But is it a cookie?
February 8, 2024 11:41 PM Subscribe
I have been assigned to bring cookies for an event. This is for a crowd that would enjoy debating whether something is actually a cookie, along the lines of the soup/salad/sandwich question. So, I'm looking for inspiration of what I could bring that is arguably a cookie, but isn't the expected basic sugar/flour/butter combo.
What are your favorite dessert recipes that are cookie-shaped, could be modified to be cookie-shaped, or could otherwise arguably be categorized as a cookie?
Bonus points for ideas that:
* Aren't TOO complicated. I never bake and rarely cook, but am perfectly good at following instructions.
* Are obviously desserts but aren't quite as sugar-rush carb-heavy as a typical cookie.
Bonus points for ideas that:
* Aren't TOO complicated. I never bake and rarely cook, but am perfectly good at following instructions.
* Are obviously desserts but aren't quite as sugar-rush carb-heavy as a typical cookie.
There was famously a court case over whether the Jaffa Cake was a cookie (err, biscuit) or a cake.
posted by kickingtheground at 11:54 PM on February 8 [13 favorites]
posted by kickingtheground at 11:54 PM on February 8 [13 favorites]
I think you could put ice cream in a tube pan, then slice it and put a cookie in between for a reverse ice cream sandwich. Don't know if that counts.
Meringues are also not too hard and are cookie shaped but arguably not cookies.
posted by blnkfrnk at 12:05 AM on February 9 [5 favorites]
Meringues are also not too hard and are cookie shaped but arguably not cookies.
posted by blnkfrnk at 12:05 AM on February 9 [5 favorites]
Oh! And Cookie Crisp cereal.
posted by blnkfrnk at 12:05 AM on February 9 [9 favorites]
posted by blnkfrnk at 12:05 AM on February 9 [9 favorites]
A nut brittle with finely chopped nuts, set in a thin sheet, sandwiched in rice paper (the kind they use for nougat) to keep it from being sticky. I've had this made with almonds and it was tasty and elegant.
posted by tavegyl at 12:11 AM on February 9 [1 favorite]
posted by tavegyl at 12:11 AM on February 9 [1 favorite]
I'd suggest disks of freeze dried ice cream, but getting access to the equipment in time probably isn't feasible.
posted by Sophont at 12:12 AM on February 9
posted by Sophont at 12:12 AM on February 9
1. use {besan | gram flour | garbanzo flour} - one recipe
2. replace chocolate chips with rough chopped black olives (dried off with paper towel)
should work, there's enough (coconut) sugar to do the engineering while the olives stop it being sickly sweet.
posted by BobTheScientist at 12:23 AM on February 9
2. replace chocolate chips with rough chopped black olives (dried off with paper towel)
should work, there's enough (coconut) sugar to do the engineering while the olives stop it being sickly sweet.
posted by BobTheScientist at 12:23 AM on February 9
Biscotti: cookie, or terrifically stale quickbread?
posted by away for regrooving at 12:41 AM on February 9 [9 favorites]
posted by away for regrooving at 12:41 AM on February 9 [9 favorites]
Ha ha, do we have the same friends? Anyway I think your best bet here is to pick something that is recognizable as not-a-cookie such as a lemon bar or brownie, maybe bake it a bit thin, and cut it into round cookie shapes. You could also bake cookie bars in a brownie pan and serve them as cubes. Which is the real cookie??
posted by slidell at 12:49 AM on February 9 [12 favorites]
posted by slidell at 12:49 AM on February 9 [12 favorites]
Ricciarelli - egg whites, ground almonds and orange peel plus sugar basically.
posted by I claim sanctuary at 1:19 AM on February 9 [5 favorites]
posted by I claim sanctuary at 1:19 AM on February 9 [5 favorites]
You know those cakes that look like realistic random objects?
I think you can see where I'm going here. A cake that looks like a plate of cookies.
posted by amtho at 1:38 AM on February 9 [8 favorites]
I think you can see where I'm going here. A cake that looks like a plate of cookies.
posted by amtho at 1:38 AM on February 9 [8 favorites]
Rice Krispie Bars are so easy to make but the MINUTE you de-pan and then cut them with a round cookie cutter instead of slicing them out in bars, people's minds start the cookie debate.
If you want to get fancy you can dip the tops in melted chocolate.
posted by DarlingBri at 2:14 AM on February 9 [19 favorites]
If you want to get fancy you can dip the tops in melted chocolate.
posted by DarlingBri at 2:14 AM on February 9 [19 favorites]
Black and White Cookie, Whoopie Pies, Italian Rainbow Cookies, Lemon Bars
posted by Champagne Supernova at 2:22 AM on February 9
posted by Champagne Supernova at 2:22 AM on February 9
What about something savory? I have a lemon-thyme cookie recipe that has inadvertently started this debate in the past. Still a standard cookie recipe, but not sweet.
posted by okayokayigive at 3:15 AM on February 9 [5 favorites]
posted by okayokayigive at 3:15 AM on February 9 [5 favorites]
Protein breakfast cookies?
also, I've made meatloaf that looked like a cake, and used mini loaf pans to make cake that looked like bread... that I then sliced and put that together with ingredients to appear as sandwiches, which made them sort of cake-y, sandwich-shaped cookie stacks. (Yes, it was April fool's day, why do you ask?)
posted by stormyteal at 3:16 AM on February 9 [1 favorite]
also, I've made meatloaf that looked like a cake, and used mini loaf pans to make cake that looked like bread... that I then sliced and put that together with ingredients to appear as sandwiches, which made them sort of cake-y, sandwich-shaped cookie stacks. (Yes, it was April fool's day, why do you ask?)
posted by stormyteal at 3:16 AM on February 9 [1 favorite]
Do cookies remain cookies if you slather them in cream and put them in the fridge?
posted by flabdablet at 3:17 AM on February 9 [2 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 3:17 AM on February 9 [2 favorites]
Butterscotch Haystacks (or Chinese Chewie), only need the microwave and 2 ingredients; not too cookie shaped, but can be made to look more cookieish.
posted by BozoBurgerBonanza at 3:35 AM on February 9
posted by BozoBurgerBonanza at 3:35 AM on February 9
Coconut macaroons also come to mind, along with haystacks.
posted by edencosmic at 3:42 AM on February 9 [5 favorites]
posted by edencosmic at 3:42 AM on February 9 [5 favorites]
Cookie cake! Maybe too obviously a cookie but delicious and nostalgic for the 80s mall crowd.
posted by snaw at 3:43 AM on February 9
posted by snaw at 3:43 AM on February 9
Going in opposite direction, you could make a Toll House Pie, which has the essentials of a chocolate chip cookie in pie form.
(Seeing all these great, varied suggestions, I’m tempted to have an “Is it a cookie?” party, where everyone brings something that is, debatably, a cookie.)
posted by Winnie the Proust at 4:10 AM on February 9 [3 favorites]
(Seeing all these great, varied suggestions, I’m tempted to have an “Is it a cookie?” party, where everyone brings something that is, debatably, a cookie.)
posted by Winnie the Proust at 4:10 AM on February 9 [3 favorites]
Rum balls.
posted by SemiSalt at 4:36 AM on February 9 [1 favorite]
posted by SemiSalt at 4:36 AM on February 9 [1 favorite]
Sugar cookies, plus dijon mustard and/or BBQ sauce (pref. sweet KC/Chicago style) as dip. Minds will be blown. Dijon also works well with chocolate chip cookies.
(cookies + non-traditional dip is the mind-killer/durian of snacks. People generalize and assume it will be horrid. Not everyone who tries it likes it, but it's generally better than people imagine)
If you want to be a really difficult bastard, in Glasgow a "cookie" was a largish sweet bun.
posted by scruss at 4:38 AM on February 9 [1 favorite]
(cookies + non-traditional dip is the mind-killer/durian of snacks. People generalize and assume it will be horrid. Not everyone who tries it likes it, but it's generally better than people imagine)
If you want to be a really difficult bastard, in Glasgow a "cookie" was a largish sweet bun.
posted by scruss at 4:38 AM on February 9 [1 favorite]
Magic cookie bars
posted by tiny frying pan at 4:44 AM on February 9 [1 favorite]
posted by tiny frying pan at 4:44 AM on February 9 [1 favorite]
I've been making No-bake date balls, very good.
Mashed up dates, mixed into coconut flour or and almond flour, add peanut butter / toasted sesame oil/macadamia oil /tahini, add cocoa powder, pinch of psyllium husk and a dribble of water to hold it together.
Roll into a cylinder, chill, and cut into disks.
posted by Zumbador at 4:53 AM on February 9 [1 favorite]
Mashed up dates, mixed into coconut flour or and almond flour, add peanut butter / toasted sesame oil/macadamia oil /tahini, add cocoa powder, pinch of psyllium husk and a dribble of water to hold it together.
Roll into a cylinder, chill, and cut into disks.
posted by Zumbador at 4:53 AM on February 9 [1 favorite]
To call out a category, cookies on the border with candy. A couple of commercial entries: Mallomars which are a chocolate covered marshmellow given cookie status by the tiniest disk of what might be called a sugar cookie and Twix which don't really seem like either a candy or a cookie but hide behind the term "bar".
posted by SemiSalt at 4:55 AM on February 9
posted by SemiSalt at 4:55 AM on February 9
It's possible to make a peanut butter cookie using nothing but peanut butter, sugar, and egg. I don't know if that tips it too far into "traditional cookie" for you, but there being no flour may break some brains.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:01 AM on February 9 [3 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:01 AM on February 9 [3 favorites]
I feel like many people would broadly agree that cookies don't contain meat, yet bacon for example has a lot of potential here. Bacon-chocolate biscotti? Dark chocolate disks studded with bacon? Likewise solid fruit, as opposed to jams and similar. Piña colada stacks of pineapple rounds and coconuty cream? That needs some structural element to not be a total mess, but having a thin layer or two of something more traditionally "cookie" could add extra fuel to the debate. Is the entire thing a cookie, or just the wafer/biscuit part? Is it in fact a sandwich? But if you cut it up and put toothpicks through it it'd be more like kebabs. Etc.
posted by teremala at 5:45 AM on February 9
posted by teremala at 5:45 AM on February 9
Chinese sesame balls argued to be a filled cookie
Make scones but roll them quite thin and cut into rounds
Granola bars
There are a few Italian fried dough items that could work
posted by jenquat at 5:57 AM on February 9 [1 favorite]
Make scones but roll them quite thin and cut into rounds
Granola bars
There are a few Italian fried dough items that could work
posted by jenquat at 5:57 AM on February 9 [1 favorite]
I sometimes deep-fry store-bought ravioli. They are delicious. I don't know if they would be less delicious cold, maybe you could do a trial run? Or maybe reheat them in a microwave?
posted by mumimor at 6:20 AM on February 9 [1 favorite]
posted by mumimor at 6:20 AM on February 9 [1 favorite]
I recently made these apple pie cookies: https://www.thepioneerwoman.com/food-cooking/recipes/a41138141/apple-pie-cookies-recipe/
They came out great! I used pre-made/store-bought pie crust and apple sauce because I was trying to use stuff up and the recipe still worked and tasted yummy. The (very simple) frosting/drizzle on top is super easy to make and gives the cookies an elegant finish.
posted by sleepingwithcats at 6:37 AM on February 9 [3 favorites]
They came out great! I used pre-made/store-bought pie crust and apple sauce because I was trying to use stuff up and the recipe still worked and tasted yummy. The (very simple) frosting/drizzle on top is super easy to make and gives the cookies an elegant finish.
posted by sleepingwithcats at 6:37 AM on February 9 [3 favorites]
Fortune cookies? Added bonus of being able to write your own fortunes.
posted by odd ghost at 7:00 AM on February 9 [1 favorite]
posted by odd ghost at 7:00 AM on February 9 [1 favorite]
Mod note: 🍪There are some fresh and piping hot ideas in here, so we've putting this post into the Sidebar and Best Of blog!🍪
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 7:10 AM on February 9 [5 favorites]
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 7:10 AM on February 9 [5 favorites]
Cheese straws! Traditionally, they're piped into little fingers, but there's no reason you couldn't pipe them into wreaths or just straight-up scoop balls of dough to make them round instead. (I haven't made them myself.)
posted by wintersweet at 7:24 AM on February 9 [1 favorite]
posted by wintersweet at 7:24 AM on February 9 [1 favorite]
Oh! I have, however, made Rosemary Blue Cheese Icebox Cookies. They're basically a shortbread. They're delicious and undeniably cookies but people get squirrelly about the whole concept of blue cheese in cookies. I took some to a holiday cookie party and they were quite a sensation.
(Cheese straws are also delicious, though a lot of recipes aren't cheesy enough for my taste.)
posted by wintersweet at 7:30 AM on February 9 [5 favorites]
(Cheese straws are also delicious, though a lot of recipes aren't cheesy enough for my taste.)
posted by wintersweet at 7:30 AM on February 9 [5 favorites]
To my thinking, hamentashen straddle that razor's edge between Cookie and Not-Cookie.
posted by Dr. Wu at 7:45 AM on February 9 [1 favorite]
posted by Dr. Wu at 7:45 AM on February 9 [1 favorite]
Cheddar cranberry cookies! They're very "is this a cookie?" (looks like a cookie, rich and crumbly like a cookie, flavors are very delicious but not cookie)
1/2 c butter
1 1/2 c finely grated aged cheddar cheese (3+ years aged)
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 c toasted chopped pecans
1/3 c very finely chopped dried cranberries (do these in a food processor unless you really love fiddly sticky knife work)
Cream butter and cheese together until light and fluffy (on high if using an electric mixer). In a separate bowl, sift flour, salt and baking powder together. Combine dry ingredients with butter mixture until fully combined. Add nuts and cranberries and mix until fully combined (again on high if using a mixer).
Turn dough out onto a large piece of waxed or parchment paper. Roll dough into a log (no dimensions given, but it's a rich cookie so I go around 1.5 inches in diameter), roll the paper around the log and twist ends shut. Refrigerate for at least 45 minutes. (Can also freeze to bake later.)
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375. Slice log into rounds about 1/4 in thick. Bake for 10-12 mins, until bottoms are golden brown.
posted by EvaDestruction at 7:49 AM on February 9 [6 favorites]
1/2 c butter
1 1/2 c finely grated aged cheddar cheese (3+ years aged)
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 c toasted chopped pecans
1/3 c very finely chopped dried cranberries (do these in a food processor unless you really love fiddly sticky knife work)
Cream butter and cheese together until light and fluffy (on high if using an electric mixer). In a separate bowl, sift flour, salt and baking powder together. Combine dry ingredients with butter mixture until fully combined. Add nuts and cranberries and mix until fully combined (again on high if using a mixer).
Turn dough out onto a large piece of waxed or parchment paper. Roll dough into a log (no dimensions given, but it's a rich cookie so I go around 1.5 inches in diameter), roll the paper around the log and twist ends shut. Refrigerate for at least 45 minutes. (Can also freeze to bake later.)
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375. Slice log into rounds about 1/4 in thick. Bake for 10-12 mins, until bottoms are golden brown.
posted by EvaDestruction at 7:49 AM on February 9 [6 favorites]
In the “definitely not a cookie but linguistically amusing nonetheless” category you have American buttermilk biscuits. Not a cookie, definitely a biscuit.
posted by nat at 8:10 AM on February 9 [1 favorite]
posted by nat at 8:10 AM on February 9 [1 favorite]
Ask a Canadian about butter tarts. (Is a two-bite a cookie? No, but it's eaten like one.) Or those little Dim Sum tarts, but skip the bland, default dan tat and go directly for the Portuguese Pastéis de Nata-inspired po tat.
posted by Rash at 8:24 AM on February 9
posted by Rash at 8:24 AM on February 9
Are blondies bars or cookies? Date bars used to be a thing, they're delicious and ask the same question.
I would bring a whiteboard or posterboard and make charts where people can vote with post-it notes, which would allow you to produce complicated and silly data analysis & charts. By what % is a blondie a cookie?
posted by theora55 at 8:35 AM on February 9
I would bring a whiteboard or posterboard and make charts where people can vote with post-it notes, which would allow you to produce complicated and silly data analysis & charts. By what % is a blondie a cookie?
posted by theora55 at 8:35 AM on February 9
Two-bite brownies?
posted by Enid Lareg at 9:07 AM on February 9
posted by Enid Lareg at 9:07 AM on February 9
These Martha Stewart rosemary butter cookies are right on the line of sweet cookie and not-sweet biscuit/cracker/other.
In another direction, I think there's a lot in the world of Indian sweets that could play into this, e.g. barfi/burfi, soan papdi, among others.
posted by knile at 9:18 AM on February 9 [3 favorites]
In another direction, I think there's a lot in the world of Indian sweets that could play into this, e.g. barfi/burfi, soan papdi, among others.
posted by knile at 9:18 AM on February 9 [3 favorites]
One can make a faux Girl Scout Thin Mint by dipping a Ritz cracker in melted chocolate chips with a few drops of peppermint extract added. Any salty cracker could be quite tasty covered in chocolate and would surely spark the kind of discussion you are wanting.
posted by QuakerMel at 10:08 AM on February 9 [1 favorite]
posted by QuakerMel at 10:08 AM on February 9 [1 favorite]
The traditional Metafilter way to approach this is to start your recipe, whatever it is, with a giant steaming plate of beans and then go from there. Whichever direction you take, it will all turn out just right.
My own thought is something like no-bake cookies. Unfortunately the end result looks and tastes just like a cookie so that's not as much fun, but all the cooking takes places in a pan on the stove rather than in an oven, and they typically lack any vestige of flour, which is the prototypical cookie ingredient.
You could probably present them in a way that is a lot less cookie-like. Just for example, the typical no-bake cookie recipe is not that far off from just a very small bowl of oatmeal with some chocolate and peanut butter added - and those are things people like me might add to a bowl of oatmeal just for fun. So something like a small chocolatey bowl of oatmeal is a potentially interesting almost-cookie thing. It tastes just like a cookie but you eat it with a spoon.
Lemon bars are my personal favorite almost-cookie thing.
Personally I think the most mind-bending cookie-like thing will be something that looks like a cookie but tastes more savory or similar. I can't vouch personally for any of these, but here are examples of, for example, meat-based cookies:
* ‘Mpanatigghi (Sicilian Chocolate-Meat Cookies)
* Animal-Based Beef Cookies
* Brisket Chocolate Chip Cookies
* Meat cookies ver. 1
* Meat cookies ver. 2
posted by flug at 12:13 PM on February 9 [1 favorite]
My own thought is something like no-bake cookies. Unfortunately the end result looks and tastes just like a cookie so that's not as much fun, but all the cooking takes places in a pan on the stove rather than in an oven, and they typically lack any vestige of flour, which is the prototypical cookie ingredient.
You could probably present them in a way that is a lot less cookie-like. Just for example, the typical no-bake cookie recipe is not that far off from just a very small bowl of oatmeal with some chocolate and peanut butter added - and those are things people like me might add to a bowl of oatmeal just for fun. So something like a small chocolatey bowl of oatmeal is a potentially interesting almost-cookie thing. It tastes just like a cookie but you eat it with a spoon.
Lemon bars are my personal favorite almost-cookie thing.
Personally I think the most mind-bending cookie-like thing will be something that looks like a cookie but tastes more savory or similar. I can't vouch personally for any of these, but here are examples of, for example, meat-based cookies:
* ‘Mpanatigghi (Sicilian Chocolate-Meat Cookies)
* Animal-Based Beef Cookies
* Brisket Chocolate Chip Cookies
* Meat cookies ver. 1
* Meat cookies ver. 2
posted by flug at 12:13 PM on February 9 [1 favorite]
Some possible starting points for "Is X a cookie?"
Pizzelle
Cannoli
Frico
Empanada
English biscuit
Southern biscuit
Churro
Another cookie thought experiment: where's the line between "Nilla wafer with banana frosting" (cookie) and "banana pudding with Nilla wafer crust" (not cookie)?
posted by bgrebs at 1:20 PM on February 9
Pizzelle
Cannoli
Frico
Empanada
English biscuit
Southern biscuit
Churro
Another cookie thought experiment: where's the line between "Nilla wafer with banana frosting" (cookie) and "banana pudding with Nilla wafer crust" (not cookie)?
posted by bgrebs at 1:20 PM on February 9
There's a bunch of recipes for cookies with bacon in them. I personally don't think cookies should be savory, but I recently encountered this one and it was delicious: http://www.fairmontmoments.com/food-drink/recipes/desserts/anna-olsons-bacon-cheddar-shortbread-a-favourite-recipe-from-christmas-in-november
posted by elizabot at 2:13 PM on February 9
posted by elizabot at 2:13 PM on February 9
Chocolate dipped salt and vinegar chips could be interesting! Here is a recipe but I would probably use a thicker chip, like kettle chips or something.
posted by goo at 4:40 PM on February 9
posted by goo at 4:40 PM on February 9
Madeleines aren't cookies -- they're tiny seashell-shaped pound cakes. Good gluten free recipe from Bojon Gourmet.
posted by Jesse the K at 5:20 PM on February 9
posted by Jesse the K at 5:20 PM on February 9
blnkfrnk and I have the same answer, because it it the right answer: Genuinely controversial. Nostalgic. Miniature. Has its own jingle.
posted by amtho at 10:57 PM on February 9
posted by amtho at 10:57 PM on February 9
Response by poster: Y'all are so awesome! I now have a too-long list of ideas =)
I'm think I'm going to try making nut brittle circles and meringues ... and if those fail, I'm psyched to try the adorable apple pie cookies. And biscotti. And no-bake cookies. And savory cookies (lemon thyme, mmmm .... blue cheese, hmmmm). And, and, and ....
When I first saw the mod note start to appear while scrolling, I thought "how the heck could this have gone off the rails enough to need mods?!?", then proceeded to be delighted!
posted by Metasyntactic at 12:31 AM on February 10 [2 favorites]
I'm think I'm going to try making nut brittle circles and meringues ... and if those fail, I'm psyched to try the adorable apple pie cookies. And biscotti. And no-bake cookies. And savory cookies (lemon thyme, mmmm .... blue cheese, hmmmm). And, and, and ....
When I first saw the mod note start to appear while scrolling, I thought "how the heck could this have gone off the rails enough to need mods?!?", then proceeded to be delighted!
posted by Metasyntactic at 12:31 AM on February 10 [2 favorites]
I just thought of another thing: raw cookie dough (if you make a vegan recipe, there are no worries about consuming raw egg).
posted by QuakerMel at 6:48 AM on February 10
posted by QuakerMel at 6:48 AM on February 10
Dog biscuits ;)
posted by wormtales at 8:51 AM on February 10 [1 favorite]
posted by wormtales at 8:51 AM on February 10 [1 favorite]
Meringue cookies aka forgotten cookies
https://www.thespruceeats.com/classic-forgotten-cookies-with-variations-3053320
posted by kindall at 9:12 AM on February 10
https://www.thespruceeats.com/classic-forgotten-cookies-with-variations-3053320
posted by kindall at 9:12 AM on February 10
Cookie dough dip made from chickpeas! Very cookie-like but also decidedly not a cookie.
posted by malthas at 1:35 PM on February 12
posted by malthas at 1:35 PM on February 12
Late to this party but thought of another 'two-bite' candidate, the square Pineapple Cakes, specialty of Taiwan.
posted by Rash at 6:24 PM on February 18
posted by Rash at 6:24 PM on February 18
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