Favorite Cookie

The journal jar prompt for today is, “What is your favorite cookie?”

Until I went to Latvia, this was a question that was pretty straightforward and involved homemade cookies. To be specific, my mother’s snicker-doodle cookies with actual Snickers candy bars pressed into the center. The soft cookie with the crunchy peanuts and caramel enrobed (great word, huh?) in chocolate was the best.

As time has gone by, I have found myself liking sweet things less and less, even for dessert. I am enjoying darker and darker chocolate and prefer to make my chocolate chip cookies with dark chocolate. But those are not my favorite cookies.

My favorite cookie, discovered while I was serving my mission in Latvia, are their piparkukas. Literally translated these are pepper cookies. Most of the world has gingersnaps, Latvia has pepper cookies. These cookies have white or black pepper baked into them and have an absolutely wonderful bite. I remember eating my first one in Riga and coming to the realization that these were the superior gingersnap. As you bite into each one, you first have the crisp snap of a thin cookie. You then taste the ginger and other warming seasonings, coriander, cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon. Then, as you continue eating, you get the ground black pepper hitting your tongue and giving the cookie its wonderful bite.

This cookie is a traditional Christmas cookie in Latvia and I have had the pleasure of finding a supplier who will ship piparkukas to the US. While typing this post, I have found a few recipes for piparkukas and hope to be able to make my own this holiday season.

What is your favorite cookie? Why? Please share in the comments below!

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Journal Jar

Many years ago, my mother (I think) gave all of the family journal jars to help us document our lives. I have carried mine with me through many moves and have it sitting on my desk currently. Even though it has been years, I have NEVER finished going through the jar and answering all the questions in it. I think now is the time.

My plan is to (at least) once a week pull a question from the journal jar and answer it here, on my (defunct twice, resurrected twice) blog. In doing so, I hope to become a better blogger and a better journal keeper.

The first post will answer the question, “What is your favorite cookie?”
If you think you know what mine is, guess on this post. I will answer this question tomorrow so keep your eyes peeled for my next post!

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