It is cookie season. From Halloween to New Year’s, we probably bake half the year’s cookies as we celebrate one day, one weekend after another. Oh, we may make them or, if you are near Boston, you might buy cookies. Judy Rosenberg has a fleet of cookie stores there, wonderful bakeries offering the treats that appear in her four books.
This book, with the very long title Rosie’s Bakery Chocolate-Packed, Jam-Filled, No-Holds-Barred: Cookie Book, appeared in1996. As my wife Suzi says, “It’s a lovely book. A book to love.”
The organization here is by texture with chapters for:
- Chewy Crunchy
- Crispy Chompy
- Cakey
- Sandwiched Together
- The Bar Crowd
- Tidbits
- Holiday Cookies
Yes, “holiday” is not a texture, but Judy has never abided by the rules. She goes for what works, what you need.
Let me just highlight some flavors you might want to explore. The Bar Crowd has twelve types of brownies including:
Peanut Butter Topped
Chocolate Raspberry
New York Cheesecake
Sour Cherry Cheesecake
Chocolate Souffle
Toasted Pecan Orange
Chocolate Hazelnut
Bourbon
Chocolate Almond
Butterscotch Chocolate Chip
White Chocolate Macadamia
That list should give you some insight into why Judy has a Boston area cookie empire. While flavor is essential, so is ease for Judy. She wants you to bake at home. With confidence, and success, and speed. So that Bourbon Brownie could not be simpler with an ingredient list of:
- 5 ounces unsweetened chocolate
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butte
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 9 tablespoons bourbon
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
That’s over a half cup of bourbon. And all the batter goes in a 9-inch pan. This brownie is going to be deep in size and redolent in bourbon flavor. Probably not a cookie you want the kids to chow down on. But, heck, you are going to make these for you, not them.
I’m making this brownie for me [and Suzi] this weekend. I’ll post the recipe.
Ah, since it is the holidays, I’ll probably knock off one of her holiday cookies, too. She offers such a selection including:
Molasses Ginger
Pecan Crescents
Vanilla Kipfel
Chocolate Snowballs
Cream Cheese Rugalach
Sour Cream Rugalach
Those Kipfel? Nutty, buttery crescents made with two vanilla beans and rolled in vanilla sugar.
If you need a cookie book, then here is a most flavorful solution. Just be stocked up on butter and sugar. And bourbon.