Book Review: Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-In-Your-Mouth Cookies

In high school, I went to one of my teammate's birthday parties and had some of the best chocolate cake I'd ever had in my life. When I got home, my mom informed me that my teammate's mother was Alice Medrich. As it turns out, Berkeley isn't a bad place to grow up.

A number of years later, with that knowledge in hand, I felt confident purchasing her new cookie book, Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-In-Your-Mouth Cookies. I've only made two of the recipes so far, but  my confidence was certainly deserved.

First, I made her whole-wheat biscotti. Last time I made biscotti, I accidentally turned the oven to 450°F instead of 350°F. These clearly turned out better. There wasn't anything particularly mind-blowing about the cookies, but they were really quite good. (They also made great spoons for eating pudding.)

Second, I made her Peanut Butter Clouds (although mine had a twist). This is something I never would have thought to make. So far in my life, I've been very much so a cookie purist--chocolate chip cookies, maybe some oatmeal thrown in. They were divine.When you buy the book, make them, ASAP.

The book also has a few sections on ingredients and prepping your kitchen for cookie madness. They're really helpful, so I suggest reading them. (It's helpful knowledge for more than just cookie baking.)

Ok, so the recipes are delicious, and D is certainly enjoying me owning a cookie cookbook, but a few notes of warning:
1. You will make cookies more often, and you will eat them (because they are delicious).
2. This is not a book full of quick cookie recipes to make on the fly. A lot of them involve interesting and different ingredients that you probably don't have on hand. Many others involve sitting overnight in the refrigerator. There are some quick and easy recipes, but it's not the majority of the book.
3. The book is terribly, horribly, awfully organized. I find that it's impossible to find almost anything in it, so I've taken to using post-it flags every time I find a recipe I like. Pretty soon it's going to be filled with flags. The book has an index, but it's surprisingly difficult to read. The table of contents isn't much help either, especially if you like crunchy, chewy, crispy gooey and melt-in-your-mouth cookies.

Still, all-in-all, this book is a win. I mean, it has upwards of 6 different brownies recipes--what more can a girl ask for in a cookbook???