Cookie Time: With Cookie Jars from the Andy Warhol Collection

This curious volume is less a cookbook than a showcase for a selection of the cookie jars collected by Warhol and sold at auction in 1988 for almost a quarter of a million dollars. Two Puss 'n' Boots jars smirk, Dutch boys and girls strike poses, a clown leers, a cow jumps over the moon and Donald Duck sticks out his bill. Unfortunately, many of the photographs here are too dark or poorly focused, and the book's design is awash in nostalgia. Objects and recipes are encased in thick borders with Depression-era palettes and patterns; the cookies are arranged alphabetically by nursery-style names, from Aggie's Apricot Hearts to Wild Willie's Cinnamon Treats. Wasbotten, proprietor of a Manhattan pastry shop, assumes some expertise on the part of the reader, but her directions are inconsistent and even an accomplished baker may wonder how thinly or thickly a particular dough should be rolled, for example. On the other hand, the skilled patissier might want more of a challenge than these simply prepared cookies offer. Still others may reject a number of recipes that call for retro ingredients like Marshmallo Fluff--but that's the way the cookie crumbles. (Apr.)