Martha Stewart’s new cookbook is all about cookies

How do you like your cookies? Light and delicate? Soft and chewy? Crisp and crunchy? Crumbly and sandy? Cakey and tender?

The new Martha Stewart’s Cookies: The Very Best Treats to Bake and Share (Clarkson Potter/Publishers, $24.95), which goes on sale Tuesday, is organized by cookie texture.

There’s no reason to drool over chunky and nutty turtle brownies when you prefer a cakey and tender truffle brownie.

As in the usual Martha fashion, each recipe is accompanied by full-color photographs, and what’s even more fun are the ideas for creative packaging.

Also included are chapters on tips and techniques for baking and decorating; pantry ingredients to stock, and must-have tools for making and shaping cookies.

A selection of cookies will be featured in Martha Stewart’s Cookies, a television special premiering at 7 p.m. March 14, on The Style Network. The special corresponds to the seven cookie categories in the book and features Martha demonstrating the recipes. The show will also air at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on March 16. Visit www.mystyle.com for more information.

Here are recipes from the book.

Coconut macaroons
¾ cup sugar
2 ½ cups unsweetened shredded coconut
2 large egg whites
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine sugar, coconut, egg whites, vanilla, and salt. Using your hands, mix well, completely combining ingredients.

Dampen hands with cold water. Use 1 ½ tablespoons to form mounds. Place on prepared baking sheet, spacing about 1 inch apart.

Bake until golden brown, 16 to 17 minutes, rotating halfway through. Let cool on a wire rack. Cookies can be store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days. Makes about 1 ½ dozen.

Chocolate chunk macaroons

Follow the recipe for coconut macaroons, adding ½ cup coarsely chopped semisweet chocolate to the other ingredients. Use 1 ½ tablespoons of mixture to form look haystacks; place on prepared baking sheet, spacing about 1 inch apart. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through.

Chocolate macaroons

Place 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces, in a heatproof bowl or the top of a double boiler set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until chocolate has melted, set aside to cool. Follow instructions for coconut macaroon, increasing coconut to 2 2/3 cups and combing all ingredients with cooled chocolate and ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted. The baking time should be about the same; you will know when the cookies are done when they are just firm to the touch but still soft in the middle.

Chocolate mint sandwiches
For the cookies:
1 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
Confectioners’ sugar
For the ganache:
1/4 cup heavy cream
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, very finely chopped
¾ teaspoon pure peppermint extract
For the glaze:
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, very finely chopped

Make the cookies: Whisk together cocoa powder and flour in a bowl. Put butter and granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in egg until well blended. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Divide dough in half, and shape each half into a disk; wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour, or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Transfer dough to a work surface lightly dusted with confectioners’ sugar. Roll out dough to 1/8 inch thick. Cut out cookies using a 2-inch round cookie cutter; space ½ inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Repeat with remaining scraps of dough. Bake cookies until firm, rotating sheets halfway through, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks.
Meanwhile, make ganache: Bring cream to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add chocolate. Cook, stirring constantly, until chocolate is smooth. Stir in peppermint extract. Let cool slightly, 10 to 15 minutes.
Spoon 1 teaspoon ganache onto the bottom of one cookie; sandwich with another cookie. Repeat with remaining cookies and ganache. Refrigerate until firm, about 10 minutes.

Make glaze: Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring constantly. Let cool slightly. Dip one flat side of each sandwich into melted chocolate to coat; gently shake off excess. Place sandwiches, chocolate sides up, on wire racks set over baking sheets. Refrigerate until set, about 15 minutes. Cookies can be refrigerated in a single layer in airtight containers up to 2 days. Makes 3 dozen.