Make Your Holidays Delicious! Our Favorite Cookie, Baking, and Dessert Cookbooks

The Perfect Cookie: Your Ultimate Guide to Foolproof Cookies, Brownies & Bars, by America’s Test Kitchen
Long-time cooking show, America’s Test Kitchen, has numerous cookbooks under their belt, covering everything from vegan dishes to grilling. Their methods are, as they describe it, “foolproof,” and yield incredibly tasty dishes. This recently published cookbook pulls together ATK’s most successful recipes for cookies, brownies, and bars, with chapters dedicated to Drop Cookies, Brownies & Blondies, and Gluten-Free treats.

Holiday Cookies: Showstopping Recipes to Sweeten the Season, by Elisabet der Nederlanden
In her debut cookbook, food stylist and recipe developer Elisabet der Nederlanden shares her knowledge on how to make impressive holiday cookies. This Swedish pastry chef puts a lot of heart into her cooking and her writing, lacing each recipe with passion and flavor. She not only has recipes on how to make scrumptious delights like Hazelnut Sandwich Cookies, but also innovative treats like cookie place cards and edible ornaments.

Have Your Cake and Eat It: Nutritious, Delicious Recipes for Healthier Everyday Baking, by Mich Turner and Peter Cassidy
By substituting tasty yet more nutritious ingredients in her cakes, pastry chef Mich Turner has created a dream of a dessert cookbook. Turner takes a scientific approach to these replacements, noting in her intro, “Cakes and bakes are essentially made up of carbohydrate or starch (such as flour to absorb the moisture and set the structure); eggs to bind, stabilize and aerate; fat to carry the flavour… and sugar, which adds sweetness.” From there, she finds flavorsome and more healthy substitutes, like Greek yogurt as a fat, wholemeal flour as a carb, honey as a sweetener, and so on. And her concoctions live up to the taste, with delights like the Carrot Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting and Walnut Praline.

BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts, by Stella Parks and J. Kenji Lopez-Alt 
Ever wanted to make a homemade Oreo cookie, complete with the white stuff? What about DIY Pop-Tarts and Peanut Butter Cups? BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts, by Stella Parks offers recipes for all-American goodies. As a James Beard writing nominee and columnist for Serious Eats, Parks bring her A-game not just in the pastries, but in the prose as well.

The Baker’s Appendix: The Essential Kitchen Companion, with Deliciously Dependable, Infinitely Adaptable Recipes, by Jessica Reed
A key ingredient for every baker, The Baker’s Appendix offers a quick guide that will boil baking down to a science. More than most culinary arts, baking relies on precision and chemistry, and this little book packs a plethora of knowledge between its enchanting pages. Along with conversion tables and other quick-reference information, this book is a delicious little nugget itself, with a canvas cover and stamped font.

Hello, My Name Is Ice Cream: The Art and Science of the Scoop, by Dana Cree
For those of us who scream for ice cream, this book is scream-worthy. Written by James Beard nominated pastry chef, Dana Cree, this charming book teaches ice cream skills for both beginners and pros. Not only does it include recipes for classic and unique flavors, it delves into custards, sherbets, and frozen yogurt.

Desserts LaBelle: Soulful Sweets to Sing About, by Patti LaBelle
Renowned singer Patti LaBelle shares her song-worthy sweets in her book, Desserts LaBelle: Soulful Sweets to Sing About. LaBelle is a diabetic, and with a family history of the illness, she shied away from sharing her family’s dessert recipes. But she is so gifted at making them, that her son convinced her to share them in this cookbook. With her usual charm and humor, LaBelle’s personality pops off the page, as do her recipes, like Red Velvet Marble Cake and of course, her famous Sweet Potato Pies.

All Things Marshmallow: Melt-in-the-mouth deliciousness, by Ross O’Brien, Amy Nelson, Keiko Oikawa
Whenever marshmallows appear, they conjure images of the holidays. Elevate the store-bought marshmallow with these gourmet creations by Ross O’Brien and Amy Nelson. These gorgeous layered or marbled cubes look more akin to petit-fours, with recipes like French Almond & Sour Cherry, Bacon Waffle & Bananas, and Earl Grey & Lemon Marshmallow Sandwich Biscuits.

Twist: Creative Ideas to Reinvent Your Baking, by Martha Collison
Winner of the 2014 Great British Bake-Off, Martha Collison came out with her debut cookbook this past summer. She shares impressive and innovative skills with readers, as she present her ‘twist’ on baking. Taking a simple recipe, she adds various spins on it to update it or alter it. As is to be expected, the desserts are both irresistible and beautiful. Showstoppers include the Caramel Macchiato Cupcakes, Salted Caramel Pretzel Brownies, Ginger and Rhubarb Cake

Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book, by Ben Cohen, Jerry Greenfield, and Nancy Stevens
The figures of ‘Ben’ and ‘Jerry’ are as much of characters as their ice creams are characteristic. This book, written by the dynamic duo, is a history of their partnership, which began when they met in middle school, as well as a book of their most famous recipes. Written with their idiosyncratic charisma that they bring to each pint, readers will learn how to make the most famous flavors, including Heath Bar Crunch, New York Super Fudge Chunk, and Oreo Mint.

Nutella: The 30 Best Recipes, by Johana Amsilli
Larousse Nutella—that brown, chocolatey spread that is peanut butter’s biggest rival but also one of its greatest friends, can be surprisingly versatile. In this compilation by Larousse, the hazelnut goo is used in 30 irresistible recipes. While it’s tempting to spoon it directly out of the jar, try your hand at making fun new creations, like Nutella Mousse, Nutella Rice Pudding, Nutella Whoopie Pies, Nutella Soufflés… basically everything to fulfill one’s Nutella dreams.

A New Way to Bake: Classic Recipes Updated with Better-for-You Ingredients from the Modern Pantry, by Martha Stewart Living Magazine Editors
Pancakes made with quinoa? Cookies made with farro flower? Lemon squares with coconut oil? Who could come up with such a thing—the recipe developing powerhouses behind Martha Stewart Living Magazine, that’s who. Using superfoods to take the place of other, less nutritious food, these recipes make dessert a more balanced meal, and still keep dessert sweet.