Pining for the baked goods at Cafe Madeleine in Boston, I searched the web for an approximation of their Cape Cod cookie. Typically this time of the year finds them closed until early spring, and it is always with great sadness that I find the sign on the shop that says see you in March. In that respect I’m accustomed to going without their deliciousness through the winter – but with COVID I haven’t had a sweet treat from them in almost a year. And so my thoughts have been obsessing over a cookie which is not usually my style (the cookie, I mean, not the obsessing – I’ll always obsess and I’m not sorry about it).
Many people enjoy an oatmeal and raisin cookie, but I get a hankering for them maybe twice a year. The Cape Cod cookie is an exception. It uses oats and golden raisins, cranberries and candied orange and ginger (I think) so I set about to capturing that and found a recipe that looked good.
It’s got a lovely trio of spices so it packs a flavorful punch, perhaps more than the original. In this version there is freshly-grated nutmeg, ground cloves, and cinnamon.
Of course there are oats, though I used the wrong sort (I think I needed rolled instead of quick – this being my first shallow-dive into the word of oats I was already annoyed.)
Luckily there was candied ginger and since I wasn’t the one making it there was nothing that could go wrong with that ingredient. I chopped them up and enjoyed the sharp, sweet fragrance.
Cranberries took the place of raisins, as it should be. They formed the tart heart of the whole affair, blending magically with the sharpness of the candied ginger, and mingling magically with the trio of spices to conjure a winter respite for the tongue. The recipe I found called for a half cup of dark chocolate, so I added some mini chips because chocolate is never wrong.
Cozy and spicy and warm, this was the perfect cookie for a snowy night. I’ll tweak it a bit the next time I make it. I’d like to find some candied orange, and I might try adding some golden raisins like the original. There also must be a way to make it a bit bulkier with less tendency to spread, as in this magnificent beast.
Winter is a good time for cookie experimentation, especially when it reminds me of Boston and cafe-culture and a world that feels centuries away…
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