The International Cookie Cookbook

This richly comprehensive sampling of 153 recipes includes old favorites and less familiar cookies from around the world, grouped in nine regions. The unusual include the Canadian Sooke Harbour House salal berry cookies; Mexican molletes (cornmeal cookies); parlies, a Scottish gingerbread; and German ``sausage'' and ``dark bread'' cookies, quaintly resembling their namesakes. An introductory chapter reviews cookie-making techniques, ingredients and equipment; recipe directions are easy to follow. Readers can compare similar cookies in their regional guises (e.g., Swedish gingersnaps are spicier than American). Though some recipes are elaborate, requiring molds or irons, the author lists suppliers. Tantalizing photographs present cookies in culinary context, from a British tea to a Scandinavian Christmas. For newcomers, this book will be approachable; for old-timers, it will be more than tempting. Better Homes and Gardens Cooking Book Club main selection ; author tour. (Oct.)