Today is National Cookie Day.

To celebrate, I've got the cookie book to beat all cookie books - Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies by Alice Medrich.

Just in time too. The holidays have arrived and the cookie exchanges have begun. Home cooks are scouring through their cookbook collections to find the perfect recipe to make their cookies stand out.

I think you'll find everything you need right here.

See, Alice believes that we should look beyond the recipe on the bag of chocolate chips:

"What if cookies reflected our modern culinary sensibility  - our spirit of adventure and passion for flavors and even our dietary concerns - without losing their universal friendly appeal? What if cookies were hip (but not too hip)? And why not celebrate the physical and sensual appeal of cooking by grouping them by texture?"

Alice took a good hard look at her own cookie recipes to see if they held up to the test of time. She writes:

"I tuned up cookie classics like snicker doodles, sugar cookies, coconut macaroons, even brownies, with a shower of grated cinnamon stick or nutmeg, or with fragrant sugars spiked with cardamom, garam masala, chili powder, or star anise."

Because the recipes are organized by texture, you can really make what you're in the mood for. However, if you're looking for something other than texture, go to the Smart Search section. You can look for your cookies there.

And as you know, I'm no baker, so I was a little worried about this - would it be above my head? Would I be the worse cookie maker known to man?

Of course I worried over nothing. First of all, Alice gives us pages and pages of helpful hints and directions (apparently, I have been measuring flour wrong all of this time). Also, there are a range of different levels here so I can feel comfortable making Goldies, Fruit and Nut Bars, Flaky Chocolate Triangles and Peanut Butter Cookies. And I can work my way up to Cocoa Tuiles, Chunky Hazelnut Meringues, Pecan Tassies and French Macarons.

This is why this makes a fantastic holiday gift: Everyone will be able to create delicious, memorable cookies, thanks to Alice Medrich.

Buy copies now and get your shopping list over and done with!