2024 the best christmas cookies recipes with pictures review

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(as of Dec 09, 2024 13:02:14 UTC - Details)

A treasury of top-selected cookie recipes draws on the archives of Gourmet magazine to represent several varieties, cultures and special occasions, from Old-Fashioned Christmas Butter Cookies and Date Bars to Chocolate Peppermint Bar Cookies and CTitle: The Gourmet Cookie BookAuthor: Not Available (NA)Publisher: Houghton Mifflin HarcourtPublication Date: 2010/11/02Number of Pages: 161Binding Type: HARDCOVERLibrary of Congress: 2010018882

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Rux Martin/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 46093rd edition (November 2, 2010)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 176 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0547328168
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0547328164
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.85 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.5 x 0.7 x 8.5 inches
Reviewer: Debbie Lee Wesselmann
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A history, with recipes and photos, of the cookie at Gourmet Magazine
Review: As a longtime subscriber to both Gourmet and Bon Appetit, I used to tell people that I liked Gourmet for its savory recipes and Bon Appetit for its sweets. This new compilation of the best cookie recipes, decade by decade, from Gourmet confronted me with the fallacy of that statement. Some of my long-time favorite cookie recipes, including strawberry tart cookies and cranberry pistachio biscotti, can be found here. The best part of this book, however, is not the recipes, as good as they are, but the history behind them. The division of the recipes by decades offers glimpses into trends, subscribers, changing culinary tastes and abilities, and, of course, the focus of the magazine itself.Interestingly, when the magazine was first published in 1940s and people baked more than they do today, the cookie recipes were much more simple, with tastes that highlighted a few ingredients: butter, nuts, spices. Even in the 1950s, when baking ingredients were more available, the cookies remained somewhat homey and classic, with gingerbread men, lace cookies, and sesame-seed-coated queen's biscuits taking center stage. In the 1960s, however, Gourmet's cookies started taking on a more international note; as the editors note, commercialized air travel and growing national unrest led to more daring recipes. As the book states, "not a single one of the four cookie recipes that appeared in Gourmet in 1963 was of American origin." With this new internationalism came other recipes with more sophisticated lists of ingredients and flavors. By jumping ahead to the 2000s, Gourmet's final decade, one can see how much American tastes have changed: many of the cookies are classics with gourmet twists that make them look more like professionally baked treats than homemade lunch box snacks. Because the book contains a full page photograph of each recipe, it is obvious that later recipes focused as much on aesthetics as taste, while most earlier ones were content with a plain appearance.Because this book contains recipes exactly as they appeared in the magazine (with some recipe notes for clarification), contemporary bakers may be somewhat taken aback by the format in the earlier decades, as their directions are "remarkably casual, a kind of mysterious shorthand that assumes that each reader is an accomplished cook." While I dispute that these early recipes require any sort of advanced experience, they are definitely written out as though one person is describing the process to another, with ingredients not listed separately but as part of the instructions. (Separate lists of ingredients don't appear until 1982, when recipes were "no longer able to count on the readers' experience.") In some ways, I found the earlier recipes easier to follow because I didn't have to worry about going back and forth between adding sugar and reading how much sugar was called for. The amount was right there in the text.But how are the recipes themselves? Absolutely wonderful. Not a single one of the recipes I tried missed, although, obviously, some recipes, such as the sparkling lemon sandwich cookies, took more time and effort. From the humble honey refrigerator cookies to the sophisticated coconut macadamia shortbread, these recipes will please contemporary palates.-- Debbie Lee Wesselmann

Reviewer: gottaread
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great Cookie Recipe Book Not Just For Holidays
Review: Great cookie recipe book. There is some time travel involved while reading recipes. Yes, I actually enjoy reading recipes when I can carve out the time. I've started reading them in bed, like I do my other books, until I fall asleep. I use post-it-notes to mark the recipes I'm making.The Scotch Oat Crunchies (oatmeal cookie sandwich) recipe from the 1940s is very good. It reminded me of a cookie my grandmother made. After I made the Old-Fashioned Christmas Butter Cookies, I thought they were the very same ones my mom made when I was a kid. They are so good--they melt in your mouth. I have to confess that I used the Chocolate Wafer cookies I made, from the 1950's section, in an Ice Box Cake I put together...delicious. The lemon thins from the 1970's are very good--my daughter could not eat enough according to her. Cloudt's Pecan Treats from the 1980's is fabulous (I love pecan pie, so this is right up my palate). I am a huge biscotti fan, so I very much enjoyed making and eating the Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti. One of my sons enjoyed his with some decaf tea.The recipes are well laid out and descriptive. Each step you need to take is listed to make a cookie. The type is a little smaller so be prepared to pull out glasses. Some recipes are more advanced than others. The book leaves it up to the reader which one is right for them. The pictures are terrific and very tempting.These cookies are not just for holidays. I will be baking them year-round.If you like to bake, and if you like to bake with kids, this is a great book to have. It is also fun to learn some history and share that with others.

Reviewer: Katawampas
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Classic!
Review: If you love cookies & baking cookies, this cookbook has the "Single Best of the Year" cookie recipes from Gourmet Magazine from 1941-2009. I checked this out from the library & realized I had to own this book. Not only is it beautiful with a large photo of each recipe but the recipes are fantastic. There are some really old fashioned, delicious cookies in here. Some of my favorites are the "Speculass"/1971, "Scotch Oat Crumbles"/1943, "Honey Refrigerator Cookies"/1942 & the "Bourbon Balls/1980. I've baked my way through about half the recipes so far & every single one is wonderful.The recipes are in order by year. On the left side is the recipe with a description of where it came from & how it ended up in the magazine. On the right side is the full color photo of the baked cookie. The index is organized by ingredients such as "Almond, Anise, Fig", etc., by name of the cookie, type of cookie such as "Bar, Christmas", etc. It is very easy to find a specific cookie.I ordered my hard cover copy from ebooksweb. It was in excellent condition, as described.

Reviewer: JM
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great read, great selection of recipies
Review: Read it cover to cover on the day it arrived. A fun little view into Gourmet and American kitchens over the years. The editors give you an insight into how politics (sugar rationing), the economy (some decades "splurged" more than others), immigration (old family recipes), and trends influenced what the readers asked for and the editors chose.Each recipe has a story, it's original published form, a picture and updated recipe notes for the best outcome.I bookmarked about 25, but noticed a few more the second time through. Some were new to me, others were classics I wondered if Gourmet could improve on. The real gems were the recipes I had lost over the years and found again here. lI'm in the process of thinning out my cookbooks, but this one is a keeper.(the reason for 4, not 5 stars is the book sold as "new" but arrived with scratches and spine broken)

Reviewer: Angela
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I am a fan of Gourmet Magazine and never throw them away as old ones still have great recipes. This book is made up of recipes from 1941 and 2009 and is an interesting read bringing up forgotten memories. Easy to follow and the recipes I have tried have worked very well - lots of good feedback from tasters!

Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Good read - though I was expecting Ruth Reichl's voice. Bought it mostly for sentimental reasons ... I miss Gourmet magazine!

Reviewer: Kiki
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I've been a Gourmet subscriber since... forever, the earliest issue I have dates back to 1978 (my mother's). This is a selection of the best cookie recipes published each year. It's very good, but there are so many other recipes I cherished and did not find. Maybe one per year was a little skimpy, but, what can I say, we all have to draw a line somewhere: one was enough for the publisher. makes us all miss the publication even more....

Reviewer: Miss Baker
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I must say this is a very attractively printed cookie book, with beautiful pictures for every single cookie recipe. However, I do find that the recipes are not that great. I have tried several of them, and I happened to have to throw 2 batches out. The others are not great tasting either. I have decided to put this book away and move on with my other cookie books that I have trusted and used.

Reviewer: wendy
Rating: 1.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: The book that I received had a damage spine. It should have been sent out like that.