Koreen, a new reader, sent me the loveliest email last night:
I recently moved to London from beautiful Los Angeles and while my fiance is away all day I am learning to cook. I have always loved baking (I was nicknamed Betty in high school for Betty Crocker) and when I found your site, I think I found heaven. Thanks!
Hi, Koreen! Thanks so much for writing in. I hope you're adjusting well to life in London and enjoying baking--and this blog. It all sounds very Julie & Julia! For an American take on a British classic, try out a batch of my Lemon & Gooseberry Biscuits.
Maureen, a reader and (now!) real-life recipe user, wrote in to say she tackled one of my stuffed cookies first:
I stumbled across your blog several weeks ago and have been salivating over your recipes... well, I finally jumped in and made a batch last night. I decided to go with the Peanut Butter Cup, even though I was a little intimidated by the idea of stuffing the cookies. Oh my goodness! These are the best cookies ever, and everyone that tried one (that was at least 10 people today) said the exact same thing. My roommate said "these are like heaven bundled in heavenliness." I think she likes them :)
Anyway, I just wanted to drop you a line and say thank you. I will certainly be attempting more in the near future!
Hi, Maureen. Thanks for writing in! I'm so glad you and your real-life cookie tasters liked them. (They are pretty really good!) :-)
Wow...I've got to hand it to you. My stuffed cookies are among my most popular, but the assembly process can be a little intimidating. Good on you for taking such a big cookie-making leap! I can't wait to hear how other recipes turn out for you.
Yvette tried my Better Than Grandma's Oatmeal Raisin Cookies recently and wrote in to say this:
You know I have made many many oatmeal raisin cookies...but these cookies after they came out of oven I think me and the hubby ate a whole dozen!!!! Great job...love your recipes....keep it up...I look forward to reading your blog.
Thanks, Yvette! It is really hard to resist a good oatmeal raisin cookie. And this is a good oatmeal raisin cookie. I usually prefer my cookies cool, but these are exceptional straight from the oven. Serving them warm with some vanilla ice cream would be heaven in a bowl...or on a plate.
Jessica, a reader and real-life recipe user, wrote in to say some really nice, blog-lovey things:
I once wrote you to inquire about your brown sugar measuring methods, and you graciously (and promptly!) replied, and my baking attempts have been the better for it.
I'm writing you now to thank you for sharing your efforts. You're doing something wonderful, something that brings lots of people at least a minute or two of warm, chewy, tasty happiness. And that is a Great Thing.
Thanks so much, Jessica. Your email made my day...no...my month!
Tracey, a reader and real-life cookie taster and recipe user, tried my Inside-Out Peanut Butter Cup Cookies and had this to say:
Well Greg, another Sunday and another cookie recipe under my belt! These were a bit more time consuming, and a little fussy, but, man are these delicious! Absolutely tasty and perfect! Thanks, yet again, my friend! Thanks for the recipe and great cookie advice!
Thanks, Tracey! The process for making stuffed cookies is a little complicated, but it's so worth it.
Here's a sampling of the feedback my real-life cookie tasters gave me on my Cherry-Vanilla Crispies:
From Keyana:
Delicious!! Thank you! PS-you should see everyone run over there. It’s a feeding frenzy!
From Fran:
Delicious!! Thanks so much!!!
From Meredith:
DELICIOUS! (as always...)
From Rebecca:
YUM! I’ve been hoping a Greg cookie would make an appearance soon...
From Jen:
Delicious! Thank you!
Thanks, everybody!
My neighbor Laura is a reader and real-life cookie taster. Every week, I leave a baggie of fresh-from-the-oven cookies downstairs for her to pick up from the doorman. It turns out she's a big fan of my (Dark) Chocolate Lemon in the Coconut Cookies:
Greg, when I go to Heaven (where I am reasonably sure I will be going if there is one) lots of charity, inherently good, etc, etc this is what will be served at every meal. Not dessert, the meal. Dark Chocolate Lemon in the Coconut Cookies will be my reward for being a good and kind person here on Earth. I will be able to eat as many as I want, I will never gain an ounce. Naturally you will be the gatekeeper handing out bags of cookies on the way in.
Thank you so much, these are AMAZING!!!!!
Awww, shucks. Thank you, Laura!
DPLK, a reader, real-life recipe user, and fellow food blogger tried out a batch of my Samoa-inspired cookies called The Girl Scouts Are Gonna Be Jealous. Here's what she had to say:
I think some people declared that they liked it more than the actual Samoas! Definitely everyone who tried it loved them, and I got many requests for the recipe. I think people liked the chewy oatmeal component to it that isn't present in the real Samoas.
Favorite feedback I got: "What did you put in these things? They're like girl scout cookies on crack!"
Wow. Thanks, DPLK! These cookies are good, but the Girl Scouts are very, very steep competition. I tore through my two boxes of genuine Samoas in no time!
Melissa tried my XXX Strawberry Cookies and had this to say:
I made these last night as test batch for a Mother's Day present... I brought them into work to pass them around.
The girl in the office across from me rolled her chair back and moaned that they were the most amazing cookies ever in such a way as to be slightly obscene; my boss told me I had missed my calling as a baker; and the accountant told me they were the best cookies she'd ever had and then called her mom and told her about them.
So yeah - these are quite tasty. :o) Thanks for the recipe! It's delicious.
Thanks, Melissa! Judging by the reaction of the girl in the office across the hall from you, I guess I named these cookies correctly. ;^)
If white chocolate isn't your thing, give my Neapolitan Cookies a try. It's the same recipe but with dark chocolate chips instead of white chocolate chips.
Gothamist posted a story this morning with not one but two links to the Oatmeal CookieBlog. Huzzah!
Who knew my Copycat Momofuku Compost Cookies would get so much attention...
Jayna tried my Fluffernutter Cookies (peanut butter cookies stuffed with Marshmallow Fluff) and had this to say:
These were delicious! I made them twice last week (don't worry I shared). The second time, I didn't have quite enough PB chips, so I added some chocolate chips as well. I think I liked the PB only version best, but the second batch was a nice variation.
Anyway just wanted to say thank you. You are so inventive!
Hi, Jayna! Thanks for writing in. Wow...you must have really liked these guys to have made them twice in one week. Your use of some chocolate chips was a great idea. I might have to try that next time. :-)
Longtime readers know Laura and Chris by now. They're our neighbors and resident real-life cookie tasters. We give them a baggie of fresh-from-the-oven cookies every Sunday to sample. Here's what Laura had to say about my XXX Strawberry Cookies:
I'm sick of contradicting myself and saying, those were the best cookies, oh no, these are the best cookies, etc, etc each time we get a new batch from you. But honestly Greg, these XXX Strawberry Cookies are ridiculously delicious. The best? Yes. But then if I ate the Apple Jack ones again, or the Orange in the Coconut or the Blueberry Muffin Top or the award winning Cranberry Crunch Cookies again, they would each make me say, "oh no, THESE are the most delicious cookies I have ever tasted!" So we will just say you make everything equally delicious. That is fair right? This is what Chris said, "oh, you've got to be kidding me. how does he do this?" And I tasted mine and was like "OMG, these are unbelievable." So as usual, once again I am telling you these are the most amazingly delicious cookies I have ever tasted but you've heard that before so how can you believe me anymore. :~) So I will just end by thanking you as usual...
Thanks, Laura and Chris! If you liked these, just wait for the variation Jon came up with. Here's a hint...there's chocolate in it.
Laura and Chris, readers, real-life cookie tasters, and the best neighbors in NYC, gave me and Jon some yummy chocolate chip and cranberry oatmeal cookies from Tate's Bake Shop.
Thanks, Laura and Chris! These were really good. In fact, I'd say they're on par with mine...there are only two cookies left. :-)
DLPK, a reader, real-life recipe user, and fellow food blogger, wrote in to say she tried my Cranberry Crunch Cookies. (Have I mentioned this is an award-winning recipe? Of course I have...like a thousand times already! But I can't help but reiterating it. ☺) Here's what DPLK had to say:
Hi Oatmeal Cookie Guy! I found your blog recently and have to say it is hands down one of my favorite blogs. Your recipes are awesome. I made the Cranberry Crunch Cookies yesterday and they smelled and tasted so delicious. I'm feeding a crowd with them today, I am sure there will be more rave reviews to come =)
I probably didn't do your cookies justice since I decided to "revive" dried out brown sugar with old-fashioned water and the palms of my hands rather than the handy piece of fruit in a bag or microwave tricks (should have internet searched that one, oops). So it was a little wet, but I chilled the dough and increased the cooking time a bit, and they still came out with the sugar crunch on the outside and chewy soft insides.
Thanks for being a baking inspiration--I'll definitely be testing more of your recipes in the future!
Thanks, DLPK! I'm so glad you liked these. I can't wait to hear how other cookies come out for you. I've tried the microwave trick to soften rock-hard brown sugar. It'll work in a pinch. :-)
Em, a reader and real-life recipe user, wrote in to sing the praises of my Mocha Mint Cookies. Here's what she had to say:
Oh. My. God.
These are amazing. And I've only tasted the dough. Instead of using Junior Mints, I used what I had on hand (ground up coffee beans into my own version of espresso powder, Andes Creme De Menthe Baking Chips, and cappuccino chips I found at World Market).
Amazing.
My favorite, by far.
Then this the next day:
and after eating the very vast majority of them, I am reminded why I don't bake your cookies as often. Because I eat them all.
Thanks for the feedback, Em! And great use of what you had on hand. I love that you love this recipe. It's been a while since I've made these, and I notice that I haven't done a Picturing post for them yet. I think I have some homework in my future.
Carol, a reader, real-life recipe user, and fellow blogger, wrote in recently to review some of my recipes. I was expecting some blog-love, but this praise made my day month!
This reminds me that I am sadly remiss in letting you know about your cookies I have made! So here are my reviews, all in one place:
Cranberry Crunch Cookies - you know about these :-) I made them three or four times and they are one of my favorite cookies ever. And they don't even have chocolate chips, which makes that even more amazing. Love love love these.
I won first place in the 2008 Cranberry Harvest Celebration recipe contest with these cookies. (My first award-winning recipe!) When I found out I won, I was afraid that I had been the only one to enter a recipe, but feedback like yours sets my mind at ease. I love the chewy/crunchy and sweet/tart contrasts.
Boston Cream Pie Cookies - one of my favorite desserts. I ended up putting more pudding in the filling than called for, because I love pudding so much, which somewhat changed the size and technique for me. The cookies were delicious, though I did find they were best the first day - after that, the filling got kind of gummy.
I love these cookies. I think the best thing about them is that making them is just as fun as eating them. These didn't last more then ten minutes when I left them in my office kitchen. And that's a good thing because I think Jon and I would have polished off the whole batch ourselves.
Coffee Cake Cookies - another of my favorite things. I ordered the cinnamon and espresso chips from KA just so I could make these, and it was worth it. Oh so good! When I took my first bite, I thought - how on earth did Greg come up with this? The texture and flavor really is just like the top of a coffee cake! And that whiff of coffee - almost not even a taste, but the aroma of a cup of fresh, hot coffee alongside the cookie, or maybe the lingering aftertaste of it in your mouth. Brilliant!
I knew exactly how to put this recipe together as soon as I had my first taste of King Arthur's cinnamon chips. This recipe is one of my favorites. One nibble transports me back to when I was a kid and had Drake's Coffee Cakes at lunch.
Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies - the classic. I even went the extra mile and kept them in the fridge overnight (minus just a few dollops of dough :-)) Yummy and great texture. These are what I sent to Iraq for my Baking Gals contribution, and made enough so that I plenty left over to share and eat here.
Ha! I'm really glad you tried the resting trick. It does make a difference...if you can resist eating too much of the dough. I think I might make these for my contribution to Baking GALS Round 7.
Thanks again and as always for your fun site and great recipes! I'm sure I'll be trying more soon.
Thanks so much, Carol! My cheeks still hurt from smiling, and I can't wait to hear how my other recipes turn out. :-)
The online magazine Betty Confidential published the recipe for my Hot Cross Bun Cookies.
These are really good, if I do say so myself. Give them a try!
Tony, a reader and real-life recipe user from the UK, emailed me this weekend about my Stuffed Red Velvet Cookies:
“Hi Greg,
Over here in the UK we have an annual charity event called Comic Relief, which has a "Red Nose" theme. Well, most of us here in the office got involved in some way or another. My contribution was to bake a set of the Stuffed Red Velvet cookies and sell them for cash (the red link being key here!). They were all very well received so you've done your bit to raise some money for charity in the UK! I tweaked the recipe a bit--swapped a 1/4 cup of oatmeal for some coconut.”
Thanks, Tony! I'm really glad you put my recipe to good use raising money for charity. And adding coconut to the recipe was a brilliant idea. Mumma would totally be on board with that!
Amanda, a reader and (now) real-life recipe user, made a batch of my Boston Cream Pie Cookies and wrote into say this:
“Hi Greg!
I just have to tell you that my mom and I made these for her knitting group last night and everybody (from elderly church ladies to my fussy brother) loved them. I passed along your blog to a bunch of people. I'll let you know when we get adventurous enough to try another kind.”
Hey, Amanda. Thanks for writing in! I'm so glad you, your mom, her knitting group, and your fussy brother liked these cookies. They are pretty good...wicked good in fact. Keep up the baking! And please do let me know how your future cookies turn out.
Shikin, a reader and real-life recipe user all the way over in Singapore, wrote the sweetest note about my award-winning recipe for Cranberry Crunch Cookies:
Hello =)
I decided that this cookie deserves more than a little thank you prayer (something along the lines of: thank you oatmeal cookie guy for this EXCELLENT cookie).
I've made them twice now and my sisters and I LOVE them. (Just a little background info: my sisters (aged 28, 18, 15 and 13) HATE oatmeal cookies AND I have an extreme aversion for the whole fruit-cookie combination.) So this is an oatmeal cookie miracle.
Thank you very much for this recipe.
Much love and thanks from very far away (Singapore to be exact), Shikin
Hi, Shikin. Thanks so much! I'm really happy your sisters and you loved these and that I've won you all over to oatmeal (and fruit) cookies. These are really good! :-)
Em--a reader, real-life recipe user, and fellow Cookie Monday enthusiast--had this to say about my my XXX Cranberry Cookies:
“For Cookie Monday I made these last night (3rd time I've made them) and they continue to be one of my favs. SOOOO good. I added some coconut flakes to a few at the end for my coconut obsessed roommate and those were quite tasty too! Anyway, these make me feel so healthy, since they're chock full of oatmeal and cranberries--I feel like I'm eating a granola bar! Haha. I keep telling myself that so that I don't feel bad eating theme all.”
Thanks, Em! Adding coconut is a great twist. I know Mumma would be into that. She loves anything with coconut in it. And when you really think about it, these cookies are (probably) healthy for you. They're loaded with oats and fruit, and there aren't any eggs. I call that health food!
I'm so glad to know that others are doing Cookie Monday. What the world needs now is cookies, sweet cookies.
Regular readers are probably familiar with the Oatmeal CookieBlog's cast of characters. I'm happy to say that Laura and Chris--real-life readers and cookie tasters--are among my favorites. Every Sunday night, Jon brings baggies full of cookies downstairs to our doorman, Jason. One baggie is for Jason, and the other one is for Laura and Chris. It's a very smooth hand-off procedure. This week, however, Jason buzzed us to say that the baggie of Apple Jack Cookies for Laura and Chris apparently "exploded" (i.e., he ate them before he could deliver them), and he wanted to know if we still had any left. With a recipe that yields like 5 dozen scrumptious cookies, we were well equipped to re-up. And, as always, Laura's email had me smiling and blushing:
“Jason just gave these to us. Greg, these are the most amazing cookies I have ever tasted. These are the words that Chris used when he just ate one. 'Outrageous, ridiculously delicious, amazing.' I honestly don't think those do these cookies justice. I don't think any words would do these justice. These are the best cookies in the whole world except for well a bunch of your other cookies, which shall remain nameless right now because I don't want to make some of your other cookies jealous. :~) Your cookies are better than any gourmet cookies I have ever tried and believe me I have tried a whole lot of them. Any new brands I stumble upon or any shops that I'm in that have good looking sweets, especially cookies I do not hesitate to buy them. I'm one of the people who answered the question with no amount is too much to spend for a delicious cookie. Well no amount of money can buy a generous and genius cookie man as a neighbor. That my friend is pure good luck.”
Thank you, Laura and Chris. You guys are the best neighbors EVA!
No, I'm not quoting myself. Those are Olga's words. She's a new reader and real-life cookie taster. And I couldn't agree with her more. Here's what she had to say about my Spicy Valentine's Heart Cookies:
“For as long as you’ve been bringing in your brilliant and delicious cookie creations, I’ve only been able to imagine what they must have tasted like based on the crumbs left behind and the description on the post-it by the empty plate where the cookies used to be. But today, I actually made it to the kitchen on time!! And I’m very glad I did. The chocolate red-hot heart cookies are fantastic. Which leads me to conclude, as stated above, that you are a genius. Thank you for brightening my Monday.”
Thanks, Olga! So glad you liked them. :-) I've brought cookies in to my new office only a handful of times so far, but I think I'll have to start splitting batches with Jon and his coworkers again. It's the return of Cookie Mondays and bring-in-ables!
Carol, a reader, blogger, and real-life recipe user, wrote in to say that she adapted a couple of my recipes into one of her very own: a chai-spiced chocolate chip cookies. How cool is that?
“Thanks for all your great recipes and hints. The recipe I posted is the most 'my own invention' I think I have ever done, so that is exciting for me! And people liked them, yea! I definitely owe you for the basis of the batter I created, and helping me say 'sure, I can make up my own cookie!'”
Thanks so much, Carol! You're recipe looks great. You've inspired me to keep coming up with new recipes.
