I received Ricardo’s Best Cookies recipe book at the Food Bloggers of Canada conference this past October where it was part of the fabulous goodie bag. I quickly flipped through the 72 recipes and fell instantly in love with each and every one. The photography is absolutely gorgeous and the recipes all look delicious. The book includes tips and tricks on how to bake the best cookies by using the right equipment and ingredients and suggestions on icing, decorating, filling, storing and much more.

Ricardo gave an absolutely inspiring key note speech at the blogger conference. It’s easy to see why he’s such a beloved public figure in Canada. His charm and wit will win anyone over in minutes. He worked hard at getting to where he is today yet he stays humble, fun and doesn’t take himself too seriously. He still works relentlessly at improving, creating and innovating when it comes to cooking. If you’ve never navigated through Ricardo’s website, you absolutely must! It’s a treasure trove of recipes ranging from accessible to fancy holiday ones, party preps and fun food facts.

Since I was travelling most of November and December, I unfortunately didn’t have the time to make any of the exquisite holiday cookies in the book. Instead, I consumed copious amounts of my mom’s cookies and cakes. As Ricardo mentions in this book’s introduction, one of the best parts of baking is making memories and that’s exactly what being home for the holidays is about for me. My mom is an excellent baker and baking with her or biting into one of her creations always brings back memories.

Now that I’m back in Montreal and that the holidays are over, I cannot wait to make more memories by exploring this book in more depth. I don’t want to call it a resolution–as these are almost predestined to fail–but I’d like to cook and bake more in 2016 and cookies are a great way to start, wouldn’t you say?

I love the way the cookies are organized in Ricardo’s book into important and brilliant categories like chocolate, chewy, crunchy, fancy… Some of the cookies on my list for the next few weeks include these Breton shortbreads (I love shortbread cookies!), these chewy maple cream fudge cookies and these alfajores stuffed with dulce de leche. I wonder if I can still make the 3D Christmas Tree Cookie if it’s not Christmas anymore? It’s so pretty!

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GIVEAWAY!

Did I mention that this book is not available for purchase anymore? This exclusive, limited edition was released for the holidays and the only way to get a copy now is to win one through this giveaway!

Leave me a comment below telling me which Ricardo Cookie Recipe you’d like to try and I will draw a random name among all comments on January 29, 2016. The good people at Ricardo will send the lucky winner a copy of Ricardo’s Best Cookies recipe book.

Please note that this giveaway is open to Canadian residents only. Good luck to you all!

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