Ten. The number. 10. It means so much to us. Something is a “ten.” An Olympic gynmist srives for a perfect 10. We have the Ten Commandments.
And now we have the 10th cookbook by Dorie Greenspan. Dorie of Around My French Table fame. Of Baking Chez Moi fame. That Dorie.
Dorie writes about and cooks everything under the suns of her twin homes of New York City and Paris. But, at her heart, in her soul, Dorie is a baker. And she loves cookies. She is passionate about cookies. If you’ve ever had a Dorie cookie, you wondered how to giggle and cry at the same time. Dorie’s cookies are utterly fantastic.
And so, finally, Dorie has rewarded us with Dorie’s Cookies, a volume of cookie splendor that is simply as grand as a baking book can be. This is your cookie dessert island book: if you were headed for a dessert island, and you wanted a cookie book, this is the book you would take. In fact, it might be the onlyh book you’d take. You can live on cookies alone. If they are Dorie’s cookies, as Dorie’s Cookies proves page after page.
Today is October 25th, the official publication date for Dorie’s Cookies. So, you can find it on bookshelves everywhere. You want to get your copy now and you want to begin baking now. I’ve had a preview copy for four months, and I’ve been baking a cookie a week. Yes, I’ll post some recipes here, but it’s all overwhelming. This is a 500 hundred page book with over 300 recipes. Countless color pictures seduce you with their “Bake me first” message. They can’t all be first. But, that’s okay. You can just do one grand cookie at a time.
The recipes are gathered into a handful of chapters:
- Brownies, Bars, Break-Ups and Biscotti
- Cookies for Every Day, Any Day
- Cookies for Weekends, Holidays and Other Celebrations
- The Buerre and Sel Collection [Dorie’s old cookie store!]
- Cocktail Cookies
- Cookie Go-Alongs and Basics
Now, I know, these chapter titles may entice you but there is an intentional vagueness there. What is a Buerre and Sel Collection? Golly, the only way to find out is turn the pages, stifle you urges to salivate, and just start marking the pages you want to return to when it is time to bake. Here is a baker’s dozen of the exceptional creations Dorie offers you here:
Salted Chocolate Caramel Bars
Fudgy Mocha Bars
Coffee Malteds
Double-Buckwheat Double-Chocolate Cookies
Salt-and-Pepper Sugar-and-Spice Galettes
Devil’s Food Wqafflets with Chocolate Sauce
Maple-Star Anise Sandwich Cookies
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Ducle de Leche filling
Greek Honey Dainties
Espresso Chocolate Sables [from that buerre and sel collection]
Coconut Patties
Goat Cheese and Chive Cookies [from that cocktail cookies chapter]
Sweet or Savory Cream Cheese Honey Nut Wafers
A cookbook needs to be judged from many perspectives. Is it seductive? Well-written? Easy to follow? Is the typeface easy to read as you dash about the kitchen? Do the pictures give you an honest portrait of you final product? From all these perspectives, Dorie’s Cookies can only be described as supreme.
The recipes here reflect years of Dorie’s effort to forge new flavors, new cookie ideas that will become instant favorites and surely, ultimately cookie classics. I’ve baked from this book and found every recipe to be a delight: easy to follow, delicious to taste, and welcomed by anyone who wanders into our kitchen. From morning to midnight, cookies make perfect companions and you’ll find may frineds -in-wiating in Dorie’s Cookies.
This is a massive book, one all cookie lovers have waited for with whisks at the ready. The book is out, let the whisking being. The recipes are here for us to embace. And taste. And taste again. Dorie’s Cookies is a perfect book. A true 10.