The All-American Cookie Book
- Book Review,
by Nancy Baggett
Amazon.com's Best of 2001
Nancy Baggett went on a culinary journey in search of the best American cookies. Amazed by the remarkable repertoire of American bakers, Baggett spent several years researching and baked nearly 30,000 cookies for The All-American Cookie Book. Every American cookie you can think of is here--more than 150 of them--from luscious Black Bottom Mini Brownie Cups and chewy Chocolate Thumbprint Crackles to Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies and crisp, spicy Old-Fashioned Gingerbread Cookies. More-unusual regional favorites include Savannah Chocolate Chewies, Chocolate Whoopie Pies from Pennsylvania, and Floridian Ambrosia Cookies made with coconut and pineapple. Avid bakers will appreciate the bits of cookie lore and history in this brilliant collection. Baggett also gives interesting insight into how American cookies evolved, and how different ingredients and techniques were introduced. Mouthwatering photographs tempt and delectable descriptions convince you to try nutty, fruity, chocolaty concoctions, every one of them made in America. --Leora Y. Bloom
From Publishers Weekly
Baggett (International Cookie Cookbook) has spent the last few years searching this country for great cookie recipes, and enthusiasm over the results (such as Fudge Brownies Supreme) characterizes every page of Baggett's wonderful new cookie compendium. Her first chapter covers the basics, though other useful how-to's emerge throughout the book, such as shaping cookie dough in a loaf pan for Cranberry-Cherry Icebox Ribbons. The next nine chapters, mostly divided into flavors (chocolate, fruit, spices, etc.), reveal America's wide-ranging cookie bounty, from Vermont's Maple Sugar cut-outs and Kentucky's Bourbon Fruitcake Cookies to Coffee-Pecan Crunch Bars from Texas and Hazelnut-Chocolate Chip Cookies from Oregon. Enlivened by quotes from old cookbooks, each straightforward recipe tells the story of its heritage, whether it's a simple Mrs. Porter's Improved Jumbles from the 1800s or a contemporary "Chubby" weighing in with one pound of chocolate. (Oct.)Forecast: As a selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club, these cookies will reach the hands of many an American.Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Adult/High School-The author's search took her from treasured family recipes to rare book rooms all over the United States. After a brief introduction about the American cookie, Baggett explains "How to make great cookies every single time." Experienced bakers as well as novices can benefit from this section. Estimating that she baked about 30,000 cookies while researching this book, the author states that every recipe has been tested at least three times. She offers clear, easy-to-follow directions for every step, followed by eight chapters divided by the kind of treat: cookies and shortbreads, chocolate and white chocolate chip cookies, nut and peanut cookies, etc. The mouthwatering color photographs add the finishing touch. The last chapter covers cookie decorating and crafts. Dispersed among the recipes is trivia, information about changes in techniques and ingredients, instructions on how to store and freeze, and even quotes from vintage cookbooks. Most of the ingredients are readily available. This is a great book for students in home economics and culinary classes as well as experienced and novice bakers.Carol Clark, formerly at Fairfax County Public Schools, VACopyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
A talented baker and cooking teacher, Baggett (International Cookie Cookbook) estimates that she made close to 30,000 cookies while working on this book. When she wasn't baking, she was traveling all over the country or poring over antique cookbooks in search of unusual regional recipes, ethnic specialties, almost-forgotten "heirlooms," prized creations from home bakers, and enduring classics. The result is this collection of more than 150 "best of the best" recipes, including Butterscotch Crunch Cookies, Fantastic Fudgewiches, Brown Sugar-Pecan Sticky Bars, and Almond Sweethearts; there's also a separate chapter on cookie decorating and crafts (e.g., Painted Cookie Jigsaw Puzzles). In addition, Baggett's research into early cookbooks will make this of interest to any culinary historian. For all baking collections. [Main Selection of The Good Cook.] Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
A work of history as well as of immediate usefulness, Nancy Baggett's The All-American Cookie Book will cause home bakers to fire up their ovens and start their mixers turning. Among many historical reminiscences, Baggett recalls the days of the Watkins man, a welcome door-to-door salesman who brought good-quality spices and extracts directly to homes and thereby improved the taste of baked goods. Baggett records the nation's first citation of "cookey," from 1796, with a recipe for sugar cookies heavily spiced with coriander. Recipe by recipe, she traces the development of cookie fads and fashions from that humble beginning through today's obsessions with chocolate chips. Baggett also has developed some of her own cookie recipes, most notably a summery Key Lime Frosty. She notes the importance to cookie baking of regional specialties such as maple sugar or sorghum syrup. Recipes are carefully crafted and easy to follow. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
"Nancy Baggett's comprehensive book on American cookies is a winner! This is a book for people who love to bake and want to know the history and stories behind the cookies we eat." — Joan Nathan
Review
"The All-American Cookie Book by Nancy Baggett (Houghton Mifflin, $35) isa flag-waver of a cookbook, built on the contention that American bakershave not just copied European customs but have created a distinct sweetrepertoire of their own. The collection is accompanied by enough basicadvice and instructions to tempt even a kitchen klutz to dip into theflour sack and the sugar jar."
Book Description
For this trailblazing collection of America"s favorite cookies, Nancy Baggett crisscrossed the nation, visiting small-town bakeries, chic urban cookie boutiques, rural inns, bed-and-breakfasts, farmers" markets, and the homes of locally renowned cooks. She combed through community cookbooks and searched out long-lost heirloom recipes, sure-handedly reworking every recipe in her own kitchen. THE ALL-AMERICAN COOKIE BOOK celebrates regional gems from every corner of the country: Pennsylvania Dutch Soft Sugar Cookies, New York Black and Whites, New Mexican Biscochitos, Key Lime Frosties from Florida, and Mocha Espresso Wafers from Seattle. A sophisticated hazelnut chocolate sandwich cookie that was the closely guarded secret of an Oregon hostess is here, and so is a delightfully crisp (and easy to roll out) old-fashioned gingerbread cookie recreated from a handwritten 1880 notebook. Homespun classics abound: Chocolate Whoopie Pies, Caramel Apple Crumb Bars, Chocolate Chunk Brownies, and Caramel-Frosted Brown Sugar Drops. The collection also features devastatingly delicious contemporary creations like Chewy Chocolate Chunk Monster Cookies and Cranberry-Cherry Icebox Ribbons. For children and adults alike, one of the most exciting chapters will be the lavishly illustrated "Cookie Decorating and Crafts," which includes everything from simple projects like Christmas cookies and Chocolate Gingerbread Bears to an elaborate gingerbread house. As Nancy Baggett tells the story of America"s heritage, she slips in fascinating bits of history, showing the evolution of our homegrown baking traditions.
About the Author
Nancy Baggett is one of America's most respected baking teachers. She is the author of the best-selling International Cookie Cookbook and The International Chocolate Cookbook, which was named the best dessert cookbook by the International Association of Culinary Professionals. Her work has appeared in Gourmet, Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, and Ladies' Home Journal. She has demonstrated her recipes on many television shows, including Good Morning America and CBS This Morning.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Toffee–Chocolate Chip Drop CookiesMakes about 30(2 1/2 to 2 3/4 inch cookies) cookies.Up until the 1990s, if you wanted to add toffee pieces to cookies, you had to buy toffee candy and chop it up yourself. Now, a manufacturer sells bags of small bits. Though it might seem like gilding the lily, I think the toffee bits are particularly good folded into chocolate chip cookies. They add a hint of butterscotch flavor, plus a slight crunch and chew. In this recipe, they also make the dough more spreadable, which contributes to the appealing tender-crispness of these cookies. Even hard-core fans of traditional chocolate chip cookies have found this variation difficult to resist. 2 cups all-purpose white flour Scant 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened 21/2 tablespoons corn oil or other flavorless vegetable 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar 2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar 1 large egg 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 11/2 cups (9 ounces) semisweet chocolate morsels 1/2 cup Heath bar or other milk chocolate toffee bitPreheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease several baking sheets or coat with nonstick spray. In a medium bowl, thoroughly stir together the flour, salt, and baking soda; set aside. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on low, then medium, speed, beat together the butter, oil, and brown sugars until well blended and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until well blended. Beat or stir in the flour mixture until evenly incorporated. Stir in the chocolate morsels and toffee bits until evenly incorporated. Drop the dough onto the baking sheets using 1/8-cup measure or coffee scoop, spacing about 2 1/2 inches apart; keep the portions as round as possible. With oiled fingertips, pat down the cookies slightly.Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, in the upper third of the oven for 10 to 12 minutes, or until tinged with brown, slightly darker at the edges, and almost firm when pressed in the centers. Reverse the sheet from front to back halfway through baking to ensure even browning. Transfer the sheet to a wire rack and let stand until the cookies firm up slightly, 3 to 4 minutes. Using a spatula, transfer the cookies to wire racks. Let stand until completely cooled.Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 6 weeks.Copyright © 2001 Nancy Baggett. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Company.
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