[.ca] Rose's Christmas Cookies (ISBN 0688101364)

From Amazon.com:
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

A necessity for cookie bakers, eaters and lovers:
Like many of you out there in review land, I bake a couple thousand or so cookies each Christmas to give as gifts. Usually round about September, friends and relatives start asking me if I'm going to bake the ones that are their particular favorites, whatever those might be. As a veteran cookie baker, I can't say enough good things about this book from Rose Levy Beranbaum. First of all, there is a large, full color glossy of every single cookie in the book. So you know exactly what they should look like. Secondly, she not only gives you very, very explicit measurements in both cups and grams, but her directions are quite thorough and well-explained. Then she tells you exactly how to store each kind of cookie, and how long it keeps. This is really helpful to me, since I bake about a dozen different kinds of cookies for gifts between Thanksgiving and Christmas. This way I can bake the cookies that keep the best first, and work my way toward the more fragile ones toward the end. It's hard to imagine how anyone might have failed with any of these recipes. They're fabulous, and guaranteed to win you popularity, if not outright love. Some of my favorite ones from this book have been the Swiss Lebkuchen, the Peanut Butter Jewels, the Lemon Bars, and the Melting Moments. The Lemon Bars are a lot more work than the usual version of this cookie -- you have to pre-bake the shortbread crust, cook the lemon curd, then combine the two and bake, but it's well worth it -- by far the best lemon bar I've ever made or eaten. The Melting Moments cookie, a fragile meltaway covered with high-quality dark chocolate is my personal favorite. The only thing in this book that didn't work for me was the gingerbread for the gingerbread house. I won't go into the lengthy and hilarious story of how my kitchen-challenged friend and I tried to make a gingerbread house with our friends the 6 musician-brothers (also not cooks) -- but it was an unqualified disaster! The whole thing just fell apart endlessly. However, considering the glory of all the other recipes in the book, I'm quite sure that we did something wrong, and that the fault does not lie in the recipe.

watch out for the buttercrunch recipe!:
This is an excellent cookie book and every cookie I've made from it has been outstanding. Unfortunately, there's one recipe that temps me over and over again -- even though I've failed at it everytime. It's a divine-looking recipe for a chocolate- and almond-topped toffee called Mahogany Buttercrunch. It looks so-o-o tempting. Unfortunately, I am a novice at candymaking and every attempt to prepare this recipe has been an ignominious failure. I even went out and bought a professional candy thermometer -- didn't help. The instructions are pretty skimpy and don't tell you anything about how (or if) it's possible to rescue the toffee if the sugar crystalizes or the butter separates out (both have happened to me). I've tried to supplement my knowledge by going to candymaking sites on the internet, but they're full of conflicting advice. I should avoid hot days, damp days; I should use a wooden spoon to stir the mixture; I should raise the temperature under the pot and stir continuously; I should lower the temperature and stir as little as possible. If the butter separates, try dumping in a half cup of very hot water; no -- add a little bit of hot water a tablespoon at a time; no -- do nothing but keep cooking and stirring, it might go back in by itself. My advice is to buy the book and make the cookies. However, unless you have candymaking experience, don't attempt the Buttercrunch!

Mahogany Buttercrunch Fix:
I love this book, too, even though mine is in pieces. The problem with the buttercrunch is this: Once it comes to the boil, you must use a clean spoon each time you stir. I don't stir it often at that point, but when I do, I use a new spoon. If there is any sugar on the spoon, the whole thing will crystallize.

Cookie Wonderland:
Rose did an excellent job choosing the recipes for this book. Some recipes could be difficult to make if you are a beginner, but if you are an adventurous baker, I am sure you will be happy to get this book. The instructions are clear, every recipe has a picture of the final cookie, all in all it is a very beautiful book to have. I have collected all of her cookbooks, and this is one of my favorites.

Best Cookies Ever!:
My roommate owned this book, but is not much of a cook herself so she gave it to me. I have made at least half of the recipes and they have all been fantastic! Also, I rarely make anything from a recipe without a picture, and this book has multiple beautiful photos of EVERY COOKIE, so you always know what your getting. Due to many moves, in addition to the one my roommate gave me, I have re-bought this book twice, and I absoultely do not regret it. It is a staple in my collection!