Electric Mixer

These sparkle-edged treats gain flavor from a hefty dose of instant espresso powder, along with a bit of ground black pepper and cinnamon. Don’t be tempted to substitute instant coffee for the espresso powder—the flavor and texture will not be as good.

Cocoa powder and chocolate lend rich, fudgy flavor to these twice-baked treats. They are thicker than most biscotti, and perfect for dunking in milk or coffee.

To make these buttery treats, we fashioned 6-inch lengths of dough into twisted rope shapes. You could also form the lengths into pretzel shapes and sprinkle them with coarse sanding sugar before baking.

Sugar cookies become tangy treats when the batter is enhanced with lime juice and zest. Cut the dough into big daisy-like shapes, and finish the baked cookies with a dusting of confectioners’ sugar.

Various flavors of jams or preserves can be used to fill these cookies—strawberry, raspberry, and apricot all make lovely accompaniments to hazelnuts. To toast hazelnuts, see note on page 37. Coarsely grind hazelnuts by pulsing them in a food processor; be careful not to overprocess them or you will end up with nut butter.

Once you taste one of these sweet whole wheat crackers, you may never go back to the store-bought variety again. Use them as the base for homemade s’mores, sandwich them with peanut butter, or simply enjoy them on their own.

These delicate cookies are made with lots of juice and zest for a delightful tang; poppy seeds add crunch. (Poppy seeds can turn rancid quickly, so purchase them from a store with a high turnover and keep them in the freezer.)

Baci di dama, or “lady’s kisses” in Italian, are bite-size chocolate-and-nut cookies with a melted chocolate filling. This flourless variation substitutes almonds for the more common hazelnuts.

To make these holiday party standbys, you have to first bake a batch of brownies, then break them into bits, flavor them with rum, and roll them into balls. A generous coat of sanding sugar provides a sparkly finish.

A double dose of spice flavors these creamy bar cookies: Chopped candied ginger is mixed into the filling, and crushed gingersnaps compose the crust.

Velvety, delicately tart cream cheese blends well with the more cakey, sugary blondie batter. The resulting bar cookies are remarkably rich and highly habit-forming.

These scrumptious bar cookies are dense with plenty of cashew chunks, toffee bits, and butterscotch chips.

Children love these two-bite treats. When you prepare them, have a bowl of ice water ready. If reshaping the thumbprint is necessary during baking, dip your finger in the water for several seconds and allow to dry before reshaping. This will keep your finger cool.

John Barricelli, a longtime friend of Martha Stewart Living and a very accomplished baker, created the recipe for these irresistible cookies. We’ve tried lots of pecan bars over the years, but John’s are the absolute best.

A mint ganache filling and a shiny chocolate glaze push these cookies over the top, but feel free to omit the glaze—they’re delectable without it, too.

Rugelach are traditionally hand formed into crescent shapes; here we’ve used the same ingredients to create easy-to-prepare bar cookies. The filling—a combination of chopped chocolate and dried fruit—is more traditional than the prune filling used for the rugelach on page 298.

Any sun-kissed berries will work atop the cream cheese filling in these mini chocolate cheesecake cookies.

These bite-size cookies resemble little lemon pies, with a sweet, short crust and a tart cheesecake filling.

Bite-size pistachio cookies, sandwiched around a soft, chocolate filling, are dipped in bittersweet chocolate and garnished with a sprinkle of bright-green, slivered pistachios. They are extravagant enough for a special dinner party.

These creature-of-the-night creations sandwich a rich dulche de leche filling between chocolate cookies. You will need an aspic cutter to form the bat shapes.