Betty Crocker's Cooky Book

This is my all time favorite holiday cookie book... It might be my favorite cooking/baking book in general. I love how ridiculous and terribly outdated some of the cookies are... it's so bad sometimes that it's charming. This book is best used for inspiration, and it's almost always a good idea to find an updated recipe elsewhere that'll have a more delicious and authentic outcome than Betty could offer, but the contents are so prolific that it just can't be beat. It's like an encyclopedia of cookies compiled by an insane Grandma who always meant well. This book reminds me of oleo, believing in Santa, and a time when I was too innocent to notice when a cookie was clearly shaped like a penis.

My mother used this very same cookbook, and now I have it. Text reflects the era, as do the ingredients. I always substitute butter, or coconut oil, or applesauce, or a combination of these for the shortening. But otherwise, all the cookies I have made from this book are good.

This was the first cook book I got when I was 8 or 10. It still has my yellow highlighter tags of the cookies I wanted to make -- basically if there was a picture, I wanted to make it. There still are some recipes I go to this book for. Covered in flour, wrinkled pages, left over egg on the pages -- love that.

I remember my mom making cookies from this book. This was her book and was published in 1963. I loved reading the recipes and seeing the marks she made next to the cookies she made.
There are recipes in here that I have never even seen before. This book is great for all levels of bakers. The beginning goes over some basic utensils, measuring and even some hints. I highly enjoyed seeing the variations to many of the recipes in the book, just by adding a different spice or adding nuts.
The best part of the book for me was the section called Betty Crocker's Best Cookies. My version has the best cooky of certain 10 year or 5 year periods starting at 1880. I enjoyed reading the blurb about the cookie and the historical highlights of events show more that happened during those periods.
So if you need a new cookie recipe or just want to find an old favorite then check out Betty Crocker's Cooky Book!! show less

It was a great pleasure to find the re-issue of this 1963 classic cookie book, my mother's go-to resource for all things cookie. Just seeing the cover brings back a flood of memories. I remember making decorated Christmas and Easter cookies, and Mom creating holiday gift boxes of dozens of assorted cookies from the book. I associate it with snickerdoodles, gingersnaps, peanut butter cookies, freezer cookies, cherry-filled heart cookies and butterscotch lace cookies. Most fun, I remember making storybook cookies from page 56, painting little Scottie dogs and funny cats with egg yolk paint. This cookbook is a sweet walk down memory lane.

My mother had the original 1963 version of this book, I swiped it from her cookbook shelf when I left home in 1972, and I used it so much over the years that the covers fell off and half the pages fell out. I'm delighted to find that it's been reissued, and I can't wait to start baking my favorite cookies again.

My favorite cookie book! I use these recipes every Christmas and throughout the year. One of the "old style" Betty Crocker cookbooks that actually uses base ingredients most of the time, not canned, prepared, packaged, etc.