How Cool!
Just when you thought your KitchenAid could do no more—now it even makes ice cream! Get their latest Ice Cream Maker Attachment and mix frozen treats right in your stand mixer. Go nostalgic with classic vanilla or experiment with new flavors like saffron spice or rosemary lavender. Whatever the flavor, this gift is sure to delight the multitasker in us all. Now, if only our KitchenAids could learn to do dishes…
www.kitchenaid.com, $100. – H.E.

For the Inquisitive Cookie Lover
The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion brings serious cookie know-how to bakers at all levels. This encyclopedia of baking includes hundreds of recipes from the standard, but undeniably perfect, chocolate chip; to festive holiday Springerle; and my favorite, the South Seas cookie (reminiscent of a certain Girl Scout cookie that will remain nameless). Line drawings and sidebars illustrate proper methods for measuring drop cookies, rolling rugelach, building gingerbread houses, and other essential techniques. www.countrymanpress.com, $29.95. – R.B.

Give Dirty Bristles the Brush Off
The ultimate pastry brush! At first glance you might think, "this looks fun, but it will never work." But use it to brush some glaze over a tart or egg wash a loaf of brioche and you'll find that this silicone brush is every bit as good as a "normal" pastry brush. Plus cleaning it is a snap. It dries fast and doesn't retain all that butter and glaze.
www.wmboundsltd.com, $15. – J.D.

Five Star, Indeed!
Don't let the size of this compact little bar fool you. Lake Champlain Chocolates has perfected the chocolate and peanut butter combination in the form of the Peanut Five-Star Bar. The Vermont candy makers whip together natural peanut butter and white chocolate to form a meltingly smooth and silky center and cover it with a delicate milk chocolate shell. Crisp rice and peanuts provide just the right amount of crunch. Also available in hazelnut, caramel, and fruit & nut flavors. www.lakechamplainchocolates.com, $19 for six bars. – R.B.

Freshly Grated Nutmeg Anyone?
Imagine how impressed your dinner guests will be this holiday season as you offer a fresh grate of nutmeg to top their pumpkin pie, butternut squash ravioli, or creamy egg nog. The Williams Bound Gourmet Nut Twister conveniently comes with six whole nutmegs to start but can easily hold up to nine at a time. A perfect gift for the gadget lover who has it all.
www.complimentsofthechef.com, $23.95. – J.W.

This Cookie is a Monster
From a little NYC bakery come the best cookies this side of anywhere. Not your ordinary bakery cookie, Levain Bakery delivers little mountains of heaven, brimming with chocolate chunks, walnut halves, and lots of gooey goodness. Weighing in at a third of a pound each, these hefty cookies are still hard to share. Take them to your next holiday party or just keep them for yourself. Available in classic chocolate chip walnut, chocolate chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, and my personal favorite, dark chocolate peanut butter chip. Careful, you don't get hooked or they'll be the downfall of that inevitable New Year's resolution.
www.levainbakery.com, $35 for 4 cookies (remember, that's two pounds of cookie). – K.B.

Testing 1, 2, 3...
So you don't have time to test 30 recipes for the perfect lemon meringue pie? Well, neither do we! Let the recipe testers at Cook's Illustrated, the exhaustive, ad-free food magazine, do the work while you reap the praise from adoring fans. Every baker needs a little guidance and a few tricks up their sleeve and a subscription to Cooks's Illustrated will give you just that.
www.cooksillustrated.com, $24.95 for one year subscription (6 issues) and $19.95 for each additional gift subscription. – H.E.

Cover Your Candies with Silver
The perfect kit for crafty people who like to make little candies to give as holiday presents to friends, co-workers, and, most importantly, the mailman. Say goodbye to those boring little baggies and be the talk of the town with these fancy silver containers. And write your own personalized note to go on top. Finally, packaging as enticing as what's inside. Favor Packaging Kit includes 25 silver canisters, 30 blue or white circular stickers with silver trim, one silver pen, and a color insert with ideas. www.marthastewart.com, $32. – J.D.

Go Pro
So you're pretty good with that pastry bag, eh? You show promise with pound cake but don't want to leave your desk job? The French Culinary Institute offers an intensive 20 session "mini" course, The Essentials of Pastry, modeled after their renowned professional program for serious amateurs who want to take their skills to the next level. Classes take place on Saturdays from 9:30AM to 2:30PM and cover everything from perfect cakes, cookies, tarts, mousses, hot and cold desserts, petit fours, and how to work with chocolate. www.frenchculinary.com, $5,100 for 20 sessions (one hundred hours). – J.W.

Shopping for the Dog Who Has it All?
For the modern dog, only the finest treats will do. Based in Brooklyn, NY, the dog door, inc. produces premium dog cookies made exclusively from all-natural and organic ingredients. Hunter, the adorable shepherd mix who appears on all of the labels, is the muse for his owner, pastry chef Wendi Lui. Her team mixes, rolls, and cuts each biscuit by hand to produce healthy, yummy treats for your canine friends. Available in carob-carob chip, wheat-free peanut butter and oat, and chicken and herb. www.dogdoortreats.com, $7-$8.50. – R.B.

Spice Up Your Kitchen
Design meets function in this stylish, definitely not your grandma's, spice rack. Turn your spices and herbs into a work of art by displaying them in glass-topped containers with magnetic bottoms that adhere to a sleek stainless steel board. Mount it on your wall and your spices will always be easy to find and out of the way. Never go crazy searching for cumin again!
www.uncommongoods.com, $88. – H.E.

Don't Get Angry at Your Dough, Give it the Big Chill
The simple but brilliant Big Chill Pastry Board from Kuhn Rikon is handy and versatile. Freeze the cold packs (they fold up so they'll fit into the tiniest freezer), insert them into the 16"x16" board, and voila! You have a flat work surface that stays cool for up to two hours. Roll out puff pastry and use less flour or try it for tempering chocolate, cooling baked goods, and keeping cold items chilled at a party.
www.kuhnrikon.com, $30. – J.D.

Baking for a Good Cause
Emily Luchetti, Nick Malgieri, and Nancy Silverton are just three of the 50 plus celebrated bakers to share their most trusted recipes and personal stories in Baking from the Heart: Our Nation's Best Bakers Share Cherished Recipes for The Great American Bake Sale to help end childhood hunger. Created by Michael J. Rosen, a portion of the book's proceeds will benefit Share Our Strength, one of the nation's preeminent anti-hunger agencies.
www.broadwaybooks.com, $29.95. – J.W.

Slice and Dice It Anyway You Like It
Finally, an easy way to slice and julienne everything from apples to zucchini with the new Good Grips Mandoline from OXO. Removable blades slide in and out for easy changes and cleaning. Control thickness with just a quick turn of the dial. Turn out slices that are thick or thin, straight or crinkly—even waffle cut—in a blink of an eye. An ergonomic soft handle, stabilizing rubber feet, and food guard, which keeps your fingers safe and out of the way, all make for carefree slicing. The whole thing folds up flat to save space but we can think of a lot of reasons to leave this gadget out for easy access. www.oxo.com, $69.99. – K.B.

Cutting Corners
For perfectly smooth crème anglaise, lump-free puddings, pastry creams, and chocolate sauce, nothing does the trick better than a two quart All-Clad Saucier pan. Sloped sides mean no more corners for clumping and the pure aluminum core heats evenly to prevent scorching. Polished stainless steel makes them as beautiful to look at as they are to clean. www.allclad.com, $110. – J.W.