March 9: Cheddar Hazelnut...Cookies?

Now before any of you come after me with pitchforks and torches ("Cookies are supposed to be sweet, not savoury, rabble-rabble-rabble"!) let me just go on record as saying that I agree. To me, cookies are small, dry sweet courses that contain flour, eggs, sugar and some kind of fat. When you replace the sugar with something else, say nuts or cheese (or both), I would call the resulting product a "biscuit". However in many countries these terms are interchangable, and therein lies the debate.

Whether they're cookies, or biscuits, or savoury cookies or whatever, when I came across a recipe for Cheddar Hazelnut Cookies in "The Ultimate Cookie Book" (published by the Canadian publisher Talonbooks, NOT the Better Homes and Gardens One"), I was agog and needed to try this recipe.

You can make these round or square.

Hazelnutty Goodness!

I love this process for two reasons:

1. I'm being exposed to exotic and unusual recipes and trying new things.
2. I'm learning not only new skills, but things about myself...good and bad.
   

I learned last night that I just can't help trying to make a recipe my own, and that this can--depending on the situation--be both good and bad. I think my artistic creative side is rebelling against the logic and science of baking; sometimes it knows better than the recipe, sometimes it doesn't.

Case in point: This recipe called for 1/2 cup of chopped hazelnuts in which to roll the dough (not to go into the dough). However, I thought that the cookie would have a better texture if the nuts were inluded in the dough, so I added them. I still liked the way the cookies looked when rolled in nuts, so I did that too (read: used more than 1/2 cup of hazelnuts). The recipe also called for 1/4 teaspoon of Cayenne pepper, and given the amount of other ingredients, I thought the Cayenne would be lost, so I doubled it and used 1/2 a teaspoon.

Now don't get me wrong, I LIKE these biscuits, but in hindsight I should have just stuck to the recipe. Having little to no experience baking with hazelnuts, I didn't realize how strong their flavour actually is, and these came out more like "Hazelnut Cheddar Cookies" when I would have enjoyed a more distinct cheddar flavour. HOWEVER, I did like the spiciness of the doubled Cayenne pepper.

Texture!

One other thing: I used old white cheddar because they were out of yellow at the grocery store, but I would try to get yellow next time simply because the biscuits would have enjoyed a nicer colour.

Final Grade: B-. If you follow this Cheddar Hazelnut Cookies recipe the way it's written, however, I'm sure you'd get an A+.

To order these "Cookies for a Cause" please click this link to donate at my Daily Bread Food Bank fundraising page.