This month’s Cookies and Kindness recipe is the type of cookie we all need in the deep dark depths of a January winter. It’s got wine in it. Seriously! Some of you may remember that last year, I introduced you to Dorie Greenspan’s latest project, #cookiesandkindness.
The aim: To make the world sweeter.
The method: Bake/Share/Post
This month, she’s chosen a recipe from Baking Chez Moi that is more than a little unusual. Firstly, they don’t have any butter in them. Then, they have wine!
Of these interesting cookies, Dorie says it is:
not surprising when you know that they’re a specialty of the Languedoc-Roussillon region in France’s southwest – it’s one of the non-butter regions of the country and the one that grows more wine grapes than any other part of France. But if the mix of oil and wine isn’t surprising, just about every other thing about these cookies is: Their shape is long, plump in the middle and pointy at the ends; their flavor is really pretty grown-up – first they’re a little sweet and then they’re a little tangy and finally they’re just plain wonderfully mysterious; and their texture is crunchy at the tips and cakey in the center, at least it is right after they’re baked – wait a day or so and the chubby center dries and starts to resemble a great tea biscuit. In fact, I like these best after they’ve had a little time to ‘age’ and to develop a crunchier texture and a more mellow flavor. You can use any white wine or even any rosé you have on hand, but if you a sweet or off-dry wine, you’ll come closer to the original cookies, which are made with Muscat de Rivesaltes, a Roussillon star.
I was a little skeptical about these – I found them a little hard to shape properly (the photo in the book is so much more elegant!) and they seemed a little dry to me. But one bite in, I kind of loved them. Not too sweet and with a definite unusual flavour (the oil? the wine?) that you can’t quite place. They are delicious dipped in espresso (or even liqueur, I’d think?) and I love Dorie’s idea of serving them as an apéro snack with chilled white wine. Note to self: remember this in the summer! I enjoyed these with the Travel section of the NYT.
I took these to school on Monday – we’re in the middle of report-card writing week and figured wine in cookie form would be most welcome. It was 😉 Definitely a “cookies and kindness” kind of moment!
Get the recipe for Dorie’s Olive Oil and Wine Cookies here or on page p315 of Baking Chez Moi.
What cookies will you bake to share? Take part in the #cookiesandkindness movement!
Get baking! Who will you treat this month? If you’d like stickers, tags and cards to dress up the cookies you’ll be sharing, get them here courtesy Dorie’s publisher.
We’d love to see what you’re baking up to share! Use the #cookiesandkindness and #Dories_Cookies hashtags and don’t forget to tag @doriegreenspan and @eatlivtravwrite (Twitter and Instagram). Bake on, people!
Purchase Baking Chez Moi for yourself on Amazon (this link should bring you to the Amazon store in your country) or for free worldwide shipping, buy from The Book Depository.
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These cookies sound very interesting – I’ve never had wine in a cookie before.
Me neither but they were really lovely!
Sounds like we had similar experiences with these cookies. Mine look a little like yours too. They were welcome by my co-workers. Hope you are done with report cards:)
Nearly done with reports! And yes, my colleagues enjoyed too!
good on ya for making and sharing this one…i’m sure they were very appreciated at work!
Indeed they were on a Monday morning!
i just made these a couple of days ago…i liked them a lot with coffee. i totally shaped them like wonky footballs, though!
Not too sweet?…that’s my kind of cookie, especially with a cup of coffee.
We liked these too…made them a few days ago! Boy that twisting was harder than suggested in the recipe!!