5 Twists on Cookie Jar Classics
By Lynn Andriani
Try five sweets from a new cookbook that are as straightforward or unusual as you'd like. Peanut butter snickerdoodles, anyone?
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
All bakers know one thing, says Stacy Adimando: When their plate of cookies hits the table, they'll be the most popular person in the room. In her new book, The Cookiepedia: Mixing, Baking, and Reinventing the Classics, Adimando tells us how to make the classics-and change them up if the mood strikes. For Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, her advice ranges from achieving the perfect craggy texture (hint: don't skimp on the oatmeal) to trying interesting new ingredients (she likes dark chocolate chunks and dried cherries instead of raisins).
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Animal Cookies
By keeping their subtle cinnamon flavor, Adimando stays true to the original animal crackers that come in a little box with a string handle, but hers have frosting and sprinkles. Although some experts will tell you to use two layers of parchment paper to roll out dough, Adimando's approach is easier and foolproof: Find a surface that's smooth, won't move and that you don't mind covering with flour. She uses a butcher-block island, but a cutting board is fine too-just put a damp kitchen towel underneath it so it doesn't slide.
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Everything-but-the-Kitchen-Sink Cookies
A mix of sweet add-ins, like peanut butter chips, coconut flakes and dark chocolate chips, and salty snacks, such as Fritos, potato chips and pretzels, make this one hefty cookie. As Adimando says, "If the thought of a crunchy, salty bite blended into this soft, sugary dough doesn't speak to you, well, you have some thinking to do." Her list of other possible additions ranges from Cool Ranch Doritos to wasabi peas to cheese puffs to whole espresso beans.
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Dried Fruit Cookies
Prunes get a bad rap thanks to their popularity among grandmothers and health nuts, but Adimando finds them luscious, flavorful and juicy-and loves putting them in cookies with cinnamon and other dried fruits such as apricots and cranberries. They'll win your heart-and a place in your cookie jar, says Adimando, "before you even have time to realize that, yes, I just said prunes."
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Snickerdoodles
On its own, cinnamon can be smoky, spicy or bitter; only when it's paired with sugar (as it is in this beloved cookie) does it taste sweet and familiar. How could they possibly get any more delicious? Peanut butter, says Adimando. She chops or smashes a few pieces of mini Reese's cups into each cookie or mixes peanut butter chips into the batter. Her best idea, though: Make a spread from butter, peanut butter and sugar, and sandwich it between two cookies.
RELATED: Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups Video
KEEP READING: 2 More Twists on Traditional Cookies
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