THE COOKBOOK TEST #0062: THE ULTIMATE MINNESOTA COOKIE BOOK, PART 2

INSTALLMENT #0062 (PAID) COOKIES...AGAIN! / CHOCOLATE NEWTONS?!

Dear Subscribers,

We return again this week to THE ULTIMATE MINNESOTA COOKIE BOOK. I could've packed this remarkable book into a single newsletter, but I got legitimately swept up in the excitement of this week's recipe (a bear of a process) and figured I'd front-load the backstory and build up anticipation for a mass market-evocative recipe that is actually packed with a lot of sophistication and craftsmanship.

This week's cookie dives deeply into the flavor and texture of figs, one of my favorite things to eat. Figs never really get their due around here, possibly because they're kind of weird and shriveled looking, but probably because they have a seedy texture that is not universally enjoyed. (I personally love it, and would argue that there is nothing better than a fig to dip into a chocolate fondue. Yes, that includes pound cake! And it most specifically includes brownie bites, which are really kind of same-y and oversweet, if we're being brutally honest.)

We could all do with a little more Mediterranean timelessness and restraint in our diets, and this week's recipe allows us to embrace those classy qualities without sacrificing the most important thing of all: eating a bunch of sugar. Because when it comes down to it, we're mortal, and sugar makes the primitive lobes in our brains light up like a pinball machine.

at your service,

James

THE ULTIMATE MINNESOTA COOKIE BOOK
LEE SVITAK DEAN AND RICK NELSON
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA PRESS | 2024 | $30

Without further ado, let's get right to this week's recipe, because it's a big ol' lovable monster.

CHOCOLATE NEWTONS?!

I'm not a big fan of making taste-alike recipes that take aim at popular grocery store favorites. Even when they're close, they usually end up in the uncanny valley, and they usually end up being a tremendous amount of time and expensive in order to make a notably less delicious Oreo or Ritz Cracker, to name two particularly spectacular wastes of effort.

But The Ultimate Minnesota Cookie Book's Dark Chocolate Fig Rolls cookies - despite their aggressively Fig Newton like appearance and ingredient list - really end up being far enough from the originals that they proudly assert their own identity. And as for the value prospect... well, we'll dip back into that in a moment.

The cookies are not exactly a snap to make, as they require making dough and filling separately and then wrapping said dough around said filling before even more steps unfold before you've actually got edible cookies on a plate.

These things are somehow both a tedious ordeal and a meditative delight to make. Dicing figs and dates. Making and chilling the dough. Rolling it out. Filling the dough. Folding the dough. Gently flipping the dough logs, baking them, slicing them, dressing them with ganache. 

If you're in a hurry, these things will end you. But I made these while watching an episode of the Great British Baking Show (the Paris-Brest one) and found them legitimately soothing to produce. I made the dough and filling in the evening, cooled both overnight in the fridge, and rolled out and baked the next day. They turned out quite well.