Showing posts with label unique flavors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label unique flavors. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

The #1 most asked question.


Often I get asked if I make these cookies to sell. Do I own a bakery? Is there a place where you can get a large quantity of my cookies? The answer is no. I do not own a bakery and there really isn't a place where you can get my cookies. Well, at least not so far. I will extend this offer out: If you want some cookies, you can purchase them from me. They will be made at my home. I do not have access to a liscensed kitchen.

But if you would like to buy some cookies, just let me know and I will make them for you. I suspect I could probably also ship them if it ever became requested.

I think right now the most fair way to decide on a price is per batch. It's a pain in the arce to make a bunch of different cookies so somebody can get a couple of each kind. I suggest if you want to try a few different kinds, get together with some other people and split costs. For example: 4 people each buy 1 batch, then divide up the cookies so each person gets an assortment. If anybody ever wanted to do that, I could easily pack the cookies into an assortment pack.

So.. the details:
$15 per batch. Each batch will make between 18-30 cookies depending on the size.
If you really want a specific size of cookie, let me know. Otherwise, I will use my best judgement.

Particular Flavors Available:
  • Sugar
  • Peanut Butter
  • Classic Chocolate Chip
  • Triple Chocolate
  • Chocolate Peanut Butter (1/2 peanut butter cookie, 1/2 triple chocolate)
  • Molasses Spice
  • Snickerdoodles
  • Oatmeal Raisin
  • Oatmeal Butterscotch
  • Frog Stomps: Spicy molasses cookie with dates, orange zest, and rum
  • Toffee Nut: Nutella cookie with toasted hazelnuts and toffee chips
  • Zinger: Oatmeal cookie with cranberries and candied ginger
  • Black and White Mocha: Triple chocolate cookie with strong flavors of espresso
  • Holy Roller: Sugar cookie with cinnamon & brown sugar spiral throughout. Topped with a cream cheese icing glaze.
  • Pub Crawler: Beer, pretzels, peanuts and peanut butter chips
  • Red Velvet: Light chocolate flavor cookie with white chocolate chips, topped with cream cheese icing and crushed candied pecans
  • What's Up Doc?: Lightly spiced with carrots, pineapple, and toasted coconut. Can also add in walnuts if desired.
  • Mud Puddles: Dark chocolate cookie with a filled Hershey's Kiss (peanut butter or mint) melted in the middle.
  • Or any crazy flavor you can think of.

And yes.. I am also willing to make my brownies, if desired. Brownies $20. I make these as a double batch.
  • Triple Chocolate
  • Uber Fudgey
  • Ange's: Classic brownies topped with peanut butter cheesecake
  • Chocolate Cheese Cake: Classic brownies topped with plain cheese cake
  • 7 Layer Brownies: Brownie on the bottom, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, toasted coconut, walnuts, toffee chips and sweetened condensed milk
  • Chocolate Peanut Butter: Classic brownies, a layer of crushed reeses cups, topped with peanut butter cookie
  • Uber Blondie: Blondie with coconut, macadamia nut, and white chocolate chips
  • Maple blondie: Maple blondie with walnuts, topped with cream cheese frosting
  • Or whatever your heart happens to desire.
Okay, that's about all I got.

Thinking of new ideas

A big part of making cookies comes down to thinking about new ideas for cookie flavors. I guess I'll just hash through some ideas for cookies that might be tasty. Let's see... Okay. I have my thinking cap on. Dusty though. I don't use it very often. Thinking is so over rated. But anyways. Okay.. I have my "ah-ha" lightbulb as well. I think I'm set.

#1. Creme Brulee
The Idea: Creamy vanilla bean sugar cookie. Make an indention right out of
the oven, such as with jam thumbprint cookies. Fill with a custardy pastry cream. Then top with raw sugar and torch to a crunchy top. Yum. Maybe even put a bit of ginger into the pastry cream. Ginger vanilla creme brulee? fab.

The Others: Some others have done the creme brulee cookie. Target has a creme brulee cookie. But it's the "out of the box, tastes like cardboard" variety. Not for me. Park 19 has a creme brulee cookie. They put the crunchy sugar on top. Looks killer. But I feel like it is missing the creamy custard that it such a part of the dessert.

#2: S'mores
The challenge: replicate the graham cracker flavor, have lots of chocolate, and make the marshmallow component taste like it came straight from the campfire.
The Idea: Replace about 1/2 of the flour with finely ground graham crackers. Add a bit of honey to the dough. Incorporate in chocolate chunks, maybe even chopped hersheys bar. Bake it up and fresh out of the oven top with marshmallows. Once the cookie is cooled, take the torch to it and toast up the top of the marshmallows on the cookies.
The Others: So I found quite a few s'mores cookies on the net. Paula Deen has a recipe, but it's more of a Smore made with 2 chocolate chip cookiees. There are also quite a few s'mores bars with recipes on the net. There is also, of course, a Park 19 S'mores cookie. So this is not too original of an idea, but I think my way of doing it may be a bit different. It needs to have that toasted and almost burnt taste on the marshmallows to really embody the treat, in my opinion.

#3: Chai Tea Latte
The Challenge: Make a cookie that embodies the flavors of a creamy chai latte without actually using a chai concentrate. Bring not just the flavors, but the creamy goodness of a steaming latte.
The Idea: Process some black tea leaves in a food processor until very finely ground. Use a sugar cookie base. Add in the actual spices of chai, such as cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, anise, cloves and a bit of pepper. I saw some
recipes that rolled the cookie in cinnamon and sugar like a snickerdoodle. But I think instead I would top it with a honey flavored frosting/glaze to help bring the creaminess to the cookie.
The Others: There are quite a few Chai tea cookie recipes, but they all use a chai concentrate in them. I don't like adding too much liquid to my cookie recipes, so I felt it needed to be spicy
without adding extra sugar and liquid. Also, the other cookie recipes treat it more like a flavored snickerdoodle and I feel it misses the creamy element of the latte.

#4: Tropical
The Challenge: Make a cookie taste like a tropical vacation.. or at least a very tropical drink.
The Idea: Cookie with bits of dried pineapple, toasted coconut, toasted macadamia nuts, and rum. Maybe top the whole thing off with a rum
glaze.
The Others: There are quite a few cookies like this out there as Pina Colada cookies. Most use extracts to come up with the flavors. I prefer the idea of using the real ingredients to bring the flavors out.

#5: Cup of Earl Grey
The Challenge: Make a creamy and ultra sophisticated cookie that almost makes you feel like you are sitting in a coffee shop wrapped in a cozy sweater. An ultimate morning cookie.
The Idea: A creamy sugar cookie base with finely ground earl grey
tea leaves. Add in lemon zest, a touch of honey, and a small amount of finely ground lavendar. No chips, no chocolate. Process some sugar, lavendar, and lemon zest together until finely mixed. Roll the cookie in the lavendar sugar before baking.
The Others: There are quite a few recipes on the net that give recipes for earl grey cookies. Some add chocolate to them as well. I think the difference with my idea is that mine will bring together a bit more flavors to add some complexity.

#6: Poached Pear
The Challenge: Create a cookie that brings together the flavors of red wine and oregon pears. I make a poached pear pie in the fall that has cranberries in it. There is almost no sugar, as all the sweetness comes from the pears and wine. I want to try and bring this same idea into a cookie.
The Idea: A not-so-sweet cookie to start with. Reduced red wine, chopped dried pears, toasted hazelnuts, and dried cranberries. Accent with some grated orange zest and a bit of cinnamon. The idea of this cookie, to me, is distinctly "Oregon". As such, I think it's important to to have the toasted hazelnuts too.
The Others: I found some recipes for italian red wine cookies online, but I can't really find anything that brings in the pear aspect. I always come up with my ideas first, and then look to see if there is anything else like it. At least that way, in my own mind, I can sort-of claim that it was an original idea. Sometimes I have found that there are others that think like me, and have many of my same recipe ideas. Maybe this is a true original?