Cookies have long been underrated as a humble snack stuffed with childhood nostalgia and choco-chips. Catching a revolution in these ranks — we found bakers going to town with innovative recipes and flavour experiments. We have brands like Sugar Momma with soft fudge chunks sandwiched between two choco-chip cookies and The Dough Co., that offers frozen cookie dough to do with as you please — bake, under-bake, shape it or roll it! Our curated list here will ensure you can fill your biscuit tins this season with novel shapes, textures and flavours of cookies that promise food for thought.
Peas on earth
Peas in a cookie? We weren’t sure whether to be excited or nervous. But chef Karthikeyan Jagannathan of Ricky’s Cookies who opened shop in 2018 does not disappoint with this one that he has aptly christened the Green Pod. Made with fresh green peas at the centre, chunks of hazelnut and sprinkled with dehydrated green pea dust for a touch of panache, these cookies are subtly flavoured, moist and melt in your mouth. We also recommend their Ruby White option with fresh rhubarb and a filling of French white chocolate and for a healthy variant — Back to Roots (`70) created with a flour that is prepared from nine varieties of millets roasted and ground in-house, paired with chironji nuts. Order on rickyscookies.com; INR 125 for the Green pod and Ruby White.
Mushroom magic
These chocolate mushroom cookies score big in terms of health and wellness. Restrained sweetness and the butter cookie texture make them ideal for a tea-time snack. While we were mighty intrigued that the dough had powdered oyster mushroom, all of Krishna Kumar’s offerings under his brand 9 Grains have no maida and uses the flours of nine different grains. “Being into naturopathy I wanted to focus on natural ingredients and their health benefits.” Expect whey protein, red rice, horse gram, sesame and such in the mix. Available on their website 9grains.in at INR 120 onwards for 150 gm packs.
Choc-a-bloc
Sai Jayalakshmy’s MegaBar cookie is a giant slab of decadence. A square cake-like hunk of Malted Double Chocolate, you can cut bars of slices off and savour every chewy bite with caramelized malt and enough gooey chocolate to make it a sugar junkie’s dream-come-true. Her brand Flour Power is driven by word of mouth and can be found on Instagram and boasts an exciting line-up of baked goodies like peanut butter and jam cakes, tarts, pies, baklava and lots more. Mega Bar at INR 1,700.
Pizza slice?
Pizookie, as the name suggests, is a big disc of a pizza-shaped cookie. Sangeetha Kumar who launched the brand on Instagram just a week ago, tells us that she wanted to do something unique. Our favourite is their Lemon Drizzle that feels like a large lemon tart that has a soft under-baked cookie dough base. The tang and sweet hits the spot perfectly. Meanwhile, from the many flavours on offer (like RedVelvet and Nutella), the fastest moving right now is the 8-inch Cocktail Pizookie that’s loaded with Oreos, S’mores, Nutties, chocolate chunks, M&Ms, Snickers, Twix, peanut butter and jelly! INR 750 onwards.
Dough dress up
We spotted these adorable baby outfits embellished with royal icing on Instagram recently. Turns out, mother of two Anish Fathima who started the venture Cookie Magic last year, has made a business out of crafting everything from purple airplanes that pop to temple jewellery sets that glitter atop a cookie. We particularly liked this one that was created for a South Indian baby shower. Other cookies in the set of 12 included handpainted silk saris and jasmine flowers, glass bangles and a fruit basket. Flavours range from classics like vanilla and chocolate to strawberry, cinnamon+coffee, rose and cardamom. INR 3,000 for the baby shower set. INR 150 upwards for a single piece.
Pineapple express
These pineapple cookie tarts are inspired by the buttery-soft creations rolled out every Chinese New Year in Malaysia and Singapore. Sister duo Reshma and Reema Ravichander who started the Oishii Cookie House on Instagram last year, tell us that their version is quite similar with a crumbly pastry shell encasing a homemade pineapple jam delicately spiced with cloves. “We initially started making them as a special request from her husband as he was missing home,” Reshma shares. But once folks got a taste, there was no stopping and these pineapple-inspired creations have been a hit ever since! Seasonal order. INR 78 per cookie. Minimum order six pieces.