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All About Cookies: A Milk Bar Baking Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - A mind-blowing collection of more than 100 new cookie recipes and inspiration to create your own masterpieces, from the founder of Milk Bar, host of Bake Squad, and inventor of the Compost Cookie.
In All About Cookies, Christina Tosi brings us into a cookie wonderland, with recipes from and inspired by Milk Bar's fan favorites. No cookie form is left unturned, from classic crispies to sandies, sammies, chewies, bars, and even no-bakes. She remixes an old classic into the marbled chocolate s'more cookie, takes us on a flavor journey with blueberry-and-corn bars, and introduces us to a new favorite with the jelly-donut cookie sandwich.
And all that creativity is meant to rub off: Through dozens of recipes, she shows you how to mix and match ideas, flavors, and textures to turn you into a cookie wizard. Whether you're swapping out peanut butter for marshmallow fluff or adding Milk Bar's famous Birthday Crumbs to a recipe, this cookbook will reimagine the cookie game for new bakers and pros alike. All About Cookies will have you rushing to preheat your oven and push your culinary boundaries to the next level.
In All About Cookies, Christina Tosi brings us into a cookie wonderland, with recipes from and inspired by Milk Bar's fan favorites. No cookie form is left unturned, from classic crispies to sandies, sammies, chewies, bars, and even no-bakes. She remixes an old classic into the marbled chocolate s'more cookie, takes us on a flavor journey with blueberry-and-corn bars, and introduces us to a new favorite with the jelly-donut cookie sandwich.
And all that creativity is meant to rub off: Through dozens of recipes, she shows you how to mix and match ideas, flavors, and textures to turn you into a cookie wizard. Whether you're swapping out peanut butter for marshmallow fluff or adding Milk Bar's famous Birthday Crumbs to a recipe, this cookbook will reimagine the cookie game for new bakers and pros alike. All About Cookies will have you rushing to preheat your oven and push your culinary boundaries to the next level.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
March 4, 2023
This is the fourth cookbook of Tosi's I've read (and her most recent) and I think it's by far her strongest. I'll admit my bias--I'm a cookie girl, so I was primed to like the content, but she's had cookies in all of her other cookbooks, many of which did nothing for me. Here, the sections are divided by ~type~ of cookie (no bake, gooey, crispy, bars, etc.) and I really enjoyed the range in flavors and textures. I also liked that, unlike most of her other books, this one felt a lot more accessible in terms of ingredients and difficulty. These felt more reasonably like cookies you could make at home without access to a commercial kitchen and obscure ingredients. I bookmarked quite a few I'm excited to make!
February 6, 2025
If you want a cookie baking book with different cookie recipes, this is your book. Creativity is high in this, lots of variations on the classic American cookies in here, lots of fun flavor combinations. Some require a bit of extra work (like prepping your caramel) and I personally do think the recipes occasionally leave out steps like letting the dough rest in the fridge for better results. I was also not the biggest fan of the layout, I found it sometimes a bit chaotic. I like very traditional concepts in my cookbooks: one page (or more if needed) accompanied by a lovely photo. But here you get things like do the the dough first then flip to the page where you make the ingredients that go into the cookie. Or we start with the base and then list a bunch of variations. Not saying that is a bad way to do a cookbook, it's just not my preferred way. That being said because there were some really interesting recipes and I only got around to 4 of them during last festive season I am considering checking it out from the library again. My rating might improve with more samples.
The cookies I tried:
- Cocoa Mint Chip Cookies: I know, I just praised the creativity and then I made the likely most basic cookie in here. But it's my husbands favorite combo. The chewy texture reminded me of a type of chocolate almond cookies I have been making since my early baking days but this one seemed a bit tougher to handle. And the amazing mint flavor was more thanks to the mint chips from Trader Joe's, I think. So I don't know. They were good but it didn't feel like a recipe that I will stick with. 3*
- Pistachio Fingers: This might be on me, but I seem to struggle with making shortbread-esque cookies that come in matchstick/ finger shape because these could not hold their shape (it went a bit better after I chilled the dough). So is it me? Are these recipes not telling what to do? Taste was fine, a soft pistachio note that I wanted to be a bit stronger. 2.5*
- Cherry Pie Cookies: These were the highlight for me. You have to bake the "Pie" crumbs separately, cool and then add to the actual cookie dough but personally can say well worth the extra step. Very fun texture and it is vaguely reminiscent of a pie! 4.5*
-Little Motivators: Filled to the brim with Walnuts and Pecans, also chocolatey and then there's coffee/ espresso but that flavor didn't come through at all for me which is a shame since that's what their name is all about. I really liked these, I am fan of nuts and chocolate, but the fact that the coffee note was not there was disappointing. 3*
The cookies I tried:
- Cocoa Mint Chip Cookies: I know, I just praised the creativity and then I made the likely most basic cookie in here. But it's my husbands favorite combo. The chewy texture reminded me of a type of chocolate almond cookies I have been making since my early baking days but this one seemed a bit tougher to handle. And the amazing mint flavor was more thanks to the mint chips from Trader Joe's, I think. So I don't know. They were good but it didn't feel like a recipe that I will stick with. 3*
- Pistachio Fingers: This might be on me, but I seem to struggle with making shortbread-esque cookies that come in matchstick/ finger shape because these could not hold their shape (it went a bit better after I chilled the dough). So is it me? Are these recipes not telling what to do? Taste was fine, a soft pistachio note that I wanted to be a bit stronger. 2.5*
- Cherry Pie Cookies: These were the highlight for me. You have to bake the "Pie" crumbs separately, cool and then add to the actual cookie dough but personally can say well worth the extra step. Very fun texture and it is vaguely reminiscent of a pie! 4.5*
-Little Motivators: Filled to the brim with Walnuts and Pecans, also chocolatey and then there's coffee/ espresso but that flavor didn't come through at all for me which is a shame since that's what their name is all about. I really liked these, I am fan of nuts and chocolate, but the fact that the coffee note was not there was disappointing. 3*
July 20, 2023
After recently reading Christina Tosi's memoir/cookbook Dessert Can Save the World, I wanted to check out some of her cookbooks. This one is as the title states, All About Cookies which makes sense as that is what her bakery were first known for. And there is just about any and every kind of cookie you can imagine from basic to very elaborate. There are also lots of great photographs of these cookie and plenty of helpful tips as well. While I like Tosi's story and she seems like a super fun and creative person, her desserts are just too over the top for me. I guess my tastes are just more simple, but I'd rather have a really great chocolate chip cookie than one with 10 different mix-ins. But I did find a couple recipes I'd like to try and if you're looking for some new cookie recipes you could definitely find something new to try in here.
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January 26, 2023Her cookies aren't my thing. Way too sweet. They're like the current cocktail craze - let's see how much stuff we can jam in a cookie even if it doesn't make sense.
December 8, 2022
YUM! Love the pics showing the inside of the cookies, bars, etc So creative and fun.
July 23, 2023
I haven’t read a cookbook front to back in awhile, this was fun.
I now want to make at least 6 different batches of cookies.
I now want to make at least 6 different batches of cookies.
April 23, 2026
i took the chocolate chunk pretzel cookies to my uncles funeral and they literally upstaged him
November 17, 2022
Another superb baking book from Tosi and Milk Bar. So many innovative ingredients and flavors entice just as the clear directions, preface and overview of preferred ingredients, photography, helpful hints, and accessible Tone and Style make me keep flipping pages as I drooled and jotted down what I wanted to bake soon. Fans of Dorie Greenspan, Sarah Kiefer, and Edd Kimber take note.
February 16, 2025
She's a treasure!
November 5, 2022
Dropping my rating after my 3rd consecutive disappointing bake from this book. ☹️
November 23, 2023
Read this front to back a 2nd time and I'm reminded of how unique these recipes are.
February 20, 2026
I am currently the world’s most medium-low okay-ish cook, but this is the year that I’ve committed to learning how to cook better. Or, if not objectively better, maybe just more than six things that come out decent most of the time?
And so far, I seem to have decided to do that by checking out library cookbooks that sound good and attempting to cook from them. It’s going… okay? I honestly tend to do better with children’s cookbooks, because they explain everything to me like I’m five, which I definitely need, and because they don’t include a lot of fussy elements, which I’m struggling to have the patience for.
To be fair, though: to me, fussy more or less means anything that requires more from me than simply dumping in all the ingredients at once, stirring them together, and hoping for the best. I also have a really bad habit of switching up ingredients for no good reason other than that I want to use up something in my pantry, but at least whenever I do that I don’t blame the recipe **cough, cough** https://www.reddit.com/r/ididnthaveeggs/ **cough**.
So the major benefits of this cookbook for me are that 1) everything is explained in a lot of detail so I understand what I’m supposed to do, and 2) all the recipes that I tried are almost quick and easy enough that I mostly followed them like I was supposed to, which means that all the cookies came out really delicious!
The best recipe is for these amazingly delicious Cocoa Mint Chip Cookies. I absolutely burned them the first two times I made them, because they’re dark so I couldn’t tell when they’d browned and I wasn’t sure what consistency they were supposed to be, but they were delicious anyway. Just… crispy delicious! I have also never made them exactly the way the recipe says to, because I keep wanting to do other stuff instead. I added in the peppermint chips, which are spendy as HELL but very good, but instead of proper chocolate chips I have used, in various combinations, 1) chopped Hershey bars, 2) crushed candy canes, 3) m&ms, and 4) white chocolate chips. This is a great recipe for using up the leftover Christmas candy!
My favorite part of all these recipes is how well everything freezes. I’ve had really mixed results trying to freeze food, or rather, trying to cook it again from frozen, with my most devastating failure being my former favorite peanut butter cookie recipe. Side note: if you’ve got a super basic peanut butter cookie recipe that cooks from frozen without turning into a weird puddle of oily peanut butter, let me know! But I ALSO don’t need to eat a full-on batch of cookies within a day. I really miss having teenagers at home, sigh. But I feel like I am living the life I was meant to live when I can take two cookies out of the freezer and bake them to enjoy over a crossword puzzle. And when a neighbor offered to bring over his tractor one snowy day and plow my driveway, and I had just enough time to pull a dozen cookies out of the freezer and bake them for him before he came back, I was all, “Ah, this is what it is to be competent!”
I also had success freezing the Chocolate Build-a-Base Cookie, with crushed pecans mixed in, after it was baked so that when I wanted to have fruit pizza for Valentine’s Day I didn’t also have bake the cookie cake that day. Like, is this what adult life is meant to feel like? I have literally nothing else going for me at the moment, but I do have cookies in the freezer ready to bake!
And so far, I seem to have decided to do that by checking out library cookbooks that sound good and attempting to cook from them. It’s going… okay? I honestly tend to do better with children’s cookbooks, because they explain everything to me like I’m five, which I definitely need, and because they don’t include a lot of fussy elements, which I’m struggling to have the patience for.
To be fair, though: to me, fussy more or less means anything that requires more from me than simply dumping in all the ingredients at once, stirring them together, and hoping for the best. I also have a really bad habit of switching up ingredients for no good reason other than that I want to use up something in my pantry, but at least whenever I do that I don’t blame the recipe **cough, cough** https://www.reddit.com/r/ididnthaveeggs/ **cough**.
So the major benefits of this cookbook for me are that 1) everything is explained in a lot of detail so I understand what I’m supposed to do, and 2) all the recipes that I tried are almost quick and easy enough that I mostly followed them like I was supposed to, which means that all the cookies came out really delicious!
The best recipe is for these amazingly delicious Cocoa Mint Chip Cookies. I absolutely burned them the first two times I made them, because they’re dark so I couldn’t tell when they’d browned and I wasn’t sure what consistency they were supposed to be, but they were delicious anyway. Just… crispy delicious! I have also never made them exactly the way the recipe says to, because I keep wanting to do other stuff instead. I added in the peppermint chips, which are spendy as HELL but very good, but instead of proper chocolate chips I have used, in various combinations, 1) chopped Hershey bars, 2) crushed candy canes, 3) m&ms, and 4) white chocolate chips. This is a great recipe for using up the leftover Christmas candy!
My favorite part of all these recipes is how well everything freezes. I’ve had really mixed results trying to freeze food, or rather, trying to cook it again from frozen, with my most devastating failure being my former favorite peanut butter cookie recipe. Side note: if you’ve got a super basic peanut butter cookie recipe that cooks from frozen without turning into a weird puddle of oily peanut butter, let me know! But I ALSO don’t need to eat a full-on batch of cookies within a day. I really miss having teenagers at home, sigh. But I feel like I am living the life I was meant to live when I can take two cookies out of the freezer and bake them to enjoy over a crossword puzzle. And when a neighbor offered to bring over his tractor one snowy day and plow my driveway, and I had just enough time to pull a dozen cookies out of the freezer and bake them for him before he came back, I was all, “Ah, this is what it is to be competent!”
I also had success freezing the Chocolate Build-a-Base Cookie, with crushed pecans mixed in, after it was baked so that when I wanted to have fruit pizza for Valentine’s Day I didn’t also have bake the cookie cake that day. Like, is this what adult life is meant to feel like? I have literally nothing else going for me at the moment, but I do have cookies in the freezer ready to bake!
June 6, 2023
This was the Food52 Baking Club book for the month of May 2023, and I was able to borrow it from the library. Let me clarify that I've only been to Milk Bar once, and it was okay. Cereal milk really isn't my thing. So I was impressed by the sheer quantity of cookies I wanted to try.
Overall, the recipes worked and turned out exactly as they were written. This doesn't always happen, unfortunately. Definitely a plus for this cookbook! Tosi's writing is very engaging, so I was never bored as I read through it. (And yes, I actually read all of it.)
High praise: I'm not in the market for new cookbooks on my shelves, but I may make an exception for this one and seek it out to buy it.
Here's my reviews of some of the recipes I made:
Black Sesame Sandies - I made these with regular sesame seeds. Definitely sandy. I never thought of coating cookies in sugar while still warm, which is a great thing to do. I wasn't thrilled with clarifying butter - what do I do with whatever buttermilk, etc, I pour off? (I hate to waste it!)
Pretzel Chocolate Chip cookies - definitely good. Great texture, baked up just as well at half size.
Chocolate Toffee Hobnobs - I burnt the toffee the first time, which was my own fault. I'm pretty bad at making crunchy cookies, but these turned out! And looked exactly like the picture. These were great, although overall I simply prefer eating toffee.
Peanut Butter S'mores Bars - not worth it. There was too much going on. I wasn't sure what the point was of the bottom chocolate layer. I'm sure these hit the spot for someone, but they weren't in my household. I made my husband eat the rest of the batch.
Fluffernutter cookies - better than the s'mores bars above. I tried them with both bagged marshmallows cut in half, and with mallows mixed in the dough for half size cookies. I also added milk chocolate, as I prefer my fluffernutters with chocolate. Half marshmallows hidden in the dough turned out better than mini mallows mixed in. I'm not sure I'd do these again, but I liked making them.
Cashew Praline Blondies, but with pistachios - I burnt the brittle for this as well, so I had to redo that. These were my favorite overall. I never thought of adding a praline swirl, etc, to blondies or brownies. And I love Blondies and brownies. My 8 inch square pan is old and kind of thin, so it may bake quicker or hotter, because these were extra chewy, especially at the edges. I told my husband to finish off the other sweets and leave these to me.
Overall, the recipes worked and turned out exactly as they were written. This doesn't always happen, unfortunately. Definitely a plus for this cookbook! Tosi's writing is very engaging, so I was never bored as I read through it. (And yes, I actually read all of it.)
High praise: I'm not in the market for new cookbooks on my shelves, but I may make an exception for this one and seek it out to buy it.
Here's my reviews of some of the recipes I made:
Black Sesame Sandies - I made these with regular sesame seeds. Definitely sandy. I never thought of coating cookies in sugar while still warm, which is a great thing to do. I wasn't thrilled with clarifying butter - what do I do with whatever buttermilk, etc, I pour off? (I hate to waste it!)
Pretzel Chocolate Chip cookies - definitely good. Great texture, baked up just as well at half size.
Chocolate Toffee Hobnobs - I burnt the toffee the first time, which was my own fault. I'm pretty bad at making crunchy cookies, but these turned out! And looked exactly like the picture. These were great, although overall I simply prefer eating toffee.
Peanut Butter S'mores Bars - not worth it. There was too much going on. I wasn't sure what the point was of the bottom chocolate layer. I'm sure these hit the spot for someone, but they weren't in my household. I made my husband eat the rest of the batch.
Fluffernutter cookies - better than the s'mores bars above. I tried them with both bagged marshmallows cut in half, and with mallows mixed in the dough for half size cookies. I also added milk chocolate, as I prefer my fluffernutters with chocolate. Half marshmallows hidden in the dough turned out better than mini mallows mixed in. I'm not sure I'd do these again, but I liked making them.
Cashew Praline Blondies, but with pistachios - I burnt the brittle for this as well, so I had to redo that. These were my favorite overall. I never thought of adding a praline swirl, etc, to blondies or brownies. And I love Blondies and brownies. My 8 inch square pan is old and kind of thin, so it may bake quicker or hotter, because these were extra chewy, especially at the edges. I told my husband to finish off the other sweets and leave these to me.
November 7, 2024
Quirky, fun but definitely delicious! These recipes come from the Milk Bar, a NYC shop that sells cookies inspired by childhood daydreams. The first chapter is all about Sammies - aka, sandwich cookies, and included the Chewy Chocolate Banana Sammie, Jelly Donut Sammies and Gooey Butter Cookies! Then the next chapter dives into cookie bars, with Pumpkin Dulce Bars, and PB Smores Bars! The Cereal Milk Cream Soda Cookies and the Butterscotch Pecan Pudding Cookies give just a taste of the recipes that come after. The ingredients are listed in easy to read font with grams on one side and volumes (cups & teaspoons) on the other. The numbered steps are also easy to quickly read. But if you are looking for vegan or gluten free cookies, you might want to pass on the Milk Bar. I will try the Chocolate Babka cookies because they seem to be a yeast recipe that's similar to Kolache, and fits into my family's Holiday customs.
February 11, 2023
I rarely give five star reviews but this one deserved it. Reading any of her books--but especially this one--I get such an authentic, passionate voice coming through, and each recipe and bit of advice reflects this. All About Cookies is full of Tosi's enthusiasm. She writes recipes because she loves coming up with cookie recipes. Thankfully, this has propelled her into a career doing exactly what she loves, which just allows her all the more freedom to be able to write books like this. She always lets you know when ingredients must not be substituted and why; likewise, she also lets you know when it is ok to go for a cheaper or more run-of-the-mill version of an ingredient. The cookies I have tried to make so far have been spot on delicious. I can't wait to see what next she comes up with!
April 25, 2023
This is a super creative, outside the box book. I'd recommend it more for serious bakers and Milk Bar fans - Tosi is extremely thorough and many of these recipes are pretty involved. They are unique and delicious, but not super easy. And not all of them will be for everyone.
Really, all the chapters are good. I guess surprises for me were the no-bake items. There are a lot of bonus toppings, icings and glazes in here, so you're really getting even more recipes than are in the book. The possibilities are almost endless - I found the book a little overwhelming - but exciting too.
If you have someone in your life that absolutely loves to bake, this is perfect. It's not something for the casual cookie baker, but there are some incredible ideas and recipes in here that can really make deserts next level.
Really, all the chapters are good. I guess surprises for me were the no-bake items. There are a lot of bonus toppings, icings and glazes in here, so you're really getting even more recipes than are in the book. The possibilities are almost endless - I found the book a little overwhelming - but exciting too.
If you have someone in your life that absolutely loves to bake, this is perfect. It's not something for the casual cookie baker, but there are some incredible ideas and recipes in here that can really make deserts next level.
January 5, 2026
Is it fair to judge a cookbook if you haven't yet cooked anything from it? Mayyyybe not. But what I can say is that this book is full of recipes I want to try - even though the author doesn't succeed in making them sound tasty and their vibe invokes unpleasant associations of over-the-top sweetness. Instead, the descriptions of *texture* make me yearn for a plate of them.
Some ingredients may be harder to get outside the US, but this impacts only a third or fewer of the recipes. A few recipes contain gelantine, with no alternatives for vegetarians provided.
The writing style isn't my favourite, and sometimes it feels forced rather than genuine. Maybe it's an effect of translating personality to print.
The pictures are fantastic. I love the carefully curated industrial chique.
Some ingredients may be harder to get outside the US, but this impacts only a third or fewer of the recipes. A few recipes contain gelantine, with no alternatives for vegetarians provided.
The writing style isn't my favourite, and sometimes it feels forced rather than genuine. Maybe it's an effect of translating personality to print.
The pictures are fantastic. I love the carefully curated industrial chique.
January 11, 2023
Rating rn is based on the initial runthrough and I'll update after I try a few recipes and if things change. The pictures in this book are phenomenal. I appreciate that they give the ingredients both by weight and not, and I love an opinionated section at the front that specifies brands of ingredients and where to obtain them. I also liked that for many recipes, suggestions for possible modifications are given and seem generally very unfussy. I look forward to making tons of things from this book!
November 15, 2025
I didn’t learn new tips for better baking generally (see Sift and Flour for that). But teaching new baking techniques is not the point of this book.
It’s the recipes. Each one is something that I wouldn’t have thought of myself—not without investing the Crazy Awesome Scientist time and energy that Christina Tosi gave these treats. And she gives away the delicious results in this book!
Try all of them. But especially the pumpkin dulce de lèche bars. I doubled the recipe, and everyone at our Halloween party thanked me.
It’s the recipes. Each one is something that I wouldn’t have thought of myself—not without investing the Crazy Awesome Scientist time and energy that Christina Tosi gave these treats. And she gives away the delicious results in this book!
Try all of them. But especially the pumpkin dulce de lèche bars. I doubled the recipe, and everyone at our Halloween party thanked me.
February 19, 2023
I am not a huge baker to be honest and this isn't a bad book. I am going to attempt some bookies inside, but a lot of the cookies, for my tastebuds, I'd skip over. I love milk bar in NYC as I am super close, but I was craving more citrus flavors, personally. We all have our flavors, this book just did not align with my 100%
March 15, 2023
Christina is a cookie and baking hero. She is so earnest in her dedication to the form. This is a great book on cookies and covers several unique cookie categories and almost all the recipes are creative and fresh. She definately gets you thinking about cookies. She also changed my cookie behavior, I now add dry milk to my cookies.
December 6, 2022
The recipes in this cookbook might be some of Milk Bars most fun ones yet! I love that for the measurements it gives the weight for the really fancy bakers, then for those of us who home bake for fun, it tells us the measurements lol.
January 9, 2023
Love Christina Tosi! I took her online class a couple years ago and have been hooked on her cook books ever since. I love her cookie recipes and they are always unique and tasty! I’m most excited to try the home made ice cream sandwiches!
January 22, 2023
I really enjoy her writing style, her explanations and especially her ease of suggestions for substitutions and when not to change things. There are several recipes here on my to try list and I really enjoyed the section on how to build a cookie cake.
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November 24, 2022Not my bag but nice pictures!
January 1, 2023
Every cookie I've made so far has turned out fantastic. Favorite are the Chocolate Marbled S'mores so far.
January 23, 2023
I always enjoy reading cookbooks to learn about the author and how the cookbook came about. Lots of good tips and amazing sounding recipes to try.
February 3, 2023
If you want super sweet oversized cookies like many chains sell, this cookbook is for you!
February 4, 2023
Learning a lot about the science of baking from Tosi. She's so experimental, it's very inspiring. I think we have the same way-too-sweet preferences in desserts! Can't wait to bake the s'mores bars.
February 25, 2023
I love Christina Tosi and this book is so fun. I'll only make a few of the recipes, as I'm trying to cut back on so much sugar and butter, but I still give her kudos for dreaming big--and gooey.
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