Over the weekend I attended a barbecue in Leesburg, VA. Towards the later part of the afternoon, someone arrived with several boxes of assorted cookies from Lola Cookies & Treats, a local Leesburg bakery. I had no intention of trying any of them; I was already stuffed with hot dogs and pasta salad, and I rarely eat anything from a commercial bakery because I am usually disappointed (yes, I am a baked goods snob and I am not ashamed to admit it). But when someone offered me a bite of her Lola cookie, I broke off a small piece and took a nibble. I was shocked that it was quite yummy. It was a ginger chip cookie (a dark, substantial ginger cookie with chocolate chips) that was flavorful, nicely-textured, and quite satisfying. I have never come across a ginger chip cookie before and I have been thinking about this flavor combination and the yummy Lola cookie since.
Since we had another party at the office today, I decided to try and and make my own ginger chip cookie. I used an epicurious recipe for Spice Sugar Cookies and I threw in 10 ounces of chopped Hershey's Special Dark bar. I used a #24 ounce scoop and I got 22 cookies, which I baked for 11 minutes. The cookies were soft and chewy, with the surprisingly strong ginger and spice flavors almost obscuring the chocolate. They were almost nothing like Lola's, which were darker, firmer, and sweeter. But my version was quite yummy, and people at the office were very receptive to the ginger-chocolate flavor combination.
I found myself with some down time as I waited for the cookie dough to chill, so I used some beautiful zucchini I got from my supervisor (the same one who provided the sour cherries) and made a couple of loaves of zucchini bread. I use a recipe from Home Cookin' With Dave's Mom, by David Letterman's mother, Dorothy. It's a pretty basic recipe, but it always bakes up moist and tasty, if not the world's most beautiful loaf.
I wish that I had eaten more of Lola's ginger chip cookie besides that single bite... I will make sure and stop by her bakery the next time I'm in that neck of the woods!
Since we had another party at the office today, I decided to try and and make my own ginger chip cookie. I used an epicurious recipe for Spice Sugar Cookies and I threw in 10 ounces of chopped Hershey's Special Dark bar. I used a #24 ounce scoop and I got 22 cookies, which I baked for 11 minutes. The cookies were soft and chewy, with the surprisingly strong ginger and spice flavors almost obscuring the chocolate. They were almost nothing like Lola's, which were darker, firmer, and sweeter. But my version was quite yummy, and people at the office were very receptive to the ginger-chocolate flavor combination.
I found myself with some down time as I waited for the cookie dough to chill, so I used some beautiful zucchini I got from my supervisor (the same one who provided the sour cherries) and made a couple of loaves of zucchini bread. I use a recipe from Home Cookin' With Dave's Mom, by David Letterman's mother, Dorothy. It's a pretty basic recipe, but it always bakes up moist and tasty, if not the world's most beautiful loaf.
I wish that I had eaten more of Lola's ginger chip cookie besides that single bite... I will make sure and stop by her bakery the next time I'm in that neck of the woods!
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