a whisk and a spoon

Tuesdays with Dorie DC: Crash-O-Cookies

Crash-O-Cookies are the kind of cookie I think pretty much everyone likes…oatmeal with cinnamon, milk chocolate chunks and plumped raisins. And for those who happen to not be crazy about a particular add-in, they can swap it out or leave it out. I actually used dried cherries when I realized I didn’t have any raisins, and think that dark chocolate would be pretty darn good in these next time, too. They were easy to put together. I did forget to flatten my scoops a bit, so my cookies likely baked up a bit more chubby than they would have otherwise, but I think this actually kept them nice and chewy.

In the spirit of #cookiesandkindness, I shared these with a friend who was in from out of town. He always bugs me for treats when he’s around, but I usually show up empty-handed. He liked these so much, that now he’s bugging me for the recipe! I told him he could see Dorie’s Cookies by Dorie Greenspan, but that since it was also Dorie’s #cookiesandkindness selection for the month of July, the Crash-O recipe and backstory is on her site, too. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and please join us if you haven’t already!

Tuesdays with Dorie DC: Anytime Lemon Thyme-Apricot Cookies

I’ve decided that I’m a fan of what Dorie calls “cocktail cookies”…cookies that that tiptoe the edge between sweet and savory. Like these Anytime Lemon Thyme-Apricot Cookies, that are perfect with a glass of white wine or on a cheese plate. They’re a little sweet and a little salty with the texture of good shortbread. Dorie makes them with fresh tarragon in her recipe, but the herb can be swapped around. I went with lemon thyme, which I had on hand, but I’ve seen that a few TWDers used rosemary, too. Come to think of it, the dried fruit can probably also be played with, but the dried Turkish apricots are lovely here. These are roll-out cookies, and you can certainly cut them into rounds. I went with squares so I could bake off the dough in one go, without any re-rolling or wasted scrap. More snacks, less work. That’s my motto.

For the recipe, see Dorie’s Cookies by Dorie Greenspan. It’s also here. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll. 

Tuesdays with Dorie DC: Coffee Malteds

I love the flavor of malt and I also love coffee, so needless to say, these Coffee Malteds were a hit with me. But while I do love malt, I usually can’t seem to get through an entire container of malted milk powder, so I decided not to go out and buy it just for one recipe. I do happen to have a jar of malt syrup in my fridge, so I added a bit of that instead. I used way less than the 1/4 cup of powder in the recipe– just a spoonful since the flavor is so much more powerful, and since it’s a liquid ingredient instead of a dry. I didn’t get the crumbly dough that the recipe indicated, and I’m guessing it was because of the malt syrup. My dough was a little sticky, so I just gave it a good chill before baking it off. I didn’t worry about it too much…I’ve found that if I am confident that my dough will become cookies or my batter will become cake, then it almost always does (and if it doesn’t, it’s because I’ve really screwed up.)

Dorie makes a special note in the recipe that the cookies won’t look completely done when it’s time to take them out of the oven…this is to keep their chewy texture. One of my favorite things about these cookies is that, because they are chewy, they make fabulous ice cream sandwiches. Try it out with a scoop of coffee ice cream if you make them.

For the recipe, see Dorie’s Cookies by Dorie Greenspan. It was also Dorie’s #cookiesandkindness selection for the month of July, so you can find the coffee malteds recipe on her site, too. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll. 

Tuesdays with Dorie DC: Classic Jammers

Happy Fourth of July! Classic Jammers may be one of Dorie’s best known cookie concoctions, and with good reason. I’ve made a larger galette version of these before, so I knew what I’d be in for…a sweet and sandy sablé base, topped with jam and ringed with sweet streusel. Yes, there are a few steps, some chill time and a little fiddling with muffin tins to get a uniform shape, but the work yields excellent cookies. They’re like little three-bite tarts. In fact, I may have put a little spoonful of ice cream on top of a couple, and it may have been a really good idea.

I admit to having a jam-hoarding problem, so I like that the recipe helps use up some of the random jam jars sitting in the fridge. I tried to get a little patriotic for the holiday and topped some jammers with a dark blue huckleberry jam and others with a deep red cherry jam. After they were baked, though, I honestly couldn’t visually tell the difference between them.  Both jams baked equally dark (as you can see), and it was a crapshoot as to which was which. D’oh! But both were great, so I didn’t mind.

For the recipe, see Dorie’s Cookies by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll.