Book Review: The Cookie Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum. (2022)
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Rose Levy Beranbaum is back with a delicious love letter to the art of cookies. Once you open this book, you will find it impossible not to want to bake the recipes on these pages.
I’ve only had this latest book by Rose Levy Beranbaum for a month, and I’m already using it for the fourth time. Rose has written what the newest installment in the “Bible” series of books is. This collection is an eclectic and fun cookie compendium featuring a variety of cookies that will excite you.
Rose Levy Beranbaum has been called the “Diva of Desserts,” “the most meticulous cook who ever lived,” and “Legendary Baker.” These accolades are not undeserved and come from decades of people purchasing and using this book through decades of baking. I know not a single person who is a cake baker who does not possess a very well-used copy of the “Cake Bible."
The selection of cookies is not perfunctory but seemingly carefully considered. From the simple drop cookies like the classic oatmeal and peanut butter varieties that you might use often, there are other types of cookie specialties like bar cookies, sandwich cookies, frosted cookies, rolled cookies, and other varieties.
The featured recipes have detailed instructions, notes for planning grocery store lists, and detailed information to make the most of your cookie baking. Rose wrote this one with care, and it shows.
Instead of filling a book with lists of cookies and stuffing it full of recipes, Rose chose some of her favorite recipes and shared them as an act of love. This is more of an heirloom gift from a relative than a larger encyclopedic offering. While this book has a lot of recipes, they are the best of the best instead of the most of everything. This is quality over quantity.
One thing that endears me in this work is the book's selection of just a few recipes. Rose’s Dream Chocolate Chip Cookies are not just a rehash of the tired Toll House variety but something new entirely. This is one of those recipes where the devil is in the details. While this is not a labor-intensive recipe, you will have to read ahead and pay attention or it won’t be the same. Well done, and worth looking up!
