The All-American Cookie Book - a Review
The All-American Cookie Book by Nancy Baggett
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (November 1, 2001)
ISBN: 0395915376
By the time I saw this recently-received book in our library, the two ladies I work with most of the time, Bonnie (the boss) and Erica had already begun taking turns devouring the pages in off moments. Erica opined she was afraid to check it out, since she’d want to bake all the cookies and never bring it back!
Bonnie and Erica are both accomplished cooks, as are some others on staff and so the arrival of a new cookbook to our little library is a notable event!
I have a different philosophy: I figure a cookbook needs to be thoroughly perused. Maybe try one or two recipes, then bring it back right away, so I can see if I need it again. It’s my own version of the no-obligation free trial!
This book may be available at your local library, so it will be well worth the time and effort for you to check it out and see how it would fit in your collection (if you have one) of cookbooks. It’s not a “new� book, as it was produced in 2001, so availability should be fairly wide.
The thing I like about this one is that has at least one recipe I’ve been in quest of for a long time – Pecan Sandies! The commercial version has been a family favorite for three generations, and I’ve often wondered how they’d taste right out of the oven. Now I’ll have my chance!
This could also be a valuable resource for readers of the Elementary Chef. It devotes a nice section to the basics of making cookies, from the kind of ingredients you use, to methods to storing the finished product. I particularly like the history of cookies the author includes both in a general way at the beginning, to a bit of backstory on each recipe.
Nancy Baggett tells how chocolate evolved into a favorite ingredient (brownies were first introduced in the early days of the 20th Century, and chocolate chip cookies were invented by the restaurateur at the Toll House in 1930) and I bet you didn’t know baking soda wasn’t used until the late 1700s!
If you purchase the book, you can probably purchase it for less than $35, the cover price, but even so it would be worth it!
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