all. I can now get rid of all the quaint, but marginally useful Christmas cookie recipe books I've accumulated over the years. This one has all I need. Additionally, it is easy to write (in pencil) in the book, my changes to the recipes that worked out. I will come back and post an index page, but the recipes include seasonal cookies, bars, brownies, and all kinds of snacks. I am cooking more with monk fruit than sugar and many require changes to the flour quantity and leavening amount to prevent hard CAKE cookies.

After reading some of this book, I understand how the cookie ingredients work and how to make the cookie spread either a greater distance or a lesser distance. There is a detailed explanation on what changes to make if one is baking at a high altitude. I live in a place that is 4000 feet above sea level; that chapter alone makes buying the book worthwhile. The recipes call for common ingredients available at the grocery store. The recipes are simple and the instructions are clear. The cookies are right tasty. What more could anyone need from a cookie cookbook?

King Arthur Flour cookbooks have never let me down. This one is no exception. I love that this cookbook has over 500 pages of cookie, brownie, and bar recipes. Most cookie sections of a cookbook have your standard chocolate chip, peanut butter, oatmeal cookie recipes and a few variations of those recipes. This book has all of the standard recipes plus a ton of other great cookie recipes. The book is organized into sections (i.e. no bake cookies, decorated cookies). Most of the sections have some standard recipes and then variations using those standard recieps. This book also has a lot of good information and tips. I have been making cookies for years, but I learned a new new tricks from reading this cookbook. For example, if you stagger the cookies on the cookie sheet, you can get more cookies on a cookie sheet. This cookbook is a must have if you love cookies! *Note* King Arthur Flour is a high gluten flour. There are some recipes where substituting a different all-purpose flour will not come out with the same results.

I really enjoy King Arthur recipes, but there are hardly any photos in this cookbook. It’s time for a revision! Add some photos please. If you are the kind of baker that like process shots and pics of the final product, you will be disappointed.

There's no dislikes with the cookbook for me. The cookbook was very informative along with great cookie recipes like the chocolate chip cookies and brownies. This cookbook will get a lot use in my collection of over 1,200 cookbooks that I have collected over the years.

I am looking at the book now. I read reviews on this book and one of them said that all the recipes said to use King Arthur flour. That is not true. I haven't seen one recipe that states that. I think these recipes sound good and easy to make. I would reccomend this cookie cookbook to everyone.

I received my copy of the Cookie Companion at 10:30 and I had already baked two of the recipes by 5:00. One of the advantages of this great book--no trips to the store for exotic ingredients. Anyone who is a frequent baker already has everything needed on a shelf in the pantry. If you live at altitude, page 22 alone is worth the price of the book. Photocopy it and tape it at your baking prep area. The chapter division in the Companion is very baker friendly. How many times do you say, "I think I want to bake a drop/bar/cutout cookie" and how many times do you just think, "I would like an oatmeal cookie." Go to the chapter for the flavor or main ingredient of what you are in the mood to bake (or have the ingredients for). You will be sure to find a cookie that interests you. I really liked the wide range of choices offered by the multiple recipes for the old standards. Do you want an oatmeal cookie that is soft, chewey, crisp, etc. You can select a recipe that meets your needs and wants for the moment. The recipe headers are fun to read. The descriptions are sometimes amusing and it seems that the author is being very friendly and honest...almost like a friend handing you a recipe with his or her opinion of the results to be achieved. I enjoyed the wonderful illustrations. It is obvious that the artist is quite familiar with baking techniques. The art really enhanced my appreciation of the recipes and the book. Step by step and easy to follow--trademarks of baking with King Arthur recipes. These could be used by a beginning baker as well as by more experienced cooks. The sidebars contain interesting tips on ingrediets or techniques. The only negative I have is the touting of some of the more exotic kitchen equipment (which can be purchased from King Arthur's Baker's Catalogue) in the comprehensive equipment listing. But I also read every issue of the catalogue when it arrives, so it is a very minor point. This is another winner!

I teach cookie baking for classes given to benefit local charities. This book is an excellent reference and provides basic recipes with lots of variations. Does a great job of differentiating among various types of cookies, like American vs. Italian biscotti, chewy vs. crisp vs. soft, etc. types of cookies. I have at least thirty cookie cookbooks and really like what this one provides in terms of techniques and ideas. Highly recommend it.

What a great book! This is a big book with lots of terrific recipes both classic and new. It would be nice if there were more photos but without them you can always say, "that's what they're supposed to look like." I still really like this book.

This is a great cookie cookbook! Rather you are new to cooking or have been addicted for a long time, you will like it. The print is easy to read. The paper is hardy. Minus the index, the book has 500 pages of recipes. I have flagged all I wish to make and I will be very busy this year.

I am a mediocre cook but I am an excellent baker--because of the King Arthur Flour bake books. This cookie companion is the most often used bakebook in my house. Its use of weight rather than volume measurements is helpful (and now I hate baking with volume measurements--blech!), the assortment of cookies is diverse, and thus far I have not disliked a single recipe. Ease of use: Beginner. My favorite recipes are the lavender cookies, hobnails, soft oatmeal raisin, chewy chocolate chip, and their variation on the Jewish tricorn cookies Hamantash. If you want to have endless fun with cookies, buy this book and a 25lb. bag of flour and call your friends over--this will never disappoint!

I Originally got this book from the library just to have some variation in my quarantine cookies and loved it so much that I had to buy it. It has fantastic recipes and variations on all the standards as well as instructions and tips.

I bought this for my husband he loves to bake breads and I got him the other book made by King Arthur and he’s really happy with both of them I would recommend this book to anyone that likes to bake breads judy

This book is incredibly handy. I've been baking for 16 years and still found enough use for it that I decided to buy it. It has all the basic cookie recipes, from chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies to the ones that are not so well-known, such as Rugelach and Hamantaschen. There are several variations of different types of cookies, as well as sections for drop cookies, roll-outs, no-bake cookies, and even bars. There is a final chapter just for glazes and icings. I've not had such a complete collection of cookie recipes before. Besides all that, though, there are many useful tips throughout. From easier pan greasing to easier icing. The recipe directions are all laid out as simple as possible, too. There are often points in baking something new when the cook might wonder if this is supposed to have a certain consistency or look to it, but these directions even point that out. "The batter will seem very curdled to you. Keep mixing it, though, and it will be smooth." Or, "The batter may feel very dry, but keep pressing it out until it is level." These are little tips that don't sound like a big deal, but can be very helpful and encouraging. This is a good book to buy someone who is new to baking. They will get really good results. The book includes a section on the different pans and tools to bake with that anyone can find useful, as well as a chart for measurements and weight. The recipes and tips are so thorough, though, that it would make a good buy for the seasoned baker as well.

This is like the BIBLE for COOKIES!!! My family takes the making of Christmas Cookies very seriously and this book contains so many recipes for delicious cookies that we will be busy for a long time baking and deciding which cookies are the best!!!!!

I have many cookbooks with cookie recipes but this one is the best. It is a must have for both experienced and beginner bakers. The selection is very impressive and the baking tips throughout the book are great. The Essential Chewy Chocolate Chip cookies are the best I have ever made - full of chocolate chips. Everyone at my job loved the Butter Pecan Fantasies even more. I would have rated this book a 5 except for 1 glaring omission. There isn't one mention in the book about softening the butter or having ingredients such as eggs at room temperature. When I first noticed this, I thought I must be imagining it. They are standard instructions in any other baking cookbook. But I have searched the book from front to back and still don't see any mention of this. This is no big deal for an experienced baker but could cause problems (and discouragement) to new bakers. I also agree with the other reviewer that it was annoying that some of the recipes included ingredients that were not readily available to most home bakers. Sure, you could order these ingredients from King Arthur Flour. But it takes away the spontaneity of making cookies to have to pre-order an ingredient.

Although there are no pictures really, the recipes are very tasty. I've made a few things from here and they all turned out great with rave reviews.

It's a good cookbook with lots of recipe's but there isn't a lot of pictures. A picture tells a thousand words. Lots of recipe's though.

I love this book. Have been using it regularly. You can find any cookie you can possibly want to make. King Arthur products are my favorite and so far have not been disappointed. S

Great cookbook with good recipes and lots of helpful tips. You can't go wrong with King Arthur recipes because they are tested and proven to turn out if you follow the recipes and use good ingredients.

I love this cookie cookbook. It has excellent instructions. Easy to follow. King Arthur in my opinion, is top notch.

I bought this on reading a recommendation on an online board praising it to the skies. Actually, the unwitting reviewer was a tad restrained! This is a great book for 'foundation' cookies that you make everyday for your family and friends. If you are like me and have a preference for soft, chewy, crispy or other 'cookie attributes' for specific cookies, this book will cover all the bases. You will be baking cookies you love to eat, exactly *how* you love them. This may be a caloric nightmare, but you'll be in complete bliss. There are also great tips for baking, even some I've never encountered in 40 years of baking. Worth every penny, and more.

Could have better packaged. Corners were slightly damaged (bent). Better half was disappointed, she is very proud of her collection of cook books keeps them up.

So comprehensive. Love that they use weight measurements, instead of dry measurement cups. Should keep me busy for a while! Good baking tips as well.

I used this book for Christmas baking gifts this year, starting with giving the book itself to our daughter for her Christmas baking. She absolutely loved the book as well. She has five children and always has to make cookies for classes. It's a wonderful book and both of us cannot recommend it enough. Every time I talk to those I gave cookies to rave about them and broadly hint that they would welcome more anytime.

Excellent condition ! Am giving it to a granddaughter who loves to bake 😊

This is a great, LARGE, cookie cookbook. Quite a few delicious looking recipes

Love this book. I am a huge King Arthur Flour supporter, and this book is great for bakers. I would recommend this.

Great Cookbook with baking info rarely found. A keeper. Used book in excellent condition. A keeper. Shipped promptly. Thanks!

I checked this out from my local library before purchasing. Love this book so much I gave it as a Christmas book to my sister who loves to bake all sorts of cookies with her children. Such a wide variety of cookie plus includes variations for both the chewy, crispy, and cakey texture lover when it comes to chocolate chip cookies and other varieties.

This is the BEST cookie book I own and I have many, many books. Every Cookie recipe is just wonderful, easy to follow instructions, results are wonderful and tastes of these cookies are beyond great! If you want a really good cookie book with yummy recipes, then this is the book for you! Those King Arthur bakers know EXACTLY what they are doing.

Gave as gift with cookie scoops. Everything you need to make some great cookies

I purchased this book as a 24-year-old without much baking experience. I was very pleased to find that this book not only has a ton of great recipes, but it also includes a lot of very helpful information for new bakers. I haven't had this book very long and I've already made several different types of essential cookies and variations. Every batch of cookies turned out great. I am very happy with this purchase.

This is a great cookie cookbook. King Arthur Flour is one of the best for anything baking.

Purchased to be a gift. After looking through it, I know the recipient will love this cookbook.

I've made 3 recipes from here so far and they've all been successful. The King Arthur folks know what they are doing and it is great they have shared so much in this great resource.

I ordered all 3 of these King Arthur cookbooks and have used them so much since I got them. In addition to the recipes these are full of tips to make baking so easy. Trying to incorporate more whole grains in my baking and EVERYTHING I've made has come out wonderfully. Would be a perfect gift for a newly wed or anyone just starting out. I bought these because I came across the King Arthur 200th Anniversary Cook Book in my mom's collection and took it home. Absolutely LOVE that one too. A lot of explanation of tools and a zillion recipes!!!

If your a baker this book is for you. I always use king Arthur flour before anything else. it's a classic.

Great book! Have made most of the chewy versions of chocolate chip, sugar, and PB cookies. Haven't found a dud yet.

I received this book yesterday, after pouring through the pages, my son and I picked out 3 different cookies to try out today. Essential Sugar cookies, Brown Sugar cookies, and Joe Froggys. WOW! all recipes were amazing, perfect making very delish cookies. The brown sugar cookies have to be one of my most favorite cookies I have ever tasted!! The book is very nicely written. My favourite part about the book is that it list ingredients by weight! Oh how I love thee King Arthur!

Glad we found it

I love this book for a variety of reasons. It's comprehensive, covers the chemistry that makes baked goods delicious, is written in a friendly (but not too folksy) manner and best of all, offers recipe variations for soft and crispy cookies. (My husband loves the former; I, the latter.) It's also great reading if you love food history and culture, and it made me want to be part of the delightful King Arthur Family. I highly recommend this to all who love cookies and baking. Bazaar Baker

a wonderful book. i recommend this book to everyone who loves baking.

Love King Arthur flour cook books. The recipes are yummy!

Excellent, book looks like New great for cookie lovers.

This book has some of the best cookie recipes; when I use one of the recipes, I always get rave reviews from people I share them with. I have found that the book offers alot of additions that you can add, such as when you put in cranberries, use less of another ingredient. The recipes are also not complicated, and that encourages more baking. Just be sure to use King Arthur Flour for the best results; that' the best flour on the market.

I liked how the product matched the picture. This purchase was a holiday gift for my aunt last year.

This is the one cookie cookbook to own! It is my go-to cookbook when baking cookies. The recipe for Fudgy Brownies is worth the price alone. The recipes I have tried so far are: Fudgy Brownies - super moist and fudgy, great chocolate flavor - the best! Scandinavian Blondies - excellent almond bar that tastes like it has almond paste, but it doesn't. Delicious! Pecan Pie Bars - pecan pie in a sheet pan. Excellent! Rocky Road Bars - a big hit when served to college students last week. A friend has used Cookie Companion a lot and she says every recipe she has tried is delicious. I will be giving Cookie Companion as gifts to our family members this holiday season.

We own the hardcover edition of this book and have this one as a gift. It's an excellent book with tons of useful information that is easy to use for beginners and experienced bakers. Also check out King Arthur's Baker's Companion, the two books together can teach you and guide you through some really excellent recipes and advanced techniques with great success.

Love this book! It has a wide variety of recipes. It has been a lot of fun testing, trying and perfecting each one.

Favorite baking cookbook! Recipes are 100% dependable! King Arthur always no fail!

It covers many types of cookies and is filled with so much baking information. Love it!

I found information that was beneficial to where we live, at high altitude there are adjustments to be made.

I own probably a dozen or so cookie cookbooks but this is the one I most frequently reach for. The recipes don't contain any "crazy" ingredients and are always winners. Be forewarned--this is not an "eye candy" type cookbook--there is no flashy photography and most of the book is just simple text. However, if you are a true cookie lover, you can look past this and see the quality of the recipes.

The book is very pleasing to read. I tried two recipes so far and they turned out great. I think this will be my go to book for cookies for many years to come.

Best cookie cookbook EVER! Bought this as a gift for my SIL since I use mine all the time. The fudge brownie recipe is out of this world and WAY better than any box brownie mix. King Arthur is always amazing!

Need an original Cookie Reference that has been time tested. It fills the bill.

Great recipes.

Their essential chocolate chip cookie gets rave reviews--particularly with a bit of sea salt on top! Can't go wrong with this book. Like that ingredients are presented in volume as more standard measurements.

Wonderful, I totally trust king arthur.

I ordered this cookbook for my daughter as a Christmas present, at her request. She had checked it out from her local Library and liked it so much that she wanted one of her own. She was very pleased that I was able to locate one for her. Thank you, kom

Good product - would recommend!

What can I say, excellent cookie recipe book!! A must have if you love to bake, highly recommend!!!

Great book with lots of wonderful cookie recipes. I used to collect cookie recipe books, but no more. The only book I turn to these days for flavorful cookies is this one. Using their flour also makes a huge difference in texture and taste!

Fast shipping. Exactly as stated in the description!!

Highly recommend if you like to bake cookies. I can't live without it now and have bought it as gifts for others!

Lots of information and good recipes. It's a good read besides being a baking book.

If I wanted super simple I would buy Oreos or premade dough. So far the recipes are fun, cookies are delicious and I enjoy the challenges on some recipes.

Such a great cookbook with lots of interesting recipes! I knocked it down to 4 stars because I wish that they would explain better some of the steps and what can be done with a stand mixer versus hand mixing but I am still very happy with that purchase. I've made a bunch of things already and they were all very yummy.

I do a lot of baking and even though I had some of these recipes, the clarity and precision of the instructions are wonderful. The tips included for many recipes makes this an appropriate cookbook for a new baker or an experienced one. Its a worth addition to my already overflowing collection and one that I know I will constantly use as a standard reference.

This is the BEST cookie recipe book that I have ever bought. The faux reos and the biscotti are soooo good. I can't wait to try more of the recipes. I would recommend this book to anyone who LOVES to bake.

The cookbook is organized well...can't wait to try the recipes.

gave this as a gift and it was received with great pleasure. I have sampled some of the results and they are yummy.

I love this cookbook. I used to borrow my friend's book to make a variety of different cookies, and I decided to finally purchase my own cookie cookbook. There are so many great easy-to-make recipes: over 400 cookie/brownies/biscuit/biscotti recipes. There are easy to follow instructions with drawings showing what to do to make delicious cookies. The King Arthur cookbooks have great handy tips and nutritional tips.

This is my favorite book

Very nice cookbook!

It doesn't get any better than this. I've bought multiple copies for gift giving. The biscotti recipes are good, having both an Italian and an "American" version. Many bake sale and holiday baking ideas here, too!

I love this cookbook!

I tried the soft chocolate chip cookie recipe. It came out great. I am looking forward to more great cookies.

You will not regret buying this book. It is full of great recipes.

Excellent collection of recipes

I have several of the King Arthur Flour books. Once I bought one I wanted all the others. Even though I have 3 or 4 different books I still find that I need more recipes. I find that hard to believe but it seems that no baking book has everything.

I bought this book as a gift for a friend who enjoys baking cookies. She was very pleased & told me this book is very comprehensive.

One of the best cookbooks that I have, and I have MANY!

An excellent book containing very good recipes. I recommend it.

I love everything about any of the King Arthur companion books because not only are the recipes wonderful but they teach you how to bake. It tells proper ways of the steps and what tools to use and why. I bought the Bakers companion years ago and love it. So I wanted to help a friends daughter learn to bake she loves it too! Great buy and you cant go wrong.

I now have all of King Arthur's Cookbooks. They have the best and most correct recipes I've every used. They use both weight and volumn measures and they have tested all of the recipes. Not one has failed yet. I highly recommned all of their books.

Whenever we are in VT, we visit the King Arthur Store...it is an awesome place. We LOVE the cookbook...and use it a lot. Thanks for sharing!!!

I first took this book out of the library. I loved it so much, I bought one for myself, and since then, have bought two more as gifts. My favorite cookie cookbook, highly recommended.

Came a little beat up. Planned as a gift, was disappointed about condition.

I got this for my wife, who loves baking, and she has made some delicious cookies from it, which of course, benefits me a great deal. Highly recommended.

LOVE IT

KAF does it again!

Awesome resource! Full of a lot of tips and tricks. The book as a huge variety of recipes

This particular copy is meant as a gift, but I have a hardcover copy and hardly a cookie season (isn't every season a 'cookie season'?!) goes by that I don't refer to it. If you're only going to have one cookie cook book, this is the one to have.

A wonderful baking companion with some very unique recipes.

Great resource for home baker. Had recipies for a large variety of cookies (plus several variations on common favorites). Recipes were clear and easy to understand. I found it useful to review the section at the end of book which covered some of the techniques used in making the recipes (i.e. sprinkle method of measuring flour, not scoop & sweep). Glad I bought it!

Great book

Bought this book since it had great reviews compared to other cookie books & usually buy their all-purpose flour at the market. I love baking but wanted to tackle holiday cookie gift boxes and wanted to practice a few batches before deciding. Got the book today and knew I wanted a basic cookie dough. I baked the butter pecan shortbread cookies & they came our perfect!!!! Instructions say to put in a 9 inch round baking pan but since I only wanted a few I rolled out the dough & did simple cutout cookies. The flavor & texture screams holiday cookies!

Great cookie cookbook. Absolutely love it looking forward t baking with all my grandkids

This is a wonderful book from king arthur flour. The recipes are great. I have tried severl of them and they have all been good. I only wish there were more pictures!

I bought for a gift since I liked mine so much

Great book

It arrived in great shape as usual...and is full of great recipes. The recipes are easy to follow The book dosn't lie flat...but I just set something heavy on it.

My grandaughter will get out this cookbook and pick a recipe for us to make together. We started this when she was 10 and is now 13. She is probably ready for her own book at this time so she can bake without me being there.

My daughter learned to make the most delicious brownies ever... Recipes are easy to follow.

I've made a lot of cookies over the years - but NONE of them ever turned out so absolutely delicious as the cookies in King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion. This is a great cookie Cookbook. The directions are suburb, and easy to follow. And, the cookie Companion includes ideas for cookie variations, as well as tips and pictures on "how to" follow the directions. I also like the 'tips on technique', on almost every page. From the very first page on 'Getting Started', this cookie companion is a wonderful adventure into the art of making cookies. Thank you SO much !

This book is a must have if you have children who loves cookies. I have tried many of the recipes in this book and found them to be very good. I also found that it was easy to convert a lot of them over to a healthier recipe.

The King Arthur cookbooks are very informative and I liked my first one so much I bought two more! I hope to purchase another one soon!

Great Book!

King Arthur cookbooks never fail to deliver. The recipes. are easy to follow and the end results delicious.

It has a very large variety of cookies and desserts. It had a lot of foreign cookies and tried them and was really good to take to a party. Very in depth on how you make the cookies.

I have been searching for a book that gives you wonderful recipes,but goes beyond. This book is a great teaching tool. Full of so much help and great tipsA must have.

Great cookies and many variations of old time favorites too! This will become one of your go to cookie cookbooks.

Wonderful purchase for any cookie lover. Great recipes and pictures. The recipes are so easy to follow and with so many to choose from it is hard to make a decision. I bought one for my neighbor as a christmas gift and she is equally thrilled with this book.

Great book with a TON of cookie recipes that also covers a wide variety of associated topics.

Best cookie cook book ever! Period. End of discussion.

Filled with excellent recipes.

Great resource. A go to book for cookie

The King Arthur Flour Company is a great tried and true company. The recipes in this book are test, retested and some of the best I've seen. There are hundreds of variations on each recipe and very helpful for making your own. If you like cookies for any occasion, this is the deal!

I love that you can choose crunchy versus soft versions of old favorites

Lots of receipes for your favorites and that will create some new favorites too. Better than I expected. Explore and ENJOY!

Love it. Very helpful and very detailed.

This is the best cookie book ever! Every recipe we have tried has been phenomenal. I highly recommend this to family & friends.

My wife scours this cook book seemingly nightly. It resides in the "hot stack" of cookbooks that our constantly in use in our household. After she renewed it for the third time at our local library, I decided that it would be a good purchase. Absolutely no regrets, complaints or suggestions. The definitive Cookie Cookbook!

This book was recommmended by a culinary arts teacher of mine. It was packaged well & shipped in a timely manner.

If you like to make cookies, this cookbook is for you!there are amazing recipes in this book that will have you baking cookies upon cookies!,

I liked the book a lot and.I love king Arthur Flour products. They make the best stuff . great buy

This is a Must Have for any serious baker, this book has great information and wonderful recipes and the scope is just great.

I collect cookbooks. Have many cookie cookbooks. But had I bought this book from the very beginning, this would have been the only one cookie cookbook.

This is a big book, but cookie recipes are built off of one basic recipe. But results are reliable.

Great book..So much more than I ever could have imagined.

A gift for my brother...he loves it! It arrived quickly.

The ultimate in cookie authorities. There are recipes for the basic chocolate chip and sugar cookies all the way to the diverse flavors of springerle and Kolache. This book gives you two different methods to assemble your cookies whichever appeals to you. Not only that, there is a picture of what each cookie should look like with each recipe. Each recipe is accompanied with hints to help you troubleshoot and correct any challenges you encounter. This is the ultimate cookie reference. If you can only have one cookie book, this is it.

EVERYTHING King Arthur is awesome!

great value

Wonderful

My favorite cookie cookbook! My favorites are the "Soft Molasses Cookie" and the "Lighter than Air Sugar Cookie" Recipes. Everything I make out of this cookbook is an automatic hit. Great for beginning bakers as a teaching tool.

Love it

Great book. Gave it as a gift.

I had not received my refund when I wrote the first review. They completely refunded my money for the damaged book and I received a very nice apology. I would not hesitate to order from them again. They were true to their word for refund with no hassles. I was pleased with my dealing with this company. The delvery was prompt but was damaged. The refund process was handled very well. They have a good endorsement from me.

Great cookie recipes

This book exceeded my expectations. Great recipes and a good read.

The copy I received has duplicate pages 193-224 and is missing pages 249-256 (a good part of the "drop cookie" section). Maybe that's why the price was so good? Unfortunately, I didn't notice this until the 30 day return window had expired, so it doesn't pay to return. Aside from this, it's a wonderful collection of cookie recipes--probably the only one you'd need--if you're lucky enough to receive the entire book. There are even recipes for long-forgotten Italian favorites my relatives used to make years ago. I've contacted KAF to see if they'll rectify the problem, but I'm guessing they'll tell me I should have bought it from them, directly.

I love this book so much that I don't want to return it. However, I received it yesterday and the first time I open it the pages ripped away from the spine of the book. It is sad. A great book was ruined by poor construction.

Good recipes but needs to be updated. Techniques are more up-to-date on the website and in conflict with the book. It confused my mother, the queen of cookies.

The cookies were dry. The recipes sounded good but when made the results were disappointing. The cookies were dry and stiff or difficult to reproduce-- the bullseye in particular. I would not reccommend purchasing this.

Lots of recipes, but no standouts.

A good cookbook to read. Most, if not all, of the recipes have a little blurb about them which makes for interesting reading. I like knowing the origins of recipes as well as other little tidbits such as: how popular the recipe is/other variations to try/what year it originated/who created it, etc. I do wish there were more color photos. There are only a very few. But there are a lot of black and white illustrations especially for showing various techniques which is very helpful. This would be a great gift for anyone that enjoys making cookies. By the way - this is a HUGE cookbook. Love it.

I've been a fan of King Arthur flour and mixes for a long time. Their cookie cookbook has been a marvelous addition to my cooking library. From the detailed discussion of ingredients and methods to the recipes, they've not only provided some fabulous cookies for my family and friends, but also educated an experienced baker. I especially like that they provide quantities for ingredients by weight as well as by conventional measure. I have a good kitchen scale and prefer to measure by weight when I can, but I don't always have the time to figure out equivalents--this book does it for me. One thing I've enjoyed is the variations given for old standards. My family prefers soft or chewy cookies, so I've used both of those recipes for oatmeal raisin rather than the crisp or crunchy versions. I find myself just reading this book--browsing through the recipes, making lists of cookies I want to try in the near future, familiarizing myself with categories of cookies I haven't yet made. It was worth every, single cent, and I am *so* glad I bought it!

I attended an event at our local bookstore, which hosted one of the editors of this book from King Arthur. I thought the session would be fun, but was determined that I was not going to buy another book with cookie recipes. That was until the editor let us sample several cookies from the book, including Magic in the Middle (chocolate filled with peanut butter), and Salty Oatmeal (the best oatmeal cookie I have ever eaten in my life, although others may find the slightly salty taste a bit odd). After biting into these, I immediately bought three copies, one for myself and two for holiday gifts. While not every recipe in here is a star, there are some real winners here. I have been making biscotti for fifteen years, and the King Arthur base dough recipe is the best I've ever worked with; it's simply foolproof and delicious. The book also has wonderful tips that I continually use, including the one to spray the biscotti with water five minutes before cutting them so that they don't fall apart. It works every time. In my view, any cookbook that has even a couple of recipes you will use for years to come is worth its weight in gold. This one has a good many I have added to my permanent collection.

If you enjoy baking cookies for your children, your church, Christmas presents or just because, then the only cookbook you will need is this one! King Arthur Flour has been around for a very long time, and part of its philosophy is to help educate their flour patrons on how to utilize their flour best! If you enjoy what you create with their product, not only will you continue to purchase it, you will tell someone else about their product too. This cookbook has developed over 400 cookies from nine basic processes. There are common cookies, and unusual cookies. I was very fortunate to get to review this book over the holiday season, where I could try many of the recipes and share the results. I even found a recipe for "alfajor" which is a cookie from South America. Having lived in Argentina for a time, I used to eat alfajores with dulce de leche, and here, in this wonderful book, is the recipe! My family also adored the Light Spice Cookies (a cross between a sugar cookie and a gingerbread cookie) and Magic in the Middles, a chocolate cookie with peanut butter in the middle (one definitely for the peanut butter cup fans)! My suggestion to all is get rid of any other cookie books you have, like I did, and make room for this one as a part of your permanent collection. You will not regret it!

Fantastic cookbook! There are over 300 recipes in this volume and you'll want to try all of them. The 30 page "Getting Started" section is invaluable and has many useful illustrations and handy tips. Ditto on the "Ingredients" section in the back of the book - although that section would have been better placed in the front. A nice plus is the wipe-clean cover underneath the dust jacket. The recipe titles and text fonts are easy to read and the overall design of the book is logical and practical to use. While the book is large, it's not heavy owing to the choice of paper. Save the wrist-breaking heavy glossy enamel stock for the coffee table books! The section on Biscotti alone is worth the price of the book, which is a bargain in any case. Lots of ethnic cookies, too, including Zimsterne, Pizzelle, Hamantaschen, Rugelach, Kourabiedes, Springerle, Chrusciki, Krumkaka, and Ossi da Morto, among others. The Cherry-Nut Rugelach is marvelous! All the old time favorites are included as well, many with variations. I prefer the Triple Brownie recipe from Cook's Illustrated, however, but that's a matter of taste. The Lavender Cookies are unusual - a taste of Provence! As a person of Swedish heritage, I find that the Cardamom-Almond Cookies don't include enough Cardamom for my taste, but that's easily remedied. One drawback of this otherwise superb book is that the temperature of the butter is not specified. In most cases when making cookies, the butter should be malleable - at room temperature. There are exceptions, of course, but they are rare. Experienced bakers know this fact - but beginners will find it frustrating. The recipe for "Almond Joyfuls" directs you to have the butter at room temperature, but the others do not. This is odd, especially given the fact that quite a bit of information is given on butter in the "Ingredients" section. It appears to be a major oversight. Recipes are given for both "Chewy" and "Crunchy" Chocolate Chip Cookies. Oatmeal Cookie versions include recipes for "Chewy" "Crunchy" "Crisp" or "Soft". Similar versions are given for Sugar Cookies, so there's something for everyone. There are 22 color photographs giving the reader an idea of how a finished cookie should look. Even more helpful are the many tips in the gray tinted boxes addressing such issues as "The Chocolate Grating Challenge"; "How do I know when they're done?"; "Changing a plain biscotti's taste, texture, or crust"; "The easiest way to spread batter evenly"; "Measuring molasses"; and "Can I use brown sugar and granulated white sugar interchangeably?" One caveat: As with the recipes contained in the other three King Arthur Cookbooks, you'll get the best results using King Arthur Flour - especially true in the case of their yeast bread recipes. You can use Pillsbury, Gold Medal, or Ceresota for these recipes but the KA bakers test their recipes with their own brand of flour. Flours are NOT all the same. Gold Medal All-Purpose Unbleached Flour is NOT the same as King Arthur All-Purpose Unbleached Flour. Flours differ in protein levels which affect the outcome in terms of structure. Cake Flour which is ALWAYS bleached, even KA's Cake Flour) has the lowest protein content; Bread Flours have the highest. The good news is that King Arthur Flour is now widely available at Jewel/Albertson's, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, and other outlets. You'll find KA All-purpose Unbleached, KA Whole Wheat, KA Bread Flour, and KA White Whole Wheat. Their other specialty flours can be found through their catalog and website. I often use Gold Medal and Ceresota Flours interchangeably and sometimes use them for KA recipes. Generally the differences won't be critical to the success of any of these cookies - but pay attention to the suggestions on how to accurately measure flour, which can substantially affect the finished product. This book is essential for bakers at all levels and is especially welcome during the holidays. Buy it along with Carole Walter's "Great Cookies: Secrets to Sensational Sweets" and cookiewise you'll have virtually every cookie recipe you'll ever want.

This cookbook is, in short, spectacular and I expect it to become a classic reference for bakers everywhere. Here's the thing. When I was growing up, my mother baked the most wonderful oatmeal cookies. They were soft and didn't flatten out much, so they stood up like little mountains of tasty goodness. Now that she doesn't cook anymore (God knows why), I have been unable to find cookies quite like them: oatmeal cookies bought in mall bakeries or baked by my colleagues at work are (inevitably) flat cookies that are either stiff and crunchy or soft and chewy. Now, I loved crunchy oatmeal cookies and chewy oatmeal cookies as much as the next guy, but I miss the old softies. Enter THE KING ARTHUR FLOUR COOKIE COMPANION! THE KING ARTHUR FLOUR COOKIE COMPANION outlines nine "essential" cookies and oatmeal cookies are one of them. For each of these "essential" cookie types, the authors include from two to four basic recipes depending on what style of cookie you want to bake. Thus, for the oatmeal cookie, for example, there are recipes for a chewy cookie, a crunchy cookie, a crisp cookie, and (tada!) a SOFT COOKIE! My prayers have been answered. But wait, there's more! There are literally dozens of variations on each "essential" cookie. Just choose the basic recipe that matches your preferences and then follow the additional instructions for creating the variation. Thus, each variation can be made in two to four different ways. In addition to oatmeal cookies, the other "essentials" are chocolate chip, sugar, molasses, peanut butter, shortbread, biscotti, brownies, and decorated cookies. The "essential" cookies and all of their variations comprise less than a third of this book, so there are plenty of other cookies of all sorts included here; virtually any cookie which regularly occupies your dreams and aspirations can be found in THE KING ARTHUR FLOUR COOKIE COMPANION as well as many other you dared not dream existed. Gingerbread Houses? You bet! Hamantaschen? There is even a recipe for making your own hamantaschen filling from scratch. Mailanderli? I don't even know what that is, but it's here! As a beginning baker myself, the part of THE KING ARTHUR FLOUR COOKIE COMPANION that I find extremely helpful is the "Getting Started" section. This generous section lays out the whole theory and practice of cookie baking from recommended equipment to technique to what makes a cookie spread out or become crunchy or burn, etc. More than just a kitchen reference, this is a book that I can curl up with and just read for pleasure (though it does make me hungry). For the beginning baker like myself to the experienced hack to the cynical master chef, I give THE KING ARTHUR FLOUR COOKIE COMPANION my highest rating: five brownie points. Jeremy W. Forstadt

`The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion' by King Arthur staff bakers and recipe testers, with a major assist from Laura Brody and the usual platoon of editors and designers from W. W. Norton and The Courtryman Press of Woodstock, Vermont is certainly the very best general purpose cookie book I have reviewed to date. I say this with the important caveat that I have yet to review major cookie books by baking heavyweights Nick Malgieri, Maida Heatter, and Carol Walter. It is important to say that the value of the book is not based on its exhaustive coverage of cookie recipes, although in over 500 pages, the book certainly covers all but a few corners of the far flung land of cookie baking. While it does leave out some important recipes, such as the famous thin Moravian ginger cookies of North Carolina, its real value is in its meticulous description of all those factors that influence great cookie baking. While a lot of cookie baking is a lot more forgiving than, say, pastry or biscuits or cheesecake, it is still baking, which means that a change in ingredients which would mean nothing to a sautee or a braise will mean the difference between a great cookie and a disappointment. The clearest example of this sensitivity is in the selection of shortening, where the major choices are butter, lard, margarine, or vegetable shortenings such as Crisco. Each option has a significant effect on taste and the degree that a drop cookie will rise or spread. And, that's before you even take nutritional aspects into account with tradeoffs between the saturated fats of butter and the transfats of margarine. Add in the effects of different sugars and different flours and you start to wonder how a cookie ever manages to get made. Oddly enough, the most complicated ingredient, the egg, seems to be the least finicky. All you do is be sure you use large eggs and bring them to room temperature before mixing them into other ingredients. The fact is, as long as you are good at following directions, you have in this book a terrific collection of recipes for an incredibly modest list price of less than $30 which I am virtually certain will work for you every time. I repeat, this assumes you follow directions and don't do any substituting unless you really know what you are doing. A perfect example of how this book can improve your cookie baking is the case of my favorite Snickerdoodle recipe from Nancy Baggett's `The All American Cookie Book'. I have been quite pleased with my results from this recipe ever since it became my standard, except that I would like them to spread out a bit less. Nancy's recipe calls for all butter and I happen to be using White Lily flour, which is relatively low in protein (a great pie crust flour, to be sure). It turns out that butter, low protein flour, and high sugar content all contribute to spreading, not to mention dropping the cookie dough onto a warm sheet. And here I thought it was all due to the corn syrup in Nancy's recipe. My most interesting items in this book are where the authors disagree with statements in super baker Rose Levy Beranbaum's Christmas Cookie book. One is where King Arthur warns against using oil sprays containing lecithin (an emulsifier found in eggs) while Ms. Beranbaum recommends them. Also, King Arthur warns that while you can rework leftovers from cookie cutout margins, the cutouts from reworked dough will be a bit tougher than the originals. Miss Rose suggests there is no problem with reworking cookie dough. Last, Beranbaum warns against using sheets with high edges (such as jellyroll pans) to bake cookies, as this will inhibit cookie browning. King Arthur gives no such warning and recommends jellyroll pans along with no sided or low sided cookie sheets. On these issues, I give King Author two out of three, as I believe I have seen Rose's adverse effect of high-sided pans on cookie baking. After the exquisitely presented discussion of what makes cookies work, the best feature of this book is its organization of recipes by type, with all of the most important styles grouped into a chapter of `The Essentials'. These are your chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies, oatmeal cookies, molasses cookies, peanut butter cookies, shortbread, Biscotti, brownies, and decorated cookies. While I suspect the book dedicated to chocolate chip cookies may do a better job of it, I have seen no better treatment of chocolate chip cookies than what you get here. Also, in the chapter on decorated cookies you get all the basics you need to make gingerbread houses. Ms. Beranbaum's Christmas Cookies book gives a much more elaborate presentation of the subject, but this is more than enough to get you started. The remaining cookie types, each with their own chapter are bars and squares (hermits); drop cookies (thumbprint cookies); roll-out cookies (classic spice cookies and cutouts); shaped cookies (molded cookies such as springerles); batter cookies (such as Madeleines); and no-bake cookies (rum balls). The low price and the terrific coverage of all basic cookie types make this by far one of the best general-purpose cookie books. There are others which are very, very good and there are special subject books such as Beranbaum's Christmas cookie book which offer things not in this volume, but you simply cannot go wrong if you get this book and follow its advice carefully. I thing this is a better cookie book than King Arthur's earlier `All Purpose Baking Book'. Very highly recommended.

The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion is not a cookbook, it's an encyclopedia. Of course, you'll find the "regulars" here but along side them are recipes for fortune cookies, moon pies, elephant ears, and my absolute favorites, stroopwafels. The later being those wonderful caramel filled waffle sandwiches that you set atop your steaming cup of tea or coffee to heat prior to savoring. In addition to the hundreds of delicious cookies, bars, and biscotti recipes, the bakers included icing, ganache, and glazes to top everything off. This massive collection is great for the seasoned baker as well as the beginner since they start you off with basic instructions and an introduction to baking terms. King Arthur Flour has the most extensive collection of baking supplies you will ever find under one roof. Their flour's quality is miles above the competition and their ingredients are just superior. What I love the most about the "Cookie Companion" is how they don't push their retail business, this is just about helping you make the very best cookies imaginable. I'm getting a few more copies for Christmas gifts.

Love this book. I like that there a multiple recipes for each 'classic' type of cookie, depending on how you want them to turn out. Brownies fudgy or cakey, chocolate chip cookies crispy or soft. I've made almost all of the biscotti recipes and found them all wonderful. It's nice to have such a reliable source of cookie recipes.

My copy was an early Christmas present which arrived in plenty of time for holiday baking. There are lots of tempting cookie recipes with numerous options...many are very easy to follow. The book is also an excellent source of baking information. Definitely a great compendium. One of the things that I noticed about the recipes is that the amount of sodium (salt, baking powder, baking soda) is a lot less than any other cookie recipes. Having switched to a low sodium lifestyle, I really appreciate how these recipes were developed with this in mind, without impacting the final results, especially taste. I'm glad I asked "Moma Santa" for it. Thanks, Mom!

I don't usually write reviews on things, but this was a MUST. After reading all the previous reviews I simply HAD TO HAVE this book. When I received the book I ALMOST returned it!! I was so disappointed that there was only a few pictures which although sounds childish gets me to really want to make someting. Thank god I thought twice is all I have to say. I figured if the reviews were so good I had to give it a try. Theres actually a little excerpt under the title of each recipe and it paints a picture MORE THAN AN ACTUAL PICTURE EVER COULD. I absolutely love baking and have made numerous recipes in this book and NOT ONE has failed. You should see the condition of my book however LOL.. This book does it right to EVERY EXTENT. Sometime I have doubted the recipes, but have always followed along and the cookies always come out superb even when it just looks like its not gonna work! I cant express this enough- this book is amazing and it is an excellent gift to all fellow bakers!!

Comprehensive and informative and we have yet to hit a cookie recipe that wasnt good.

It answers questions you don't know you have! Your favorite recipes are here and some you didn't know about. I spent 2 hours Christmas Day reading (and drooling) my way through it. And I'm planning to do it again! Every baker, serious or not, needs to have this book in their arsenal.

The video had no sound . . . but the book looks great.

I've only made a couple of recipes from this so far, but it contains the best brownie recipe I've ever made. Dense, rich and thoroughly cooked. I'll be making that one often.

Those great folks up in Vermont really take a lot of care with their recipe books, that's for sure. Their efforts show in this mammoth cookie book that includes a wide range of recipes, variations on those themes, and very helpful baking tips. A must-have for any cookie baker.

Should not have bought this, making too many cookies. Love the presentation and history that goes with the receipt.

The King Arthur Cookie Companion will not disappoint! I have made seven of the cookie receipes and every one of them were wonderful! If you want options - this book has them. It is the best cookie book I have seen.

Like always King Arthur does their best. This cookie book is jammed packed with all sorts of good things to eat-- cookies & bars. Well worth buying for your own recipe collection or giving as a gift.

I am a cookie-aholic and have many, many cookbooks. This one is great and has lots of interesting, non-standard recipes, such as granola bars, cinnamon bun cookies, etc. I have made many of the recipes and have had no complaints - only compliments.

I bake a lot, and love it - and am always in search of great cookies/desserts. This book is terrific with many recipes that I know will be an absolute 'hit'! Great descriptions on baking basics, too. I just wish they made more cookbooks for other categories besides cookies!

Best. Cookie. Cookbook. EVER. I want to be buried with this book. If I weren't allready married I would marry this book. This book makes me want to quit my job and spend the rest of my life baking cookies.

I found the book to be full of recipes that my family will enjoy eating as much as I will enjoy baking. So far I have only had time to try a few of the recipes. But they were easy to follow and tasted great.

I find this an excellent book. Easy instructions to follow. Wonderful recipes some I never heard of and I bake alot. I would highly recomment this book to anyone.

I received my copy of the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion cookbook in Brazil. Fantastic cookbook! Very complete. Good recipes and reference book. E a Amazon é o máximo, preço bom e a entrega garantida!

This is a book that you should have in your collection. Very complete. Good recipes and reference book. Mary Jane

As a frequent and experienced baker I recommend this cookbook strongly. So far all the recipes I have tried have been excellent and the hints are useful for old hands and novices alike.

A superb book. Excellent basic and reference manual. Just what one would expect from the King Arthur Flour company.