Cookies: Proof That There Is No Topic I Can’t Ramble Endlessly On About

A few weeks after we got married, I had a birthday. Bart and I went out for dinner and then Bart’s parents had us over for a little dessert.

Since it was a birthday celebration, you may suspect that Bart’s mother (who is an excellent, excellent cook) had made cake. You would be wrong. She knew that cake was not my favorite dessert and so she had made cookies, which she served with ice cream and cinnamon caramel sauce. Five years later, I still remember it as one of the nicer things someone has done for me on my birthday.

And lately, I’ve been remember just how much I LOVE cookies. I mean, I certainly like the occasional cake, or a square of brownie, but cookies tie with ice cream for my favorite dessert.

I like cookies because they freeze well, it’s easy to eat just one or two without having to get out the entire pan and cut (no extra dishes!), they’re crunchy AND soft. There is such variety in size, texture, and flavor.

Um, did I just write a love letter to cookies? I think I might have. And I am not the least bit sorry.

I remember as a kid making cookies and feeling like, once I’d made the first batch, I didn’t want to keeeeeeeep making them. Now, I’ve solved that problem by halving or quartering most recipes so I only make a dozen or two at a time. Also makes it easier to justify trying more recipes.

I’ve also started enjoying making cookies much more now that I have some essential cooking making tools:

Cookie Making Essentials

• the KitchenAid, of course
• a silicone baking mat (you will never be the same after you start making cookies on one of these – they cook so much more evenly, plus cleanup is easy-peasy).
• a cookie scoop (which I bought when I was trying to use up the end of a gift certificate and now can’t imagine life without. Nice uniform cookies without getting your hands dirty? Sold).
• Cooling racks. My Grannie bought me two when she came out for Ella’s blessing and I love them.

Oh, and it would be rude to not tell you which cookies I’ve made and enjoyed recently:

• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip– I loved these more than is really decent
• Chocolate M&M – Bart has declared these the best cookies I have ever made.
• Iced Lemon
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal – I capitalized oatmeal so you’d know they were different than the OTHER peanut butter chocolate chip cookies
• Oatmeal Coconut – I added chocolate chips because Bart needs chocolate
• Whole Wheat Oatmeal Chocolate Chip – I used big bittersweet chips and it was life-changing.
• Pumpkin Cranberry – I used regular chocolate instead of white because white chocolate is a bad word in our home. And I used cranberries instead of cherries.

Now to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. I think I’m ready to attempt the famed New York Times one.

P.S. I wrote this post a couple of days ago, and then, when Bart mentioned we were out of brownies and needed some new desserts in the freezer, I made a batch of cookies that were a complete failure. They stuck to the pan, they fell apart, they tasted lousy. I guess that’s what you get for writing a post that basically boils down to “I am the cookie master.”