Tuesday, February 23, 2010

{TWD} Lemon Honey Wheat Cookies



The Honey Wheat cookies. selected for this week's Tuesday's With Dorie recipe, were a real bast from the past. Dorie Greenspan says that she clipped the recipe that was the basis for these cookies during the "back-to-the-earth movement of the 1970's." The cookie ingredients include honey and a generous measure of wheat germ; just reading the recipe transported me back in time. The first thing that came to mind was the Judy Collins song, "Cook With Honey" released in 1973, when I was in high school. (The lyrics, here, include such memorable lines as: "I always cook with honey…. Tell me how’s your appetite?”) Like Judy Collins (and Dorie, too, I suppose) I enjoy the taste of honey, and my honey supply is extensive and varied.

No child of the 60's and 70's would be without a supply of wheat germ, and I always have a large jar of wheat germ kicking around my fridge. It comes in handy for sprinkling over yogurt, or throwing in a batch of granola, bringing to mind another vintage song, Neil Diamond’s “Crunchy Granola Suite” from 1972. (“Drop your shrink and stop your drinkin'/ Crunchy granola's neat” - for all the lyrics, click here)

So armed with wheat germ and honey, and fortified by some inspirational music of the period, I baked these cookies in the appropriate nostalgic frame of mind.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- Michelle of the blog Flour Child chose this recipe, which you can find her blog post, along with some fun pictures of her children helping with the cookies - isn't it great when they get old enough to take over the heavy mixing?

- I baked 1/2 recipe, and got 12 cookies. My 1" dough balls were 1 oz, or 30g; I guess Dorie's were smaller, as it appears that a half recipe should have yielded 18 cookies.

the verdict:

These cookies were good: soft, but a little chewy, a bit of crunch from the wheat germ, lots of flavor, wonderful lemon notes. They were especially good with tea.

Thanks, Michelle, for the great cookie pick, and the trip down memory lane!

14 comments:

Megan said...

I absolutely loved these - they were such a wonderful surprise.

Di said...

I'm going to have to try these again with the lemon, since everyone seems to have liked it a lot. I was being lazy about zesting, so played around with the flavorings. Sounds like you and Margaret both enjoyed the 70s connection this week. =)

TeaLady said...

Ah, memories. As a child of the 50s I still have wheat germ etc in the kitchen. I have seen so many variations for these cookies, but the plain ones are good too.

mike said...

I'm over my fear of wheat germ, happily with these cookies. They just "look" chewy and delicious - nothing pretentious about them. I'm sure Judy would agree - I hope you saved her some!

Becky @ Project Domestication said...

these are now one of my favorite dorie cookie recipes! glad you enjoyed them too!

Unknown said...

I just finished reading Margaret's post and she was also enjoying the nostalgia this week! Both fun posts :) Your cookies look perfect! I didn't expect to like these (call me a skeptic) but I actually enjoyed them quite a bit.

Pamela said...

They look great, love that first picture. I used extra lemon and found them pretty darned tasty.

Anne said...

I'm a child of the 80s with a lenient mother and have never had wheat germ *blush*. I think these cookies are an excuse to finally try it!

Anonymous said...

These were a real throwback for me, too. I kept sifting through my early memories, trying to pinpoint the flavors, but couldn't come up with anything specific -- just general 70s nostalgia.

Kayte said...

Oh, these look so perfect! I loved all the ingredients and it was so nice in that I thought I could taste each individual one in the finished product...so seductive! LOL on the wheat germ...I always have a jar of it, too...it winds up in all kinds of things.

Carol Peterman/TableFare said...

I too always have wheat germ on hand, but had never considered making a wheat germ cookie; yet another good use of wheat germ. Your cookies look beautiful.

Cathy said...

I love how certain flavors and aromas can transport us back in time! And with whole songs devoted to some of these flavors, how could they not be good? We enjoyed these - glad you did too! They look great.

Maria said...

I haven't tried these, but I will soon:) You know I love my cookies. I posted my NYT cookies the other day. They are the hubs new favorite.

Peggy said...

Oh those fabulous 70's! Gotta love those memories. I just could not force myself to make these. I do not care for wheat germ anything. Yours do sound good though and of course look perfect as always.