I make no secret of my admiration for Medrich's books. The woman does not put out anything that isn't truly excellent. This book takes many of her previous cookies from various books and updates them as well as giving us a whole new set of delicious recipes. Not only that, she put in weights for every single one! Aside from the precision this affords, it's just that much faster to weigh out everything than bothering with cups. If only all books started including weights!What I love most about her books is present in this one and that's her excellent palate. This isn't another of the far-too-common books out there that wants to beat you over the head with excess. You know the type --- chocolate-covered-caramel-drizzled-nutty-salty-bacon sugar bombs. I can trust that I'm not going to end up with some cloyingly sweet, overly fatty, inedible concoction. There are already way too many books with over-the-top sweet baked goods. Too many that just seem to tack on more, more, not realizing that sometimes less is more. Medrich goes for textural perfection, for clean flavors. She's not trendy, but she is inventive. With a simple variation, she makes something familiar into something completely new. There's never any filler, nothing thrown in that isn't worth making. And she relies on quality ingredients and proper technique to speak for themselves. No gimmicks.Now let me get specific because by now you want to know just what flavors and textures I'm talking about. Her coconut macaroons are perfect. They're crispy and caramelized on the outside, chewy within. These will make you forget stale-tasting, tooth-achingly sweet macaroons. They're also very, very easy to make and very cheap, if that's the sort of thing that factors in for you.As soon as you get this book, you must make the coconut or the sesame sticks (well, you should make both really). They're just perfection. Buttery, crunchy, addictive cookies that nobody can resist. I will say that I found insulating the sheet pans by placing one sheet pan on top of another empty one was necessary for more even baking (so that the bottoms don't brown too much while the tops are still fairly pale), but so far nobody else who has made them has had this be the case. However, if you do have the same problem, well, the solution is pretty simple.The spicy Linzer bars are chewy, nutty, and perfectly spiced. You can trick yourself into thinking they're not as rich in butter as they are and have them for breakfast. ;)The coconut tuiles are simply amazing. I really can't wait to make them again. Golden, caramelized, and with a deep coconut flavor. They're like the cookie version of a potato chip.Her crunchy seed cookies are very hard to stop eating. The fennel seeds in particular keep you coming back for more. The texture is perfect. I've made them twice now.Hazelnut and cacao nib sables are perfectly sandy, nutty, toasty, and just the right amount of sweetness. The texture of the cookie combined with the crunch of the add-ins really is irresistible. They'll remind you a bit of chocolate chip cookies at times, but so much more addictive!There are more I could list, but I'll stop because otherwise this review will be unmercifully long. All the recipes are very straightforward and simple. The results belie this simplicity. :)