Cookie Quest 1.0

“Chocolate chip cookies should be the worst cookie you make,” says my husband.  To my face.  While I’m awake and can hear him.  And he says this unapologetically as if it were a perfectly natural statement to make to the woman who just baked 2.5 dozen cookies for him (and me, let’s be real).  Granted, I had also just whipped up a batch of Breakfast Cookies, a healthy concoction held together with banana and almond meal whose only resemblance to actual cookies is the shape, so he was feeling a bit deceived at the time.  My initial reaction was of the “What on earth is the matter with you my chocolate chip cookies are delicious it’s your mother’s recipe so we know it’s good how dare you” variety.

After a soul-searching time of reflection over what he intended, I realized that I have exactly two cookie recipes in my repertoire: Chocolate Chip and No Bake Oatmeal, three if you count the aforementioned imposter Breakfast Cookies.  My baking arsenal was seriously lacking.  There are times in life when we are called to step out into the unknown, take a leap of faith and do something courageous.  So I embarked on what I now refer to as The Cookie Quest.  I ventured through a myriad of cookbooks, family recipes, websites, and friends’ favorites.  As a result I’ve added six new cookies, one brownie, and one muffin to my heart-of-hearts recipe list.  By no means am I done, because this quest has been far too delicious and carb-filled to quit.  So without further ado, here are the results of Cookie Quest 1.0:

Newly Conquered Cookies

• Cheesecake Cookies–  Chewy, pale, creamy. Optionally dipped in chocolate.  I prefer them naked because the cream cheese flavor is so delicate that chocolate overwhelms it.
• Chocolate Cheesecake Cookies–  The lovable chocolate (flavored, not dipped) sibling of the Cheesecake Cookie. I used vinegar instead of vanilla in this rendition and adored the tanginess it added.
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies– This mother-in-law recipe entails making a chocolate and a peanut butter dough, both of which require chilling.  My  level of patience (read: none) doesn’t allow for that kind of behavior, but these cookies were worth the work and the wait.  Marrying the doughs to make one ginormous, rich conglomeration of peanut fudgy goodness is the right choice.
• Lemon Sour Cream Sugar Cookies– Bright, airy, and surprisingly biscuit-like, these cookies are a refreshing addition to an otherwise very heavy list.  They come with a zesty powdered sugar frosting which takes the citrus to a new level.
• Gaia Cookies in Bread and Wine by Shauna Niequist– Oats, coconut, walnuts and chocolate chips make this cookie comforting and homey, and completely delightful with coffee.  The recipe also calls for a dried fruit of your choice. Personally I view that as an interruption, but I can see how craisins would give this cookie a lift.
• Shortbread Cookies in Bake Good Things from Williams and Sonoma– I tend to associate shortbread cookies with the blue tins sold at Christmas filled with the tree shaped cracker-cookies sprinkled with sugar.  These are not that.  These are thick, dense, crumbly, and buttery and leave me craving just-one-more.

Newly Conquered Not-Cookies

• Dark Chocolate Brownies in Bake Good Things from Williams and Sonoma– Chewy, miles deep, and intensely chocolate brownies are my favorite.  People who prefer middles will get a delightfully substantial bite out of these, and those who choose edges or even corners enjoy perfect proportions of crust to core.  The dark chocolate chips and unsweetened cocoa take this recipe to a deeper level than a box could achieve.  The stick and a half of butter doesn’t hurt anything either.
• Dirty Chai Muffins– My new favorite breakfast- spicy, moist, comforting and jumbo- what’s not to love? The tops of these muffins are a just a little craggy and not-quite-crusty, while the centers are soft and spiked with coffee and pepper.

Friendly Face Recipes

• Chocolate Chip Cookies– My mother-in-laws signature cookie recipe.  I could tell you, but then I’d have to go into witness protection, so I’m not gonna.  Plus, I firmly believe that perfect chocolate chip cookies are in the eye of the eater.  I want fat cookies with crunchy outsides and gooey middles while others like their cookies flat and wide-spread (silly, but whatever).
• No Bake Oatmeal Cookies– My own mama’s version of these cookies that she produced hundreds of over the course of my childhood.  She’d send gallon buckets (literally reused gallon sized ice cream buckets) of these bad boys with my brothers and I on youth group trips, road trips, field trips, trips of all sizes really and they made us very popular.
• Breakfast Cookies in Bread and Wine by Shauna Niequist– Again, cookies by shape only but “Granola Patties” somehow doesn’t hold the same appeal.  Honestly I really love these because I can eat 2 or 3 for breakfast and still feel virtuous about my morning.  They are gluten-, sugar- and could be dairy-free if you eliminated the chocolate chips.  The oatmeal, banana, almond meal, and coconut really fill me up, and an added teaspoon of cinnamon takes things up a notch.

Most Recent Adventure Recipes

• Gingersnaps
• Snickerdoodles
• Sugar Cookies
• Pecan Shortbread

As it turns out what my husband meant was, “These chocolate chip cookies are so good never make anything less than because I love them.  Also those granola patties over there are not cookies and don’t lie to me by calling them that.”  Leave it to me to turn a convoluted compliment into a mission.  I don’t regret it for a second because it’s created a delightful afternoon activity for my daughter and I, as well as provided breakfast for weeks on end.  Yes, I eat the cookies for breakfast with my coffee every morning and no I don’t care that it’s not good for me.  Also, I now have much more interesting sweet treats to bring to dinner parties and potlucks.

The journey continues; there is now a Cookie Quest 2.0.  My Upcoming Adventure list needs a few more ideas so please leave a comment with your favorites!