3 Cookie and Brownie Recipes for Christmas

The Brown Betty Cookbook (Wiley) is different from most recipe collections. Lovingly written by Linda Hinton Brown and Norrinda Brown Hayat, the founders of Philadelphia’s Brown Betty Dessert Boutique, it’s as much of a family history as it is a cookbook. Each page is filled with gorgeous cakes and cookies named after aunts, mothers, sisters, and grandmothers, whose stories are told in miniature biographies sprinkled throughout the chapters. Taken all together, it’s a testament to the power of food – especially the connections forged through cooking.

Now, the authors of this utterly charming book are sharing three of their favorite recipes, just in time for the holidays. Add them to your baking repertoire, or just make a batch for yourself. We won’t tell.

Go to the recipes:

• Soft Sugar Cookies
• White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies
• German Chocolate Cream Cheese Brownies

Excerpted with permission from the publisher, Wiley, from The Brown Betty Cookbook by Linda Hinton Brown and Norrinda Brown Hayat. Photography by Alison Conklin. Copyright © 2012.