A Delightful Surprise

CHOCOLATE ORANGE HAZELNUT COOKIES
p. 187 GOV
Prepared 3/28/2010

I spent a weekend in the city and did not --I repeat, NOT-- make a beeline for all of the widely available, extremely yummy vegan and veg-friendly haunts (you know what I mean, NYC and metro peeps). I had other stuff going on. It ended up that this was a great exercise in being able to carefully consider the art of baking and presentation, whereas normally I am carefully considering the food that is going to hit my stomach. Typically, I am giving the latter some thought but my focus is more on the immediacy of the taste sensation. Does that make sense?

Having this space to reflect meant that when I got home, I felt inspired to step out of my preferred comfort zone of cake/cake/cupcakes/brownies/chocolate/chocolate/chocolate chip cookies and into what some might term more complex or artful combinations. Not by much, but there was a perceptible shift in how I was approaching the next baking project.

Coming from that perspective, I was curious to try this recipe. I was really happy with the results. The dough (made by my partner whilst I did bedtime) was a little loose so I might add another couple of tablespoons of flour, or plan to throw the bowl in the fridge for 20 minutes or so the next time I made them. The flavors were really pleasant and complementary. Though they look like nothing special in the picture above, I beg to differ. The hazelnuts, chocolate and orange were lovely together and I found this cookie especially delicious with tea, which we drank much more of earlier in the week to see us through an early spring cold snap.

I highly recommend these!