Cooking
Page 70 in the old book / page 98 in the new book
These cookies were incredibily easy, with just the most basic of cookie ingredients: butter, vanilla, sugar, egg, and flour. And yet, I'm still not sure that they came out the way they were supposed to. I'm certain they didn't end up shaped as Maida intended...
I thought I did "place the dough neatly and carefully", but nonetheless my cookies failed to "bake into perfect rounds". I opened the oven halfway through the allotted time in order to reverse the cookie sheets and was startled to see thin layers of dough floating on top of a sea of bubbling melted butter. Even when the cookies were done, there was still an excess of melted butter. Although the dough contains a high proportion of butter (1/2 cup butter to 1/3 cup flour), the dough appeared to be of a normal consistency before baking. Perhaps the excess butter was intentional (maybe it was necessary to achieve the browned edges?), but it sure turned me off to these cookies.
I came so close to throwing them in the trash - I put them in the storage container, then started to take them out, then put them back in, then stood there undecided for quite some time. At last, I packed them up, having decided that at least I need to get the cookie panel to taste them. When I brought them into work the next day, I handed out cookies to those on the panel and then, after initially hiding the rest in my office, decided to put the cookies out in their regular place (but without the usual email announcement). I was amazed to see that by afternoon, they were all gone.
Even more surprising, they didn't get a zero...
Suzanne: "I enjoyed this thin buttery wafer. It had a hint of lemon in the flavor. It would have been a great cookie if Cathy had put two of the cookies together with chocolate in the middle. Yum! Rating - 3.5"
Denny: "Too much butter, but I like butter and don't eat enough of it. Rating - 3.8"
Terri: "A buttery delight - wafer thin, chewy, and delicious with tea. This would be a good cookie with a fruit dessert. Rating - 3.0"
Phil: "A wafer thin, buttery cookie with an absence of sweetness. Not a first pick but might be a nice accompaniment to a sorbet or coffee ice cream. As wafer cookies go, stick with the praline with pecans or Norman Rockwell oatmeal varieties sampled previously. Rating - 2.8"
Overall rating by the panel - 3.3
That's a wrap for drop cookies! Next week the bar cookies begin with Petites Trianons. The contest was a bust (no entries), but tomorrow I'll tell you which were my personal favorites from among the drop cookies.
Nutrition Facts
- Mondays With Maida - Arrowroot Wafers From Bermuda
Page 184 in the old book / page 215 in the new book Today we have a very special Tuesday edition of Mondays with Maida... well, very special only in that it is Tuesday. The cookies... not so much. In fact, I'd planned to slip in a late evening post...
- Mondays With Maida - Caraway Hardtack
Page 182 in the old book / page 214 in the new book These cookies are very similar to last week's Hot Butter Wafers, the only differences being that they have considerably more sugar and are sprinkled with caraway seeds. They are sweet, hard and...
- Mondays With Maida - Viennese Almond Wafers
Page 170 in the old book / page 205 in the new book It was probably when I saw those little beads of butter sweat on the parchment that I first had the sinking feeling these cookies were going to be a flop in the office. Cookies oozing butter don't...
- Mondays With Maida - Butterscotch Thins
Page 138 in the old book / page 173 in the new book These cookies were exceedingly thin and very crunchy. They were fairly average cookies, but even so, they were hard to stop eating. It's sort of like potato chips - there's so little to each...
- Mondays With Maida - The Farmer's Wife's Pecan Cookies
Page 47 in the old book / page 81 in the new book What a difference a cup or so of flour makes! These cookies have the same ingredients as last week's cookies, but with more flour, less sugar and less butter. While last week's Praline Wafers...
Cooking
Mondays with Maida - Vanilla Butter Wafers
Page 70 in the old book / page 98 in the new book
These cookies were incredibily easy, with just the most basic of cookie ingredients: butter, vanilla, sugar, egg, and flour. And yet, I'm still not sure that they came out the way they were supposed to. I'm certain they didn't end up shaped as Maida intended...
I thought I did "place the dough neatly and carefully", but nonetheless my cookies failed to "bake into perfect rounds". I opened the oven halfway through the allotted time in order to reverse the cookie sheets and was startled to see thin layers of dough floating on top of a sea of bubbling melted butter. Even when the cookies were done, there was still an excess of melted butter. Although the dough contains a high proportion of butter (1/2 cup butter to 1/3 cup flour), the dough appeared to be of a normal consistency before baking. Perhaps the excess butter was intentional (maybe it was necessary to achieve the browned edges?), but it sure turned me off to these cookies.
I came so close to throwing them in the trash - I put them in the storage container, then started to take them out, then put them back in, then stood there undecided for quite some time. At last, I packed them up, having decided that at least I need to get the cookie panel to taste them. When I brought them into work the next day, I handed out cookies to those on the panel and then, after initially hiding the rest in my office, decided to put the cookies out in their regular place (but without the usual email announcement). I was amazed to see that by afternoon, they were all gone.
Even more surprising, they didn't get a zero...
Suzanne: "I enjoyed this thin buttery wafer. It had a hint of lemon in the flavor. It would have been a great cookie if Cathy had put two of the cookies together with chocolate in the middle. Yum! Rating - 3.5"
Denny: "Too much butter, but I like butter and don't eat enough of it. Rating - 3.8"
Terri: "A buttery delight - wafer thin, chewy, and delicious with tea. This would be a good cookie with a fruit dessert. Rating - 3.0"
Phil: "A wafer thin, buttery cookie with an absence of sweetness. Not a first pick but might be a nice accompaniment to a sorbet or coffee ice cream. As wafer cookies go, stick with the praline with pecans or Norman Rockwell oatmeal varieties sampled previously. Rating - 2.8"
Overall rating by the panel - 3.3
That's a wrap for drop cookies! Next week the bar cookies begin with Petites Trianons. The contest was a bust (no entries), but tomorrow I'll tell you which were my personal favorites from among the drop cookies.
Nutrition Facts
- Mondays With Maida - Arrowroot Wafers From Bermuda
Page 184 in the old book / page 215 in the new book Today we have a very special Tuesday edition of Mondays with Maida... well, very special only in that it is Tuesday. The cookies... not so much. In fact, I'd planned to slip in a late evening post...
- Mondays With Maida - Caraway Hardtack
Page 182 in the old book / page 214 in the new book These cookies are very similar to last week's Hot Butter Wafers, the only differences being that they have considerably more sugar and are sprinkled with caraway seeds. They are sweet, hard and...
- Mondays With Maida - Viennese Almond Wafers
Page 170 in the old book / page 205 in the new book It was probably when I saw those little beads of butter sweat on the parchment that I first had the sinking feeling these cookies were going to be a flop in the office. Cookies oozing butter don't...
- Mondays With Maida - Butterscotch Thins
Page 138 in the old book / page 173 in the new book These cookies were exceedingly thin and very crunchy. They were fairly average cookies, but even so, they were hard to stop eating. It's sort of like potato chips - there's so little to each...
- Mondays With Maida - The Farmer's Wife's Pecan Cookies
Page 47 in the old book / page 81 in the new book What a difference a cup or so of flour makes! These cookies have the same ingredients as last week's cookies, but with more flour, less sugar and less butter. While last week's Praline Wafers...