whistlestop caboose

The view from the back.

My Photo
Name:

www.zidao.com Apprentice harmonizer, for sheer fun. Journeywoman writer, for work and pleasure. Starting point was Iowa, current stopping point on this journey is Switzerland, with frequent pauses around the world to watch and listen to the crowd, and occasionally make comments.

www.flickr.com
Tulips 2006 for Gran ellengwallace's Tulips 2006 for Gran photoset

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

No point in flimsy cookies


I was probably 25 years old or more when I discovered that other people expect chocolate chip cookies to have smooth surfaces with occasional bumps of chocolate, and a golden tone to them. This is not my idea of a chocolate chip cookie, and I claim some expertise.

A quick calculation: over 48 or so years of baking them at least once a month I have probably produced at least 20,736 chocolate chip cookies, and they rarely lasted a day after leaving the hot oven.

My mother was firm about the basic rules of nutrition. One of them, never stated but implied, was that if you were going to eat cookies, you should be sure they had some nutritional value. Our version of chocolate chip cookies was essentially an oatmeal cookie made with dark brown sugar and walnuts.

I have never wavered in the belief that if you bake late at night and can't resist sneaking a cookie for breakfast, it should be a reasonable substitute for cereal. Five years ago I bought a new Joy of Cooking, since my old version was getting ragged around the edges and pages were falling out. I was shocked to discover that more sugar is used in most recipes than 35 years ago, and the sugar is white.

Here is what I think a real cookie should look like. I would have photographed more, but they've disappeared.

3 Comments:

Blogger Sameer Vasta said...

i'm actually more of a fan of oatmeal raisin cookies than chocolate chip, so i think your style of cookie would work best for me! =)

12:38 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

huh...you should really set up an online shop for all these delicious goodies you make - i bet it'll be an instant success!

7:39 AM  
Blogger Wandering through Wonderland said...

i remember making tollhouse cookies with my mother. the best part was the dough—raw eggs and all. i do remember them melting into flat circles, but always delicious. never liked the idea of straying from the original recipe to add M&Ms, but your breakfast cookies sounds like a brilliant idea!

3:37 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home