cookies
I've included links to the recipes. You may notice that there are six recipes and wonder if there are actually six different types of cookies on that plate. I unpacked one of the cookie packages for this photo and it only had five different cookies in it. I didn't want to rummage through the other packages to find the missing cookie.
Which recipe isn't represented? I don't know. After I mixed all the doughs, I lost track of which was which. I was a little over-cookied to taste them all and sort it out.
I ran into my first problem early on. The New York Times cookie recipe instructions were to mix the butter with a paddle attachment until "very light." Instead, I mixed the butter with a spoon until I got a blister.
The second problem was the temperature control on the oven. It wasn't until after I checked the first batch of cookies that I threw a thermometer in there: 200 degrees, not 350 as the recipe called for and the oven setting indicated. I decided that there was no way that I could really be faithful to the recipes at this point and I completely abandoned them. I shaped the cookies in balls and crescents instead of pressing them. I made the cookies larger than the recipes called for. I baked them until they looked ready.
Were they any good? I've still only had nibbles of most of them. It'll be a while before I'll get excited about eating another cookie. These were a little dry and all of the flavors I added weren't necessarily very prominent. But I used good sugar and good butter and lots of it. I think with a little milk they're perfectably acceptable cookies.
www.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/dining/091crex.html
www.gourmet.com/recipes/2000s/2006/12/pistachio-cranberry...
www.gourmet.com/recipes/1950s/1958/10/brazil-nut-crescents
www.gourmet.com/recipes/1960s/1961/06/brown-butter-cookies
www.gourmet.com/recipes/1960s/1962/07/cottage-cheese-cookies
www.gourmet.com/recipes/1980s/1983/03/norwegian-butter-co...