Interesting cookie recipes?
June 18, 2021 11:50 AM   Subscribe

I'm enjoying branching out with my baking. I've got a repertoire of standards (chocolate chip, roll cookie, etc.). I've recently enjoyed making more interesting recipes, like rugelach, alfajores, and kolaczki. Can you recommend some other cookies/biscuits/bars with interesting textures and flavor profiles?

Bars or cookies are fine; cakey/muffin-y things are also good. I avoid nuts, peanuts, and sesame for allergy reasons. Otherwise, I'm open and looking forward to experimenting with different doughs, textures, and flavors beyond the usual US chocolate chip, snickerdoodle, oatmeal raisin standards. Links to favorite recipes are welcome but not required, as I'm happy to research and experiment a bit on my own. Thanks!
posted by stillmoving to Food & Drink (23 answers total) 32 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: Boozy Ginger Cookies are my go-to holiday treat. They are (the way they come out for me anyway) a little cakey and soft at first, but they keep well and are more toothsome a few days later. I love them with coffee!

Servings: 2 dozen cookies
Prep Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Ready In: 1 hour 35 minutes

Ingredients
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup unsulphured molasses
3 tablespoons Bourbon
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground pink peppercorns (optional)
1 cup sanding sugar, or Demerara Sugar

Instructions
Cream the butter and sugars on high speed together using a stand mixer or hand held mixer, until light a fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
Beat in the molasses, Bourbon, egg, and vanilla extract until well combined, another minute.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and pink pepper.
Using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, add the dry ingredients into the butter and eggs, folding to combine.
Mix the dough evenly, and then refrigerate covered for an hour until the dough is well chilled.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Drop the dough in and spread out 2 inches apart on the baking sheet.
Bake in the middle rack of the oven for 12-15 minutes, until slightly chewy.
Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack.
Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.
posted by Medieval Maven at 11:55 AM on June 18, 2021 [3 favorites]


Best answer: I got a lot of good answers in the cardamom licorice rose spectrum when I asked a while ago. The chocolate licorice cookies were fab.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 11:55 AM on June 18, 2021


Best answer: Springerles and other pressed / molded cookies are an area. Bonus: you get to collect molds. Downside same.
posted by away for regrooving at 12:05 PM on June 18, 2021


Best answer: I love this savory-ish Everything Bagel Rugelach recipe from serious eats. Just super fun to have a different take on rugelach. It has you make your own everything bagel seasoning so you could just skip the sesame.
posted by obfuscation at 12:13 PM on June 18, 2021


Best answer: White Chocolate, Rosemary and Apricot Cookies

makes about 36 cookies

INGREDIENTS
2 sticks butter
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup buckwheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
½ teaspoon flaky sea salt (or regular salt)
½ cup chopped dried apricots (you won't go wrong adding more!)
½ cup white chocolate chips
½ cup sanding sugar (or regular sugar, if that’s what you have on hand)

DIRECTIONS
Whisk the flours, baking soda, and salt in small bowl, and set aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat the butter, the sugars, and vanilla extract until creamy.

Add the egg and stir until combined.

Gradually mix in flour mixture, but DO NOT over mix.

Stir in the white chocolate chips, dried apricots and rosemary.

Using a one tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop the cookie dough into round balls and set on a plate.

Roll the balls regular sugar or sanding sugar.

Pop the plate in to the refrigerator for at least an hour, but preferably overnight.

When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350°F.

Drop the dough balls onto an ungreased baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.

Pull the cookie sheet from the oven when finished. Let cool for 2 minutes, then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 12:13 PM on June 18, 2021 [1 favorite]


Best answer: I've been into Claire Saffitz's chewy molasses spice cookies lately. Interesting flavors (as mentioned in the name). To cook them you chill the dough, roll into balls, and then roll the balls in sugar, so you get a nice crispy layer of sugar underneath as well as a more normal sugar-sprinkling on the top. (These are not unlike the "Boozy Ginger Cookies" that Medieval Maven describes.)

Also her minty lime bars.

Actually I would recommend the whole book Dessert Person.
posted by madcaptenor at 12:14 PM on June 18, 2021


Best answer: A general suggestion, but look at the technical challenges for Cookie / Biscuit week on the Great British Baking Show, Great Canadian Baking Show, etc. Those cookies are often really interesting and unusual, and while the contestants don't get all the instructions, the shows generally publish a more complete recipe afterward or you can research your own.
posted by jacquilynne at 12:16 PM on June 18, 2021 [2 favorites]


The first thing that came to mind is these miso peanut butter cookies. Since you avoid peanuts, I wonder if a no-nut butter like sunflower seed butter would work instead. The miso gives a really nice umami kick.
posted by third word on a random page at 1:32 PM on June 18, 2021


Best answer: I'm going to recycle my answer from a bit ago -- use this recipe as a base for exploration:

These pistachio frangiapane cookie / dessert squares are wonderful as advertised with apricot (which I have in the oven right now!), and I'd imagine just as good with nectarines. I've also done them with mango, and they're great. You could probably also use a traditional almond for the frangiapane part, or another nut, pecan maybe?

My notes: first, double the cookie recipe, and for an even more tender cookie, use half or all almond flour. Also, you can get shelled pistachios from Costco or Wegman's (or Amazon), and a quick rinse will desalinate them to a cook-able level. Or get the paste, which is even easier to bake with.

Serve warm with ice cream.

Apricots are in season -right now- so run, don't walk, to the grocery. I've made this twice in the last few weeks, and will make it again tomorrow.
posted by Dashy at 1:45 PM on June 18, 2021 [1 favorite]




Best answer: I've made these lavender cookies quite a few times, and they were well-reviewed by anyone I served them to.
posted by orange swan at 3:17 PM on June 18, 2021 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Hamantaschen!
posted by eponym at 3:31 PM on June 18, 2021 [1 favorite]


Best answer: I made these cookies on a whim once and they're amazing, I find one jar of Bonne Maman jam is exactly right for one batch of small lemon raspberry thumbprint cookies. I've also been very fond of rosemary shortbread
posted by jeather at 3:41 PM on June 18, 2021


Best answer: Russian Goose Feet are in the category you're looking for.
posted by Philipschall at 3:46 PM on June 18, 2021 [1 favorite]


Best answer: These rosemary parmesan cookies are kind of like biscuits and kind of like cookies and I enjoy them and they are good with cheese. This coconut sesame shortbread is always really interesting and unusual, plus delicious. I think you can sub out the sesame for some other slightly oily crunchy thing, I might try pepitas.
posted by jessamyn at 5:24 PM on June 18, 2021


Best answer: Homemade oreos! From SK :). I made these recently for a meeting and people loved a homemade oreo. Note, I use the smaller amount of sugar as I find oreos too sweet and the cookie is still pretty sweet. (also this is reminding me of the Mefi cookie swap, which maybe, just maybe, might be possible this year).
posted by bluesky43 at 8:50 AM on June 19, 2021 [1 favorite]


Best answer: I'm not sold on this specific recipe, but Millionaires' Shortbread - shortbread, caramel, dark chocolate, sea salt - is very delicious and impressive.
posted by mmascolino at 8:55 AM on June 19, 2021


Best answer: Maida Heatter wrote a cookbook "Book of Great Cookies" which has some candidates. I think it may be out of print but available used pretty cheap. One recipe is for Big Newtons, e.g. big Fig Newtons.

Two kinds of cookies that we like in our house are Hermits (spice/molasses bars with raisins) and Joe Froggers (big cookies taken to sea by New England fishermen, at least in legend).
posted by SemiSalt at 9:30 AM on June 19, 2021


Best answer: Brandy snaps are a thin, crispy, caramelized cookie you roll around a spoon handle and then fill the resulting tube with whipped cream. They are quite easy to make. Very unusual and very delicious!
posted by ananci at 10:14 AM on June 19, 2021


Best answer: Ancho Mole Cookies

Your could nix the nuts
posted by lalochezia at 8:14 PM on June 19, 2021


Best answer: On the millionaire's shortbread front, this recipe by Dan Lepard for a black treacle-based variant (the caramel layer is so dark it looks almost like tar) is tried and tested and completely amazing. I didn't boil the caramel for quite long enough, so mine had to be kept in the fridge to keep it stable, but turns out it's good even eaten fridge-cold. If British baking ingredients are hard to come by, the internet suggests substituting light corn syrup for golden syrup and molasses for treacle.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 6:13 AM on June 21, 2021


Best answer: Milk Bar's corn cookies are my go-to here
posted by ersatzkat at 9:56 AM on June 21, 2021


Best answer: At the farmers' market today I got a vegan onion cookie--described as a snickerdoodle with caramelized onions as one of the wet ingredients--and now I'm obsessed with finding a recipe so I can make them at home.
posted by QuakerMel at 4:35 PM on June 23, 2021


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