Cookie

These understated little cookies are made with three kinds of sweeteners—natural cane sugar, flavorful maple syrup, and coarse, raw demerara sugar—a feat that gives them their subtly complex flavor and crunchy texture. Crisp and buttery, they make the perfect teatime snack or ice cream accompaniment.

The unexpected crunch of cornmeal gives this version of classic thumb-print cookies a distinctly Southern accent. When making these jam-filled cookies, try using several different jams and preserves, such as blackberry, raspberry, and Brandied Figs (page 301).

When we first conjured up the notion of this dessert, we weren’t sure if people would go for the chocolate and basil combination in the mousse. But apparently everyone else dug the combination—the basil’s minty quality freshens up the chocolate taste—as much as we did: we couldn’t make these fast enough. When the scorching Crescent City summer rolled around, the kitchen got so hot and humid that the meringues wouldn’t bake properly (they need dry heat to crisp up), so we had to take them off the menu. We still like to make them from time to time when the temperature finally decides to drop.

No, I don’t have an old Sicilian grandmother, but one of my best friends did, and this is her recipe. You will need 12 to 15 cannoli forms, metal tubes about 5 inches long, available at specialty cooking stores. Or do what I did some thirty years ago: buy 3/4-inch wooden dowels and have them cut into 5-inch lengths. If you use the wooden forms, season by frying them in the oil for a few minutes before using them.

If you’re going to make ginger snaps, you might as well make ’em gingery, right? A combination of fresh and ground ginger does just that. These cookies are buttery and full of flavor, with cloves and cayenne pepper adding an undercurrent of heat. If you like your cookies a little chewy, just take them out of the oven a minute or two sooner.

Talk about a chocolate lover’s dream! The deep, dark secret to these cookies is the addition of cocoa nibs—ripe, fermented cocoa beans that have been roasted, then separated from their husks and broken into small bits. They have a crunchy-crackly texture and a rich, winey chocolate essence that rivals the flavor of the best chocolate-covered espresso beans. They are available in most specialty food shops. Make these cookies when you feel a need to splurge.

These cakelike cookies are so irresistible that we sold zillions of them at Spice Inc., and I still have to make them about twice a year for my friend Daniel when he gets a craving. Although pumpkin tends to suggest fall, these moist, spicy cookies can—and should—be made all year round.

This is the classic almond macaroon. Bet you can’t eat just one!

The best way to describe these tasty cookies is like giant cinnamon Teddy Grahams. You could even make them look like little bears, but that’s only if you have way too much time on your hands. You can bake them to suit your tastes: if you like softer cookies, take them out on the early side; if you like crunchy cookies, leave them in for the full 10 minutes.

These butter cookies are one of my favorite French sweets in the Vietnamese repertoire. With just a few good ingredients, you can quickly bake a batch to serve alone or with ice cream, sorbet, or fresh fruit. When Vietnamese bakers make these cookies, they don’t normally include currants in the batter because the dried fruit is not readily available in Vietnam. They top each cookie with a raisin instead. Although currants are widely sold in the United States, Vietnamese American bakers still use raisins. I prefer to stir currants into the batter to distribute their chewy sweetness, and the results are closer to the original French version.

Heavily influenced by the cuisine and culture of the Middle Kingdom, Viet cooks prepare many classic Chinese sweets, including these cookies. Although Chinese almond cookies are available at Asian bakeries and markets, I prefer to make them myself to ensure that they are full of real almond flavor. The cookies are slightly crispy at the edges and tender in the middle, and have a nice rich color from the glaze. I often make a double batch of this dough and freeze the extra, along with some whole blanched almonds, so that I can simply thaw the dough and bake it up when I crave the cookies.

Keeping a batch of slice-and-bake cookies in the refrigerator at all times is one of the smartest things a hostess can do. Fire up the oven, slice off as many as you need, bake them off, and you’ve got dessert in less than 30 minutes. Thanks to my old friend and pastry chef Jeannie Hemwattakit for lending me her recipe for these delicate, buttery cookie thins, which never last long in the refrigerator or on the cookie plate.

A sensational ending for a dinner party, cocktail party, or just about any event, these rich cheesecake-like bars always draw sighs of pure delight. The recipe comes from my early days as a caterer in Houston. I think they taste best cold, but no matter how they’re served, they disappear quickly.

I love a dramatic dessert at a cocktail party, but I also want a pick-up dessert that doesn’t need plates and utensils. A deep, dark-chocolate mousse that’s piped onto a choice of two very different kinds of cookies fits the bill. Although I like to make both cookie bases and serve them together, you may want to save a little time by choosing to make only one. (Pictured page 204, center and top.)

Here’s an old favorite turned just a little edgy, thanks to the addition of ancho chile powder. Ancho chiles (dried poblanos) have a sweet undertone that combines well with chocolate. For the freshest flavor, grind your own chile powder as directed in the Tip following this recipe. Be advised, though, that some anchos are spicier than others. Taste your ground chiles to check their heat levels and add or subtract the amount added accordingly. (Pictured page 204, bottom left.)

Cookies at Rather Sweet Bakery are very large, and that’s how our customers like them. For a dinner or cocktail party, I prefer small cookies. That way guests can indulge in more than one sweet finale. I’ve found that a dessert tray stocked with a variety of one- or two-bite treats is extremely popular. This recipe is adapted from a sugar cookie recipe given to me years ago by The Austin Chronicle’s food editor, Virginia Wood. Now that I’ve added fresh lemon juice and chocolate, she probably won’t recognize it. (Pictured opposite, bottom right.)

Discovering something new to bake is half the fun of attending potlucks. I’m always on the lookout for new recipes that others might enjoy. One of my servers gave me this recipe, which her grandmother has been making for as long as she can remember. I took these bars to a recent potluck supper, where they drew raves and more than a few requests for copies of the recipe.

Here’s an all-around bar that goes anywhere with ease. I’ve taken it to school dinners, church suppers, and outdoor picnics. The almond paste adds a distinctive dimension that gives the bars a touch of exotic appeal. Canned almond paste can be purchased at most grocery stores. Make sure you buy almond paste, not its similar cousin, marzipan. Food authorities do not always agree on the exact difference between the two, but generally speaking almond paste contains a higher ratio of ground almonds to sugar than marzipan.

My friend Stirling Greenlee’s sense of humor is as well developed as her cooking skills. She admits to being a fervent potluck lover, and I suspect it may be because she says that for years her idea of formal dining was eating from a tablecloth without cat hair. One of her most amusing potluck stories involves a less than successful event where guests were asked to bring something that “reminds you of your childhood.” Much to her horror, everyone brought white food—bland grits, milk toast, angel food cake. “As soon as everyone got out of there I imagine they bolted and went straight to Burger King,” she recalls. Too bad no one thought of butterscotch brownies, a childhood favorite of mine. This version features a sugary, lightly caramelized butter icing that ensures the brownies stay moist and travel well. On top of that, the king-size recipe makes it a top-tier candidate for large potlucks, as well as picnics and family gatherings.

I recently happened upon a sand dollar cookie stamp at Der Kuchen Laden, Frederickburg’s topnotch kitchen store, and snapped it up, thinking what a great hit beach-themed cookies would be during Gulf Coast getaways. For kids summering on Bolivar Peninsula, a day at the beach meant a fistful of sand dollars, sugar shells, and colorful beach glass as smooth and opaque as Texas honey. Sand dollars were the hardest to find because the disk-shaped marine creatures habitually burrow into the sand. We’d swim out to the sand bars and dig for dollars by burying our feet a few inches into the sand and sliding along until our toes hit the critters’ hard internal shells. We’d pluck them out of the sand and haul them home. Popular legend holds that sand dollars are really mermaid’s coins. If I’d heard that as a little girl, I surely would have gathered even more. This recipe is a variation on the common shortbread cookie, without eggs or other leavening, because, according to the cookie stamp people, the rising of the cookies obscures the pattern left by the stamp. Makes sense to me. Although it is expensive, I like to use vanilla bean paste because it has little flecks of vanilla seed in it, giving the cookie a sandy, beach look. It is available at kitchen specialty stores and at many upscale grocers.