March 24: Parmesan Rosemary Cookies

Another savoury cookie!

At first I tried this recipe, but it was gross.

Instead, try this recipe. It is better!

See?

I'm already sold out out of these, but please consider sponsoring me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge! I have other cookies for sale, so make your donation, then email me your order!

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.