If you’re already a dab hand at baking cookies, you might think you don’t need this book, but trust me, ‘you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!’  Crumbs, published by Phaidon, is a sprawling exploration of cookies, biscuits, and sweet treats from nearly 100 countries.

This vast collection gathers 300 authentic cookie recipes, including gingerbreads, thumbprint cookies, bars, wafers, shortbreads, tea cakes, cookie sandwiches, and everything in between.

Curated, researched, and tested by food writer Ben Mims, Crumbs: Cookies and Sweets from Around the World a detailed look into the cultural, historical, and culinary status of the cookie. It unfolds geographically, with chapters dedicated to a geographical region or set of countries sharing a similar culinary heritage, celebrating the unique characteristics of each region’s specialities and ingredients. From Austrian Railroad Man Cookies to Venezuelan Brown Sugar Cookies, it’s an astounding array of recipes, all accompanied by  photographs. 

Whatever your preference – from a comforting oatmeal-raisin cookie to a decadent French macaron – Crumbs will become a go-to cookbook and an invaluable resource for great-tasting baked treats for any occasion. 

At £35 for a hardback, this isn’t perhaps a cheap cookbook, but for anyone you might know who’s a caterer, or a dedicated amateur interested in world biscuity bakes, or studying cookery, it will be a seriously important addition to their culinary collection.  And there is great photography by Simon Bajada

Here are a few recipes to demonstrate this wonderful book’s breadth and scope.

Chocolate Slice Cookies

Chokladsnittar SWEDEN

Prep time: 40 minutes, plus chilling time Cooking time: 20 minutes Makes: About 36 cookies

“Around the same time that chocolate made a big splash in the United States in the 1940s with Chocolate Chip Cookies, so too did many Swedes get their first taste of a chocolate version of their beloved “slice” cookies, or snittar. These “chocolate slices” were published under the name Märta’s Chocolate Slices, for the name of the author of the classic book Sju Sorters Kakor. Essentially, they have an eye-catching appearance thanks to the deep dark cocoa used in the dough contrasted with bright matte white pearl sugar. The texture of these slices is also very brownie-like and likely played a part in influencing those treats in the United States.”

2 cups (280 g) all-purpose (plain) flour

1/3 cup (30 g) Dutch-process cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

11/4 cups (250 g) white (UK caster) sugar

2 sticks (8 oz/225 g) unsalted butter, softened

1 egg

1 tablespoon Vanilla Sugar or 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Egg wash: 1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water

Pearl sugar, for decorating

Position racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C/Gas Mark 4). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.

In a large bowl, with a hand mixer, beat the caster sugar and butter on medium speed until pale and fluffy, 2–3minutes. Add the egg and beat until smooth. Beat in the vanilla sugar. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until a dough forms and there are no dry patches of flour remaining. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap (cling film) and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 1 day.

Divide the dough into 4 equal portions and shape each piece into a log 12 inches (30 cm) long. Place 2 logs lengthwise on each baking sheet, spaced 4 inches (10 cm) apart, and flatten slightly with your hand.

Brush the logs lightly with some egg wash and sprinkle liberally with pearl sugar. Bake until the cookie logs are flattened and dry to the touch on top, 16–18 minutes, switching racks and rotating the baking sheets front to back halfway through. Transfer the baking sheets to wire racks and let the cookies rest for 10 minutes. While still warm, slide the cookie logs on the parchment paper onto a cutting board and cut at a slight diagonal every 11/4 inches (3 cm) to make slices. Transfer the slices directly to the rack to cool completely.

Welsh Griddled Currant Cookies

Pice Ar y Maen. WALES

Preparation time: 25 minutes, plus chilling time/ Cooking time: 40 minutes Makes: About 30 cookies

“One of the specialties of Wales in the western United Kingdom are these “cakes on the stone.” Descended from Welsh crumpets, which are yeasted pancakes cooked on a griddle in a ring mould, these cookies are cut from a sheet of dough into rounds and then cooked on a griddle until golden and crisp on the outside but still tender inside. Their texture possesses the softness of cake, but the dense firmness of a biscuit or cookie. So while they’re often called “Welsh cakes,” they’re usually referred to as a cookie, since they’re eaten out of the hand and sprinkled with sugar while hot like many other cookies. The dough for these cookies can also be baked and, when candied citrus is added, is sometimes referred to as “Easter biscuits.” Older recipes used lard as the primary fat, though today the cookies are a showcase for great butter. Currants are a staple of these cookies as is a mix of spices, typically cinnamon and nutmeg, that scent the dough but don’t overwhelm it. While modern recipes use chemical leavening to provide lightness, this recipe doesn’t, to keep the cookies crisp and less cakey; if you’d like a cakier cookie, add 1 teaspoon baking powder to the dry ingredients here.”

12/3 cups (230 g) all-purpose (plain) flou

1/2 cup (100 g) white US granulated (UK caster) sugar, plus more for sprinkling

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 stick (4 oz/115 g) unsalted butter, softened

1 egg

6 tablespoons buttermilk or whole milk

3/4 cup (95 g) dried currants

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, nutmeg, allspice, and cinnamon. Add the butter and rub it into the dry ingredients with your fingers until it breaks down into crumbles. Add the egg and buttermilk and mix until the dough starts to come together. Add the currants and continue mixing until the mixture forms a dough and there are no dry patches of flour remaining. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap (cling film), and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Heat a cast-iron skillet or griddle over medium heat. Line a large baking sheet with paper towels.

Working on a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough with a rolling pin to 3/8 inch (1 cm) thick. Using a 2-inch (5 cm) round cutter, cut out rounds of dough. Reroll the scraps to cut out more rounds of dough.

Working in batches, place a single layer of rounds in the skillet and cook until golden brown and crisp on the bottom, 3–4 minutes. Flip the cookies and cook until golden brown and crisp on the other side, 3–4 minutes more.

Transfer the cookies to the lined baking sheet and sprinkle liberally with more sugar while hot. Let cool completely.

Almond and Sugar Cookie Bars 

Jan Hagel Koekjes  NETHERLANDS

“In Dutch, jan hagel refers to an unruly mob. Some people have interpreted that as a take on the cookie’s jumbled garnishes of sliced (flaked) almonds and crushed pearl sugar. Others have taken it to mean a term for the type of people who’d enjoy such a simple cookie since the term has also been documented as a slang term for sailors, common people, and others on the fringes of society.”

Prep time: 20 minutes, plus 10 minutes resting time Cooking time: 25 minutes Makes: About 24 cookies

2 cups (280 g) all-purpose (plain) flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¾ teaspoon fine sea salt

1½  sticks (6 oz/170 g) unsalted butter,softened

3/4 cup (150 g) white US granulated (UK caster) sugar

1 egg, separated

1/3  cup (40 g) sliced (flaked) almonds

¼ cup (50 g) pearl sugar or roughly crushed sugar cubes

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C/Gas Mark 4). Line a 9 x 13-inch (23 x 33 cm) light metal baking pan with parchment paper, leaving the excess hanging over the edges. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In a large bowl, with a hand mixer, beat the butter and white US granulated (UK caster) sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2–3 minutes. Add the egg yolk and beat until smooth. Add the dry ingredients and stir until there are no dry patches of flour remaining.

Press the dough into the bottom of the prepared baking pan to make an even layer. Beat the egg white in a small bowl until frothy, then lightly brush the dough with only enough of the beaten egg white to moisten it fully (you should not use all the egg white). Sprinkle the almonds and pearl sugar evenly over the dough.

Bake until the cookie slab is golden brown all over and dry to the touch in the centre, 20–25 minutes, rotating the baking pan front to back halfway through. Transfer the baking pan to a wire rack and let the cookie slab rest for 10 minutes. Using the overhanging parchment paper, slide the cookie slab out of the pan and onto a cutting board. Cut the cookie slab into 3 x 1½ inch (7.5 x 4 cm) rectangles.

Transfer the rectangles to a wire rack to cool completely.