• cellenly on July 16, 2025

  “The recipes in this book were originally published in Maida Heatter’s Book of Great Cookies (1977) and Maida Heatter’s New Book of Great Desserts (1982) and Maida Heatter’s Book of Great American Desserts (1985)”

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Chocolate whoppers

  • jenmacgregor18 on July 31, 2021

    Rich, chewy, crunchy and delicious. Great chocolate flavor, loaded with chocolate chips, and nuts. These have become our favorite chocolate cookie so far. They are appropriately named. Besides Joe Froggers, these are probably the biggest cookies I've made. Based on the size, D asked "Are these from Costco?" But I wouldn't change anything, they are absolutely perfect as is.

• Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings's chocolate cookies

  • hillsboroks on June 29, 2019

    These cookies deliver good chocolate flavor with relatively little fuss. I accidentally threw the butter in to melt with the chocolate and espresso mix but it didn't seem to cause any major problems with the end product. The dough was quite runny until I stirred in the nuts, chocolate chips and raisins. I baked them exactly 14 minutes per the recipe and they were perfect. I loved all the various flavors in this cookie.

• Mrs. L.B.J.'s moonrocks

  • jenmacgregor18 on September 20, 2021

    These are delicious spice cookies that somewhat resemble a hermit in flavor. Nice and homey. Mine turned out soft and just a little crisp on the edges. I had reduced cloves to 1/2 tsp and subbed cane syrup for dark corn syrup. I wouldn't hesitate to use the full 1tsp of cloves next time. No one flavor dominated. It's a great combination.

• Coconut oatmeal cookies

  • M3industries on November 25, 2023

    Used unsweetened coconut and it was plenty sweet. Delicious, soft, yet crispy cookie. Will definitely make again!

• 24-karat cookies

  • Bloominanglophile on September 15, 2013

    Notes from 2003 say, "ok, try again?".

• Indian figlets

  • Bloominanglophile on September 15, 2013

    Notes from 2005 say, "ok".

• Pumpkin rocks

  • Bloominanglophile on September 15, 2013

    Note from 2003 say "Good". I remember them being moist and also getting softer as the days passed--so layer them in between sheets of wax paper in an air-tight tin.

• Raisin oatmeal cookies

  • Bloominanglophile on September 15, 2013

    These were good! I might add 1-2 Tbsp more flour next time.

• Pecan squares Americana

  • jenmacgregor18 on May 08, 2017

    These are much firmer than pecan pie. And more nuts than sugar custard when you compare it to the standard pecan pie filling. The pastry is the fussy bit; but is crisp and buttery and the lemon is a nice addition. I added 2 Tbsp spiced rum to the sugar syrup. They're delicious and definitely worth any effort putting them together.

• Palm Beach brownies

  • M3industries on November 25, 2023

    Wow, definitely worth the hype - it's known as Maida's signature brownie. I've made it multiple times and it has always been delicious.

• Hermit bars

  • ashallen on July 20, 2021

    These were good, but they're not my dream hermits. My dream-hermits are fudgy and a bit chewy. Wanting to make sure these didn't dry out, I checked them after 20 minutes and pulled them immediately - 10 minutes before the 30 minutes called for in the recipe. The central third was moist and fudgy though unfortunately not chewy. It then got drier and more cake-like away from the center. Nice dark spice flavors, though I missed the bite that comes from using some ginger and/or black pepper and the bit of bitterness from using walnuts vs. pecans. I skipped the glaze because I found the bars to be sweet enough without it. I prefer Carole Walters' hermits recipe to this one, though I'm still hunting for that dream recipe...

• Georgia pecan bars

  • Bloominanglophile on September 15, 2013

    These pecan bars are fabulous--a lot like eating pecan pie! I made them for an event and got requests for the recipe. Every time I run across this recipe I think' "I really need to make these again!"

• Texas cowboy bars

  • GoldenLeica on May 12, 2013

    This is a very tasty recipe!

• Pinwheels

  • M3industries on November 25, 2023

    Another great classic cookie by Maida. I will definitely make these again - they look great in a cookie assortment for the holidays. Next time I will not freeze them as the log was too solid to slice when it was time to bake.

• Ginger shortbread cookies

  • hillsboroks on December 23, 2020

    These cookies just keep getting better as they sit in their container waiting to go into Christmas cookie boxes. Their gingerbread flavor is delicious, not too subtle or too intense. I cut them into stars using a 1 1/2 inch star cookie cutter. I skipped the blanched almonds on top and simply sprinkled them liberally with gold decorating sugar after brushing the tops with the egg wash. The results were beautiful. I did have to bake them about 5 minutes longer than called for.

• Plain old-fashioned sugar cookies

  • Bloominanglophile on September 15, 2013

    I made these using a star-shaped cookie cutter and sprinkled them with Demerara sugar for my daughter's Christmas party at school. These tasted fine, but they didn't hold their sharp shape--came out looking more like star pillows! I usually chill my cookie doughs, but maybe the shapes should be chilled on the pans as well before going into the oven?!? Seems like a bit too much work--I'd stick to a round shape with these.

  • Lindacakes on April 06, 2015

    These cookies are much touted on Mondays with Maida. I found them disappointing -- and they don't hold a shape. Best with round fluted cookie cutter. I used unsalted butter and they were bland but tasted strongly of butter. I made my mother's raisin filling using all dates, and created sandwich cookies. Left overnight, the cookies become soft. The combination of date and butter is divine and I would make these again as sandwich cookies.

• Coconut washboards

  • M3industries on November 25, 2023

    Made this multiple times, makes a large, dry crumbly cookie that is perfect with a coffee or tea.

• Sour cream and pecan dreams

  • Bloominanglophile on September 15, 2013

    I think these were the cookies that I read about on an eGullet holiday cookie thread. My notes say to try baking these for less time for a chewier cookie.

• Connecticut date slices

  • hillsboroks on October 29, 2018

    These cookies just scream fall with deep rich flavors - molasses, spices, coffee, dates, and raisins. They went together fairly quickly and reminded us of a fruit bar cookie a local bakery used to make that we loved. I was able to transfer the baked bars to the cooling racks just by carefully pulling them with the parchment paper off the baking sheet onto the rack. Then I carefully pulled the parchment paper out from under first one and then the other large bar. Next time I will sift my powdered sugar first to eliminate the pesky lumps in the glaze.