Cookies

There’s nothing wrong with craving freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. I crave them all the time! What’s wrong is when your cookie craving turns into an all-day project.

The solution? A recipe for exactly two chocolate chip cookies. No clunky mixers. No measuring cups. Just sweet, soft, irresistibly delicious cookies. Two of them, perfectly baked for you and. . .you. 

Graham crackers get their distinct wheat flavor from graham flour, a coarsely ground whole-wheat flour. However, many store-bought graham crackers these days contain far more white flour than wheat.

For our version, we wanted a graham-forward cracker with hearty texture, so we used twice as much graham as all-purpose. Granulated sugar complements the wheat's sweetness and helps the crackers crisp. We also add a little toasty, caramel-like sweetness with a few tablespoons of molasses.

Every morning, my housemate, Quin, makes fabulous steel-cut oatmeal. The night before we decide what flavorings should go in and what time “first oat’’ will be served. Though we get very experimental with our oatmeal (pumpkin/garam masala, for example), we always come back to our standby — cardamom/currant. This flavor combination is just as good in oatmeal cookie form, and very easy to make. We don’t have an electric mixer, so we use plenty of elbow grease to make this dough. 

In Ireland and the UK, a flapjack is a baked bar, cooked in an oven tin and cut into rectangles, made from rolled oats, fat (typically butter), brown sugar and usually Golden syrup or honey. As well as being baked at home, they are widely available in shops, ready-packaged, often with extra ingredients such as chocolate, dried fruit, nuts, yoghurt and toffee pieces or coatings, either as individual servings or full unsliced trayfuls. They are usually an alternative to a biscuit (cookie) or cake, and textures range from soft and moist to dry and crisp.

The most efficient way to bake these cookies is to portion and bake half of the dough. While the first batch is in the oven, the remaining dough can be prepared for baking. Avoid using a nonstick skillet to brown the butter. The dark color of the nonstick coating makes it difficult to gauge when the butter is sufficiently browned. Use fresh brown sugar, as older (read: harder and drier) brown sugar will make the cookies too dry.

Hempseeds are a great source of omega-3 fatty acids. Sweet, nutty, chewy and dense, this snack satisfies that afternoon craving for sweets. Store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Presenting the ultimate treat for the die-hard chocolate fan….

These savory biscotti are ideal for a soiree. Their crisp texture is accented by the richness of parmesan and the bite of black pepper — perfect for nibbling in between sips of wine.