The Good Housekeeping test kitchen cookie lovers cookbook: gooey, chewy, sweet & luscious treats

THE GOOD HOUSEKEEPING TEST KITCHEN

COOKIE LOVERS

COOKBOOK

GOOEY, CHEWY, SWEET & LUSCIOUS TREATS

HEARST BOOKS
New York

HEARST BOOKS
New York
An Imprint of Sterling Publishing
387 Park Avenue South
New York, NY 10016

Good Housekeeping is a registered trademark of Hearst Communications, Inc.
Hearst Books is a trademark owned by Hearst Communications, Inc.

2012 by Hearst Communications, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher.

ISBN 978-61837-100-3

GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

Rosemary Ellis

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Courtney Murphy

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Susan Westmoreland

FOOD DIRECTOR

Samantha B. Cassetty, MS, RD

NUTRITION DIRECTOR

Sharon Franke

KITCHEN APPLIANCES &FOOD TECHNOLOGY DIRECTOR

BOOK DESIGN by Memo Productions
PROJECT EDITOR Sarah Scheffel .

Library of Congress
Cataloging-in-Publication Data

The good housekeeping test kitchen cookie lover's cookbook : gooey, chewy, sweet &luscious treats.
p. cm.
1. Cookies. 2. Cookbooks. I. Hearst Books (Firm) II. Good housekeeping (New York, N.Y.) III. Title: Test kitchen cookie lovers cookbook.
TX772.G646 2012
641.8654dc23

The Good Housekeeping Cookbook Seal guarantees that the recipes in this cookbook meet the strict standards of the Good Housekeeping Research Institute. The Institute has been a source of reliable information and a consumer advocate since 1900, and established its seal of approval in 1909. Every recipe has been triple-tested for ease, reliability, and great taste.

For information about custom editions, special sales, and premium and corporate purchases, please contact
Sterling Special Sales at 800-805-5489 or specialsales@sterlingpublishing.com.

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www.sterlingpub.com

BONUS HOW-TO VIDEOS!

Look inside for 20 exclusive videos on cookie- and brownie-baking basics by the experts in the Good Housekeeping Test Kitchen. From melting chocolate to organizing a cookie swap, these demos will give you Test Kitchen confidence in your own kitchen. Whether youre making simple drop cookie or more labor-intensive cut-out cookies, our tips will help you succeed. For a complete list of videos, click here.

Visit goodhousekeeping.com/perfectcookiesvideo to watch our video on how to make fail-proof cookies.

Whats more American than apple pie? A warm chocolate chip cookie. For some of us, our first time baking was making those cookies, for others it may have been preparing a batch of brownies. In this book, weve collected 250 of our very best cookie recipes: a scrumptious mix of family favorites from our staff and readers, plus creative cookie recipes developed by the Good Housekeeping Test Kitchen team. We hope youll find many of your old standbys, and discover some new ones, too.

Cookie jar favoritespeanut butter, oatmeal, chocolate chip, and so much morekick off the Cookie Lovers Cookbook, then its onto easy-toshape cookies, from old-fashioned icebox cookies to biscotti. Our brownies and bar cookies are as luscious as they are easy to make. Choose from decadent fudgey bars, butterscotch-flavored blondies, and an assortment of fruit- and nut-studded snack bars. For the health conscious, theres an entire chapter of options ranging from healthy makeover versions of classics to gluten-free and vegan goodies.

For special occasions and holidays when you want something a bit more elaborate, turn to our Fun and Fancy and Holiday chapters. There youll find dozens of recipes for rolled and cutout cookies and other novelty treats sure to spread the joy. As always, every recipe in this book has been triple-tested by the Good Housekeeping Test Kitchen to ensure that it will work in any oven, with any brand of ingredient, no matter what.

An abundance of expert tips, how-to photos, and storing and freezing instructions for every recipe will make the Cookie Lovers Cookbook your go-to cookie-baking book. And, as a bonus, watch 20 instructional videos that demonstrate an array of useful techniques. A complete list of videos appears on . We close the book with a Share Your Cookie Love Gift Index that will help you pick the perfect cookie match for friends, hostesses, and everyone on your cookie gift list!

SUSAN WESTMORELAND
Food Director, Good Housekeeping

What smells better than a batch of cookies hot from the oven? Better yet is when they turn out just the way you want themmoist and chewy or light and crispy. The good news is that cookies are among the simplest, not to mention most irresistible, treats you can make. But along with this simplicity come a few requirements for success: Youll need to choose good-quality ingredients, use the right kind of equipment, and observe basic rules when measuring, mixing, baking, cooling, and storing. Success also depends on carefully following the step-by-step directions provided with each recipe.

Let the Good Housekeeping Test Kitchen be your guide. Every year we bake hundreds of batches of cookies, and in this volume, weve rounded up not only our favorite recipes, but decades worth of cookiebaking advice, tips, how-to photos, and videos (the smartphone tags and accompanying web addresses you see throughout the book will take you to them) to help you achieve perfect cookies every time!

THE INGREDIENTS OF SUCCESS

To ensure that your cookies taste delicious and have the perfect texture, it is important to use just the right ingredients (no substitutions unless theyre called for in the recipe or discussed below!) and to handle them with care.

DRY INGREDIENTS

Flour: Most of our cookie recipes call for all-purpose flour. Occasionally, a recipe uses cake flour, which is higher in starch, so it produces a more tender cookie. Cake and all-purpose flours are not interchangeable, so read your recipe carefully. Do not substitute self-rising flour; it already has salt and leavening added. If you want to make healthier cookies, consider swapping in whole-wheat flour for up to half of the flour called for in the recipe. See for suggestions. When you bring flour home from the store, transfer it from the bag or box to a canister or wide-mouth jar with a tight-fitting lid and store it in a cool place.

Oatmeal: Oats come in a variety of forms. Steel-cut oats are whole oat kernels that have been chopped. Old-fashioned oats are steamed to soften them, then rolled into flakes. Quick-cooking oats are a similar product, but cut into smaller pieces. Instant oatmeal is made from the whole oat, but further processed so that it softens immediately when moistened. Old-fashioned oats and quick-cooking oats are suitable (and interchangeable) for most of the recipes in this book that call for oatmeal; see specific recipes.