Food for Thought, Biblio File

Happy National Cookie (Lit) Day!

If you think of baked goods and literature, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Proust’s madeleine? Bilbo’s seed cake? Last year, we decided to get creative and bake cookies with a literary twist for National Cookie Day on December 4. We had so much fun baking and eating the cookies that we thought we'd do another round of #CookieLit this year. We hope you’ll enjoy these literary cookies and share your own #CookieLit ideas.

For a fun bit of "cookie lit" check out Cookie Monster's homage to "This Is Just to Say" by William Carlos Williams  on Twitter. Happy National Cookie (Lit) Day!

Dis is just to say

Thanks to all the bakers at Mid-Manhattan Library,  thanks to Billy Parrot for cookie lit ideas, and many thanks to Arieh Ress for the fabulous cookie lit photos!

Want to bake your own? Check out our Cookie Lit 2016 Recipes.
 

Ghost Chili Chocolate Chip Cookies baked by Ari Ress

Ghost Chili Chocolate Chip / Fahrenheit 451

“A book is a loaded gun in the house next door...Who knows who might be the target of the well-read man?”—Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

These ghost pepper chocolate chip cookies look like the traditional favorites, but they finish with a pleasurable burn. The original recipe included red food dye as a heat warning, but Ari opted for a more natural look. 

Farm Animal Sugar Cookies baked by Jessica Cline

 

Farm animal sugar cookies / Animal Farm

“Weak or strong, clever or simple, we are all brothers.” —George Orwell, Animal Farm

Horses, sheep, and PIGS! We think all of these iced animal cookies are equally cute, but you might decide that some animal cookies are cuter than others. 

George Sand Dollars baked by Liz Baldwin

 

George Sand Dollars

“Life resembles a novel more often than novels resemble life.” —George Sand, Métella

These crisp sugar cookie sand dollars topped with almond slivers resemble the original quite closely. George Sand wrote that “the truth is too simple: one must always get there by a complicated route.” Clearly, there were no reliable cookie mixes in the 19th century. Liz used one as the base for these beauties. 

Canadian Maple Cookies baked by Jessica Jackson

Candian Maple Lit

“It’s just life. You can’t beat life.”—Alice Munro, “The Bear Came Over the Mountain”

There is so much great Canadian literature to enjoy, and like Canadians, it is incredibly diverse. But these simple cookies made with real maple syrup are the perfect accompaniment to any Canadian book you choose! 

Lemon Honey Chamomile Cookies baked by Susen Shi

Honey Lemon Chamomile Cookies/ Big Sleep

It seemed like a nice neighborhood to have bad habits in.”—Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep

We love Philip Marlowe’s drinking and smoking on page and screen, but in real life, you might  sleep better if you partake of these sleepytime inspired cookies with some herbal tea as you enjoy the exploits of Chandler’s great hardboiled hero. 

Hermits baked by Elizabeth Waters

hermits

“This is my letter to the world / That never wrote to me.” —Emily Dickinson

Perhaps Massachusetts poet Emily Dickinson enjoyed these classic spicy New England bar cookies while reading or writing in seclusion. We think these hearty hermit bars would cheer the day of any literary recluse, real or fictional. (Note to Miss Havisham: Hermits keep longer than wedding cake.) 

Apple Drop Cookies baked by Melissa Scheurer

Apple drop cookies / Edge of the Orchard

“But John Chapman told us he didnt eat meat cause he couldnt stand for somethin livin to be killed jest to keep him alive. —Tracy Chevalier, At the Edge of the Orchard

We think John Chapman, aka Johnny Appleseed, would love these apple drop cookies Melissa baked with fruit she picked at a local orchard. 

Caribbean Coconut Mango Cookies baked by Alison Quammie

Caribbean coconut mango cookies

What's poetry, if it's worth its salt,/ but a phrase men can pass from hand to mouth? —Derek Walcott, “Forest of Europe”
 
This delicately simple recipe, and ever so refreshing, lures one into the archipelago of lush green Caribbean isles. Enjoy these cookies while listening to a podcast of Nobel laureate Derek Walcott speaking about Hemingway and the Caribbean at LIVE from the NYPL, or while reading your favorite Caribbean author. 
 

Beet Chocolate Chip Cookies baked by Elizabeth Waters

Beet / Beat Chocolate Chip

“I saw that my life was a vast glowing empty page and I could do anything I wanted.” —Jack Kerouac, Dharma Bums

We recommend these unorthodox chocolate chip cookies made with healthy fresh beets to accompany a reading of On the Road, Howl, and other beat classics. We’re not sure that any cookies are a good pairing with Naked Lunch, however, unless maybe they all are... East Villager Alan Ginsberg would probably have liked the borscht I made with the leftover beets.

 

Cookie Love

Any more literary cookies to suggest?  We'd love to see them! If you're looking for recipe ideas, check out a cookie cookbook. The lit part is up to you. If anyone has a great cookie recipe with 22 ingredients to pair with Joseph Heller's Catch-22, do share.

Please comment below, share your #CookieLit ideas on our Facebook page, tweet them to us @midmanhattanlib, or tag us in your Instagram photos @MidManhattanLibrary.

Don't forget to use the hashtag #CookieLit when you do!

Comments

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Happy National Cookie (Lit) Day!

Beautifully written blog post Elizabeth! Happy Cookie Lit Day!

Thanks for the cookies!

Thank you for the kind comment and for baking cookies, Alison!

22 ingredient cookies

Here is the delicious fruitcake cookie recipe to match "Catch 22". I was raised on liquor soaked fruitcake in the south. (The only alcohol allowed in the house.) I updated Granny's recipe from those candied fruits to rum soaked dried fruits, much better! START THE DAY BEFORE BY SOAKING DRIED FRUIT (See below) Fruitcake Cookies • 2 cups all-purpose flour • 1 cup whole wheat flour • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda • 1 cup butter, at room temperature • 1 cup brown sugar, packed • 3 eggs • 1/2 cup milk • 2 tablespoons real vanilla • ½ cup molasses • 2 cups chopped walnuts • 2 cups chopped pecans • 1 cup slivered almonds • 1 cup macadamia nuts • 2 cups chopped raisins • 2 cups pitted chopped dates • 2 tablespoons chopped candied citron • 1 cup chopped dried cherries • 1 cup chopped dried mango • 1 cup dried cranberries • ½ cup dried currants • ¼ cup dark rum Soak cherries, mango, cranberries, currants, and citron in 1/4 cup rum for at least 24 hours. Cover tightly, and store at room temperature. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Grease several baking sheets with shortening. Sift together the flour, cinnamon, and baking soda in a bowl; set aside. Beat together the butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in molasses. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Gradually beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture, alternating each addition with about 2 tablespoons of milk until all the milk is incorporated and the dough is soft. Beat in the vanilla. With a spoon, mix in the nuts, raisins, dates, cherries, mango, currants, and citron until thoroughly mixed. Drop the dough by rounded teaspoons onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake in the preheated oven until the cookies are set and the bottoms are very lightly browned, 20 to 30 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

Thanks for the delicious 22-ingredient fruit cake cookiesrecipe!

These 'Catch-22' fruitcake cookies sound absolutely delicious, Deborah! Thank you for sharing the recipe. I agree about the dried fruit. The first time I had fruitcake made with dried fruit instead of candied fruit, it was a revelation, but I've never had a fruitcake cookie! Looking forward to trying this recipe over the holidays. Hope you had a great Cookie (Lit) Day!

Cookie (Lit) Day blog posting

Delightful and inspiring!

Thank you!

So glad you enjoyed our Cookie Lit efforts, Nancy! Thank you for your kind comment. Let us know if you try any of our recipes of if you have one of your own to share.

Delectable blog post, thanks!

Thoroughly enjoyed everyone's tasty cookie lit offerings, thanks so much for posting. Next year, it would be nice to see (and consume) Alice's "Eat Me!" cookies from ALICE IN WONDERLAND by Lewis Carroll: "Soon her eye fell on a little glass box that was lying under the table. She opened it, and found in it a very small cake, on which the words 'Eat Me' were beautifully marked in currents."

"Eat Me!" cookies

Thanks for the great suggestion, Carol! I'm sure one of our bakers would love to make Alice's "Eat Me!" cookies For National Cookie (Lit) Day next year.