By Brilynn of Jumbo Empanadas

The NY Times recently had an article
about the ultimate chocolate chip cookie where it was determined that the very best cookie should be baked after aging the dough, use chocolate disks instead of chips and contain a generous amount of salt both in and on top of the cookie. Since that article was published, the cookie recipe has circulated the blogging world with an intensity not seen since the NY Times published an article about No Knead Bread. Home bakers everywhere have been “ageing” their cookie dough in the fridge for up to 36 hours, trying desperately not to eat it all with a spoon during the wait time, (or is that just me?).

The Kitchn, Noisy Stuff, Velvet Lava Cafe, Cookie Madness, Alice Q Foodie, (among many others) have all made these cookies and it seems as though this recipe is showing no signs of slowing down at any time. Joy the Baker has a particularly thorough series of cookie tests where she bakes the cookies at various points in their 36 hour resting period. Her posts are entitled The Chocolate Chip Cookie Debate Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4, after which she decides that sometimes a cookie is just a cookie and shouldn’t bring about such intense scrutinization.

And although chocolate chip cookies are undeniably good, they’re not the only kind of cookie that elicits such excitement. Many people are just as passionate about French macarons. Helen of Tartelette is a macaron master and makes them in the most amazing flavour combinations like Cracked Pepper, Mint and Strawberry,
Cherry Blossom and Hibiscus or Hot Tamale just to name a few. From a master to a beginnie, The Occasional Baker tries making macarons for the first time after being appalled at the price bakeries were charging for a single cookie. After a few attempts that didn’t quite produce perfect macarons, he succeeded using an Italian meringue recipe and made some gorgeous macarons that he filled with lemon buttercream. If you want more macarons, check out the appropriately named Mad Baker who has 24 posts dedicated to macarons alone, all in pretty shades and delectable flavours such as Lavender Macarons with Honey Vanilla Buttercream.

If you’re looking for a simpler cookie, how about a classic like Snickerdoodles? But if you want a new twist, why not add blueberries like Nemmie of Cast Sugar. According to Nemmie, Snickerdoodles have always seemed a little plain to her but blueberries elevate them to a whole new level.

Nicole of Baking Bites uses citrus in her cookies to make Lime, White Chocolate and Macadamia Nut cookies. I love White Chocolate Macadamia Nut cookies and I can only imagine that the lime adds a whole new dimension to an already great cookie. The ever popular Deb of Smitten Kitchen also uses lime in her cookies, this time to make Lime Meltaways using tiny key limes that take forever to juice but that are well worth the effort. Patricia of Technicolor Kitchen uses citrus in her cookies as well, but lemons instead of limes. Once word gets out that she’s making Lemon Poppy Seed cookies I’m sure she’ll have people lining up for them as poppy seeds are now very difficult to find in Brazil. A blog with citrus in the title though not in the cookies, Coconut & Lime, makes a ginger cookie that doesn’t require rolling. In addition to being great on its own, her ginger cookies also make a wonderful base for pies in place of graham cracker crumbs.

As for myself, I think anytime is cookie time and recently I’ve been baking up a storm of cookies from Martha Stewart’s new cookie book. I think I’ll be making some sort of peanut butter cookie next, or maybe chocolate chip, or lime or blueberry or pecan… The possibilities are endless.

For more yummy cookie recipes, try the Foodie View Recipe Search Engine.

You can read more about Brilynn and her love of cookes on her blog, Jumbo Empanadas.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 11th, 2008 at 12:35 pm and is filed under Recipe Roundup. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.