Fabulous modern cookies Lessons in better baking for next-generation treats

Taylor and Arguin (The New Pie), two scientists who fell in love and married thanks in part to a shared affection for baking, whip together their passion and smarts in this delicious and dazzling volume. Employing rigorous techniques and innovative flavor combinations, they offer 100 boundary-pushing takes on cookies, from dropped and rolled confections to ones shaped like mustaches and bananas. Riffs on both American and international classics rely on unconventional ingredients to boost flavor. Bronze butter chocolate chip cookies, for instance, use dry milk powder to deepen toffee notes, while the addition of red curry paste to peanut butter cookies yields a Southeast Asian--inspired twist. Insightful intros to sections feature expert ingredient and equipment guides (perfectionists will especially relish the detailed breakdown of scoop sizes and "proper portion placement" for drop cookies). To balance the seriousness, the authors sprinkle in cheeky rhyming headnotes--"The addition of fig/ Is something you'll dig," they declare before introducing their fig and maple nut slices--and nods to cultural touchstones, including the rye and honey--based Everybody Ryes (an homage to the late Stephen Sondheim) and heart-shaped Stonewalls that get their rainbow speckles from Fruity Pebbles. For cookie fanatics, this one's sure to be a hit. Agent: Joy Tutela, David Black Literary. (Apr.)