Evolving Sweetie: Recipe Monday

Saturday - my kitchen turned into a bakery as I prepared dessert for an event that evening. More details of that will follow in tomorrow's post. I spent the afternoon cranking out cookies for up to 40 people. Decided that batches of cookies would be the simplest way to have variety and easy transport. Wanting to evoke memories of comfort and love, I chose to stick with the standards - Chocolate Chip, Gingersnaps and Peanut Butter cookies.

A smile from Chuck always graces my face when I make Chocolate Chip cookies. Being married to a chef, I was loathed to bake just the standard Toll House cookies. I wanted something more sophisticated and special. After working through a half dozen or so recipes and configurations, Chuck gently informed me that the Toll House cookie recipe is a gold standard for a reason. Sometimes, you just need to recognize perfection. From that day on I always use the Toll House recipe while substituting Ghiradelli's 60% Cacao semi-sweet chips and kosher salt for their counterparts. The richer chocolate and the bursts of salt from the heavier salt crystals appeals to my adult pallet, while keeping the integrity of this childhood favorite. A near perfect cookie.

For the other two offering, I turned to a cookbook I picked up at the Seattle Public Library sale a few weekends ago. It's from a little bakery & bistro in Portland, Oregon called Caprial's Bistro. I love picking up cookbook from bakeries and getting a insight into their inspiration and techniques. What drew me to using their recipes for the Gingersnaps and Peanut Butter cookies was they were handed down through the writer and editor's family. Love the sentimentality of it. You'll find these recipes in Caprial's Desserts.

Gingersnaps are my favorite. Partly a nod to my German heritage with spiced cookies, and complete love of black-strap molasses. As an young adult, my mother went through a spell of building my cookie cutter collection with each new holiday. It was a sweet link to many a childhood holiday cookie baking session. But here is my dirty little secret...I HATE sugar cookies!!!! To me they are bland and not worthy of the calories. Ok - there is one cavet - they need to be made by one of the adorable children in my life. But it's like vanilla ice cream. My first job was working at Baskin Robbins dishing up ice-cream. Blew me away that in a world of 30+ flavors that someone would purposely choose vanilla. And it happened more than you'd think. Whew - thanks for letting me get that out! Armed with an arsenal of cookie cutters, I released gingerbread recipes into all sorts of shapes and flights of fantasy.

I'm always in search of the definitive gingerbread and gingersnap recipes each of which is a different consistency. To me the best gingersnaps need to have good spice combination, a hint of crispness and chewy texture. Not a fan of the cookies that you need to dunk in milk to soften enough to bite. This recipe in Caprial's Dessert - Jenny's Great-Grandma's Gingersnaps has just risen to the top of the heap for me. I sprinkled them with some thick clear sugar crystals for sparkle. And I loved that the recipe is now on a fourth generation. Maybe it could have been handed down to me from my own Great-Aunt Jenny. And for a moment when I was stirring them I remember my Pap trying to rename me Jenny-Lynn as a toddler. This recipe is would be a keeper for that alone, but it won me over with it's taste. Lovely, just lovely.

Which brings us to the last offering - Mom's Peanut Butter Cookies from Caprial's Dessert which I again chose to try based on the nostalgic name. Peanut butter cookies are one of my favorites from childhood. I remember Mom making them the size of your hand. They were HUGE and scrumptious. And although my mother would mock my normal sized offerings - the recipe was close to her gems. I even remembered to keep a glass of water to wet the fork while making the trademark crisscross pattern. These cookies were the hit of the evening. And the ones my colleagues reluctantly left behind. So yummy!

Happy Monday!