Rosie's Bakery Chocolate-Packed, Jam-Filled, Butter-Rich, No-Holds-Barred Cookie Book

Rosenberg, owner of the successful Boston-based Rosie's Bakery, fears no excess when it comes to baked goods or prose. Home bakers who aren't overwhelmed by recipes that have nearly as many steps as cookies yielded are sure to find something in this exuberant collection to make their hearts beat faster--and not just from cholesterol. Chapters are organized by cookie texture (few people, Rosenberg notes, ever say they're in the mood for a refrigerator cookie). While it may require a legalistic mind to discern the boundary between ""Chewy Crunchy"" and ""Crispy Chompy,"" it's what's inside that counts. In ""Chewy Crunchy,"" there are 10 kinds of chocolate chip cookies and five kinds of oatmeal cookies, including one with cranberries and orange. ""Crispy Chompy"" covers more chocolate-chip variations, shortbreads (Toasted Coconut Macadamia Shortbread), Lovely Lemon Crisps, Fresh Ginger Crisps, ground nut-based confections and several recipes for mandelbrot and biscotti. The chapter on brownies and bars is inspired, offering classics and the unexpected like Hazelnut Cranberry Linzers and a delicately grainy Semolina Shortbread Bar. There are also cakey cookies and sandwich cookies, including Triple Ginger Lemon Sandwiches, and tips on mixing, storing and baking. If Rosenberg doesn't inspire readers to pick up their rolling pins, she will certainly leave them craving a local franchise. BOMC/Good Cook selection; author tour. (Dec.)