The Art of the Cookie: Baking Up Inspiration by the Dozen - Tapa dura

The Art of the Cookie offers delicious cookie recipes and innovative decorating ideas for a cookie exchange. This book differs from others on the market in its focus on the art of decorating cookies, rather than the technique of baking them. Recipes are selected for their visual appeal as much as for their flavor.

A beautifully crafted cookie is a work of art and beloved by all. Still-warm cookies fresh from the oven are irresistibly enticing but decorating the treats doubles the fun. Whether it's a cookie exchange, holiday gathering, or Mother's Day tea, decorated cookies are a sweet and memorable addition to any special occasion.

The Art of Cookie presents over 40 delectable recipes and inspiring decorating ideas. With a focus on transforming a simple cookie into a masterpiece, each recipe promises both exceptional flavor and visual appeal. The cookie recipes are divided into two main chapters. The first offers favorite and versatile roll-and-cut dough recipes, such as brown sugar cookies and gingerbread, followed by clever, yet simple ideas for decorating them: vibrant vanilla-sugar flowers; alphabet shapes flooded with icing and sprinkled with colorful sugars; and petits fours stacked to resemble a miniature wedding cake. The second chapter includes classics with a modern twist, such as sparkly macarons; wreath-shaped sugar cookies baked with lemon and thyme and decorated with icing ornaments; and striped cookies that taste and look like peppermint sticks. Recipes for various fillings to use with many of the cookies round out the collection.

Packed with gorgeous colorful photographs, this book has all the encouragement and know-how you'll need to create artful cookies that look as if they were purchased from a pastry shop.

Shelly Kaldunski (Santa Rosa, CA) is a Northern California–based food stylist, culinary teacher, and expert in all things sweet. As a pastry chef, Shelly worked in restaurants in San Francisco before becoming a food editor at Martha Stewart Living. She was the food stylist for and contributor to Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook and is the author of Sweet Scoops and Ice Pops.