The biggest challenge about our annual Tribune Holiday Cookie Contest is not the baking, but creating your own original recipe. That’s what dozens of bakers have told me when sharing their stories since I started covering the cookie beat. Just about anyone can follow a recipe, especially with extraordinary new cookbooks like “Crumbs: Cookies and Sweets from Around the World” by Ben Mims, whose food I’ve long coveted from afar, notably when he was the cooking columnist for the Los Angeles Times and making all their exquisite cookies. In my cookbook guide this year, I’m focusing on cookies by bakers across the country who share more than recipes, so you might find inspiration to hold on to. More new and notable cookie-inspiring cookbooks: “Zoë Bakes Cookies: Everything You Need to Know to Make Your Favorite Cookies and Bars [A Baking Book]” by Zoë François “Zoë Bakes Cookies” by Zoë François. (Penguin Random House) Zoë François — the Minnesota nice baker, New York Times bestselling author and Emmy-nominated television host — has released her 10th cookbook. “Zoë Bakes Cookies: Everything You Need to Know to Make Your Favorite Cookies and Bars [A Baking Book]” was published on Sept. 3 with 75 recipes tracing her childhood in a Vermont commune to her current home in Minneapolis, where François previously worked as a pastry chef for Andrew Zimmern. One of her fan-favorite Smash Cookies is the cover girl, a giant chocolate chip cookie that’s smashed straight out of the oven, so it stays crisp yet soft and unexpected. $30, Ten Speed Press / Penguin Random House, penguinrandomhouse.com “Breaking Bao: 88 Bakes and Snacks from Asia and Beyond” by Clarice Lam “Breaking Bao” by Clarice Lam. (Chronicle Books) Pastry chef and debut cookbook author Clarice Lam — born in Toronto, but raised in Los Angeles by her parents who emigrated from Hong Kong — worked and traveled the world as a model before she began baking her French-influenced Asian pastries. “Breaking Bao: 88 Bakes and Snacks from Asia and Beyond” was published on Oct. 22, with indeed 88 recipes, but more than 100 stunning photographs by acclaimed photographer Evan Sung. Among the beautiful bao, look for Audris’ Black Sesame Ricciarelli, Lam’s variation of the chewy almond cookies originally from 14th century Siena in Italy, where they’re still served traditionally at Christmas. $40, Chronicle Books, chroniclebooks.com “The Cookie That Changed My Life: And More Than 100 Other Classic Cakes, Cookies, Muffins, and Pies That Will Change Yours: A Cookbook” by Nancy Silverton and Carolynn Carreño “The Cookie That Changed My Life” by Nancy Silverton and Carolynn Carreno. (Penguin Random House) Nancy Silverton — the James Beard awarded chef, Michelin-starred restaurateur and bestselling author — became best known for her bread at the legendary La Brea Bakery, but she called out a cookie in what’s become a new baking bible. “The Cookie That Changed My Life: And More Than 100 Other Classic Cakes, Cookies, Muffins, and Pies That Will Change Yours: A Cookbook” was published last year, co-authored by Beard-winning journalist Carolynn Carreño. You’ll find that life-changing peanut butter cookie on the cover, crowned with roasted Spanish peanuts. It was inspired by chef Roxana Jullapat, co-owner of Friends & Family bakery in Los Angeles, where what they bake with heirloom grains may change your life too. $40, Knopf / Penguin Random House, penguinrandomhouse.com “Bake Club: 101 Must-Have Moves for Your Kitchen: A Cookbook” by Christina Tosi and Shannon Salzano  “Bake Club” by Christina Tosi and Shannon Salzano. (Penguin Random House) Milk Bar founder Christina Tosi, the Beard-awarded chef and bestselling cookbook author, who’s opening a long-awaited location of her bakery in Chicago, has created more than the nostalgia noted Compost Cookie, but an online baking community too. “Bake Club: 101 Must-Have Moves for Your Kitchen: A Cookbook” was published on Nov. 12, co-authored by Shannon Salzano, who previously worked as creative director at Girl & the Goat, and is now director of creative and partnerships at Milk Bar. Tosi already wrote “All About Cookies” herself in 2022, but the latest book features a mix of tried and true hits from their online community called Bake Club, plus new classics in the making, including their Ted Lasso Biscuits, which are actually golden and buttery shortbread cookies. $35, Knopf / Penguin Random House, penguinrandomhouse.com “Bodega Bakes: Recipes for Sweets and Treats Inspired by My Corner Store” by Paola Velez “Bodega Bakes: Recipes for Sweets and Treats Inspired by My Corner Store” by Paola Velez. (Union Square & Co.) Paola Velez — the award-winning Afro-Dominican chef, restaurateur and co-founder of Bakers Against Racism — has just released her joyful debut cookbook. “Bodega Bakes: Recipes for Sweets and Treats Inspired by My Corner Store” was published on Oct. 1 with more than 100 inventive recipes by Velez, who was born in the Bronx, but is currently based in Washington, DC, where she just opened Bar Providencia and runs Dōekï Dōekï, a pop-up dinner series. You can make her signature Thick’ems, a tres leches lava cake in cookie form, with the recipe that she shares for the first time. $35, Union Square & Co., unionsquareandco.com Plus in Tribune Holiday Cookie Contest cookbook news: The Chicago Tribune’s book “Holiday Cookies, Second Edition.” (Chicago Tribune) “Holiday Cookies: Prize-Winning Family Recipes from the Chicago Tribune for Cookies, Bars, Brownies and More” by Chicago Tribune Staff, published on Oct. 8, has been updated with 28 new winning recipes from 2014 to 2022, including the first place recipe for Chocolate Salted-Caramel Surprise Cookies by Caroline Crispino. $30, Agate Publishing, agatepublishing.com [email protected]