Forbes Best Cookbooks Of Fall 2026

A warm, stunning, celebratory baking book of favorite cookies, classic and new, from James Beard award–winning baker and founder of the beloved Flour bakeries in Boston, Joanne Chang.

Joanne Chang says it all started with a chocolate chip cookie. Specifically, the Nestle Toll House chocolate chip cookie—the first she ever baked as a child with her mom: perfect, gooey, and warm. She baked cookies for her fellow Harvard students and study group and became known as the “cookie girl.” When she left her career as a management consultant to pursue her baking passion, she did it with a tray of cookies, jokingly declaring to her former colleagues that one day, these cookies will be famous! Now, the critically lauded baker, co-owner of the acclaimed Flour bakery, and beloved cookbook author is here to celebrate the joy of cookies that she’s shared all her life.

Joanne begins the book by answering a baker’s dozen of baking questions to help home bakers grasp the basics and avoid mistakes, then dives into cookies of all kinds, from classics to the new and adventurous. Chapters are organized by cookie-kind: Drop Everything and Bake These, The Bar Is High, Bake Rattle and Roll, Icing on the Cookie, Pipe Dreams, Art of the Cookie Sandwich, and Some Like It Savory. Alongside the recipes, Joanne shares, with effervescence and humor, stories of the cookies, the people behind them, and bits of her inspiring baking journey.

• Famous Chunky Lola

• Peanut Butter Miso Caramel Cookie

• Breakfast Time Cookie

• Chocolate Cherry Brownies

• Maple Shortbread

• Sticky Bun Crisps

• Chai Spice Palmiers

• Holiday Sugar Cookies

• Cornmeal Lime Sandwiches

• Oatmeal Cream Pies

• Parmesan Chive Coins

With beautiful photographs of every single cookie, The Joy of Cookies is a celebration worth baking, eating, and sharing.