Martha Stewart's Cookie Perfection: Eight Tasty Recipes from Our Founder's Latest Book

For cookie bakers novice or experienced, our latest book, Martha Stewart's Cookie Perfection, is a must-have. It has more than 100 recipes—from superlative twists on classic cookies to monumental treats to share. In addition to recipes, the book includes the elements of cookie style, how to drop, roll, slice, and shape, plus icing, piping, and other embellishments. You'll also find information on essential ingredients for cookie making and the tools you'll need to get the job done. Consider it your new manual for everything cookie related.

Here we share an irresistible selection of eight recipes from the book. There are Giant White-Chocolate Pecan Cookies and diminutive Sparkly Lemon Cookies. Included are our definitive whoopie pie recipe and two other stupendous sandwich cookies—one peanut butter and one double-chocolate with hazelnuts. Triple-Chocolate Brownie Cups are as decadent as their name suggests. They're large, measuring four inches across, and intensely chocolatey thanks to a mix of bittersweet chocolate and semisweet and white chocolate chips. Simply put, they should satisfy even the most ardent brownie lover. What's more, they're extremely portable unlike most brownies.

Though we're not here to choose favorites, it's a simple point of fact that the most stunning recipe in the bunch is the Brown-Butter Honey Cookies. Brown butter adds a nutty flavor, and there's a hint of cardamom that also takes these treats to the next level, but it's the basketweave look of this distinctive cookies that catches the eye. Of course, there's a sugar cookie in the mix, and it's a simple recipe that we think lives up to the book's title. It's perfection indeed.

Recipes reprinted from: Martha Stewart's Cookie Perfection: 100+ Recipes to Take Your Treats to the Next Level, From the Kitchens of Martha Stewart Living. Copyright © 2019 by Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. Available October 15 wherever books are sold; to pre-order, go to amazon.com.

We think of sugar cookies as jacks-of-all-trades, not plain Janes. That's because our take is delicious alone or gussied up in a variety of ways. Two genius touches set this recipe apart: a scoop of sour cream for pillowy softness, and a drop-style dough, which means no rolling is required. Add sprinkles or sanding sugar before baking; then, for an even softer result, pull the cookies out of the oven when they're just golden on the edges and pale at the center. Let them cool completely so they can firm up, and if marmalade is more your jam, finish plain ones with a citrus glaze and curls of candied peel.

Brownie bites grow up (and out) in these jumbo-size treats—and at four inches across, they make a major impression. Cocoa powder pumps up the pure chocolate flavor, and literal handfuls of milk- and white-chocolate chips bring on the intensity. If you like some crunch with your cocoa fix, stir chopped walnuts or pecans into the batter before setting the cups on a sheet pan to bake.