Cookie

The crisp edge and pillow-soft, chewy middle of these cookies will be the first things that strike you when you bite into them. But it's the faintly peppery traces of ginger that will make you crave more.

They look like the loaded chocolate-nut cookies of your youth, but a bite will reveal their luxurious upgrades: chewy sour cherries that play off the crunch of chopped pecans and the creamy sweetness of milk chocolate chunks. Your adult palate will appreciate the complexity.

This recipe makes plenty of cookies, so bundle up extras (with green ribbon, of course) to send home with guests.

This recipe makes lots of big cookies, but don't even think of saving half the dough for another day, because you won't want to stop eating them. Food editor Paul Grimes, who tested the recipe, has already slipped it into his personal recipe file. "Next time I need a peanut butter cookie," he says, "I'm turning to this." Happily, the recipe works with either conventional or natural creamy peanut butter.

Cornmeal gives these crisp rounds a sandy texture that makes them an ideal cookie for ice cream sandwiches. They're also delicious all by themselves, or with a tall glass of iced tea or lemonade.

These chewy oatmeal cookies are spicy with ginger and not too sweet. Look for candied ginger that's cut into cubes and is not dusted with sugar — it'll be more tender and easier to chop.

Use one, two, or all three toppings.

Two adored classics come together in this dessert lover's superbrownie.

All over Switzerland, tiny macaroons in every color and flavor fill the bakery windows, like rows and rows of candy dots. Almond is one of the classic flavors of these sandwich cookies — and it's particularly nice with the poached apricots and zabaglione.

Cornstarch is one of the secret ingredients behind this traditional crumbly Brazilian cookie. Ground cashews are the other, contributing their distinct brand of richness and nutty sweetness.

A buttery crust is topped with caramel, then a layer of chocolate ganache. The recipe is Granger's take on a traditional Australian dessert. "I used to buy a version of this at school fairs," he says.

Their sweetness tempered by the tang of lemon zest, these little macaroons are the ideal dessert when you're short on time and still craving a fast, fresh ending to dinner.

Ready in under an hour, these shortbread cookies call for all purpose flour, sugar, salt and chilled unsalted butter. These tried-and-true ingredients yield a cookie that's a classic for a reason. 

A dollop of chipotle-cherry whipped cream adds a sweet and spicy note to purchased brownies.

These have a finished, pastry-shop look but require astoundingly little effort. The stacks need to chill at least six hours, so get started early in the day — or the night before.

Crystallized ginger makes these a little different. It's available, already chopped, in the spice section of many supermarkets.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from The Gourmet Slow Cooker: Simple and Sophisticated Meals from Around the World by Lynn Alley. For more on slow cooking, click here. . Who would have thought you could make chocolate chip cookies in a slow cooker? Though they'll certainly look different from what you're used to, the flavor is great and they're easier and less labor-intensive to make. The cookie slices are delicious topped with ice cream, or simply served with a tall glass of cold milk.

Florence Myers of Gainesville, Missouri, writes: "In the late 1950s and early 1960s I was a counselor at an all-girls summer camp in New Hampshire. When we went on long hikes in the mountains, the camp cook, Peggy Ward, would pack up plenty of her wonderful ginger cookies. I've passed that cookie recipe on to many people, including my granddaughter. She tells me that every time she makes the cookies people ask her for the recipe." Old-fashioned flavor in a super-easy cookie.

These cookies, a twist on traditional snowballs, are just the thing to enjoy with a spot of tea.