Jim Carson

scout wrote on (December 23, 2006 8:39 AM)

I've been looking for a similar recipe to this one for a few years now. I used to work at a bakery which made cookies just like these, flavored lightly with Pernod, and they were fantastic, even despite my blood-boiling hatred of anything even remotely liquorice-like. The day I left, I only wrote one recipe on the inside of my arm, and have since wished I made space for this one, too, as all the other recipes I've tried have let me down. From your pictures, though, these look spot on: crackly sugary on the outside, chewy on the inside...

Scout wrote on (December 25, 2006 6:18 AM)

Yay! They turned out perfectly, and I'll be bringing them into the Cinema today to share with my fellow Christmas-working lackeys.

The day I wrote down your recipe, I was having a crazed chocolate craving, and had already decided to make the cookies flavored like Mexican chocolate. When I got home, though, I realized the only unsweetened chocolate in my apartment was a chunk made by hand in Peru and delivered to me as a gift by the sister of the woman who picked the beans herself, ground them at the local mill, and poured the end result into a plate to set. I kid you not. Alas, I had held onto it for too long, and decided to give it a good home.

To celebrate its Inca heritage, I used all the chocolate I had (which equalled 5 ounces); replaced the oil with melted butter; replaced half the sugar with brown sugar (only because after all my cookie making I had run out of the correct stuff); replaced half the vanilla with almond extract; and added little bits of cinnamon, ginger, cardamom (not really South American!), star anise and black pepper. The end result is a very rich cookie with a hint of spicy heat. It's lovely, and I thank you for the inspiration!

Seattlejo wrote on (December 29, 2006 10:08 PM)

These were *the* cookie of the year. I'm amused. I've had no less then half a dozen friends make them, and had them appear on no less then a half a dozen communities I read.