Cookies with chocolate chip will help make the season bright.

Daily Press


How many ways are there to make chocolate chip cookies? Most people may say three, maybe four. DeDe Wilson, author of "A Baker's Field Guide to Chocolate Chip Cookies," would heartily disagree.

According to Wilson's new cookbook, there are 75 ways. No, that's not a typo. Wilson's handy guide -- perfect for holiday baking -- includes recipes for 75 varieties of chocolate chip cookies.

How could there possibly be that many? Well, if you put the word cookie in the name of a cupcake, that helps. Black-Bottom, Creamy, Chippy Cookie Cupcakes is one such example (chocolate chips and cheesecake). There's also Caramel Surprise Chocolate Chip Cups, the surprise being a piece of Rolo candy (those stackable chocolate-covered caramels) in the middle. Wilson calls the mini-cupcakes, molded cookies. Well, OK. We won't quibble. Not when plenty of sumptuous cookie recipes abound.

Half and Half Cookies "starts out with a basic chocolate chip recipe, but halfway through, you divide it and add cocoa and white morsels to part of the dough." The doughs are baked together creating a light and dark cookie.

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Hills are one of several recipes that would be great to make with the kids this holiday season. They feature a drizzle of chocolate frosting. Young bakery chefs will also enjoy helping make a Chocolate Chip Pizza Cookie. Yep, it's a giant cookie like the ones found at malls, but this bake-at-home version is cut like a pizza and has a cookie base, raspberry jam (seedless preferred) for sauce, grated white chocolate for "cheese" and milk chocolate and peanut butter morsels for toppings. Yummy.

A feature that will come in quite handy this holiday season are the icons Wilson includes with each recipe. You'll know at a glance which cookies are good for mailing to friends, family and loved ones, which ones are good for children to help prepare, quick to make recipes, cookies that keep well, and dough that freezes well.

Two types of biscotti are included: Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti and Cappuccino Chocolate Chip Biscotti Dunkers. On your way to a holiday gathering when you remember you're supposed to bring a treat? Try the five-ingredient No-Bake Chocolate Chip Drops featuring three types of chocolate, condensed milk and dry-roasted cashews.

For adults-only gatherings or just a little fun, serve Piña Colada White Chocolate Chip Rum Bars or Ménage à Trois Cookies (nothing naughty really, just three types of chocolate with the chunks on top).

As for the field notes mentioned in the cookbook's title, each recipe includes notes about the cookie, the origin of the recipe or some other tidbit.

Since they're different, why not try out those piña colada bars?

PiÑa Colada White Chocolate Chip Rum Bars

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons

1½ cups vanilla cookie crumbs (made from about 60 Nabisco Nilla Wafers)

2 cups white chocolate morsels

1 cup sweetened flaked coconut

¾ cup chopped unsalted macadamia nuts

¾ cup diced sweetened dried pineapple

One 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

2 tablespoons dark rum

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Place butter in a 9-by-13-inch baking pan; put pan in preheating oven to melt butter. Sprinkle cookie crumbs evenly over melted butter, stir with a spoon to combine, then pat crumbs into an even layer.

3. Place white chocolate morsels, coconut, nuts and pineapple in a large bowl and toss to combine. The pineapple might be sticky; use your fingers to evenly combine mixture. In a small bowl, stir together condensed milk and rum. Sprinkle half the fruit-nut mixture evenly over crumb layer, then drizzle condensed milk and rum over all. Top with remaining fruit-nut mixture.

4. Bake until light golden brown around edges and beginning to turn light golden brown all over top, about 32 minutes. Middle will look a little loose, that's OK. Place pan on rack to cool completely. Cut into 30 bars.

Field notes: Sometimes it is hard to find unsalted macadamia nuts. For the purposes of this recipe, simply rub salted nuts vigorously between clean kitchen towels; it will remove enough salt.

Life span: 1 week at room temperature in an airtight container.

Note: These cookies store well, mail well and are quick to make.

Felicia L. Mason can be reached at 247-4621 or by e-mail at felicia.mason@ dailypress.com. n