Cooking
Page 128 in the old book / page 166 in the new book
Zarah and Martin left Friday morning and are now somewhere between here and San Francisco. We had a really wonderful visit capped by a meet-up with several illustrious food bloggers in NYC: Julie, Jen and Luisa. More about all that later - I promise - but first I have a very belated Mondays with Maida post to see to...
These rather plain looking cookies are quite good. They are made with cocoa, lots of butter, and a number of spices: cinnamon, allspice, black pepper, and a pinch of cayenne. With all that spice, I expected them to be spicy hot, but instead found they had a pleasant warmth which complemented the chocolate nicely.
I sliced them slightly too thick - reducing the number of cookies in the batch, but also affecting their texture. I think they should have been crunchy through and through, but instead they were crunchy on the edges only. Even so, I had no complaints about the texture, nor did anyone else.
As Terri suggests, these would be very good with ice cream... in fact I was thinking they would make nice little ice cream sandwiches (maybe strawberry?) Herman is filling in for Suzanne this week in his cookie review debut...
Herman: "...rich, chocolaty... 4/5 only because I like nuts!! Rating - 4.0"
Denny: "Very nice. Chocolaty and not too much spice. I heard the spice before I tasted them and I thought they might be strange, but they are very good. Rating - 4.0"
Laura: "Moist and chocolaty, with just a hint of spice. Very nice! Rating - 4.0"
Terri: "These chocolate "spice" cookies are delicious and light. Not too chocolaty and not too spicy! These would be delicious with vanilla ice cream. (That's OK Cathy, we don't expect that too!) Rating - 3.5"
Overall rating by the panel - 3.9
Next week - Maxines
Nutrition Facts
- Mondays With Maida - Connecticut Date Slices
Page 250 in the old book / page 270 in the new book Though not the most photogenic of cookies, these date slices more than make up for their looks with a warm, spicy flavor that is complemented by sweet dates and raisins. Surprisingly, there are no nuts...
- Mondays With Maida - Wild-honey And Ginger Cookies
Page 161 in the old book / page 199 in the new book These may look much like last week's cookies, but they're quite different in both taste and texture. They have a full cup of honey in them which probably accounts for the almost orange color....
- Mondays With Maida - Whole-wheat Honey Wafers
Page 160 in the old book / page 198 in the new book Last week was the first of a string of plain brown cookies that will be featured here over the coming weeks. This doesn't make for very interesting photos - hence the bow tie on these fellas. Though...
- Mondays With Maida - Peanut Butter Pillows
Page 142 in the old book / page 176 in the new book These Peanut Butter Pillows were a hit at my office. Too bad it was such a small batch! The name may sound delicate, but these saucer-sized cookies are anything but. As Terri said, they resemble little...
- Mondays With Maida - New Mexican Chocolate Icebox Cookies
Page 125 in the old book / page 163 in the new book Rather uncharacteristically, Maida provides no background on this cookie or its origin at the start of the recipe, but I believe these New Mexican Chocolate Icebox Cookies are so named because of the...
Cooking
Mondays with Maida - Wienerstube Cookies
Page 128 in the old book / page 166 in the new book
Zarah and Martin left Friday morning and are now somewhere between here and San Francisco. We had a really wonderful visit capped by a meet-up with several illustrious food bloggers in NYC: Julie, Jen and Luisa. More about all that later - I promise - but first I have a very belated Mondays with Maida post to see to...
These rather plain looking cookies are quite good. They are made with cocoa, lots of butter, and a number of spices: cinnamon, allspice, black pepper, and a pinch of cayenne. With all that spice, I expected them to be spicy hot, but instead found they had a pleasant warmth which complemented the chocolate nicely.
I sliced them slightly too thick - reducing the number of cookies in the batch, but also affecting their texture. I think they should have been crunchy through and through, but instead they were crunchy on the edges only. Even so, I had no complaints about the texture, nor did anyone else.
As Terri suggests, these would be very good with ice cream... in fact I was thinking they would make nice little ice cream sandwiches (maybe strawberry?) Herman is filling in for Suzanne this week in his cookie review debut...
Herman: "...rich, chocolaty... 4/5 only because I like nuts!! Rating - 4.0"
Denny: "Very nice. Chocolaty and not too much spice. I heard the spice before I tasted them and I thought they might be strange, but they are very good. Rating - 4.0"
Laura: "Moist and chocolaty, with just a hint of spice. Very nice! Rating - 4.0"
Terri: "These chocolate "spice" cookies are delicious and light. Not too chocolaty and not too spicy! These would be delicious with vanilla ice cream. (That's OK Cathy, we don't expect that too!) Rating - 3.5"
Overall rating by the panel - 3.9
Next week - Maxines
Nutrition Facts
- Mondays With Maida - Connecticut Date Slices
Page 250 in the old book / page 270 in the new book Though not the most photogenic of cookies, these date slices more than make up for their looks with a warm, spicy flavor that is complemented by sweet dates and raisins. Surprisingly, there are no nuts...
- Mondays With Maida - Wild-honey And Ginger Cookies
Page 161 in the old book / page 199 in the new book These may look much like last week's cookies, but they're quite different in both taste and texture. They have a full cup of honey in them which probably accounts for the almost orange color....
- Mondays With Maida - Whole-wheat Honey Wafers
Page 160 in the old book / page 198 in the new book Last week was the first of a string of plain brown cookies that will be featured here over the coming weeks. This doesn't make for very interesting photos - hence the bow tie on these fellas. Though...
- Mondays With Maida - Peanut Butter Pillows
Page 142 in the old book / page 176 in the new book These Peanut Butter Pillows were a hit at my office. Too bad it was such a small batch! The name may sound delicate, but these saucer-sized cookies are anything but. As Terri said, they resemble little...
- Mondays With Maida - New Mexican Chocolate Icebox Cookies
Page 125 in the old book / page 163 in the new book Rather uncharacteristically, Maida provides no background on this cookie or its origin at the start of the recipe, but I believe these New Mexican Chocolate Icebox Cookies are so named because of the...