Betty Crocker's Cooky Book

Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book

It's been named, dare I say, the baking bible. This classic Cooky Book features over 200 cookie recipes. This is a wonderful cookbook for the every woman. It features both easy and difficult recipes but clearly caters more towards the ease of making cookies.

The table of contents leaves some to be desired. In a typical cookbook you would find the recipes separated by appetizers, side dishes, main courses and desserts. But, in a book of only desserts, they resort to separating the cookies into quite a few different categories. You can find their cookies separate by type (refrigerated, bar, rolled, molded, etc.) or separated by the occasion in which you would use the cookie (holiday, travel, teatime, special dietary needs, etc.). There is room for quite a bit of overlap which the cooky book takes advantage of by using different recipes of similar cookies.

The book eases you into the idea of baking cookies for someone who might be overwhelmed. It offers a two page introduction on how to store cookies, freeze them, utensils you will need, baking tips and how to prevent and correct disastrous dough.

The layout features two recipes per page, giving each recipe their own column. It makes it easy to read and follow and several of these recipes feature variations that can easily be found underneath the original of each recipe.

Many pages feature a picture border on the bottom of cookies throughout the book. These cookies are clearly labeled with the name of the cookie and the page where the recipe can be found. They feature so many cookies on each page that pictures become farther and few between as the book advances, substituting full page photos featuring several different types of cookies at once. What I do like about these rather vintage photos is that they are accompanied by a diagram that clearly outlines each cookie and where to find the recipe. While not every cookie has a photo, the cooky book makes a strong effort to give visual ideas whether it is through photos or illustrations of what your end result should look like.

An interesting part of this book is the gingerbread style house made entirely of cookies. It gives a great layout using a cardboard box and good suggestions for your walls, roof, windows, etc. The most surprising thing about this cooky house is that it features all store bought cookies. While they may have chosen this approach for ease and precision, I was disappointed that they don’t even suggest or offer a recipe for a single cookie used on this cooky house.

My favorite part of this book is the section featuring their best cookies. They offer favorite cookies listed by a ten or five year period starting with 1880. I found this section to be the most entertaining featuring variations of the favorite recipe, tips, historical moments during this time period and historical information on a featured ingredient.

The index makes up for where the table of contents lacks. You can search by a particular ingredient, like a cookie containing almonds, or by more specific types of cookies like ones that contain fillings. I found this helpful when I wanted to make a type of shortbread.

Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book is a superb standard when it comes to making cookies and it’s an absolute classic in the baking world. Some of these recipes are the generation to generation best kept secret recipes, some are the original recipe that invented this type of cookie (doesn’t always mean it’s the tastiest) and some are a little off the wall in my opinion. This cookbook will help to expand your cookie horizon whether you’re looking to start baking or have been for years.