I am a connoisseur of cookies the way some people are connoisseurs of wine (seriously, my next big book project is going to be an ethnographical study of cookies). The experience of being taken aback by eating a cookie, for me, is a state that is difficult to achieve. I have a favorite cookie—a butter cookie made by a pastry shop in Little Italy in Baltimore—the butter flavor packed into the cookie (and the high content of butter) is nothing short of a miracle. If I feel sad about something, I will literally think about these cookies to cheer myself up.
But, it happened. I was taken aback by the deliciousness of a cookie recently. When I was chewing and tasting the cookie, a quote from the Romatic poet John Keats flashed through my head: “A thing of beauty is a joy forever.”
Behold: the Ciderdoodle
We bought the cookies on a recent trip to a local apple orchard. My dear, sweet, wonderful husband takes cider very seriously and is quite the cider-snob, and he will not drink anything available at a store, only direct from the orchard, and the rawer the better. I actually posted to Chowhound, a website where foodies can compare notes, asking for recommendations for an orchard that had good cider and also very good baked goods. I assume that the cookies are a variety of the traditional Snickerdoodle, but incorporate cider. The cookies had the richness and cinnamon of a Snickerdoodle, and a punch of tart tanginess that the cider provided. This is a recipe that I hope to clone. Like Keats sort of says in his poem, even though my cookies are eaten and gone, my joy for them remains so ebullient that it sustains joy. Really, they were that good.
Had any good tastes of fall lately?