thecookieblogger.com

my husband excels at many things. alas, baking and cooking are not two of those skills. now, don’t get me wrong. he can make an excellent pancake. and his version of “clams” is yummy, though not remotely associated with any form of seafood i’ve ever eaten.

so when we were married, i gained a new husband – and five beat-up, old recipe cards he’d brought to our marital kitchen. two were his mom’s recipes for crepes and dumplings (neither of which i can duplicate), one was for his version of cheap coffee cake (which i’ve never attempted), and one was for his version of pizza (ingredients included one phone and one checkbook. order take-out. enjoy!)

that’s only four, you say? well, that’s correct. the fifth recipe card created quite a stir, so to speak. i remember flipping to that card and catching my breath as it stared back at me in horror.

chocolate chip cookies.

now, you must understand that i’d been making chocolate chip cookies for a lot longer than i suspect he had. and my choco chip snacks were pretty darn tasty.

actually, better than that.

they were good.

really good.

and here i had this chocolate chip cookie recipe staring at me, expecting me to just switch camps after years of successful cookie baking, just because i’d had a name change.

okay, perhaps that is trite. but, i’d had a long and successful relationship with my chocolate chip cookie recipe, and now this…this imposter, had wiggled it’s little way into my recipe box. what was a cookie girl to do?

well, i did what any baker would do…i filed his card in the back of the box in the hopes it would be forgotten. ah, but as fate would have it, soon after our vows were exchanged, there came an opportunity to bake the dreaded cookie.

so, i made chocolate chip cookies. my recipe. i thought to myself, ‘he’ll never know the difference.’ and my cookies are so good, they’ll make him forget his own recipe.

but the best laid plans….

he ate the cookies up. and then he asked me if i’d remembered to use his recipe, because they didn’t quite taste the way his had.

what?! he hadn’t swooned over my perfect cookie recipe?? that old recipe card didn’t become obsolete by just the mere whiff of my sweet treats? ack! i was caught red-handed! there was nothing to do but ‘fess up to the dastardly act. and in the spirit of marital compromise, to promise to give his cookie recipe a try.

a few weeks later i did just that. i pulled out that sad-looking recipe card stuffed in the back of the box, and i followed the instructions….and i baked a batch of cookies.

not just any batch of cookies. good cookies.

actually, better than good cookies. very good cookies.

alright, i’ll say it. they were better than my original recipe. yes, it’s true. and i’m not just saying that to score cookie points with my hubby. it’s the honest truth. they are tasty, chocolaty, soft, yet firm. and the key step to their success, i believe, is the ‘overnight in the fridge’ step. it’s amazing how the sugars all meld together, and they make the cookie a much smoother, much richer cookie than any i’d ever baked before.

so, along with this outstanding chocolate chip cookie recipe, i offer you a friendly word of advice: if your husband (or wife) provides you with a cookie recipe, give it a try. you may not know what you’re missing!

chocolate chip cookies a la owen
(in his own words)

2 ¼ cups all-porpoise flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
mix those together and set ‘em aside.

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 – 2 ½ cups of chocolate chips (e.g., a 12-ounce bag or maybe a little more)

get the ol’ mixer bowl. mix the butter, sugar and vanilla together, then add the eggs and beat them thoroughly. once you’ve done that, then add the flour mixture. don’t dump it all in at once unless you want the whole kitchen to be a horrendous white dusty mess. with that done, the cookie dough is ready; now just add the chocolate chips that you haven’t foolishly eaten yet. put the dough in the refrigerator and leave it there for the night.

the hard part: don’t just eat all the cookie dough now. think salmonella.

the next day, heat the oven up to 375 degrees. put the dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet in little cookie-dough lumps. do not eat them yet. put them into the oven for about 10 minutes, or generally speaking until they look like they’re cooked. keep on doing this until you’re out of cookie dough.

now you can eat them.

today, i found myself missing my dad who’s 3000 miles away in florida. we call him poppy. now poppy shares my love of cookies, though we’ve had our friendly disagreements over the years. he likes his oatmeal cookies hard and crunchy, while i’m a soft oatmeal cookie fan. he likes crispy edges on his sugar cookies, while i’d rather something a bit lighter and softer.

but the one cookie we can both agree on are genitas. they are small droplets of sunshine, with lemon infused throughout and a tart, lemon frosting glazed atop. in my bronx neighborhood pastry shops, these italian cookies always seemed a little too dry and crumbly to appeal to my childhood cookie sensibilities. however, as i’ve grown older, i find that one or two of these cookies with a refreshing glass of iced tea, or a strong cup of espresso, can be just the right after-dinner dessert. not too sweet, not too tart. i still dislike the very dry versions of these cookies, but have perfected my own recipe so they are a bit more cake-like, yet still hold the flavor and essence of those original bronx versions.

so, as i prep the batter on these delicious little treats today, i think of poppy. i’m hoping that these genitas will find a welcome spot in your family’s cookie jar, as they have in mine! enjoy!

genitas

ingredients:
3 eggs
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons lemon extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 cups unbleached flour
8 teaspoons baking powder

instructions:
1. preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. in a separate bowl, mix flour and baking powder.
3. with your electric mixer on medium speed, beat eggs, milk, sugar, lemon extract and vegetable oil until well blended.
4. add flour and baking powder on low speed, mixing just until blended. do not overmix – the dough should be sticky and soft.
5. keep a bit of additional flour nearby so that you can dust your teaspoon, your fingers and the dough lightly as you drop them onto the cookie sheet. spacing them about two inches apart, drop a teaspoon of dough onto cookie sheet covered with parchment paper (if you do not have parchment paper, lightly grease your cookie sheet.)
6. bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until slightly browned.
7. remove from oven and carefully remove cookies to a wire rack for cooling. sometimes, these cookies may be crumbly while trying to remove them from the cookie sheet, so proceed carefully! i use a metal spatula, and it seems to do the trick.
8. when cookies are completely cooled, frost with lemon frosting (recipe follows).

lemon frosting

ingredients:
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
3 teaspoons lemon extract
1/2 cup warm water

instructions:
1. place wax paper beneath your wire rack. (this will make for easier clean-up of the surface beneath the cookies!)
2. with your electric mixer beat all ingredients until smooth and syrupy. you may need to add a few more drops of warm water after you have beat all the ingredients, if you find the frosting is too thick.
3. holding a completely-cooled cookie upside down, dip into the bowl of frosting. when the top and sides of the cookie are completely covered with frosting, hold upright and place onto the wire rack. frosting will ooze off the cookie onto the rack and the wax paper beneath the rack, but that’s what you want it to do! the cookie should still be covered with frosting. repeat with all remaining cookies.
4. let the frosting dry. depending upon the humidity, this may take a number of hours. be sure frosting is completely dry before storing.
5. store in airtight container.
enjoy!!

to dunk or not to dunk, that is the question! these anise toasts are some of the most traditional biscotti i remember eating as a child. apart from being the first cookie many italian children eat, they are the perfect adult cookie to be eaten with a demitasse or a cup of strong coffee.

though i’m not a dunker, i do remember adults around me dunking when i was a small child, and i always thought they looked really silly, though quite content. i’m still not sure if the coffee accents the flavor of the cookie, or the cookie flavor melds into the cup of hot brew. in any case, they work well together, and i’ve only grown to love these cookies more as my tastes have matured.

this recipe is based upon a recipe from sweet maria’s italian cookie tray by maria bruscino sanchez. i highly recommend maria’s cookbooks – each one is filled with a delightful array of italian sweets!

anise toasts
ingredients:
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon anise extract (do not use anisette, as the flavor will not be as potent)
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 1/2 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour

instructions:
1. preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. beat eggs, sugar, oil and anise extract together until they are well blended.
3. gradually mix in the baking powder along with 1 – 1 1/2 cups flour until blended.
4. remove dough to a lightly-floured board and knead in the remaining flour. you may not need to use all of the remaining 1 cup, but the dough should not be sticky. Once it loses its stickiness, you’re in good shape.
4. divide the dough into two pieces, and form a 10-inch long loaf
5. line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and place the loaves a few inches apart on the sheet.
6. bake 20-25 minutes, until golden brown and toasty. remove from oven.
7. carefully lift the loaves off the cookie sheets and cool on wire rack. (the easiest way to lift the loaves off the sheet is to use two offset spatulas to lift.)
8. After the loaves are cool, place on a cutting board and using a serrated knife, slice each loaf diagonally into biscuits approximately 1/2 inch thick. place on cookie sheet, leaving a little bit of space between each cookie.
9. bake in 350 degree oven for approximately 11-14 minutes, or until sides of each cookie are golden brown. remove from cookie sheet and cool on wire rack.
enjoy!!

i have been the family baker for as long as i can remember. i can’t recall the actual process of being “taught” to bake, but i do recall snippets of using a measuring cup or rolling out dough at an early age. and of course i remember my cherished easy bake oven. ah, but i digress…

my first vivid and complete recollection of baking cookies ‘outside of the home’ was in the kitchen of the school cafeteria. once in awhile we had the opportunity to take a mini class, and i chose baking with our gym teacher, mrs. panzer. and the first cookies she taught us how to bake were these pudding cookies.

more than thirty-five years later, i still make batches of these for my mom and dad, who eat them heartily, though dad likes them a bit more “burnt” than mom. no matter, a batch from the oven is usually gone within the day.

mrs. panzer’s pudding cookies
ingredients:
1 cup bisquick baking mix
1 package jello instant vanilla pudding
1/4 cup wesson vegetable salad oil
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
sugar to flatten dough
colored sugar to decorate

instructions:
1. mix all ingredients together.
2. drop onto ungreased cookie sheet.
3. dip bottom of glass in sugar, and flatten dough out.
4. add sprinkles of colored sugar.
5. bake for 8 minutes, until edges begin to get golden brown.
6. remove from cookie sheet, and cool on wire rack.
7. enjoy!

Cookies are the ultimate comfort food — at least that’s what I’ve been told by cookie connoisseurs the world over. Bar cookies, drop cookies, cut, molded and shaped cookies — the varieties are delightfully and deliciously endless.

Having said that, it’s always been quite a mystery to me that the best cookie bakers I know lock away their rolling pins, cookie sheets and aprons until the cool days of autumn. Why should those shiny oven walls be denied the heavenly aroma of a tray of freshly baked treats? And why should a cookie-scented home be reserved for only five short weeks each year?

For every season, there is a cookie.

Actually, I’ll take it a step further…
For every day, there is a cookie.

And as the self-appointed Cookie Blogger, I have made it my mission to bake a cookie-a-day.

Now, for all practical purposes, there is no realistic way I could bake and eat a different stack of cookies each and every day of the year. Impossible, no. But realistic, well… with just me, my trim hubby, Owen and our basset hound Goldiehound, there’s no way we could eat the mounds of sweets that would spill from my oven onto my cooling racks.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that we couldn’t eat them. But between the baking and the eating, I don’t think there would be much time left for the aerobics necessary to burn off all those calories.

So, as I embark on my cookie baking adventure, I’ll be tasting one of each batch, then passing them along to unsuspecting friends and family, neighbors and co-workers.

But, what would drive me to bake a batch of cookies each and every day of the year? Well, I’m hoping that my crazed cookie baking will encourage you to reconsider your “holiday-only” baking mantra, pull out those cookie sheets and cooling racks — and get baking cookies. After all, a full cookie jar is a very happy cookie jar!