Review Detail
Middle Grade Non-Fiction
736
Best Kids' Cookie Book I've Seen
Overall rating
5.0
Writing Style
5.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
5.0
Learning Value
5.0
As far as I can tell, tweens still love to make cookies, judging from the amount of baked goods I receive lovingly bundled in plastic bags by smiling children who seem very proud of themselves! And there are tons of cookie and cupcake books out there, some more useful than others. Not that browsing Alan Richardson's or Karen Tack's cupcake books isn't fun; I just don't want to deal with OR eat that much fondant!
This was a particularly useful collections of recipes that are impressive and yet imminently doable. The best part? There is a recipe for Cookie Candy. You've probably had it-- oleo, peanut butter, oatmeal and cocoa boiled and then dropped by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet and left to harden a bit. They aren't pretty to look at (using cupcake papers helps!), but they are delicious, and I've never seen the recipe anywhere but church or grange cookbooks! Since most of these collections I own are 30+ years old and shedding pages the way sprinkles fall off a toddler's cookie, I'm definitely keeping this book for myself! Also included are the tasty but bizarre Chow Mein noodle and butterscotch chip cookies from the 1970s. This was a DEEP dive into cookie culture!
This was a particularly useful collections of recipes that are impressive and yet imminently doable. The best part? There is a recipe for Cookie Candy. You've probably had it-- oleo, peanut butter, oatmeal and cocoa boiled and then dropped by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet and left to harden a bit. They aren't pretty to look at (using cupcake papers helps!), but they are delicious, and I've never seen the recipe anywhere but church or grange cookbooks! Since most of these collections I own are 30+ years old and shedding pages the way sprinkles fall off a toddler's cookie, I'm definitely keeping this book for myself! Also included are the tasty but bizarre Chow Mein noodle and butterscotch chip cookies from the 1970s. This was a DEEP dive into cookie culture!
Good Points
The chapter names are fun and descriptive-- International Cookies, Unclassifiable Cookies, Things with Cookies in Them, Things That are Sort of Cookies, and more! I am getting together with a friend to attempt homemade Stroop Waffles (but I think we're using a pizzelle iron instead of a waffle one), and there are so many other recipes that have just one or two special ingredients that I think I could swing. Many are completely reasonable, and don't require a trip to the store if you have a well stocked pantry.
Since this is the 2020s, there is a chapter of gluten free cookies as well, and a somewhat inexplicable chapters on macarons, which I have never understood but which seem to be a fad right now! Klutz's Kids Magical Baking, Saltz's The Delish Kids, or the Food Network's Big, Fun Kids' Baking Book have some great recipes, but this one really outshines every kids' cookie book I've seen, and even the preface information on safety and ingredients seems more thoughtful.
I was a bit obsessive as a child, and had I recieved this as a gift, I would have wanted to make every recipe, preferably in order, on a schedule that I would have been glad to add to our family calendar, if my mother had been organized enough to have one. This would make for a great, year long project with your favorite tween, and wrapping this book up with some of the more exotic ingredients (crystallized ginger, sliced almonds, gel food coloring) and a promisory note for your favorite young baker would make a great gift!
Since this is the 2020s, there is a chapter of gluten free cookies as well, and a somewhat inexplicable chapters on macarons, which I have never understood but which seem to be a fad right now! Klutz's Kids Magical Baking, Saltz's The Delish Kids, or the Food Network's Big, Fun Kids' Baking Book have some great recipes, but this one really outshines every kids' cookie book I've seen, and even the preface information on safety and ingredients seems more thoughtful.
I was a bit obsessive as a child, and had I recieved this as a gift, I would have wanted to make every recipe, preferably in order, on a schedule that I would have been glad to add to our family calendar, if my mother had been organized enough to have one. This would make for a great, year long project with your favorite tween, and wrapping this book up with some of the more exotic ingredients (crystallized ginger, sliced almonds, gel food coloring) and a promisory note for your favorite young baker would make a great gift!
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