Baking Cookies, Part II

I have had a goal this year of baking cookies for everyone in my general cubicle area, where there are upwards of some 25-30 folks. So I have everyone's birthdays listed and I have a general idea of what type of cookie they like. I usually bake chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin cookies, and people choose the type they prefer. Some like nuts, some don't. I baked some chocolate chip cookies today for one of our biologists in celebration of her promotion... and she likes chocolate chip pecan cookies with dried cranberries. (Those are GREAT! She and I are the only ones who like those).

I'd worked on a butter cookie recipe earlier this year. It was a variation of a simple 5 ingredient recipe out of Darius Williams' cookbook Stories from My Grandmother's Kitchen.

So my coworker, who we call YoYo or Yodi, wanted something different. She wanted butter cookies.

And that's what I was making at 7:00 am this morning.

I brought out my cookie cutters and surgically cut the dough into nice shapes.

What's interesting here is that Yodi had her grill worked on (had oral surgery) a week ago. I made the dough, but had to hold it in the refrigerator until her mouth was straight. This actually worked out well, since I now know that I can whip up this dough and store it in the fridge in a plastic bag. It takes a couple of hours for it to come up to room temperature, where I can roll it out. That is a good thing to know.

So I baked up the cookies this morning. I bagged them up and presented them to her, bootleg decorations and all.

Happy Birthday, Yoyo!

Even though it is belated. Her birthday was back in November. I have no idea how I missed that.

Maybe I need to type up my hastily scribbled birthday list so I can remember.

She didn't seem particularly phased by it.

"How were the cookies, Yoyo?"

"They are good," she said as she held up a cup. "And I had to go get some good coffee to go with it."

I'm not sure where she got the coffee, as it is just too nasty and dreary to be walking outside. But it was a cup of coffee that she bought outside the building.

I think she had about 18 cookies. And I listened as she talked of going home and making some chocolate ganache for them.

She comes up with some interesting ideas for the butter cookies. She has a "Top Chef" type of mind. I don't. But I listen intently!

Enjoy your cookies, Yoyo!