Baking with cookie molds : secrets and recipes for making amazing handcrafted cookies for your Christmas, holiday, wedding, party, swap, exchange, or everyday treat / Anne L. Watson ; photos by Aaron Shepard.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Beautiful to look at but hard to use. That's the reputation of cookie molds. But should it be?

In this groundbreaking book, Anne L. Watson restores cookie molds to an honored place in the baker's kitchen by revealing long-lost secrets of their use. With Anne's techniques and recipes, tasty cookies with lovely, detailed designs will literally fall from the mold into your hand.

Learn how to make traditional molded cookies like speculaas, springerle, and shortbread, as well as modern ones like White Chocolate Lime Cookies and Orange Blossom Wedding Cookies. Learn the tricks of sandwich cookies, layer cookies, chocolate backing, and exhibition cookies. And learn about the molds themselves -- the many kinds, their history, the best places to find them, how to treat them, what makes a good one, and which to avoid entirely.

With nearly two dozen recipes and almost a hundred photos, "Baking with Cookie Molds" will quickly have you making cookies that both amaze and delight.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////

Anne L. Watson is the author of several craft books, including the bestselling beginners book "Smart Soapmaking," as well as several novels. In a previous career, she was a historic preservation architecture consultant. Anne lives with her husband and photographer, Aaron Shepard, in Friday Harbor, Washington.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////

"Anne L. Watson deserves big hugs from bakers everywhere for resurrecting the beautiful and tasty art of baking with cookie molds. Loaded with practical advice on everything from the care and cleaning of molds to proper recipe formulation and molding technique, 'Baking with Cookie Molds' provides all the know-how one needs to put retired molds back where they belong -- off walls and out of cupboards, and into action in our kitchens." -- Julia Usher, author, "Cookie Swap," and Director, International Association of Culinary Professionals

"Cookie molds are lovely to admire but often end up as part of your kitchen decor rather than as a baking tool. 'Baking with Cookie Molds' will inspire you to use those molds as they were intended -- to create strikingly beautiful cookies -- and shows that those cookies can be delicious as well Detailed instructions and photographs make it feel like the author is right there in your kitchen, baking alongside you and guiding you through each step." -- Christina Banner, author, "How to Build a Gingerbread House"

"A must read for novice and avid bakers Anne's story and vast knowledge of cookie molds keeps you entertained from beginning to end." -- Karen Giamalva, President and CEO, LetsBakeCookies.com

"Friendly, warm, and inviting." -- Ken Hamilton, The Springerle Baker

"A 'honey' of a collection of old and new secrets for shaping edible-art cookies -- with less effort and more success. Will do much to keep this tradition alive " -- Gene Wilson, HOBI Cookie Molds

"Well done . . . An impressive book for all of us to treasure." -- Kyna Campbell, MyCookieMold.com

"Like other well done works of art, a good molded cookie starts with a flawless canvas (the dough), a first-rate design (the mold), and a teacher who is a master of the craft (Anne L. Watson). Watson as a teacher is phenomenal, and her groundbreaking book is the reason why. Her] recipes for springerle, speculaas, lebkuchen, shortbread, and more are tasty, detailed, and meticulous." -- Sue Ade, Bluffton Today, Oct. 5, 2011

"Revolutionizes the springerle world. . . . There's no muss and fuss. Combine ingredients, chill, knead, roll, press, cut, bake. One hour." -- Patrice Romzick, Springerle Joy