Category Archives: Favorite Cookie Recipes

A Cookie Epiphany

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My new -- and old -- favorite oatmeal cookies.

I love my Auntie Stella for many reasons.

For her love of life and contagious laughter.

For the way she can dissect the games of Nadal and Federer with gusto.

For her uncanny ability to spot and pick out every speck of dreaded green onion or cilantro in any dish she eats.

And for her cherished Christmas presents to me when I was a child.

You see, my Auntie Stella used to work for the company that distributed Snoopy and all the other Peanuts characters collectibles.

Every Christmas, I’d find under the tree, something bearing Snoopy’s likeness — sleep shirts, a coin bank, ornaments or a big plush dog, which I carried everywhere for the longest time.

Along with the Snoopy presents, there was also another regular treat from her under the tree.

It was a festive-wrapped cardboard box, which my aunt would dole out to each of her relatives. Inside were freshly baked Danish cookies from a local bakery that were lined up in rows like tiles. There were probably about five different kinds of cookies inside. But there was one that my oldest brother, Alan, and I always reached for first. They were rectangular ones with rounded edges, and a crisp, nubby texture.

I wasn’t even sure what was in them. I just ate them happily, adoring the way they crumbled in my mouth.

When my aunt retired from her company, which had a partnership with the bakery, the cookie box at Christmas time went by the wayside.

I never experienced those particular cookies again.

Until now.

When I baked a batch of oatmeal cookies using a recipe from “The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion” (Countryman Press).

There are many variations of oatmeal cookies in this wonderful cookbook. In the past, I’d often used the one for “The Essential Chewy Oatmeal Cookie.” But this time for a change, I decided to see how “The Essential Crunchy Oatmeal Cookie” recipe compared.

Dried white mulberries.

For even more variation, instead of raisins, I substituted dried white mulberries, which I had toted home from Australia. But you also can find them at specialty stores in the Bay Area, including the Spanish Table in Berkeley.  The tiny, dried berries have a wonderful, sweet, date-like flavor.

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Mad for Maple

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Watching the Winter Olympics last month made me want to strap on a pair of skis or ice skates or heck, even push a strange, tea kettle-like-thang along the ice with a broom.

But mostly, it made me long for some sticky, sweet, lovely amber maple syrup.

After all, Canada (namely Quebec) produces the most maple syrup in the world. And who hasn’t come back from a Canadian vacation without arms laden with maple candy, maple butter, maple tea and maple sugar?

To satisfy my maple craving, I turned to this wonderful recipe for “Maple Blondies” from “The Ultimate Brownie Book” (William Morrow) by my friends, Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough.

Bruce and Mark have to be the most prolific cookbook authors around. They’ve barely finished writing one cookbook when they’re immediately on to the next. Potatoes, frozen desserts, muffins, pizzas — is there a genre of food they haven’t written about? I doubt it.

Their newest book already has me excited. “Ham: An Obesession with the Hindquarter” (Stewart, Tabori & Chang) taps into our love of all things hammy. More than 100 recipes are included for everything from “Moroccan-Style Roasted Fresh Ham” to “Filipino Twice-Cooked Pork” to “Sweet Potato Hash with Ham, Pecans and Cranberries.”

Speaking of hammy, if you’ve never caught these two doing a cooking demo, you’re missing out. These guys put Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien to shame. Picture a combination of live cooking and live stand-up comedy. Bruce and Mark can’t help themselves. They like to entertain, and they do it with aplomb.

See for yourself, 6:30 p.m. April 27, when the guys will be hosting a cooking class at Draeger’s in San Mateo. Mark and Bruce will cook four dishes from their new book, including “Indonesian Chile-Lemon Grass Ham Curry” and “Grilled Ham with Herb Spaetzle.”

Tickets are $55.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled recipe: blondies — made with 1/2 cup of real maple syrup, no less.

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A Cookie Perfect for Any Occasion

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There could be worse quandaries than trying to successfully celebrate Valentine’s Day and Lunar New Year on the exact same day this year.

But after much hunting, I think I’ve found the perfect cookie to sweeten both holidays memorably.

“Pinched Orange Macaroons” is from the December 2009 issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine. These dainty, two-bite delights first caught my eye because they use my favorite ingredient of almond paste.

Egg whites lighten them, giving them a crunchy exterior that gives way to a very chewy center. Almond paste plus almond extract up the nutty factor. Fresh grated orange zest and a splash of Grand Marnier give them a perky, wake-me-up citrus jolt, even more so because I added some King Arthur Orange Emulsion that I happened to have on hand. The emulsion, of which I received a sample, is a concentrated orange flavoring stronger than regular extract.

What I especially love about these powdered sugar-dusted cookies is that they look like those fancy little mignardises that arrive at your table to soften the blow just before the check does at swank, white table-cloth restaurants.

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A Cookie For Coffee Lovers

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Everyday oatmeal and coffee make this cookie not so everyday.

Coffee and oatmeal. Is that not a perfect way to start the day or what?

Me thinks it’s even better if you add a little chocolate — OK, a lot of chocolate — and a big ol’ heap of buttery macadamia nuts.

Maybe these “Espresso Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies” aren’t exactly as nutritious as a bowl of steel-cut oatmeal with skim milk and raisins. But man, are these cookies loaded with chewy goodness.

For these cookies, I used a sample of a new product: Barry Callebaut Espresso Chocolate Chunks. No doubt you already know the Callebaut name as a maker of fine professional quality baking chocolate. Here, semisweet chocolate is mixed with vanilla and ground chocolate for rich, smooth tasting chunks that meld the complex bitterness of coffee with the more mellow, slightly sweet taste of chocolate. A 16-ounce bag sells for $8.95 on the King Arthur Flour site.

Espresso chocolate chunks.

In keeping with the theme, I adapted an oatmeal recipe from — where else? — the “King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion” (Countryman Press). I’ve had this book for five years, ever since it came out. What I love about this book is that it provides numerous variations of the same recipe. For instance, if you’re looking to make an oatmeal cookie as I was, you’ll find a chewy version, a crunchy version, a crisp variety, a soft one, and even others for a “Date-Stuffed Oatmeal Sandwich” and a “Flourless Oatmeal Drop.” Read more

Crazy Good Cocoa Nib Cookies, Part II

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This innocent little cookie packs a wallop of chocolaty goodness.

This cookie is nothing fancy to look at. But you just might want to brace yourself as its powerhouse of chocolate flavor is sure to floor you.

It’s hard to believe there are only three — yup, count ’em — tablespoons of cocoa powder in the entire batch of cookies.

You’d swear with a chocolate taste this intense that I dumped the entire can of cocoa powder in there, and then some.

But nope, it’s just that little bit along with 1/4 cup of pulverized cocoa nibs that makes these treats taste like a deep, rich cup of hot cocoa in cookie form.

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