Just in time for holiday baking comes the mother of all cookie references, an encyclopedic collection of recipes and techniques of just about every cookie under the sun. Forget buying holiday gifts this season - buy this book and make delicious homemade gifts from your own kitchen, delivered with love.

No matter what your idea of the perfect cookie is, you're bound to find the recipe in these pages. The bakers at King Arthur flour identified what they believe are the "nine Essential Cookies": brownies, chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal cookies, molasses-ginger cookies, sugar cookies, decorated cookies, peanut butter cookies, shortbread and biscotti. Each is given a thorough treatment including classic recipes and lots of new variations. The book also includes chapters on drop cookies, roll-out cookies, shaped cookies, batter cookies, no-bake cookies, bars and squares. You'll find clear instructions and practical tips and cookie making techniques to make sure you get as spectacular results as King Arthur's recipe testers did. To make your cookies complete, the book also offers lots of instructions and recipes for all kinds of cookie icings, dips and fillings and even tips and guidelines for packing cookies for gifts or shipping.

In short - this book is the only cookie reference you will ever need. It's little wonder it won both the James Beard Foundation and the Kitchen Aid cookbook of the year prizes.

The King Arthur Flour Company is the largest single educator of bakers in the world. Employee-owned since 1996, the company conducts a yearly national baking class tour that provides free baking instruction for more than 25,000 students per year.

Sample Recipes:
See the Related Recipes box below for sample recipes from this book.