Notes about Recipes in this book

• "Any which way but you will never lose" snickerdoodles

  • sarahkalsbeek on January 26, 2019

    I was out of flaky sea salt, so used 1.5 t of kosher instead (instead of 1 tsp kosher and 1 tsp sea salt). Worked out great. I don't know if this is traditional for snickerdoodles, but I might try adding cinnamon to the batter itself next time, just to up the cinnamon flavor. Very good snickerdoodles!!

  • Jviney on February 16, 2019

    Loved these. A little crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. An excellent recipe.

• Oatmeal scotchies

  • Jviney on February 22, 2019

    Excellent flavor and the cookies did exactly what the author wanted - crispy and chewy. Loved them.

• Brownie krinkles

  • sarahkalsbeek on September 07, 2020

    These are very delicious! Made with 1.2 cup coconut oil (melted) instead of the other oil listed in recipe, and 6 oz bittersweet chocolate because we didn't have any unsweetened chocolate. Took out about 4T of the sugar to account for the extra sugar in the bittersweet chocolate. Also, added chopped crystallized ginger and a bit of ginger powder. Very delicious! I think they are better the next day. I also wonder if there is a bit too much salt - usually I like a lot of salt in my cookies, but this might have been just a bit too much.

• Classic chocolate chip cookies

  • tarae1204 on February 12, 2021

    Ok...wow...I didn’t expect to find a smack dab stand out new favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe but I think I just did. Recipe calls for combo of flake sea salt (used Maldon) and kosher (used Penzeys kosher) in the cookie. Dark brown sugar and cane sugar (rather than white), no light brown. I used semisweet chocolate chips not having the finer discs called for. Bake directly on pan, not parchment. And yes I banged the pan 3/4 of the way through baking which is not written in the recipe but did enhance the results to my taste. After, I ground some more salt over them, just a light dusting. Good salt level, chewy edge, nice center, rich butterscotch and chocolate chips in every bite. Just wonderful balance of flavor and satisfying texture. I will have to compare this recipe to my other favorite in Ad Hoc At Home.

  • tiffany_huazfl on May 25, 2026

    Dough smells like ice cream I like to bake in 2oz balls

• Lemon goat-butter tea cakes

  • hbakke on December 22, 2022

    I bought goat butter on a whim, and found this recipe to use it up. The author claims that despite disliking goat cheese, goat butter is completely different. I have to strongly disagree. These had a pronounced goaty taste that lingered in the mouth for quite a while and the other flavors (including the optional orange blossom water) were hardly detectable. If you're ambivalent about goat products or a goat cheese hater, maybe skip these. No one liked them and we fed them to the dogs.

• Jill's spiced double-chocolate cookies

  • kleins99 on December 11, 2017

    I love the spiced chocolate base of this cookie, but neither of the mixing doughs worked or were worth the effort to combine with the spiced base. I love the spice dough as a base though. It needn't be mixed with anything else.

• Corn nut cornmeal shortbread

  • helskitchenvt on July 06, 2016

    I could not, for the life of me, get the corn nuts to grind to anything like the texture described in the instructions and I began to fear for my food processor. However, I went ahead with my too-chunky corn nuts and the cookies tasted great, so I'm going to keep making them and not worry about it.

  • tarae1204 on February 11, 2021

    Same as past review from 2016, couldn’t get the Corn nuts to grind fine. I like the resulting texture but the cookies were tricky to cut out, crumbled easily. It’s a not too sweet cookie with great savory/salty hints and crunch. My favorite cornmeal cookie is still Joanne Chang’s cornmeal lime cookie from Flour.

• Leopard print: vanilla bean and chocolate shortbread with hot fudge

  • cespitler on November 29, 2018

    These are great cookies. Although they flattened out, they were pretty close to the images in the book. Like shortbread often is, they aren't too sweet and just the right amount of salt.

  • helskitchenvt on January 07, 2020

    I use these cookie doughs to make the base layer for candy bars - it's the best recipe I've found, just the right texture and the right salt in with the sweet.

• Forgotten-nut shortbread

  • sdeathe on April 19, 2022

    These are delicious. Easy enough, with lots of cooling times. In my oven 350 degrees was too hot and the cookies were almost burned. 325°was perfect, with 5 - 6 minutes further baking after turning the pan back to front.

• Citrus and brown butter shortbread

  • sarahkalsbeek on December 08, 2019

    This were incredible. I added significantly more zest than the recipe called for (pretty much added the zest of all the fruit), and it was wonderful.

• Chocolate pretzel shortbread with milk chocolate caramel

  • cespitler on December 05, 2015

    I made the Chocolate Pretzel Shortbread with Milk Chocolate Caramel for holiday party gift bags. These were definitely the most remarked upon out of seven or so cookies/confections. These are project cookies and I found it easiest to make them over a few days. Read through the entire recipe so that you can get some aspects of the recipe made ahead of time. For the shortbread, 1/2 of the flour is ground up sourdough pretzels, which means these have that saltiness in a cookie that you really want! The frosting, used inside these sandwich cookies, has a very complex flavor out of browned butter, milk chocolate, whiskey, and a homemade caramel saue. Seriously, I'm thinking about where else to use just this part of the recipe--on a chocolate cake would be awesome!! I ran out of time before getting to the final step of dipping these cookies into a milk chocolate/bittersweet chocolate mixture. The cookies were fantastic without, but would totally be worth it if you have the time!

• Folger's crystals with sour cream gianduja

  • cespitler on December 03, 2016

    Folger's Crystals with Sour Cream Gianduja This is only my second time digging into this book. I was not disapointed. Since they are sandwich cookies, it takes a bit of pre-planning to produce these. The shortbread with Folger's Crystals were fantastic on their own. The dotted crystals look great and provide a surprising, small crunch. I was making cookies for a slew of people so I simply cut these a bit smaller. The gianduja was an awesome filling. And, the extra steps to coat them on the outside make the final presentation look great. I made a platter of these cookies all in various stages...just the shortbread, wtih the filling, dipped in chocolate, and dipped with the toffee. They all disappeared quickly.

• Best friends cookies

  • cespitler on December 01, 2017

    Complex flavors in this cookie with swirls for a great look. However, my cookies flattened so they were not quite the right texture. I think I have an oven temp issue (I know, I need a thermometer!) so I am sure it was my error!

  • nikeheart on September 15, 2021

    I had the same issue with my cookies flattening twice. I think it might be the chocolate fudge ratio is too high to the meringue as it seems to be melting out of the meringue. I'm also unsure how much to beat the meringue- I'm close to marshmallow stickiness. The first time I think I might have caramelized the sugar in double boiler as the bottom of the bowl gets really hot. Not sure what the issue with this recipe is, but the flavor is good - it just doesn't produce balls of meringues. I might also suggest turning down the heat of the oven so it doesn't melt the butter in the fudge as quickly perhaps and gives the egg whites a chance to set first?

• Toasted coconut spritz

  • dbuhler on April 20, 2024

    I really liked these! They are not as tender as other spritz cookies I've had, but the flavor was delicious, especially dipped in chocolate! I made these with KA AP flour at 145g per cup. I made some piped in fingers, and others piped in S's & W's...my piping could use some work! I will definitely make these again!

• Peanut butter thumbprints with strawberry lambic jam

  • SugarTreeBaking on April 01, 2024

    Delicious cookie, melt in the mouth texture and an unexpected crunch from the sea salt. The salty sweet beer nuts pair perfectly with the strawberry lambic jam. The technique of shaping and cutting the dough was new to me and great lesson. A keeper!

• Pecan praline thumbprints

  • dbuhler on October 17, 2024

    These are so good!! I kept the dough in the fridge for a day and didn't have any issues with it. My praline looked exactly like the one in the photos at the beginning, however, the filling for about the last half the cookies turned matte and slightly grainy. I can't wait to make these again!

• Bill's (dog) biscuits

  • dmhable14 on January 09, 2026

    Made these as part of my annual holiday cookie box. All the dogs in the family loved them!

• Classic cream cheese dough

  • cespitler on December 01, 2017

    A delicous dough that comes together quickly with no fussiness.

• Raspberry rose rugelach

  • cespitler on December 01, 2017

    Yum! These cookies were delicious--a nice mix of sweet and tart.

• Dream bars

  • joyofcooking1931 on June 07, 2015

    These are fantastic. The headnote is telling the truth--once you make these, you won't be able to forget them.

  • cespitler on December 08, 2019

    These are fantastic and will definitely be made again. Like most in this book, there are a few steps, but nothing difficult. The proportions make for a flavorful and textured bite every time!

  • Josefa_Mark on March 14, 2021

    Delicious!

• Barter brownies

  • helskitchenvt on July 04, 2016

    Other brownies claim to be the perfect balance of cakey and fudgey - these really truly are. I used it as a base for all sorts of embellished brown recipes (usually involving chopped up candy)

  • sarahkalsbeek on July 13, 2018

    These are so delicious! I keep wanting to try other brownie recipes and my husband says, "why would you when you've found the perfect one?" I think they are especially good straight out of the fridge. I have used chocolate at different percentages than what she calls for based on what I could find at the store (can't remember the exact % I've tried) - always turns out fine. I like to sprinkle a little kosher salt or Maldon on top of the rice krispies.

  • sarahkalsbeek on June 16, 2019

    Update: for the holidays, we mixed in crushed peppermints with the rice krispie topping. I think that is my favorite topping so far! Absolutely amazing!

  • Josefa_Mark on February 17, 2021

    Just as good without the Rice Krispie “surprise” layer!

  • dbuhler on June 07, 2025

    I made these using 60% chocolate in the brownie and 30% in the brittle. Next time I want to try 70% in the brownie because it was a tad too sweet for my liking. I really liked the brittle on the top! I used regular Rice Krispies and they worked out just fine. I will definitely make these again! Also to note, the texture of these is identical (to my tastes, and almost in ingredients) to ATK's classic brownies, which have been a family favorite for 20 years.

• Malted milk chocolate hot fudge

  • cespitler on November 23, 2017

    A beautiful, silky hot fudge that has notes of caramel.

• Caramel sauce

  • cespitler on December 05, 2015

    I make a fair amount of caramel sauce (I prefer caramel over chocolate) and this is one of my favorites. The texture is easily spreadable or pourable even after a few days. Definitely a keeper.

  • cespitler on November 22, 2017

    It's been a couple of years since I made this sauce and I love it just as much this time. It has a beautiful, deep caramel flavor along with gorgeous amber color.

• Raspberry framboise jam

  • cespitler on November 22, 2017

    Yum! This is a super quick, easy, and delicous small-batch jam that requires few ingredients. It has just the right balance of tart and sweet. I used frozen raspberries so it came together without much pre-planning. The color is gorgeous!

• Strawberry lambic jam

  • Jviney on June 05, 2019

    A nice jam. I used early season strawberries and the jam wasn’t overly sweet. It took longer than 30 minutes for mine to cook down but I think the PBJ thumbprints will be well worth it!

  • SugarTreeBaking on April 01, 2024

    Delicious jam. My lambic ale was sweeter and didn’t add much sugar. Did take longer than 30 minutes to reduce. This jam is the perfect accompaniment to the PB thumbprint recipe from the same book.

• Joy of Cooking

  Every recipe is thoughtful...Every recipe I've tried from it has not only worked, but has worked perfectly with excellent results.

  Full review

• Leite's Culinaria

  Mindy's recipes are well balanced...The recipes flaunt Segal’s creative genius, which turns out items both approachable enough for the home cook.

  Full review