“ Beat This! is the funniest, most engaging book about food I've ever come across.” — Vanity Fair

Do you think you have the absolute best recipe for apple pie?

Maybe your neighbor claims to make the best meatloaf around. Did your Italian grandmother serve the best spaghetti sauce this side of the Atlantic? Well, unless you or that neighbor or your grandmother is Ann Hodgman, you’re wrong.

In this revised edition more than 50 of recipes are completely new, and many of the originals have been “oomphed up” to make them even more shamelessly delicious.

Beat This! Cookbook contains more than a hundred all-time favorites, from Burnt Sugar Ice Cream and White Chocolate Raspberry Pie to Chili-Cheese Casserole and Onion Rings. Each one is guaranteed to make people take a bite, stagger with joy, and beg you for the recipe.

About Ann

When Ann Hodgman wants to make a recipe better, she says, she "just doubles the chocolate and adds some bacon." Along with the original Beat This!, Ann is the author of Beat That! Cookbook and One Bite Won’t Kill You. She has written articles for The New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, the New York Times Book Review, the Atlantic Monthly, Food & Wine, Smithsonian, and just about all of the women’s and parenting magazines.

GRANDMA WELD’S COOKIES

Makes 5 dozen cookies.

I don’t know who Grandma Weld is, or was. My mother got this recipe from someone at church or somewhere, and it’s become one of the most asked-for recipes I’ve ever made. I feel a little guilty stealing the credit for it, and will be happy to make a public apology to Grandma Weld if she will only step forward.

If you can’t find miniature chocolate chips, don’t substitute regular ones. Bigger chips would make the cookies too sweet. Instead, stir in a cup of very finely chopped (not grated) bittersweet chocolate.

16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
⅓ cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons almond extract (this is the correct amount)
⅛ teaspoon salt
1 cup miniature chocolate chips

Beat the butter and sugar until light and roughly the consistency of frosting. Beat in the flour, almond extract and salt. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap or waxed paper and chill it for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 300°F, with a rack in the middle.

Shape the dough into 1½-inch-long “fingers” and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, watching carefully and breaking a couple of cookies open to check for doneness. The cookies should be cooked through, but they should not brown at all. Cool on racks and store in an airtight container.