199 Homemade Cookie Recipes

For home bakers whose cookies keep coming out flat, cakey or rock hard

Followed the Recipe and Your Cookies Still Came Out Wrong? Here's What to Try on the Next Batch.

199 Homemade Cookie Recipes, one per page with the oven temperature, times and level at the top. Plus the free Cookie Fix-It Guide: find what your batch looked like and read its usual causes and what to change next time.

Get the Cookbook and the Fix-It Guide for $15

PDF cookbook and 3 bonus guides.

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The 199 Homemade Cookie Recipes PDF: the cover with a close-up chocolate chunk cookie, and a screen open on the Big-Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe page with 350 degrees in big type at the top. A badge reads Digital PDF, 219 pages.

You measured everything. You preheated the oven. You did what the recipe said, step by step.

And the tray came out wrong anyway.

Maybe they turned into little cakes. Maybe they stayed in tight balls and never spread. Maybe they melted into one flat, greasy sheet. Or they looked fine for ten minutes and then cooled into hockey pucks.

If that sounds familiar, you are far from the only one. Here is what home bakers write under popular cookie videos on YouTube:

  • "Mine still came out cakey and I did everything he said."

  • "My cookies stay in a ball when I cook them no matter what. They don't flatten out into cookie shape."

  • "Mine turned into a flat brown chocolate cake, followed the exact measurements and steps."

  • "I have followed almost everybody on this channel's cookie recipes and I don't know what I'm doing wrong."

  • "I took 2 hours to make these for my sister, and she told me she liked the store cookies better."

  • "I hate to waste the dough."

  • "I'm almost to the point of not wanting to bother baking anymore."

(These are public YouTube comments about cookie baking in general, shortened and with spelling and punctuation tidied. They are not reviews of this book.)

Here's the part that stings most. It's just chocolate chip cookies. You feel like you should know how to make those. Your mom's come out right. Yours come out different every time, and you can't tell why.

So every batch feels like a gamble, usually in front of the people you bake for.

Why another recipe hasn't fixed it

When a batch fails, the usual move is to find a new recipe. Then another. Then a video with a better thumbnail.

A recipe tells you what to do when everything goes as written. It stays silent when something goes wrong. It can't see that your flour was scooped straight from the bag and packed tight, that your butter sat out too long and went soft, that your oven runs 25 degrees hot, or that the second tray went onto a sheet still warm from the first.

Small things like these are often behind a failed batch. In the comments under popular cookie videos, bakers who finally got it right tend to credit fixes like:

  • spooning the flour into the cup instead of scooping it
  • butter that is cool and soft, not melted
  • knowing what their oven really does, with a thermometer
  • chilling the dough when the recipe says to
  • pulling the cookies out a little earlier

And many repeat one four-word rule about baking soda and baking powder: soda spreads, powder puffs.

So what you need is two things together: recipes laid out so the key numbers are impossible to miss, and a way to read a bad batch so the next one goes differently.

That is what this cookbook and its Fix-It Guide are for.

What you get

199 Homemade Cookie Recipes is a PDF cookbook with 199 cookie recipes in 10 chapters, from chocolate chip classics to holiday cookies, one recipe per page.

It comes with The Cookie Fix-It Guide, free. When a batch comes out flat, cakey, hard or stuck in a ball, you look up what it looked like and read the usual causes and what to change on the next sheet.

The bundle laid out together: the 199 Homemade Cookie Recipes cover tagged 1 Cookbook, The Cookie Fix-It Guide cover tagged Bonus 1, and the first pages of the Is It Done? Doneness Cheat Sheet (Bonus 2) and the Cups, Sticks and Grams Measuring Chart (Bonus 3).

How every recipe page works

Every recipe page uses the same layout, so you always know where to look.

  • The oven temperature, in big type at the top. In °F, with °C next to it, so you can preheat before you read anything else. The 11 no-bake recipes say "No-bake" there instead.
  • Makes: about how many cookies you'll get.
  • Prep, Bake and Chill times. 57 recipes include a chill time, and those pages show it at the top, before you start.
  • Level: Easy or Medium. Easy means drop and shape cookies. Medium means there is rolling, filling or more than one part. 149 of the 199 recipes are Easy.
  • Ingredients in US cups, teaspoons and tablespoons, the way most American recipes are written.
  • Numbered steps, one action at a time.
  • A photo on every recipe page.
Page 9 of the book, Big-Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies, with numbered callouts: 1 oven temperature in big type (350 degrees, 175 C), 2 times and level (Makes about 12 dozen, Prep 30 min, Bake 12 to 15 min, Level Easy), 3 recipe photo, 4 ingredients, 5 numbered method, 6 Baker's tip. Caption: One recipe per page.

Before the first chapter there is a one-page Before You Bake with 7 habits that apply to every recipe in the book:

  1. Measure flour with a spoon.
  2. Softened means soft, not melted.
  3. Get to know your oven.
  4. Use cool, light-colored sheets.
  5. Keep cookies the same size.
  6. Trust your eyes, then the timer.
  7. Store them well.

At the back, a recipe index lists every recipe.

Three real pages from the book: the contents page, the Before You Bake page with its 7 habits in front, and the first page of the Recipe Index.

What's inside: 10 chapters, 199 recipes

  1. Chapter 1. Chocolate Chip Classics (26 recipes)

    The cookie everyone asks for, in chewy, crisp, cakey and nutty versions.

    Inside: Big-Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies, Double Nut Chocolate Chip Cookies, Big-Batch Cowboy Cookies, Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies.

  2. Chapter 2. Double Chocolate & Cocoa (21 recipes)

    Fudgy, crackly, deeply cocoa cookies, plus a few with two kinds of chocolate.

    Inside: Chocolate Crackle Cookies, Fudgy Double Chocolate Drops, Brown Sugar Chocolate Crinkles, Crackled Devil's Food Cookies.

  3. Chapter 3. Oatmeal & Raisin (26 recipes)

    Hearty, chewy and comforting: oats, raisins, coconut and spice.

    Inside: Mom's Raisin Oatmeal Cookies, Grandma's Soaked Raisin Oatmeal Cookies, Kitchen Sink Dishpan Cookies, Cape Cod Oatmeal Cookies.

  4. Chapter 4. Peanut Butter & Nutty (24 recipes)

    Peanut butter classics and cookies packed with pecans, walnuts, almonds and cashews.

    Inside: Classic Crisscross Peanut Butter Cookies, Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookies, Toffee Pecan Crunch Cookies.

  5. Chapter 5. Sugar Cookies & Cutouts (24 recipes)

    Soft drop sugar cookies and sturdy doughs for rolling, cutting and decorating, for every holiday and birthday.

    Inside: Crisp Rolled Sugar Cookies, Sour Cream Cutout Cookies, Melted Butter Sugar Cookies, Almond Vanilla Sugar Cutouts.

  6. Chapter 6. Butter Cookies & Shortbread (18 recipes)

    Simple doughs where butter is the star: shortbread, thumbprints, sandwich cookies.

    Inside: Brown Sugar Oat Shortbread, Hidden Kiss Walnut Snowballs, Granny's Cherry-Topped Shortbread, Norwegian Egg Yolk Butter Cookies.

  7. Chapter 7. Ginger, Spice & Molasses (14 recipes)

    Gingersnaps, molasses crinkles, pumpkin and warm spice cookies.

    Inside: Classic Gingerbread Men, Peppery Gingersnap Cutouts, Soft Glazed Pumpkin Cookies, Chewy White Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies.

  8. Chapter 8. Fruit, Jam & Citrus (17 recipes)

    Bright cookies with citrus, jam, cherries and dried fruit.

    Inside: Swedish Walnut Jam Thumbprints, Raspberry Ribbon Slices, Cranberry Pumpkin Walnut Cookies, Sugar-Dusted Lime Cookies.

  9. Chapter 9. Bars, No-Bake & Cookie Desserts (17 recipes)

    Pan bars, no-bake favorites and cookie-based desserts for busy days and potlucks.

    Inside: Raspberry Oat Crumble Bars, Cherry Coconut Magic Bars, Chocolate Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies, Chocolate Chip Cookie Pizzas.

  10. Chapter 10. Holiday Cookies & Gifts in a Jar (12 recipes)

    Festive cookies for the season and cookie mixes layered in a jar, ready to tie with a ribbon and give.

    Inside: Peppermint Candy Slice Cookies, Nutmeg Eggnog Cookies, Christmas Cornflake Wreaths, White Chocolate Macadamia Cookie Jar.

The 10 real chapter opener pages of the book in two rows, in book order, from Chocolate Chip Classics to Holiday Cookies and Gifts in a Jar.

A few useful numbers: 11 recipes need no oven at all. Several are big-batch recipes for a crowd, a bake sale or a cookie swap. And the old-fashioned family recipes are here too, written step by step in US cups.

Your 3 free bonuses

The Cookie Fix-It Guide PDF: its cover with a photo of a stack of chocolate chip cookies, the Fix-It Chart page behind it, and a phone open on the Flat and greasy page. Tag: Bonus 1, included free.

Bonus 1. The Cookie Fix-It Guide (listed at $17, yours free)

What your batch is telling you, and what to change next time.

Start with the one-page Fix-It Chart: 12 common bad results, what to check first, what to check next, and what to try on the next batch. Then one page for each result:

  • Flat and greasy, spread into one sheet
  • Spread too thin
  • Won't spread, stays a ball or a dome
  • Cakey or puffy
  • Hard after cooling
  • Dry and crumbly
  • Burnt bottoms, pale tops
  • Raw middle, done edges
  • Pale and won't brown
  • Tastes of flour
  • Too salty
  • Uneven batch (some right, some wrong)

Each page lists the usual causes, most common first, and the one change to try for each. Recipes and kitchens differ, so these are the usual suspects, written to help you narrow it down. Print the chart and keep it by the oven.

Drawing of the printed Fix-It Chart taped inside a cabinet door, with the caption: Shown printed at home. You get a PDF.
The Is It Done? Cookie Doneness Cheat Sheet, one page, drawn on a fridge under a magnet and also shown on a phone. Caption: Printable, 1 page.

Bonus 2. Is It Done? Cookie Doneness Cheat Sheet (listed at $9, yours free)

For when you can never tell when they're done.

One printable page with what "done" looks like for 5 kinds of cookie: drop cookies, rolled cutouts, shortbread and butter cookies, crinkle and molasses cookies, and bars. Plus why cookies keep baking on the hot sheet, and a quick oven check if your first tray ran fast or slow.

Both pages of the Cups, Sticks and Grams Cookie Measuring Chart on drawn parchment, with drawn measuring cups and a butter stick at the edges. Caption: Printable, 2 pages.

Bonus 3. Cups, Sticks and Grams: Cookie Measuring Chart (listed at $9, yours free)

For when every batch comes out different.

Two printable pages: how to spoon and level flour, cup-to-gram weights for the ingredients cookies use most, butter sticks to tablespoons to cups to grams, table salt vs kosher salt, oven °F to °C matching the book, and common pan sizes.

Who this is for

This cookbook is for you if:

  • you bake at home for your family and friends, and you want the next tray to come out the way you pictured it
  • you've followed recipes exactly and still got cakey, flat or hard cookies, and you want to know where to look
  • you want one place for chocolate chip, oatmeal, peanut butter, sugar cutouts, shortbread, spice, bars and holiday cookies
  • you like a recipe where the oven temperature and times are right at the top
  • you're getting ready for holiday baking, cookie boxes or a cookie swap
  • you bake with US measuring cups and spoons

Who this is not for

Please skip it if:

  • you need vegan, gluten-free, egg-free or sugar-free recipes. This book isn't written for those diets.
  • you want to start a cookie business. There is nothing here about pricing, selling or packaging for sale.
  • you only bake from scratch with butter. Like many American family recipes, some of these use margarine, shortening, a cake mix or a pudding mix.
  • you bake at high altitude and need adjusted recipes. The book doesn't include altitude adjustments.
  • you want a printed hardcover shipped to you. This is a digital PDF.
  • you want video lessons. Everything here is on the page, with no videos.
Everything in the bundle, laid out together: the 199 Homemade Cookie Recipes cover labeled 1 Cookbook, The Cookie Fix-It Guide cover with a stack of chocolate chip cookies labeled Bonus 1, the Is It Done? Cookie Doneness Cheat Sheet labeled Bonus 2, and the Cups, Sticks and Grams Measuring Chart labeled Bonus 3.

Here's everything you get:

  • 199 Homemade Cookie Recipes (PDF cookbook, 219 pages, 10 chapters, one recipe per page, Before You Bake page, recipe index)
  • Bonus 1: The Cookie Fix-It Guide (listed at $17) Free
  • Bonus 2: Is It Done? Cookie Doneness Cheat Sheet (listed at $9) Free
  • Bonus 3: Cups, Sticks and Grams: Cookie Measuring Chart (listed at $9) Free

Your price: $15

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Get the Cookbook and the Fix-It Guide for $15

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Frequently asked questions

What exactly do I get?

A PDF cookbook with 199 cookie recipes in 10 chapters, one recipe per page, plus three bonus PDFs: The Cookie Fix-It Guide, the Is It Done? Doneness Cheat Sheet and the Cups, Sticks and Grams Measuring Chart.

Is this a physical book?

It's a digital PDF, so nothing ships to your house.

How do I get it?

Right after checkout you\'ll get an email with your download link. If you don\'t see it within a few minutes, check your spam or promotions folder.

What devices can I read it on?

Any phone, tablet or computer that opens PDF files. Most already do, with the reader that came with the device. The cookbook is a large file because of the photos, so download it on Wi-Fi.

Can I print it?

Yes. Every page is US Letter size (8.5 x 11 in). Print the whole book or only the recipes you want. The Fix-It Chart and the Doneness Cheat Sheet are single pages, and the Measuring Chart is two pages, all made to print and keep in the kitchen.

What units do the recipes use?

US cups, teaspoons and tablespoons. Butter is given in cups or tablespoons, and packaged items like cream cheese, cake mix or baking chocolate by the ounce, as on the package. Oven temperatures are in °F with °C next to them. The recipes don't list grams; the free Measuring Chart gives gram weights for the ingredients cookies use most, if you prefer a scale.

I'm a beginner. Is this too hard?

149 of the 199 recipes are marked Easy: drop and shape cookies. The other 50 are marked Medium, because there is rolling, filling or more than one part. Each page shows its level at the top, so you can start with an Easy one.

Will this make my cookies come out right?

No book can promise that, because ovens, pans and ingredients differ from kitchen to kitchen. What you get is clear recipes with the key numbers on top, 7 habits that help prevent common problems, and a Fix-It Guide that helps you figure out what to change when a batch surprises you.

Do I need special equipment?

Standard home baking tools: bowls, measuring cups and spoons, baking sheets and a mixer or a sturdy spoon. Some cutout recipes call for cookie cutters and a rolling pin. A few recipes use a blender, food processor, double boiler, springform pan or cookie press; the steps say so. The Before You Bake page suggests an inexpensive oven thermometer.

Are there recipes for allergies or special diets?

No. Most are traditional cookies made with wheat flour, eggs and sugar, and many contain nuts. Always read ingredient labels when baking for someone with a food allergy.

Are there holiday recipes?

Yes. Chapter 10 has 12 holiday cookies and gifts in a jar, and other chapters have cookies that fit the season too, like Classic Gingerbread Men and Soft Glazed Pumpkin Cookies.

What if it's not for me?

You're covered by a 30-day money-back guarantee. If the book isn't for you, email us within 30 days of your purchase and we'll refund you.

I have a question that isn't here.

Email us at support@maplerowpress.com and we'll get back to you.

Next time a tray comes out of the oven, you'll have a way to read what you're looking at.

199 recipes. 10 chapters. 3 free guides. $15.

Get the Cookbook and the Fix-It Guide for $15

30-day money-back guarantee.