Wow, it’s been a year since I decided to start this Cooky Book Project. At the time, I didn’t expect to do quite so much baking over the year, and expected to get in just a dozen or so recipes. However, given the pandemic that kept us safe inside for most of the year, I decided to bake most weeks just to have something new to try. So, instead of a dozen, I’ve gotten through 30 recipes in the book.

I’ve really enjoyed my walk through the Cooky Book so far. I’ve tried some new favorite recipes, I’ve tried some not-so-great recipes, and I’ve even completely failed at a recipe. Let’s look at a couple…

The Good …

I was pleasantly surprised by the Apricot Coconut Tartlets. These ended up coming out a little like a pastry, with the dough fluffing up and engulfing the dollop of jam at their center.

I also really liked the Butterscotch Shortbread cookies. They were my first attempt (at least, the first I can remember!) at shortbread cookies, and they came out as these lightly-sweet, melt-in-your-mouth cookies.

… The Bad …

I was really disappointed in the Love Letter cookies I made at Valentine’s Day. These were super-cute, looking like folded letters sealed with a cranberry. However, they were largely flavorless and not worth the amount of work they took.

The Filled Oatmeal Cookies were also a big dud. The base cookies were unpleasantly dense. The filling was tasty, but I couldn’t get enough of it into each cookies to save the problems of the base cookie.

… The Ugly

I utterly failed at the Chocolate Orange Puffs. These seemed to be a simplified way to make cream puffs, but the cook book’s version of a choux pastry just simply didn’t work.

Overall, though, I am enjoying trying out new recipes, especially when I find a new favorite recipe that I wouldn’t have tried unless I was doing this project. I’m looking forward to seeing what new surprises the Cooky Book has to bring over the next year!