Inspiration: Endeavoring to step outside of the usual flavors of my cookies, I started scouring my cookbooks. Happily, I landed on this promising recipe, Toasted Sesame Slice-and-Bake Butter Cookies from Nancy Silverton’s book, The Cookie That Changed My Life and More Than 100 Other Classic Cakes, Cookies, Muffins, and Pies That Will Change Yours. 

Whilst I’m no stranger to slice-and-bake cookies, as I love recipes that require mixing on one day and baking the next, Nancy Silverton and Carolynn Carreno’s recipe threw me for a loop.

Cookbook Review: When I first perused The Cookie That Changed My Life… in my local indie bookshop, I initially glommed onto the recipe for Iced Animal Crackers. Not only do they require sprinkles, but these cookies also allow me to practice cookie-cutter dough — a style of cookie I’ve struggled to reliably produce without my grandmother’s guidance. (My unsupervised efforts always seem to spread, looking more akin to balloon animals than said four-legged friend I was aiming to create.)

What I didn’t realize, until after I got home and delved deeper into the pages, is that I’ve a preference on cookbook layouts. And, you’ve guessed it, The Cookie That Changed My Life… doesn’t follow it. 

Rather than breaking down the recipes into easily checked-off and manageable steps, which in my experience helps ensure you don’t miss adding or manipulating an ingredient, The Cookie That Changed My Life… does not. The recipes are broken down only by the broadest of strokes, leaving bakers with anywhere from 2 to 5 inches of text to parse for several steps in each recipe. Making the somewhat complicated recipes even more challenging/intimidating to reproduce. 

Unless you’re a baker who’s apparently willing to sit down, break down, and rewrite every single recipe before stepping into the kitchen.

What I do appreciate about the book is the clear ingredient list, which gives the weight of most ingredients. (A feature which should not be underestimated.)

If you enjoy pretty cookbooks then, The Cookie That Changed My Life… is for you. The layout and its uniformity, plus the intermittent pictures, create an attractive book. And if you enjoy reading cookbooks like they were works of fiction, then The Cookie That Changed My Life… is one for you. If you don’t tend to lose your place in large blocks of text in the midst of measuring, mixing, and manipulating ingredients, again I would recommend this book. 

However, if you value a practical approach to recipe writing, this book will drive you nuts. As either the editors, writers, or publisher valued style over accessibility.

That being said, the unique flavors, interesting techniques, and variety of recipes do partially make up for this (in my estimation) aforementioned flaw, and I would recommend The Cookie That Changed My Life…

With reservations.

P.S.: This cookbook is not for someone who’s new to baking as some of the processes required to successfully produce the bakes are highly technical and/or unusual.

The Bake: Familiar with the taste buds of my audience, i.e., my husband’s coworkers, I must admit to altering the Toasted Sesame Slice-and-Bake Butter Cookies slightly by adding the zest of one orange and one teaspoon of ground ginger to complement the warm nutty flavor of the toasted sesame. (It also kept the cookie from becoming one note.)

And they went down a treat!

Agatha Christie’s Canon of Characters: This is one of the few bakes I’ve produced that (I think) Hercule Poirot would enjoy. The flavor is subtle, warm, and elegant without being overly sweet. Moreover, the sesame flavor generally pairs well with espresso. Providing Poirot with something to nibble on whilst sipping a bean-based beverage and using his little grey cells.

My 52 Weeks With Christie: A.Miner©2025