Holiday Cookies: Showstopping Recipes to Sweeten the Season

Seasonal favorites such as gingerbread cookies and icebox pinwheel cookies are just two classic standouts in this excellent holiday baking book. Holiday essential peppermint bark finds its home in “Holiday Confections,” as does a sophisticated smoked almond and cacao nub brittle. Favorites spanning the globe—including Austrian linzer augen, South American alfajores, Hungarian kiffles, and Dutch speculaas—make up the “Around the World” chapter and include some time-saving modifications such as directions for making the speculaas sans cookie molds. Tips for cookie-exchange parties and recipes for gingerbread place-card cookies, 3-D Christmas trees, and stained-glass snowflakes all make for great holiday entertaining. Serving suggestions in headnotes—such as adding a scoop of ice cream and fudge sauce to chocolate-peanut-butter-brownie sandwich cookies—can make a cookie go from simple treat to full-on dessert. Full-page color photos display how great that cookie tray can really look this holiday season. (Sept.)