Cookies

This handsome book has a large format, ingratiating prose and full-page photographs of perfectly formed cookies that look delicious. There are slim wafers and rich crescents, brownies and prune bars, sesame cookies, madeleines, Pfeffernusse, Linzer heartsall the old favorites, divided into six categories (drop, bar, molded, refrigerator, cutout and holiday). The recipes, written in consultation with the California Culinary Academy, are clear and carefully written. Photos and diagrams provide step-by-step instruction for such specialties as tile cookies and fortune cookies as well as for making a gingerbread house. (October)