"cookie" news and stories

Happy National Cookie Day!

We raved about chocolate crinkles last December and could quite possibly blather eternally about the world's best cookies. Do you favor the classic chocolate chip? The simple but satisfying sugar cookie? The spicy seasonal gingerbread cookie? The salty dash of an almond crescent? Or one of hundreds more whimsical varieties to choose from? It's the season to find out -- and we're taking inspiration from Epicurious' 25 Days of Christmas Cookies.

If you're anything like us and aren't wholeheartedly devoted to one little delicacy, chances are you are lovingly swayed by whatever cookie happens to be in close proximity. But there's one thing we can all agree upon: As New York Times writer David Leiete put it, "Too bad sainthood is not generally conferred on bakers."

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Between my weakness for novel new cookies and my love for artificial banana flavor, I had no choice but to buy a box of these limited edition Banana Split Creme Oreos when I spied them on a grocery store shelf tonight. Opening the package gave me a heady whiff of faux banana, recalling Bonnie Bell Lip Smackers and Laffy Taffy. There's something so 1980s about artificial banana; it's the sunny, unabashedly fake Valley Girl of the fruit flavoring world, cruising the shopping mall in a yellow spandex tube dress.

The cookies themselves are normal chocolate Oreos, with a canary-yellow banana cream that's softer and slicker than regular Oreo filling. The banana flavor is more subtle than the smell might indicate. I think they'd be pretty good crushed over vanilla ice cream. The Nabisco website says nothing about the Banana Split Creme Oreo, so I have no idea how widely available they are or how long they're here.

Back in January we told you about the disappearance of Hydrox Cookies, loved by many but apparently not enough. But fans of the cream-filled cookies take note: they're coming back!

Kellogg is bringing back the cookies in their original recipe, with one big difference: no more trans fats! The cookies will start showing up on store shelves this summer. It's part of the company's way of saying thank you to the hardcore Hydrox fans who wanted the cookies to make a comeback (it's a limited edition, but I'm sure they'll be back for good, right?).

I'm going to get a bag of them and do a taste test with Oreos and settle this "which cookie is better" question once and for all.

Bread is a miraculous thing. It's delicious, it gives you energy, it softens your cookies, and it can help you de-clump your brown sugar.

Simply put your sugar in a microwavable container (read: NOT plastic) and place a slice of bread on top. Seal the container and pop in the microwave for 15 seconds.

Voila. The moisture from the bread and the resulting steam will make the sugar softer and more pliable, allowing you to work on the clumps (as seen in the highly scientific "cookie osmosis" chart above).

via [lifehacker]

Next week I'm starting a new job that requires that I actually leave my house in order to do the work. It's going to force me to change my routine fairly significantly and one of the things I'm going to have to do is get a whole lot more organized about food. I've never been good about making time to eat breakfast in the past when I've done the 9 to 5 gig and so I've been pondering ways to make it easier to ensure that I eat something in the morning.

One thing I'm planning to do is bake up a batch of Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies (my mother's recipe is after the jump). I could go buy myself a box of breakfast bars, but when you make them yourself, you can control what goes into them, ensuring that they are lower in sugar, fat and chemicals than the ones you buy ready-made.

Okay Slashfooders, now it's your turn. How do you make sure that you eat a fairly healthy breakfast each day?

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