365 Days of Cookies: Sweeten Your Year with a New Cookie Every Day

Publisher: Reader's Digest/Taste of Home
Publication Date: October 2017
ISBN: 978-1617656828
Reviewed by: Holly Connors
Review Date: January 24, 2018

If you have a sweet tooth and love to bake, check out the new cookie book from "Taste of Home" that offers a different recipe for every day of the year.

Like many cookbooks, this one starts with several pages of cooking basics - obviously centered around cookies. The proper way to mix, how to measure different ingredients (liquid, sour cream, butter, brown sugar, etc.), as well as some "Problem-Solving Pointers" are included in this section. Then it's on to the fun part - baking the cookies! The recipes are divided into five chapters - Cozy Bites; Celebrate Spring; Summer Fun; Fall Flavors; and The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.

The recipes themselves are varied and a lot of fun to make - and the recipes I tested all came out tasty. Each recipe includes a colorful picture of the finished cookies, as well as prep time, bake time, and how many cookies that particular recipe will make. If you're in a rush, you can look for the "Short & Sweet" notation found on many of the pages. One of those recipes, for Peanut Butter Penguins, is definitely quick and easy, using a favorite store bought cookie as the base, and then "dressing them up" to look like penguins. The finished cookies were a big hit at a local school bake sale. There are several other animal face cookie recipes that will likely be big hits at school events.

I love to bake cookies but it seems that I have three very basic, very standard recipes that I always turn to when I get a sweet tooth attack. 365 Days of Cookies has definitely changed that. I really loved the "Short & Sweet" varieties which were perfect for those rushed days. This cookbook also includes ten recipes for special days of the year (World Nutella Day, National Gumdrop Day, Hot and Spicy Food Day) which added another level of fun to the book. Finally, something that was really appreciated in my rather messy kitchen is the heavy-duty cover and very thick and strong spiral bound format - it made a world of difference when referring to the directions while my hands were covered in flour. Overall, this is an excellent book for the cookie loving cookie baker.

Quill says: 365 Days of Cookies will keep "cookie cookers" busy and happy for a very long time.