My life is so orderly.  Most afternoons I make up a pot of coffee, whip up some cookies, take out my fancy napkins and invite a friend over for coffee.

Nothing is ever out of place.  My hair is always shiny and perfect.  My lipstick never wears off.  I could totally walk down a read carpet… like, now.

My dishes wash and dry themselves… and hop right back in the cupboard where they belong.

Occasionally there are crumbs, but I keep them contained to my lined baking sheets.

Everything is easy and perfect.  You should see just how neat and tidy my closet is. Too good to be true.

And I don’t have to pay taxes…

… oh man… if only that were true.

In real life, no one is coming over for coffee and cookies.  Nope.

I’ll drink the coffee… I’ll eat the cookies… I’ll push the cat away as soon as he realizes there are cookies on the table for him to lick.

My dishes don’t do themselves.  They can’t.  They have no conscience.

Perfect is dumb.  I’m totally over it.

Can I tell you about these Peanut Butter Biscotti?

I love biscotti a certain way.   No teeth shattering crunch.  Lots of flavor.  A little bit of soft cookie give.  Is that too much to ask?

These peanut butter biscotti totally fit the bill.  They’re sugar topped and twice baked , but still have a some softness.  Pecans don’t bake up into teeth breaking monsters… that’s why I like them.

Here’s what I want you to know:  these cookie dippin’ sticks are good.  If your instinct is to add chocolate… we are best friends.

If I could have a phone conversation with the New York Times Dining and Wine (as though NYTimes were a casual friend/maybe date), it would go a little something like this:

NYTimes:  (after 4 rings) Hello?

Joy:  Hey!  Oh, I didn’t think you were going to pick up.  I was expecting to leave a message.  I thought you’d be a work.

NYTimes:  You specifically called when you thought I’d be at work?

Joy:  (Awkward pause) No….. I just thought I could leave a message.

NYTimes:  Well do you want me to hang up so you can call back?  You’re being weird…

Joy:  No!…. It’s just… NYTimes, we need to talk.

NYTimes:  You know what Joy?  I’m not really in the mood for this right now.  I have to be up early tomorrow and I really don’t want to get into anything right now.

Joy: Well that’s too bad NYTimes, we need to talk right now.. It’s about your cookies.  Just listen.  Seriously.  It’s important…

Joy: (continued)  I like that you like food.  I can tell that you’re totally into it.  That’s cool…  It really is.  But you know what? Sometimes a cookie is just a cookie.  (Pause)  Sometimes we should let a cookie just be a cookie.

Don’t get me wrong- I really like that you like to sprinkle sea salt on top of cookie dough.  That’s respectable, and has a certain amount of charm.  I’m not talking about that… I’m talking about this 36 hour rule for resting cookie dough.  You know what?  I’m going to say something that I don’t think anyone else will say to your face…

NYTimes:  (interrupting)  We aren’t face to face.  This is over the phone.  And this is an imaginary conversation. And I’m the NYTimes, so I don’t have a face.

Joy: Ok.. you know what?  That’s not the point, and don’t interrupt me.   Your 36 hour rule- I don’t buy it.  I’m not in.  In fact- I’m out.  Why?  Well to be honest, I couldn’t taste a difference.  The 24 hour and 36 hour batched baked up slightly darker than the 12 hour batch, but I couldn’t decipher a taste difference.  In fact, I didn’t find any difference at all between the 24 and 36 hour batches.  I mean… come on… for the average person, eating a warm cookie from the oven is treat enough.  Why even suggest that they wait 36 hours to bake up the dough?  Who has that kind of time NYTimes.  Seriously!?

NYTimes:  (impatiently)   Well what do you want me to do?

Joy:  Well I don’t know what you can do.  What’s printed is printed, right?  I just wanted to call and talk to you so that you know that I know that sometimes you come up with some snotty cooking crap.  Sometimes you take something as friendly, straightforward, and approachable as a chocolate chip cookie and you put it on a pedestal and talk about things like depth of flavor and flavor profiles and crumb… and geez!  Can’t a cookie just be a cookie?

NYTimes:  You’re yelling…

Joy:  I’m not yelling!  I’m just being passionate.  I’m just saying that I’m on to you.  I did the experiment myself, and a cookie is a cookie at 12 hours, 24 hours and 36 hours.  A damn good, all -American cookie, that’s what is it.

Now, I don’t mean to be harsh.  I just had to get that off my chest.  Would you please put Mark Bittman on the phone?  I like him.

NYTimes:  Joy, you’re odd.

Joy:  I know.  Bittman please.

After much trial and refridgeration.  I’ve found these to be my two favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe.

The Chewy, with melted butter and bread flour, from Alton Brown.

The Buttery, with creamed butter and salted peanuts or cashews, from Elizabeth Faulkner.

I chill each dough for at least 4 hours before baking.  Of course, refrigerate the dough for up to 36 hours if you like.  I’ll create an evenly golden cookie, with all the goodness that is the perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie.

We’re talking cookies, and we’re not done yet. We’re a long way from done in fact, so settle in!

In the first installment we discussed creamed versus melted butter. Thank you for all your comments. I looks like the melted butter and bread flour combination creates a very high, chewy and almost caramelish cookie. These cookies were chewy even three days after they were baked! Creaming, on the other had, produces a flatter, more buttery, traditional cookie. Both are delicious!  Just depends on your mood!

Now…

In The Cookie Debate Part One I mentioned that the NY Times had serendipitously printed an article about the perfect chocolate chip cookie. Did you read it?

We need to talk about this 36 hour rule. We need to do an experiment.

Here’s the skinny: Some of the best bakers swear that by resting their cookie dough in the fridge for 36 hours, they produce a more robust, evenly browned, altogether irresistible cookie. The science behind the concept indicated that by letting the dough rest the liquids from the eggs are fully absorbed into the flour, creating a drier and firmer dough which bakes up into the perfect consistency.

I’ll be honest. I furrow my eyebrows at this statement. I recognize that baking is about science, and how ingredients interact with one another- but baking is also about sugar, and sugar tastes good. Simple.

In the name of both science and sugar, I’ve made a batch of cookie dough and I’m going to bake them off at 12 hours, 24 hours and 36 hours. Together we’ll see the difference. We’ll get to the bottom of this. And what a delicious experiment it will be!

I used Demolition Dessert’s Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. It’s has straightforward ratios. It’s creamed butter, white sugar and brown, and chocolate, of course.

Let the waiting and baking begin. Only 12 hours until the first batch!

Thanks for playing along!

I’ll admit, I think olive oil is sexy.  Extra Virgin Olive Oil especially, sends me over the moon.  The rich, full and nutty smell, the beautiful translucent green color, and the way the taste coats my mouth.  It’s just gorgeous.  I’ve been known to buy a fresh baguette on the way home from work and simply eat warm bread with plates full of olive oil.  I think I’ve also put the stuff in my hair as a conditioner, and on my hands as a lotion.  But that’s sounding like a whole other blog, so let’s not get into that.

Lemon Scented Olive Oil Cookies with Almond Glaze.   Sounds like there’s a lot going on in one humble cookie, right?   It’s amazing how the flavors and sweetness meld together to create a unique, yet strangely familiar taste treat.  These essentially taste like a darling lemon sugar cookie, but with a slight (sexy) hint of olive oil.  I tested these on unsuspecting, but die hard cookie fans, and they couldn’t put their finger on the olive oil without me pointing it out.  The verdict-  two thumbs up.

Not only does olive oil smell gorgeous and taste great, it’s also good for you!  There’s a reason why the Italians are so beautiful, and I think it’s something in the olive oil.  Olive oil has less fat than butter, and has mono-saturated fats which are good for you heart.  It’s a great substitute for butter in these cookies.

I found that the batter for these cookies comes out a little wet, almost like cake batter.  I spooned the batter onto a greased and floured cookie sheet by the tablespoonful, and baked them up.  They turned out just lovely!  Try them, I’d love to hear what you think!