Crisp-Chewy Fruity Cookie Squares
There are times when I’m decidedly old-school.
I prefer a paper wall calendar — the big kind with pics of the Eiffel Tower or Berkeley Breathed characters on it — to keep track of my appointments rather than my smart phone.
I like to hold a real book in my hands, not a Kindle.
I like to plop myself on the couch on Sunday mornings with the many sections of the New York Times stacked by my side, not an iPad with various newspaper apps loaded onto it.
And there are times when I just want a simple buttery cookie with nothing more than good ol’ dried fruit in it.
Old-school, but oh-so wonderful.
That’s just what “Pebbly Beach Fruit Squares” are. The recipe is from “Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy: Melt-In-Your-Mouth-Cookies” (Artisan), of which I received a review copy last year, by Berkeley’s doyenne of baking, Alice Medrich.
With turbinado sprinkled on top, these are kind of like a sugar cookie sandwich with a filling of your favorite dried fruit, such as prunes, apricots, cherries, dates, cranberries or even dried ginger. Medrich recommends a combo of ginger and cranberries for the winter holidays. I used some especially plump, dried black currants, which I toted back from Quebec last year.
