Surely we have all licked out the bowl after mum has made cookies. But let’s make it clear what we mean by a cookie. A cookie is a biscuit if you are an American. A biscuit is a cookie if you are British. Something like a scone is a biscuit if you come from the left-hand side of the Pond. Two nations divided by a common language. Suffice it to say The Cookie Dough Lover’s Cookbook deals with the basic dough that, with the addition of eggs, could be baked into something flat and sweet. Raw cookie dough doesn’t contain eggs, to avoid the risk of salmonella and the like.
The author, Lindsay Landis, uses cookie dough as an ingredient. Yes, raw dough sandwiched between baked cookies, dipped in melted chocolate, made into ice cream and as a filling for cannoli. That recipe is rather sophisticated, but picture cookie dough crispy treats. These are an adult-friendly version of those sweet snacks made with that celebrated breakfast cereal that pops, crackles and snaps. This dough contains chocolate chips and is sandwiched between layers of the sticky cereal.
If one wants to feel a bit nobler then consider the Oatmeal raisin cookie dough granola bars. These are rather like home-made energy bars. They contain rolled oats, mixed nuts, shredded coconut and honey. They are flavoured with a little cinnamon, although other aromatic spices could be used.
Get the kids involved and make sugar cookie-dough lollipops. These are trendy: one bite of anything on a stick is the way to nibble these days. This particular lolly treat has frozen rich sweet dough at its heart. These discs of dough are coated with chocolate and will keep for up to 5 days in the fridge …but only if you have forgotten where you’ve put them.
A festive alternative to chocolate truffles are the chocolate-chip dough truffles. These look like glossy truffles but they are filled with rich dough studded with chocolate. One could also substitute rum-soaked dried fruit for the chocolate chips, for the grown-ups. These can be made a week in advance. Novel and dangerously moreish.
An equally addictive dessert is Deep-fried cookie-dough fritters. Chocolate-chip cookie dough is frozen in 1-inch diameter balls. These are dipped into a light batter and then fried in vegetable oil. The dough can be made in advance so this could be the dessert of choice for the end of an autumn dinner party. Dust with a little icing sugar and serve right away. Chances are your guests will be in the kitchen watching – they will be intrigued.
The pick of the book is cookie dough-stuffed dark chocolate cupcakes. One gets a double belt of dough from these. The cupcakes are chocolate and baked in the conventional fashion. A cone of cake is removed from the baked cupcake, and then the pointy bit of that cone is consumed by way of a chef’s perk. The resulting cupcake void is filled with cookie dough and the remaining cap of cake replaced. The frosting is buttercream with added cookie dough. A sprinkle of chocolate chips makes these into dotty delights.
This book is published by Quirk Books in Philadelphia and it is indeed quirky but deliciously so. It’s an original concept and it works: these sweets will make you smile. Your kids will remind you how to do that.
The Cookie Dough Lover’s Cookbook
Author: Lindsay Landis
Published by: Quirk Books
Price: £12.99
ISBN-10: 1594745641
ISBN-13: 978-1594745645
Cookbook review by Chrissie Walker © 2018