cookies

Did anyone else feel that Amanda Hesser threw down a gauntlet with her cookie recipes in last week's magazine? (Edited to include permalink; thanks, Jody!)

I made the "flat and chewy" ones, and I'm going to try "thick and gooey" today. [Edited to add: "thick and gooey" are tasty but not thick. Maybe because I didn't chill the dough long enough. Life's too short.] But I have a couple of complaints already. The "flat and chewy" were too salty: 1 tbs. kosher salt AND baking soda instead of powder. I liked the kosher salt, actually, but in future I might double the amount for baking soda and use powder instead, which is way less salty-tasting. And I think one could easily scant that TBS of salt. I have spent most of my adult life leaving the salt out of recipes entirely, actually. Mark has a condition that requires a low-sodium diet, and when I started cutting salt out of things I got fewer headaches. But lately I've been inching it back into things grain by grain. It does make things taste better, no question.

But, sifting the flour with the kosher salt? Is just dumb. The kosher salt just lies at the bottom of the sifter mocking you.

She also wants you to use a mixer fitted with a paddle. Well, I don't have one. The recipe worked with my ancient Hamilton Beach stand mixer, but I just wondered if I missed something.

Finally, it's really annoying to be told to preheat the oven in step one and then told to chill the cookie dough once it's put together. I'm just saying.