Tuesdays with Dorie: World Peace Cookies

February 3, 2009 · 20 Comments

I had mixed emotions coming into this week’s TWD recipe. I’ve had Dorie Greenspan’s World Peace Cookies before, and don’t get me wrong, they are delicious. Absolutely, 100% smashing, with their rich, chocolatey taste, fantastic sandy texture and sweet/salty mix. Buuuut…I also feel like everyone and their brother has made these cookies already, and part of what I really like about Tuesdays with Dorie is creating something I’ve never had before. So just to be clear: I love, love, love the cookies! I was just a little bummed I’d already had these before. :)

That being said, I do have to say that my attempt to be creative with the cookies was generally a flop, tastewise. :) Go figure, right? More on that later. Appearancewise, I was happy with the way they turned out. I wanted to do something different, and what more appropriate way for World Peace cookies that to make a yin-yang pattern? According to Wikipedia, the concept of yin-yang “is used to describe how seemingly disjunct or opposing forces are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world, giving rise to each other in turn. … Yin and yang are complementary opposites within a greater whole. Everything has both yin and yang aspects, which constantly interact, never existing in absolute stasis.”

The yin-yang cookies were a lot easier to make than I thought they would be. I split the recipe in half, making one half using Dorie’s exact recipe and the other half plain (substituting an equal amount of flour for the cocoa). I thought I’d have trouble getting each of the two halves molded into that tadpole shape, but after a few minutes in the freezer, they firmed up and I was able to use the rounded handle of a wooden spoon to put a dent into each roll, forming the “swoosh.” I then thought it would be tough to combine the two halves together so that they really stuck together…but again, no problem there. The hardest part for me was probably the hardest part for everyone–slicing the cookies. With hard chunks of chocolate in the dough, it was difficult to slice the dough cleanly–every time my knife hit a piece of chocolate, the entire piece crumbled before my eyes. But as Dorie said,you can easily patch pieces together to reform the slice, and for the most part, I did. I was able to salvage enough to mold a decent amount of cookies. The rest I smooshed into a big log and started over.

So back to the taste. Well, the chocolate side of the yin-yang cookies were, of course, fantastic. The plain side of the cookies were, on the other hand, not-so-fantastic. Note to self: Flour cannot be a cocoa substitute. While the chocolate side was soft and sandy, the plain side was crunchier and tough. Of course, it didn’t help that I probably sliced them on the thinner side–they turned out much crispier than I would have liked.

Anyhoo, that’s the beauty of cooking and baking, isn’t it? Trial and error, learn as you go, make tweaks and adjustments? I’m happy I tried something new, even if it didn’t turn out the exact way I’d hoped. Maybe it’s the universe telling me I shouldn’t complain about having to make a much loved, much revered cookie!

Thanks, Jessica, for picking the beloved World Peace Cookies–I have that much more appreciation for these cookies since my adaptation kinda-sorta failed. If you’re looking for the recipe, visit Jessica’s blog, Cookbook Habit. And please visit some of the other TWD bakers’ blogs to see their takes!

Tags: Chocolate · Cookies · Dessert · Tuesdays with Dorie

20 responses so far ↓

1 sabrina // Feb 3, 2009 at 8:34 pm

You did an amazing job!!! Those look so great!!!!
2 Jill // Feb 3, 2009 at 8:47 pm

They look so cool! It’s too bad they didn’t taste great.
3 dharmagirl // Feb 3, 2009 at 9:43 pm

yin yang! i love the concept, even if you weren’t happy with the flavor and the texture of the plain side…i’m wondering what you could do instead…something very vanilla-ey? hmm.
4 carolina // Feb 3, 2009 at 10:03 pm

Amazing!!! I love the way your cookies look. What a creative idea. You must be proud of these babies!
5 teaandscones // Feb 3, 2009 at 10:22 pm

The yin/yang is perfect for these cookies. Great creative idea. And they look great.
6 Vibi // Feb 3, 2009 at 10:30 pm

HEY! What do you know… she’s had the great idea of really making them peacefull!
Yin and Yang, black and white …Ebony and Ivory live together in perfect harmony, side by side on my piano keyboard, Oh Lord, why don’t weeeeee? LOL LOL LOL

Beautiful and very creative idea Happytummy!

P.s.: Thanks for the compliment about my header! …it changes every month really! I make different ones depending on the monthly holiday or event – Valentine’s being obvious this time around! LOL
7 Shari // Feb 3, 2009 at 10:32 pm

How creative. I think you’re onto something here!
8 Anjeanette // Feb 3, 2009 at 11:48 pm

Oh you are so creative! I think they look amazing. I’m sorry they didn’t taste better though. I like to play around a little too. Note to self: don’t substitute flour for cocoa;)
9 Teanna // Feb 4, 2009 at 8:00 am

WOW! I think it’s ok that the texture and the flavor wasn’t your favorite because of the fact that that is so inventive! I love the yin and yang concept! I would have had absolutely NO patience doing that! Great job!
10 Jessica // Feb 4, 2009 at 1:36 pm

How creative – even if they didn’t come out exactly as planned, they are very pretty. I don’t usually like to make things twice, but I make an exception for these cookies!
11 pinkstripes // Feb 4, 2009 at 2:15 pm

I love your concept! Very creative. Maybe if you used vanilla powder or some other type of flavored poweder?
12 Leslie // Feb 4, 2009 at 3:10 pm

I love how they look so it’s too bad the flavor didn’t match up with the appearance! Maybe add maple or almond extract next time?
13 kim // Feb 4, 2009 at 4:17 pm

they are adorable! too bad light side wasn’t as good… i’m sure there’s something you can substitute instead of flour that i just can’t think of right now ;)
14 Caitlin // Feb 5, 2009 at 2:28 pm

Too cool! Love the idea – maybe upping the brown sugar so you get a bit more moisture on the plain side?
15 Nancy (n.o.e.) // Feb 7, 2009 at 5:30 am

Cool idea, and they look great in the pictures! Maybe use a different sable recipe for the white cookie?
Nancy
16 adri // Feb 8, 2009 at 4:27 pm

these look great, but where is the recipe for them. i would love to make them… maybe i am just blind and missed it…?
17 HappyTummy // Feb 8, 2009 at 6:24 pm

hi adri,

sorry, as part of the tuesdays with dorie group, we don’t post the recipes unless it was our turn to pick them. you’ll see a link to jessica’s cookbook habit blog–she posted the recipe on her site this week.

but you bring up a good point. i made so many variations to the original recipe, maybe i should start posting my adaptations? thanks for getting me thinking!
18 shelly // Feb 9, 2009 at 4:12 pm

nice food……..
19 Kevin // Feb 10, 2009 at 8:38 pm

I like the patterns in those cookies!
20 Amy Ruth // Feb 12, 2009 at 6:30 am

What a great idea! I would have never thought of it. So creative. Remember the NY CCC’s? Maybe a little cake flour would do orjust a sable would do the trick. That is if you want to pursue. This was my first time to make them so I stuck with the revered recipe. They were good. They really do look great. Impressive
AmyRuth

HappyTummy