Cookie

City dwellers, and anyone else who feels that he or she doesn’t get enough time in front of a campfire, can still enjoy the taste of s’mores with these cookies, which cleverly combine the graham cracker–marshmallow–chocolate trifecta. What they lack in the crispy char of the toasted marshmallow, they more than make up for in their ability to be made in advance. They are also one of the most versatile cookies in this book as far as being appropriate for all occasions. Bring them to a family reunion, use them as a butter-up-your-boss gift, serve them with petit fours at a formal affair, or just keep them in a jar at home to treat yourself.

Imagine taking a bite of the edge of a cheesecake, with a chunky piece of crust on your fork and a thin layer of the sweet-and-sour cream cheese filling gracing the crust. Now imagine having that flavor in a bite-size version that you can pop into your mouth by hand. These sandwich cookies are like mini inverted cheesecakes (by “inverted” I mean more crust than filling). The cream cheese icing, which adds a tanginess to the cookie, can be made with or without cinnamon. The sugar in the cream cheese icing acts as a natural preservant, so the cookies can be left at room temperature in an airtight container for a week.

The lime version of the buttermilk cookie is a tart, refreshing treat—perfect for a summer day. You can also easily substitute lemon or orange for the lime; all are especially welcome at brunches or tea parties. This recipe directs you to spoon the icing over the tops of the cookies, but if you like the playfulness of the rounded bottoms from the Mini Black and White Cookies (page 77), you can flip them over and ice the bottoms using the same technique.

This cinnamon-glazed cookie is French toast in cookie form—a breadlike texture with cinnamon-sweet flavor. You can add chopped candied pecans by sprinkling them onto the cookie after it’s iced but while the icing is still wet. This recipe directs you to spoon the icing over the tops of the cookies, but if you like the playfulness of the rounded bottoms from the Mini Black and White Cookies (page 77), you can flip them over and ice the bottoms using the same technique.

The black and white cookie is a New York institution. The version found in almost every corner deli is about three times the size of these, but this smaller one is popular for parties because it’s more manageable to eat in a social setting. At Tribeca Treats customers frequently order them as favors for weddings or black-and-white color-schemed events. Traditionally, the icing is applied to the bottom, or flat side, of the cookie. Doing so helps you create a neat delineation between your chocolate and white icings. Having the rounded side as the bottom also adds a topsy-turvy playfulness when plating them.

Baking sweet peanut butter icing into the top layer of the brownies brings more depth to both flavors and is another way to highlight the ever-popular peanut butter and chocolate combination. These rich treats are a resounding hit at tailgate parties and make a comforting get-well gift for a peanut butter–loving friend.

The mint element of these brownies is incorporated differently from the way the peanut butter was in the previous recipe. Mint extract is added to the base brownie batter and then an additional mint cream layer is made, using a batter similar to cheesecake. The cream cheese layer requires the brownies to be cooked for longer at a lower temperature. The resulting dessert has a rich texture but a somewhat less intense chocolate flavor than the other brownie recipes. The sour tang of the cream cheese also tempers the sweetness of this treat.

At the risk of offending traditional pastry chefs, I’ll admit that I’m actually a big fan of boxed brownie mixes. They’re always easy to make, and since the brownie is such a basic dessert, there’s often no need to get fancy. However, if you do have a little extra time, making them from scratch with good-quality bittersweet chocolate really elevates the flavor and texture, taking them from an after-school snack to a decadent dessert.

The homemade version of the Girl Scouts’ Thin Mints cookies. Need I say more?

While this Ginger Truffle makes a treat appropriate for Thanksgiving and the holiday season, it’s not exclusive to that time of year. With its candied ginger topping, it’s a refreshing chocolate treat even in the summer months. At Tribeca Treats we sometimes offer a variation on this, adding 2 tablespoons of dark rum to the ganache, for our Dark and Stormy Truffles.

These Sandwich Cookies are one of our signature items at Tribeca Treats. They are like homemade Oreos, but the fresh-baked cookies and the buttercream filling make them a richer, more delectable version. These cookies are also delicious when made with the Vanilla Cookie Dough (page 41) or Graham Cracker Dough (page 86) and using a variety of fillings, including vanilla buttercream, chocolate ganache, cinnamon cream cheese, marshmallow icing, peanut butter icing, and caramel. Use your imagination to mix and match and create a wide variety of cookies.

This fondue recipe is more of an accessory to than variation on the Chocolate Cookie Dough, but it makes a fun and unique addition to many desserts, especially chocolate cookies. Served with the cookies and a variety of fresh fruits, this chocolate fondue can make a conversation-starting dessert “station” for cocktail parties or a romantic treat after a dinner for two. This accessory also goes well as a sauce for ice cream or poured over a slice of Rich Chocolate Ganache Cake (page 111).

Royal icing is a sugar-and-egg-white-based frosting that fully hardens, making it a favorite icing for cookie decorating. Its pure white color also makes it easy to mix vibrant colors. Because the eggs aren’t cooked, this recipe calls for pasteurized egg whites, which can be found in most grocery stores, but separated egg whites may be used as well. Alternatively, many specialty cake supply stores sell meringue powder or royal icing powder (see Resources, page 190) to which you need only add water (and sometimes confectioners’ sugar) to mix it. Frosting cookies with royal icing is somewhat difficult and takes practice to do really well, but once you’ve mastered it, it will take your holiday and special events cookies to a whole new level (see For Royal Icing Cookies, page 12).

Sprinkled sugar cookies are the easiest way to make a festive, special cookie in a variety of fun shapes. Making them is an easy activity to involve your kids in (especially younger ones). The cookies are a delicious, personalized gift for grandparents, teachers, or friends. You can stick with one shape of cookie cutter and one color of sprinkles, or you can mix and match for endless variations of this tasty treat.

This is one of the best cookie doughs to keep on hand in your freezer, especially if you have kids. Whether you are in need of a rainy day activity or a last-minute gift, pulling this dough out of the refrigerator or freezer, prerolled, gives you a solution at your fingertips. The only effort you will need to make depends on how you choose to decorate the cookies. Because this is such a simple cookie, imperfections in the dough will be hard to hide. For that reason, it is especially important to beat the butter and brown sugar until they are completely smooth. Any lumps of either ingredient will cause noticeable imperfections in the baked cookie and make the cookie more difficult to decorate.

With its rich dark chocolate flavor and smooth, glossy ganache filling, this cookie easily transcends the basic cookie plate to more formal occasions. A dark chocolate amaretto ganache fills the center, but this recipe can also be made with espresso in the cookie and ganache, instead of amaretto, or you can try it with other liqueurs or flavorings. Please note that the addition of the liqueur or espresso to this dough makes it much softer than the other thumbprint varieties, so the recipe requires a couple additional steps in order for the thumbprints to hold their shape.

This simple, buttery cinnamon sugar cookie—crispy around the edges and chewy in the middle—is one of our most popular cookies at Tribeca Treats. Despite the sugar coating, the butter and salt offset the sweetness, giving the cookie a nice balance of flavors. For a more traditional sugar cookie, you can leave out the cinnamon and coat the cookie with only sugar. Snickerdoodles bake to form a perfectly round, flat shape, so they make a beautiful, simple holiday gift stacked in a cellophane bag and tied with a ribbon.

This cookie is a slightly different base recipe from the chocolate chip cookie recipes, but the basic technique is the same. The brown sugar and oats are the most noticeable flavors in this chewy cookie. For a crunchier version that highlights the raisins more, add 2 to 4 minutes to the cooking time. You can also play around with this recipe by adding semisweet chocolate chips or dried cranberries (or both) instead of raisins.

This cookie is a simple variation of Chocolate Chip Cookies (page 24). By switching out the chocolate chips for white chocolate and coconut, you get something a little more exotic. Play around with this base cookie dough and change up the flavor with a variety of different mix-ins. This particular recipe goes well with tropical themes or summery occasions.

Chocolate chip cookies should be the basis for anyone’s foray into baking. They are simple to make, an all-time favorite, and extremely versatile. Portioned on the smaller side, these cookies can make for a satisfying end to a dinner party or a welcome thank-you gift. The spectrum of chocolate chip cookies is wide, with personal favorites ranging from thin and crispy to soft and chewy. This particular recipe results in a cookie on the softer, more cakey side. It is important to chill the dough thoroughly, for at least one hour, before scooping and baking these cookies. If the dough is too soft when it goes into the oven, the cookie will spread and be very thin.