Dorothy Kern, recipe blogger and home baker has taken the joy she felt baking with her mother and grandmother when she was a kid and turned that into a successful blog and now a cookbook, where she’s collected 85 of her favorite recipes for cookies, bars, ad brownies. She got her start baking at the age of 4, decorating Mr. Cookie Man, but she writes for bakers of all ages, offering up tips and techniques for beginners and more complex flavor combinations for bakers wanting something a little more sophisticated.

In the introduction to Crazy for Cookies, Brownies, and Bars, Kern gets you set up for baking success with the ingredients and tools that you’ll need. She gives tips for storing and freezing these bars and cookies. And she offers up her Seven Rules for Successful Cookie Baking, so with that you’ll be ready to jump in and try some of these recipes.

Cookie Jar Favorites include Seriously the Best Chocolate Chip Cookie, Banana Nut Cookies, Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, Nana’s Drop Sugar Cookies, Sprinkle Cookies, and Almond Joy Macarons. There’s also Mel’s Peanut Butter Lover’s Cookies, Tuxedo Cookies, and even The Great Pumpkin Cookie Recipe. These cookies are comforting classics, that you want to share with family and friends

Brownies has recipes for the Fudgiest Brownie Ever, Vanilla Lover’s White Chocolate Brownies, Oreo Truffle Brownies, Mint Chip Brownies, Peanut Butter Stuffed Brownies, Death by Chocolate Brownies (they have espresso powder to reinforce the chocolate flavor), Bacon and Caramel Brownies, Mocha Brownies, Nutella Brownies, and even Zucchini Brownies.

The chapter on Blondies and Bars includes Cinnamon Blondies, Bake Sale Blondies (with lots of mix-in ideas), White Chocolate Lemonies, Triple Decker Cookie Bars, Peanut Butter Patty Bars, Peanut Butter Magic Bars, Caramel Oatmeal Cookie Bars, Margarita Bars, Chocolate Chip Gooey Bars, Blueberry Lemon Bars, and Apple Shortbread Bars.

And if you’re looking for something bigger, bolder, or just more special, you can try the Cookie Cakes, Skillet Bakes, and Cups. There’s the Birthday Cookie Cake that you can decorate, the Three-Layer Cookie Cake, the Sugar Cookie Cake, Fruit Tart Cookie Cups (to fill with cream cheese and fruit), Chocolate Lover’s Cookie Cups, Piñata Cookie Cups, or the Strawberry Shortcake Cups for a show-stopping dessert. Or if you are looking for a sweet treat for movie night, there is the Skillet Brownie for Two, or for family game night, the Brookie Skillet.

Crazy Cookies have something for everyone, the basic cookies with extra flavor and fun. Dark Chocolate Espresso Cookies, Orange Dream Cookies, Chocolate Peanut Butter Potato Chip Cookies, Ice Cream Cookies, Mochadoodles, Cookies ‘n’ Cream Red Velvet Cookies, Giant M&M Cookie (like you used to get at the mall), Lime in the Coconut Cookies, Slice and Bake Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread, and the current favorite from her blog readers, Churro Cookies.

Then if you want to get Stuffed and Sandwiched, you can try the Chocolate Marshmallow Sandwich Cookies, Chocolate Caramel Pecan Cookies, Giant Stuffed Nutella Cookie, Lemon Poppyseed Thumbprints, PB&J Sandwich Cookies, Stuffed Carrot Cake Cookies, and Birthday Cake Sandwich Cookies add extra flavor to the middle. And if you have no oven (or it’s just too hot to turn it on), try the No-Bake Cookies and Bars like Haystack Cookies, Chocolate Cookie Dough Bars, Ultimate Peanut Butter Bars, Caramel Crunch Bars, Sugar Cookie Bites, or Cookies ‘n’ Cream Mud Bars.

Throughout the cookbook are tips for making these recipes even better, or for making them with your own spin. Kern makes suggestions for alternate ingredients or decorating ideas to add a unique spin on the classic recipe. There are also tips on using parchment paper or silicone mats on the baking sheet, for making your bakes more photogenic, for making and storing frosting, for making caramel, and for cutting the perfect brownie. The more you bake of these, the more you read through these recipes, the more you’ll know to bake the bars, brownies, and cookies that will be favorites.

I really liked this cookbook, especially for new bakers. It’s clear and filled with lots of basic recipes and ideas for taking those basics to the next level. The creativity of the Three-Layer Cookie Cake is impressive, and some of these flavor combinations are unique and fascinating. I also love that she includes no-bake cookies and even a chapter on dog cookies, for recipes like Abby’s Favorite Vanilla Cookies (Abby is Kern’s Labradoodle). Crazy for Cookies, Brownies, and Bars is a fun cookbook for beginning bakers to learn the basics or for intermediate bakers, to take their cookie and brownie game to the next level.

Egalleys for Crazy for Cookies, Brownies, and Bars were provided by Harvard Common Press through Edelweiss, with many thanks.