Wild, Wild West Cowboy Cookies

This 50-page, full-color cookbook is a delight for fans of Western baking. Tuda Libby Crews walks you through the process of creating beautiful, authentic, Western-themed cookies step-by-step. From recipes for cookies, icings, and even a pattern for a chili-pepper shaped cookie, Tuda shows you how to make extraordinary cookies in your own kitchen.I made the Buffalo cookies using Tuda's copper Buffalo cutter. The Chocolate Buffalo Dough used ingredients that I had readily on hand: butter, shortening, flour, chocolate, eggs, vanilla, and sugar. Using Tuda's Tips, I was able to efficiently and easily roll out the dough. No struggling with crumbling dough here! The dough had a beautiful texture and was very easy to handle. However, the dough is very stiff and it mixes best in a large mixer (I used a 6-quart mixer). The cookies baked best using parchment paper. The parchment paper really made a difference in holding the shape of the cookies. The cookies had a light and almost chewy-texture, depending on how thickly you roll them out. They were not brittle. After baking, I cooled and iced them just like Tuda, even accenting the Buffalo coats with chocolate sprinkles (or jimmies). The cookies were happily received and applauded. These Chocolate Buffalo cookies are original, unique, and remarkable. You'll enjoy making them as much as eating them! This cookbook also includes recipes for Cowboy Sugar Cookies, Adobe Frosting, and Sugar Baby Frosting. Tuda thoughtfully includes Tips for Rolling-Out, Cutting-Out, Baking, and Decorating the cookies. The Decorating techniques are clear and easy to follow. Tuda even tells you how to pack these cookies for shipping them long distances! You will enjoy this cookbook from cover to cover. It makes for lovely afternoons with your family, or even as a baking adventure for cookie lovers. Go ahead, bake a herd of Buffao and start a stampede to your kitchen!

The author is an extraordinary woman who has mangaged to create a wonderful book that is fun to read and fun to follow. The results are amazing and the story is warm and telling of the western lore so appealing to many. She also has written a second book in the series, Wild Wild 1950's Cookies... which is equally charming and fun.

The recipes are delicious and the cookie cutters are adorable. I have received many, many compliments on the cookies I have made - and I have just begun to learn how to decorate them. Tudda Libby Crews gives a wonderful history of the recipes and her life. It's a great cookie cookbook for those who want to "experience" the wild west!

I just ordered this book based on the great photos and recipes in the New Mexico magazine for Dec 98. Very impressive artwork, as well as easy chocolate buffalos!