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The Great Minnesota Cookie Book: Award-Winning Recipes from the Star Tribune's Holiday Cookie Contest
Eighty delicious, imaginative recipes from the Star Tribune ’s beloved annual cookie contest, with mouth-watering pictures and bakers’ stories
It’s cold in Minnesota, especially around the holidays, and there’s nothing like baking a batch of cookies to warm the kitchen and the heart. A celebration of the rich traditions, creativity, and taste of the region, The Great Minnesota Cookie Book collects the best-loved recipes and baking lore from fifteen years of the Star Tribune ’s popular holiday cookie contest. Drop cookies and cutouts, refrigerator cookies and bars; Swedish shortbread, Viennese wafers, and French–Swiss butter cookies; almond palmiers; chai crescents and taffy treats; snowball clippers, cherry pinwheels, lime coolers, and chocolate-drizzled a dizzying array and all delightful, the recipes in this book recall memories of holidays past and inspire the promise of happy gatherings to come. These are winning cookies in every sense, the best of the best chosen by the contest’s judges, accompanied by beautiful photographs as instructive as they are enticing. A treat for any occasion, whether party, bake sale, or after-school snack, each time- and taste-tested recipe is perfect for starting a tradition of one’s own.
It’s cold in Minnesota, especially around the holidays, and there’s nothing like baking a batch of cookies to warm the kitchen and the heart. A celebration of the rich traditions, creativity, and taste of the region, The Great Minnesota Cookie Book collects the best-loved recipes and baking lore from fifteen years of the Star Tribune ’s popular holiday cookie contest. Drop cookies and cutouts, refrigerator cookies and bars; Swedish shortbread, Viennese wafers, and French–Swiss butter cookies; almond palmiers; chai crescents and taffy treats; snowball clippers, cherry pinwheels, lime coolers, and chocolate-drizzled a dizzying array and all delightful, the recipes in this book recall memories of holidays past and inspire the promise of happy gatherings to come. These are winning cookies in every sense, the best of the best chosen by the contest’s judges, accompanied by beautiful photographs as instructive as they are enticing. A treat for any occasion, whether party, bake sale, or after-school snack, each time- and taste-tested recipe is perfect for starting a tradition of one’s own.
240 pages, Hardcover
Published October 9, 2018
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1581 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
November 16, 2018
Wonderful cookie book with large glossy photos for each cookie. Includes the last 15 years of Star Tribune holiday cookie contest winners. This would be a great gift book and a good one to buy and keep for reference.
July 12, 2025
Great design- color photo for each recipe, the recipes are organized by baking method (drop, cutout, fridge, rolled, bar, other). I didn't find many recipes I'd actually try to bake. That's a me thing. 🤷♀️
October 25, 2018
Warning: do not read this book while hungry (or having a sweet craving)! It is full of yummy sounding cookies complete with full-colored, scrummy looking photos. Try not to salivate on the book as it will make reading harder later on.
December 19, 2020
I want a sequel, immediately!
Read
February 5, 2022This book is a collection of recipes that won the cookie contest in the Star Tribune newspaper in Minneapolis/Saint Paul, in Minnesota. Although many of the recipes were sent in by readers in the Twin Cities area, several recipes also hail from places around the state.
I really enjoyed this book! It has a wonderful variety of delicious and interesting cookies. It's well-organized, and I especially like that there is not just one index in the back, but several of them, with different ways to look up information.
The book is organized as follows:
There is an introduction to the book and the contest it comes from. There are a couple personal "cookie memories", as well "cookie wisdom" with tips for making great cookies. The table of contents shows that cookies in this book are separated into categories by style/creation:
Drop cookies
Cutout cookies
Refrigerator cookies
Rolled cookies
Bar cookies
Other cookies
At the end there are acknowledgement and various indices, such as an index of cookies by category, cookies listed by name from A to Z, cookies by contest year, and cookies by baker.
In the introduction, it talks a little bit about the cookie contest that these recipes come from. Whether you agree or disagree with their cookie criteria and selection process, it *does* make for a great compilation. There's such an excellent assortment, and it's perfect for expanding your cookie repertoire, since it assumes you already have your own favorite recipes for common classics like chocolate chip and rum balls. The introduction says "we're not looking for recipes that everyone already has--this contest calls for something different. The recipes that make the winner's circle must delight and inspire both longtime bakers and those entering the kitchen for the first time," and this book shows they succeeded in selecting recipes that do just that. Plus, since the judges try not to choose yearly winners that are too similar to past winners, this book truly has a variety-- the same can't always be said of other compilation or "best of" books.
The cookie contest these cookies come from takes place around the holidays, and while some of these cookies might not scream "holiday" to every person, I still think there is a little something for everyone. As I've said, I was really impressed with the variety of cookies-- so many different flavors, textures, designs, and styles. And yet everything is doable by a home baker, since these recipes come from one home baker to another. In fact, beside each recipe there's a little blurb with a brief bio of the baker who sent in the recipe. This book and its contents are homey, and tasty, and you need not fear about the difficulty or creativity-- I personally love reading about food science, but the creativity of these recipes is much more accessible, as well as being very charming.
If you like cookies, give this book a look! Since these are winners of a holiday cookie contest, you might especially find this book helpful at holiday time, but really there are cookies in this book that could be eaten year-round. I'm sure this book will be found mostly in Minnesota, but even if you're from somewhere else, give this book a look if you come across it! Most of the recipes are one page long--some are two-- so there's room for a picture of every single recipe. Take a peek at all the tasty options, and maybe you'll find a new favorite to add to your own collection.
I really enjoyed this book! It has a wonderful variety of delicious and interesting cookies. It's well-organized, and I especially like that there is not just one index in the back, but several of them, with different ways to look up information.
The book is organized as follows:
There is an introduction to the book and the contest it comes from. There are a couple personal "cookie memories", as well "cookie wisdom" with tips for making great cookies. The table of contents shows that cookies in this book are separated into categories by style/creation:
Drop cookies
Cutout cookies
Refrigerator cookies
Rolled cookies
Bar cookies
Other cookies
At the end there are acknowledgement and various indices, such as an index of cookies by category, cookies listed by name from A to Z, cookies by contest year, and cookies by baker.
In the introduction, it talks a little bit about the cookie contest that these recipes come from. Whether you agree or disagree with their cookie criteria and selection process, it *does* make for a great compilation. There's such an excellent assortment, and it's perfect for expanding your cookie repertoire, since it assumes you already have your own favorite recipes for common classics like chocolate chip and rum balls. The introduction says "we're not looking for recipes that everyone already has--this contest calls for something different. The recipes that make the winner's circle must delight and inspire both longtime bakers and those entering the kitchen for the first time," and this book shows they succeeded in selecting recipes that do just that. Plus, since the judges try not to choose yearly winners that are too similar to past winners, this book truly has a variety-- the same can't always be said of other compilation or "best of" books.
The cookie contest these cookies come from takes place around the holidays, and while some of these cookies might not scream "holiday" to every person, I still think there is a little something for everyone. As I've said, I was really impressed with the variety of cookies-- so many different flavors, textures, designs, and styles. And yet everything is doable by a home baker, since these recipes come from one home baker to another. In fact, beside each recipe there's a little blurb with a brief bio of the baker who sent in the recipe. This book and its contents are homey, and tasty, and you need not fear about the difficulty or creativity-- I personally love reading about food science, but the creativity of these recipes is much more accessible, as well as being very charming.
If you like cookies, give this book a look! Since these are winners of a holiday cookie contest, you might especially find this book helpful at holiday time, but really there are cookies in this book that could be eaten year-round. I'm sure this book will be found mostly in Minnesota, but even if you're from somewhere else, give this book a look if you come across it! Most of the recipes are one page long--some are two-- so there's room for a picture of every single recipe. Take a peek at all the tasty options, and maybe you'll find a new favorite to add to your own collection.
August 14, 2018
I won an advance uncorrected proof of this cookbook. It's a bit weird to look at the black and white photos of the recipes, but the publisher did include a color insert of 22 photos and those look really good. So, when this gets published, the photos alone will prompt you to try at least one recipe.
As for the cookbook, it is chockful of tantalizing cookie recipes that represent the best of the best entries (from 3500 submitted in 15 years) from the Star Tribune's annual Holiday Cookie Contest. I'd say this isn't your Momma's cookie recipes but they just might be. You aren't going to find the usual chocolate chip recipes, etc in here. The book is divided into chapters to make it easy for you to find drop cookies, cutout cookies, refrigerator cookies rolled cookies (shaped by hand or scoop), bar cookies and other cookies. It has 2 indexes, one is by category and one is A-Z. Each recipe is accompanied with a brief introduction to the recipe creator and how it was developed (or honestly stolen or modified from another recipe).
While reading this cookbook, I found myself making a long list of recipes I want to try. I WILL NOT be reserving them for Christmas only! From the drop cookies I most definitely want to try the Double Chocolate Espresso Cherry Drops, the Orange Kisses, Ricotta Cheese cookies (says it is a tender sugar cookie) and the Snowball Clippers (tastes like a Mounds candy bar). The cut-out cookie recipes have tempted me with Cherry Pinwheels, Grandma Eva's Ginger Cream Cookies, Kolaches, Lemon-Lime Christmas Trees and Viennese Wafers. In the Refrigerator cookie category, just begging to be made are the Cappuccino Flats, Cinnamon Bun Cookies (I was going to recommend you use Penzey's Spices most excellent cinnamon but the authors beat me to that punch), Nancy's Anise-Pecan cookies and the Tart & Sassy Cranberry Lemon Drops (adapted from from two recipes - one from Cooks Illustrated and a Martha Stewart one).
Are you craving a cookie yet? Because in the rolled cookies, the Bacon-Cornmeal Venetas, Brandy Cherry cookies, Chai Crescents, Chocolate Peppermint cookies, Cranberry Cat Kisses (which feline fancier doesn't want to try this when it was named with a nod to the beloved family cat?), French-Swiss Butter cookies (hubby wants these ASAP), Hot & Sassy Peanut Butter Buds (cayenne alert!), Lime Coolers, and Nut Goodie Thumbprints (cookie variation of the Pearson Candy Company's Nut Goodie) will definitely call to your taste buds. It cracked me up that in the Bar Cookies, the Kit Kat Christmas Bars was submitted by a self-proclaimed non-baker who says the recipe is super stupid! The Almond Triangles with a pound each of butter and sliced almonds will be worth an extra workout.
For all the cookies that didn't fall into an easy category is the Other Cookies chapter and don't skip this! There is a cookie version of Churros, Cranberry-Pumpkin Seed Biscotti, Nutmeg Sticks (with rum) and Royal Sweets with Chocolate Balsamic Sauce to add something different to your cookie jar.
By no means did I cover all the tempting recipes. Cookies are my favorite dessert or snack, so I will be using this book often. If like me, you are a cookie person, this book is for you!
As for the cookbook, it is chockful of tantalizing cookie recipes that represent the best of the best entries (from 3500 submitted in 15 years) from the Star Tribune's annual Holiday Cookie Contest. I'd say this isn't your Momma's cookie recipes but they just might be. You aren't going to find the usual chocolate chip recipes, etc in here. The book is divided into chapters to make it easy for you to find drop cookies, cutout cookies, refrigerator cookies rolled cookies (shaped by hand or scoop), bar cookies and other cookies. It has 2 indexes, one is by category and one is A-Z. Each recipe is accompanied with a brief introduction to the recipe creator and how it was developed (or honestly stolen or modified from another recipe).
While reading this cookbook, I found myself making a long list of recipes I want to try. I WILL NOT be reserving them for Christmas only! From the drop cookies I most definitely want to try the Double Chocolate Espresso Cherry Drops, the Orange Kisses, Ricotta Cheese cookies (says it is a tender sugar cookie) and the Snowball Clippers (tastes like a Mounds candy bar). The cut-out cookie recipes have tempted me with Cherry Pinwheels, Grandma Eva's Ginger Cream Cookies, Kolaches, Lemon-Lime Christmas Trees and Viennese Wafers. In the Refrigerator cookie category, just begging to be made are the Cappuccino Flats, Cinnamon Bun Cookies (I was going to recommend you use Penzey's Spices most excellent cinnamon but the authors beat me to that punch), Nancy's Anise-Pecan cookies and the Tart & Sassy Cranberry Lemon Drops (adapted from from two recipes - one from Cooks Illustrated and a Martha Stewart one).
Are you craving a cookie yet? Because in the rolled cookies, the Bacon-Cornmeal Venetas, Brandy Cherry cookies, Chai Crescents, Chocolate Peppermint cookies, Cranberry Cat Kisses (which feline fancier doesn't want to try this when it was named with a nod to the beloved family cat?), French-Swiss Butter cookies (hubby wants these ASAP), Hot & Sassy Peanut Butter Buds (cayenne alert!), Lime Coolers, and Nut Goodie Thumbprints (cookie variation of the Pearson Candy Company's Nut Goodie) will definitely call to your taste buds. It cracked me up that in the Bar Cookies, the Kit Kat Christmas Bars was submitted by a self-proclaimed non-baker who says the recipe is super stupid! The Almond Triangles with a pound each of butter and sliced almonds will be worth an extra workout.
For all the cookies that didn't fall into an easy category is the Other Cookies chapter and don't skip this! There is a cookie version of Churros, Cranberry-Pumpkin Seed Biscotti, Nutmeg Sticks (with rum) and Royal Sweets with Chocolate Balsamic Sauce to add something different to your cookie jar.
By no means did I cover all the tempting recipes. Cookies are my favorite dessert or snack, so I will be using this book often. If like me, you are a cookie person, this book is for you!
January 24, 2021
I have followed the "Minneapolis Star Tribune's" holiday cookie contest for years. One of my all-time favorite cookies comes from the line-up of winners, the 2007 "Orange-Chocolate Cookie." I love "reading" cookbooks, and this one did not disappoint.
Takeaways:
1. Beautifully illustrated. Every contest winner pictured here made my mouth water!
2. Many of the recipes require ingredients that the average cook probably doesn't just have on hand - espresso powder, for example. When I am in the mood, I have no trouble going on the hunt for these things - it's part of the fun of trying something new. However, I can see that this may be a drawback for many, especially Minnesotans. Many of these ingredients and flavors and techniques may be new and unknown - Minnesotans aren't really known for their sense of adventure. We like our traditions.
3. On the other hand, these recipes come Minnesota bakers. What could be better? We get each other and often have similar sensibilities and tastes! This is one of those cookbooks that every Minnesotan should have on her or his shelf!
4. I enjoyed the personal stories told at the beginning of the book by the editors/authors about the history of the contest, how the winners are decided, and special Christmas cookie recipes from their own pasts!
I got this as a Christmas gift in 2020 - what could have been better in a year like 2020? I plan on trying a couple of the recipes that feature chocolate for the food group that I belong to - we are focusing on everything chocolate for February! Onward!
Takeaways:
1. Beautifully illustrated. Every contest winner pictured here made my mouth water!
2. Many of the recipes require ingredients that the average cook probably doesn't just have on hand - espresso powder, for example. When I am in the mood, I have no trouble going on the hunt for these things - it's part of the fun of trying something new. However, I can see that this may be a drawback for many, especially Minnesotans. Many of these ingredients and flavors and techniques may be new and unknown - Minnesotans aren't really known for their sense of adventure. We like our traditions.
3. On the other hand, these recipes come Minnesota bakers. What could be better? We get each other and often have similar sensibilities and tastes! This is one of those cookbooks that every Minnesotan should have on her or his shelf!
4. I enjoyed the personal stories told at the beginning of the book by the editors/authors about the history of the contest, how the winners are decided, and special Christmas cookie recipes from their own pasts!
I got this as a Christmas gift in 2020 - what could have been better in a year like 2020? I plan on trying a couple of the recipes that feature chocolate for the food group that I belong to - we are focusing on everything chocolate for February! Onward!
December 3, 2023
I love to put together cookie boxes and try out new recipes each year, so when I discovered this book in 2022, I needed it! In 2022, I made: cardamom cookies (okay but nothing special), cappuccino flats (yum), tart and sassy cranberry lemon cookies (a spouse favorite), pistachio pine cookies (a bit tricky to shape, but delicious).
For 2023 I repeated the cappuccino flats, and added cinnamon bun cookies (okay, but a real cinnamon roll is better!), cranberry pecan swirls (yummy but feels like it needs a little something else), chocolate orange cookies (massive winner, will make again), and Grandma Eva's ginger creams (never again, dough is way too sticky to be a rolled cookie and I prefer a ginger cookie with more snap or texture). Considering orange ginger drops to round things out.
There are quite a few more I want to try so I will be coming back to this cookbook in 2024 and beyond!
For 2023 I repeated the cappuccino flats, and added cinnamon bun cookies (okay, but a real cinnamon roll is better!), cranberry pecan swirls (yummy but feels like it needs a little something else), chocolate orange cookies (massive winner, will make again), and Grandma Eva's ginger creams (never again, dough is way too sticky to be a rolled cookie and I prefer a ginger cookie with more snap or texture). Considering orange ginger drops to round things out.
There are quite a few more I want to try so I will be coming back to this cookbook in 2024 and beyond!
January 2, 2022
I honestly wondered if I would want a cookie cookbook - I mean, I make chocolate chip cookies all the time, what more do I need? Well, I discovered that I needed The Great Minnesota Cookie Book! Here we have a collection of cookie recipes that are a step beyond the average. I still have more recipes to try, but in the two weeks I've had the book I've tried 5 recipes - all were delicious! I brought all of cookies to work to test out on my coworkers and they also loved them all. A favorite recipe is the Chocolate Toffee Cookie recipe - but they all are good!
December 28, 2023
Every year the Mpls Star Tribune hosts a cookie contest; this book is a compilation of the best recipes from the contest. It’s organized by the type of cookie, and most recipes have notes to help cooks understand, make, or acquire unusual ingredients. Each recipe is accompanied by beautiful photographs and an author climb about the people who submitted the recipes. After reading it, I easily collected 4 recipes I’d use to make my next cookie plate. Terrific addition to cookbook collections.
January 1, 2019
Great photographs and a simply delectable range of recipes!
Favourites from an amazing lineup:
Frosted Cashew Cookies
Orange Kisses
Ricotta Cheese Cookies
Zazvorniky*
Italian Almond Cookies
Nut Goodies Thumbprints
Orange Ginger Drops*
Strawberry Margarita Gems
Taffy Treats
Almond Ricotta Bars*
Kolaches
Favourites from an amazing lineup:
Frosted Cashew Cookies
Orange Kisses
Ricotta Cheese Cookies
Zazvorniky*
Italian Almond Cookies
Nut Goodies Thumbprints
Orange Ginger Drops*
Strawberry Margarita Gems
Taffy Treats
Almond Ricotta Bars*
Kolaches
May 28, 2019
If you're looking for a cookie cookbook beyond the cookie cutter compounds, this book is for you.
I found a few that I tested, but a majority of the ones were complex and not my taste (chocolate lover). This is the past winning recipes of the Star Tribune, so Minnesotan's can get a taste of home and cookie experimentation from this book.
I found a few that I tested, but a majority of the ones were complex and not my taste (chocolate lover). This is the past winning recipes of the Star Tribune, so Minnesotan's can get a taste of home and cookie experimentation from this book.
February 12, 2019
Most of these recipes were too complicated for me to want to invest the time, but I did find 3 new recipes to try for the holiday season later this year...one with bacon and one that resembles cinnamon rolls.
January 22, 2019
There are a lot of recipes in this book! The recipes come from a contest the Star Tribune runs every year. I want to try a few of these for next Christmas.
December 20, 2020
The pecan anise cookies are worth the book alone. Also made the chocolate espresso hazelnut and coconut snowballs. A worthy book
January 5, 2021
Excellent recipes. Would LOVE to find a used copy.
December 4, 2023
Found this gem on the library book shelves! Have tabbed several cookies to try this cookie holiday season!
January 11, 2025
Overall, an alright cookbook. Some of the recipes did look good to save while others I couldn't enjoy because of the ingredients or flavors.
December 28, 2023
Can’t wait to bake from this book!
Love that a flavor of Scandinavia runs through it!
Love that a flavor of Scandinavia runs through it!
January 5, 2021
"we look for cookies that will be new to most bakers. we are not looking for recipes that everyone already has. this contest calls for something different."
-i'm putting this book on my xmas list! its definitely a book i want to own. i found SO many recipes i want to try!
-i'm putting this book on my xmas list! its definitely a book i want to own. i found SO many recipes i want to try!
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews