Sunday Cookies

Toll House Chocolate Chip!

Triple Coconut Cookies (Good to the Grain)

Feeling decidedly under the weather but Peter leaves for three weeks of your tomorrow and no amount of stuffiness is going to stand between me and sending him off well provided for.

Cranberry-Pistachio Cookies

Guys. These cookies? Are red and green. Whatever insanely brilliant mind discovered that cranberries and pistachios not look lovely and Christmasey together but also taste good deserves some sort of award. If you're looking for a last little recipe to fill out a cookie gift box or to stock up the cookie jar during the holidays, look no further.

Oreos

I was something of an Oreo hound in my teenage years. At my best friend Mia's house there was always a large plastic tub filled with them that I exclusively commandeered every time I went over. Once, when Mia's mom found it necessary to ground me, my punishment was, among other things, no more Oreos. The horror!

Sicilian Fig Bars

When I told Peter that I was thinking of making Fig Newtons, he sounded less than enthusiastic. Fig Newtons were a cookie his mom used to eat when he was little. They were not, perhaps, the coolest cookie around. I've always had a fondness for them, though, and when I saw that Nick Malgieri's recipe for them was called "Sicilian Fig Bars," that just about did the trick. "Sicilian Fig Bars" made me think of lounging around on the patio of a villa outside Siena, munching on a cookie, reading a good book and watching the cypress trees sway in the distance. Who couldn't fall in love with that?

Almond Honey-Whiskey Cookies

Warning. These cookies are definitely for those in the 21-and-over set. It all started that other night when Hallie and I were stress baking our final paper feelings over a bottle of wine. "Hey, look what I have," Hallie said. She said it in this super-casual way that usually portends disaster for the peace of mind of her boyfriend Charlie and her cat Sylvia. "I have a bottle of Jack Daniels Honey Whiskey," said Hallie. "Let's put it in a cookie," I said, taking a large swig and reaching out to replay "Single Ladies" for the third time in a row. Charlie and Sylvia glanced at each other and headed for the back room.

Lemon-Lavender Tea Cookies

I come from a long line of tea drinkers. More specifically, I come from a line of Red Rose tea drinkers. As early as I can remember, as soon as it hit about 7pm my parents would begin their daily ritual of making tea, forgetting it on the counter, then chipperly setting about making more. We Cains rarely vary in our tea tastes. My sister Piper has shirked tradition somewhat by embracing the more radical realm of PG Tips, but I remain steadfast in my loyalty to Red Rose. In fact, it's gotten to the point where one of my boyfriend's favorite jokes is:

Peter: What are you up to?
Me: Drinking tea.
Peter: Oh yeah? What kind?
(proceeds to chuckle heartily to himself for a minute and a half)

Get it? Because I only drink one kind of tea.

But the glorious thing about even the most devoted one-tea people is that we nevertheless embrace all sorts of accoutrements to go along with our daily cup--the odd scone, piece of toast, crumpet, you name it. And when it comes to tea cookies...well, guys, I don't think tea cookies get much more perfect than this.

Cocoa Nib Cookies

Do you sometimes get the urge to bake? Do your urges list towards an intense hit of chocolate straight to the noggin? Look no further, dear reader, for I have the cookie for you. Light on the sweet, heavy on the chocolate; a tall glass of tall milk is an essential ingredient.