When the holidays arrive and you are baking dozens of cookies for gifts, swaps and trays, you need recipes that do not fail. These six books are the ones dependable enough to bake from all December, from a pan-banging blogger's hundred foolproof cookies to a James Beard winner's exhaustive cookie compendium. They cover everyday drop cookies, elaborate holiday projects and everything in between, all tested until they behave. Consider this your seasonal baking headquarters.
We describe and compare these books, we never reprint their recipes. Pick your December workhorse and preheat.
Quick picks:
- Best overall: 100 Cookies by Sarah Kieffer. View on Amazon
- Best for the holidays: Dorie's Cookies by Dorie Greenspan. View on Amazon
- Best for beginners: Sally's Baking Addiction by Sally McKenney. View on Amazon
Cookie specialists
100 Cookies by Sarah Kieffer
Sarah Kieffer is a blogger with a large Pinterest audience. One hundred foolproof cookie recipes from a baker famous for her pan-banging technique, the cookie book to own.
Best for: Cookies, perfected.
→ View on AmazonDorie's Cookies by Dorie Greenspan
Dorie Greenspan is a James Beard Award winner. An exhaustive, meticulously tested cookie compendium from a trusted master, especially strong for holiday baking.
Best for: Holiday cookie baking.
→ View on AmazonSally's Baking Addiction by Sally McKenney
Sally McKenney is a blogger with an enormous Pinterest following. Reliable, beginner-friendly baking from one of the most-searched names online, the recipes just work.
Best for: Beginner baking.
→ View on AmazonMore holiday baking
BraveTart by Stella Parks
Stella Parks is a James Beard Award-winning pastry editor. A rigorously tested celebration of American desserts, part history, part science, entirely reliable, the modern baking reference.
Best for: American desserts.
→ View on AmazonSnacking Cakes by Yossy Arefi
Yossy Arefi is a recipe developer and photographer. Simple, one-bowl cakes you can make on a weeknight with no mixer, the definition of low-effort, high-reward baking.
Best for: Easy everyday cakes.
→ View on AmazonDessert Person by Claire Saffitz
Claire Saffitz is a pastry chef with a huge YouTube following. Approachable yet precise, with the recipe-tester's care that makes ambitious desserts actually work at home.
Best for: Ambitious home baking.
→ View on AmazonHow we chose these
We looked past the marketing to the people behind the books: working chefs, award winners, food scientists, culture-bearers and the recipe developers whose food people actually cook again and again. Where an author is a food writer or blogger rather than a trained chef, that is a feature, not a knock: many of the most reliable, most-loved cookbooks come from obsessive home cooks. We describe and compare these books; we never republish their recipes.
