Cookie

Everyone has foods that take them on mental journeys. The best thing of all is that there is room at the table for them all.

Give it up for the spritz.

You can create a variety of shapes and colors with a cookie press. We love OXO’s cookie press for this recipe since it has sturdy metal plates and all the parts unscrew easily for cleaning.

Feel free to sub in an equal amount of another liquor, such as bourbon, for this cookies recipe, or omit completely if you’re serving these to kiddos.

There is just no getting around the fact that almond paste is indispensable for these meringue-like cookies; it transforms their flavor and helps them brown evenly. Some brands sell in a tube; others will be in a can in the baking aisle. Using the tube is ideal since the canned might be looser, but either works for this recipe.

We found that a couple cracks across the tops of these cookies were worth it in this recipe to ensure they are as light and moist as possible, but resting the portioned dough for the full hour helps minimize getting too many.

The short bake time in this recipe isn’t a typo—these cookies should be moist and fudgy in the center, almost like a brownie.

To ensure these don’t break, use a couple of layers of parchment paper or foil in the baking dish and make sure they’re completely cooled before removing them.

He's not really driving after all, right?

No, your cookies won't start going to yoga if you decorate them with all-natural food dyes.

We love the look of the homemade extra-long sprinkles on these whoopie-pie-type cookies, but they take a steady hand and a wealth of patience to shape. Use any store-bought sprinkle in their place.

For a smaller batch and an easier time mixing the cereal, divide the recipe in half (but use an 8x8" pan).

A super-easy, no-mixer-needed cookie dough recipe that doesn’t dirty any bowls and leaves plenty of time for the fun stuff—baking, decorating, and eating dough scraps, of course.

This ambitious Mallomars-inspired recipe is a project: Make the (wheat-free!) cookie base and top with marshmallow on day one; enrobe in chocolate on day two.

Crush candies in a plastic bag with a rolling pin. Using a hand mixer is more effective than a stand mixer for this chocolate-peppermint fudge recipe.

In this recipe, a few textured and vibrant toppings gussy up a tender, buttery, and ultrasimple shortbread.

These were the dishes BA readers loved the most in September.

The biscotti of shortbread: Cooking these impossibly tender cookies twice encourages the flour and butter to take on a toasty, nutty flavor. This recipe is from Baroo, one of the Hot 10, America's Best New Restaurants 2016.

After testing with lots of other brands, these cookies are best when made with Cup4Cup gluten-free flour.

Sort of amazing, sort of baffling: Is this restaurant seriously serving raw cookie dough and charging $8 for it?

Ice cream bars in an almond-butter-chocolate magic shell. This recipe is beyond worth it.

An ice cream sandwich is only as good as the cookies bookending the ice cream center.

These traditional almond cookies hail from Tuscany; their texture is chewy, similar to macaroons.

We’re holding a magnifying glass up to the latest 'Murder, She Baked' for easy lessons on seamlessly incorporating murder into your kitchen.