It is possible that Paul and I actually fought over these cookies. As in, my having having a minor hyperventillation after Paul took about the umpteenth cookie out of the box one afternoon. I just can't keep up with his cookie consumption.

The main reason for this is that these cookies are seriously addictive. I know everyone says that about food these days, but in all reality, after finishing one of these cookies, it's possible you may have an intense, strong craving to eat another. And another. This is largely due to the perfect salty versus sweet battle that goes on in the middle of the cookie. Like I said, addictive.

It may surprise you to find out that these cookies are made with whole wheat flour. The recipe comes from the cookbook Good to the Grain, which, as I was recently packing up our cookbooks, was immediately placed in the "take with us" pile. It's pretty awesome. But when I was making these cookies, I figured the whole wheat flour would have added a sort of goodness, a sort of oatmeal-chocolate-chip-ness to the cookies. It didn't. These taste like straight-up good, delicious, from you best local bakery chocolate chip cookies. You'd never guess there was whole wheat in them. In fact, you're going to be too busy eating them to even bother contemplating the ingredients.


Whole-Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies
I scooped mine with an ice cream scoop which made very big, if absolutely awesome, cookies. You want to scoop them into round balls about an inch in diameter. Don't skip the chilling step, it's essential.

3 cups whole wheat flour
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 ½ tsp. kosher salt
2 sticks (8 oz.) butter, at room temperature, cut into cubes
1 cup lightly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
8 oz. dark chocolate, chopped with a knife

1. Mix whole wheat flower, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and set aside.
2. Place butter in a large bowl, add in both sugars. Cream the butter with the sugar until light, fluffy, and combined, using either a fork or an electric mixer. Add in the eggs and the vanilla until well combined. Slowly stir in the flour mixture until incorporated, then fold in the chocolate chips.
3. Place the dough in the refrigerator to chill for at least one hour. The dough can chill for up to 48 hours.
4. Preheat oven to 350F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
5. Scoop cookie dough out with a large spoon or small ice cream scoop. Place balls onto cookie sheets a couple inches apart. Bake 16-18 minutes - they will still be a bit soft on top. Let cool. Store in an airtight container.

Since we are moving, one of my many (many!) pre-moving goals is to use up as much of our pantry as possible. After all, all those tins of grains and jars of condiments (freekiah from Jordan, Turkish aci biber, honey from Senanque Abbey in Provence) cannot come with us. And while using up that whole bottle of sriracha before we leave is a bit too ambitious, I can easily tackle some of our other pantry staples, even though it might mean we eat a lot of bulgur pilafs in the coming months.

One of the things in the pantry is amaranth flour. I always like to have one or two unusual flours around to play with, things like sorghum, graham, teff or dark rye. Amaranth is a gluten free flour that has a slight sweetness to it (it is a grain, but its leaves can also be cooked and eaten). Amaranth is often used in cookies and cakes, though it is usually mixed with other flours since amaranth alone can have a slightly over powering taste. One of the really nice things about baking with amaranth is that it seems to absorb and hold a lot of moisture, which means that cookies don't spread too much in baking and that flavors like vanilla extract, coconut extract, or liqueurs shine through really brightly.

This particularly recipe incorporates almond flour and amaretto, and the liqueur taste really adds a depth of flavor. This is the perfect snack cookie or lunch box addition, and they keep particularly well.




Amaranth Almond Cookies
This recipe is a great chance to break out your scale if you have one. You can substitute a gluten-free flour mixture for the pastry flour to make these gluten free.

4 ounces almond slivers
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour (3 1/8 ounces)
1/4 cup amaranth flour (1 ounce)
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
7 tablespoons unsalted butter (3 1/2 ounces), softened
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
1 tablespoon amaretto, rum, or brandy
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 Place the almonds and 2 tablespoons of the sugar in the bowl of a food processor. Process until the mixture looks sandy and the nuts are roughly ground, about 15 seconds.

2 Whisk together the two flours and salt in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, cream the butter using either a fork or an electric mixer, until smooth. Gradually add the remaining sugar and beat until fluffy and smooth. Add the egg yolk, liquor, and vanilla and beat until well blended, about 30 seconds. Reduce the speed to low and beat in the nut mixture, then gradually add the flour mixture until it is just incorporated. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill until the dough is firm, at least 90 minutes or overnight.

3 Preheat to 350°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Pinch off walnut-size pieces of the firm dough and roll them between your palms into smooth 1-inch balls.

5 Bake, 1 sheet at a time, until the cookies just turn golden brown around the edges and firm up but still yield to gentle pressure, 17 to 18 minutes. Remove from the oven and carefully slide the parchment paper with the cookies onto a wire rack to cool. The cookies will crisp as they cool.

Just for the record, I am that person- you know, the one in your office who's always bringing in the baked goods. Yep, that's me, though in my defense I never force my wares on anyone, I simply place them on the office communal table or in the breakroom, and by the end of the day the tin always seems to be empty. I love that my office environment allows me to bake with abandon, in the past all those cookies would have sat around the house and ended up on my waistline. Now, I have friends who come to visit me regularly in pursuit of baked goods and idle chat.

I am occasionally frustrated by the limited options of the transportable baked offering, after all, flans and complicated cakes aren't suitable for commuting or serving at work. However, I can go wild with cookies, cupcakes, cheese straws, and all things petite and hand-held. Recently, these spice crackles went over particularly well, if the tin of crumbs I came home with are any evidence. It's a recipe I came up with by adapting a back-of-the-box sugar cookie recipe with a few slight adjustments and a roll in warm cinnamon and cardamom spices. Whoever you bake for, I hope they enjoy them just as much.

Spice Crackles
These spiced cookies are a perfect balance of crunchy edges and soft chewy insides. Be careful though, it's easy to overbake them, in which case you'll have a still-tasty but crunchier cookie. Makes about 3 dozen, though recipe is easily halved.

2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup butter-flavored shortening, or butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, combine sugar and spices; remove 1/2 cup of this mixture to a plate or bowl and set aside. Add shortening/butter to bowl and cream with the 1 1/2 cups sugar mixture until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time until fully incorporated, and add vanilla extract.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. Add flour mixture to butter mixture and stir until fully incorporated.
4. Shape dough into 1 inch balls and roll in reserved sugar-spice mixture. Place on baking sheets, about 2 inches apart.
5. Bake for about 12 minutes, until edges are firm to the touch, but not quite browned (err towards 10 minutes for soft chewy cookies and 14 minutes for crunchy cookies). Cool for a couple minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in a tin.

I started a new job this week and it’s been all I can do just to get there, get back, and take care of all the moving and new house duties. One morning, I bundled myself in the warmest possible coat and headed out the door at 6:30 am, where the moon sat hovering over the Supreme Court like it was midnight not morning. The train was late, my new ID card didn’t work, and after work by the time I’d done everything in reverse and emerged out of the train station almost twelve hours later it was dark once again. I faltered: I’ll never go to the gym again. I’ll never cook again. I’ll never see the sun again. I wanted to curl up in a big arm chair and cover my head with a blanket.

But slowly, as the week went on, I realized that it’s going to be okay. I had to repeat it to myself a few times like a mantra, but it will be. I actually like my commute, the train is great, it’s just enough time to read a bit of a book, and it’s never crowded. I won’t have to get up that early forever. My job is really cool. There’s a gym in my building and I intend to make good use of it. I love my house and neighborhood. Eastern Market is only a short walk away. I also remembered when I was dancing and going to school in New York, keeping twelve hour days, and even then I always cooked for myself. Did I use canned beans instead of from scratch? Absolutely. Did I also find the time to make my own homemade bread and yogurt? You bet. And in a way, being busy makes cooking all that more special. The past few months I’ve had plenty of time to cook, read, and research to my heart’s desire, and I’ve taken full advantage of it. But now that my time is more limited, carving out that space to make something special, unusual, or just comfortingly homemade is all the more dear to me.

Everything in my life right now is new: new house, new job, new car. New to driving, new clothes, new bed, new bills. Which is why culinarily, I don’t need anything new, I need cookies. Not little dainty cookies either, big fat chock-full American style cookies. Chocolate Chunk Coconut Pecan Cookies. Don’t you feel better? I have to say, this is really one of my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes- it’s just got so many things going for it, big chocolate chunks, sweet bits of coconut, soft buttery insides. For you nut-haters out there, the nuts are finely chopped so you’ll barely notice them, but they really add something to the cookies, and with all the stuff in there to hold them together, you can make them super-huge size if you’re so inclined (I like mine a bit more modest). Just make sure to use good quality chocolate, last time I used chocolate that was on the bitter edge of bittersweet, and since it’s in big lovely chunks, you can really taste the difference.

I’ll be tucking a few cookies in my bag this week, and I’m sure my commute’s going to be a lot better.

Chocolate Chunk Coconut Pecan (ChoCoPe) Cookies
It's like the NoLiTa of cookies (or is it TriBeCa?)! Eitherway, this variation on chocolate chip cookies is delicious. If coconut isn’t to your taste I imagine you could try substituting oats for the coconut. Makes 16-20 cookies.

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp instant espresso powder
14 tablespoons (7 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
8 oz good quality chocolate, cut into chunks
3/4 cup flaked coconut, roughly chopped
1 cup pecans, finely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and espresso powder.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large mixing bowl), cream together the butter and sugars until the mixture is smooth, fluffy, and pale in color about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and mix to encorporate, then add the vanilla extract. Gently fold the flour mixture into the batter in two additions. Fold in the chocolate, coconut, and pecans. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 1/2 an hour and up to 4 days.
3. Scoop hunks of dough into fat, 2-inch balls. Place dough 2 inches apart on baking sheets. (Store any extra dough in the refrigerator while the first batch bakes) Bake cookies for 15 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges and slightly soft in the center. When done, slide the sheet of parchment paper and its cookies onto a countertop, cutting board, or cooling rack. Repeat with the remaining chilled dough.

A lot of people say that bakers, because they follow recipes that rely on precise weights and measures, are the more precise (dare we say rigid) of the kitchen staff, while cooks have the liberty to be more free spirits and daredevils in the kitchen. While I do think cooking and baking are different arts, I don't think this classification is at all true. When I read a baking recipe, I read it for the bones of its structure: the proportions of ingredients, the technique, the temperatures. But when it comes to flavor, I say it's open season on experimentation and creativity. You can take a good base cookie or cake or cheesecake recipe and extrapolate it into a million different flavor variations.

I am saying this because experimentation is how I discovered one of my favorite cookie recipes. I came across a recipe one day for Almond-Cocoa Nib Cookies from the lovely Alice Medrich, whose recipes always come out brilliantly. But I had neither almonds nor nibs, and somehow an almond cookie wasn't really tickling my fancy anyway. I do, however, always keep a good supply of pistachios around, and when brainstorming what to combine them with, dried cranberries seemed like an obvious good choice.

When I first made them, back in the summer, I immediately knew they were destined for my holiday cookie box. First of all, they are red and green colored, and I love the long cookie sticks, I can just see them sticking up out of a cup, waiting for Santa. Second, they are supremely easy to make, just blitz in a food processor and cut with a pizza cutter. I've rarely had a cookie so full of flavor and perfectly crisp, there are plenty of pistachio cookies out there, but few made with pistachio meal (ground pistachios). When I was making these for holiday packages, I ended up cutting them into bite size pieces, and then drizzling the cookies with some white chocolate to make them even more festive. My friend joked they were no longer cookie sticks but cookie stubs, but I think anyone who tastes them will simply call them yum.


Pistachio-Cranberry Cookie Sticks
These colorful cookie sticks are perfect for dipping in a glass of milk. For an extra festive touch drizzle with melted white chocolate.

3/4 cup whole pistachios
1 cup+ 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
1/3 cup chopped dried cranberries or dried cherries

1. Combine the pistachios, flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse until it is a fine meal. Add the butter and pulse until the dough looks crumbly. Combine the water, vanilla, and almond extract and add it to the bowl, pulsing until it just looks damp. Add the dried cranberries and pulse until evenly distributed.
2. On a piece of parchment paper, roll out the dough into a 6x9 in rectangle that's 1/2 inch thick. Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Using a pizza cutter or a long knife, cut 3/8 in thick slices and place them on parchment lined cookie sheets, about 1 inch apart. Bake 12-14 minutes, until golden at the edges. Do not over bake, they will continue to firm as they cool.

I don't know about you, but I am so invigorated by fall. The slight crispness in the air, still warm but with a hint of chill, and it seems that light falls in the house in a whole different way that I find newly beautiful. There is a school several blocks from my house, but through some strange configuration of sound waves, I am able to hear the sounds from it's playing field in perfect sharpness through my bathroom window. Standing before the mirror at 8 a.m. I hear the children's shouts, the teacher's whistle.

In my mind, fall is a time of return. A return to school, to work, a return to the sweaters you packed away all summer, to meetings and plans, to the warmth of an old boyfriend's sweatshirt. Girls stand at the bus stop in their pressed school uniforms carrying new notebooks and I'm almost (but not quite) nostalgic for my own school days. It's a time when the leaves return to the ground and when we begin to return to our own kitchens, returning to the soups and stews that we avoided for most of the summer.


For me, it's also a return to baking and to my regular care package sending. Summer presents a challenge to anyone who likes to send homemade goodies through the mail, the potential of your package sitting all afternoon in 100 degree heat is not an appealing thought, chocolate is out of the question. Molasses ginger cookies, however, are just right for the early hint of fall.

For years I've struggled over molasses cookies, mine were tasty, but never quite right. Fancy cakes, delicate macarons, those I can master, but finding a recipe that produced the molasses cookie of my dreams eluded me (that dream cookie, by the way, produced by a little bakery in Maine we visit every summer). Finally, I've found a recipe I'm satisfied with, and it's got two important points. One, you have to use shortening. Two, do not over-bake the cookies, you want the insides to stay meltingly soft, so as soon as the outsides are set and crackly, take them out.

On a final note, those boxes are part of a little kit for packaging homemade treats and were a great birthday gift from my mom (thanks!). I plan on putting them to serious use around the holidays, and in some more care packaging coming very soon.


Molasses-Ginger Cookies
Of all cookies, the molasses-type is one of my favorites. Sometimes I like to make them on the smaller side (like in the photo), but often I like them big, jumbo cookie monsters, you'll want to adjust your baking time accordingly. Also, it's important to use shortening to prevent spreading, look for one that's free of trans fats.

2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon cloves
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar (preferably muscovado)
1/2 cup vegetable shortening, room temperature
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1/3 cup molasses
demerrara sugar for rolling

1. Combine the flour, spices, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl; whisk to blend. Mix in crystallized ginger. In a large bowl using an electric mixer beat shortening and butter to combine, add brown sugar and beat until well-combined and fluffy. Add egg and molasses and beat until blended. Add flour mixture and mix just until blended. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease/line 2 baking sheets. Spoon sugar in thick layer onto small plate. Using wet hands, form dough into 2-inch balls; roll in sugar to coat completely. Place balls on prepared sheets, spacing 2 inches apart, flatten slightly.
3. Bake cookies until cracked on top but still soft to touch and moist inside, about 10-12 minutes (do not overbake). Cool on sheets 1 minute. Carefully transfer to racks and cool.