Birmingham food writer Katherine Cobbs has worked on cookbooks with several well-known chefs. Her solo book series on food-and-drink pairings kicks off with "Cookies & Cocktails." (Photo copyright Becky Stayner)
Is there a better way to spread holiday cheer than through cookies and cocktails?
Seasoned food writer Katherine Cobbs of Birmingham has curated a decadent collection of this classic duo in her debut cookbook, “Cookies & Cocktails.” It features creamy libations and delicious desserts sure to satisfy any sweet tooth.
Cobbs has worked in the cookbook publishing industry for 25 years, beginning in San Francisco, where she worked for the publisher who produced the Williams Sonoma books.
When she moved to Alabama in 2003 to her husband’s hometown, she worked on cookbooks with two famous local chefs, helping produce “Frank Stitt’s Southern Table,” “Bottega Favorita with Chef Stitt” and “The Hot & Hot Fish Club” with Chris Hastings. She worked with Martina McBride on her first cookbook, “Around the Southern Table,” and Atlanta chef Todd Richards on his acclaimed “Soul” cookbook.
The first cookbook in her new series of food and beverage pairings with Simon and Schuster, “Cookies & Cocktails” highlights 20 cocktails from bartenders coast to coast and points in between. Cobbs used the cocktails she received from these bartenders as the inspiration for sweet or savory cookie pairings that she developed to complement the flavor profile of the drink.
“Cocktails are festive by nature and, frankly, cookies are an indulgence, too,” says Cobbs. “For the holidays, you can’t go wrong with any of these pairings, in my mind.”
When it comes to her favorite cookie and cocktail pairing for the holidays, Cobbs says there are many choices.
“I’m definitely a lover of all things salty,” she says. “I’d say one of my favorite pairings in the whole book is the Pecan Milk Cowboy Russian contributed by chef Chris Castro of this funky bookstore-restaurant hybrid the Kitchen at Commonplace Books in Oklahoma City. It’s a classic bourbon milk punch that relies on the distinctive flavor of nondairy nut milks. Pecan is such a terrific pairing with bourbon, as is the homemade coffee liqueur he weaves into the mix.”
Cobbs coupled that cocktail with a sandwich cookie filled with maple frosting that gets a salty rim of crispy bacon crumbles. It works well with that cocktail, and she loves the sweet-savory mashup of flavors.
If you’re looking to make your own cookie and cocktail combinations this holiday, Cobbs offers a few tips that she’s learned along the way.
“Many don’t realize how much the right glass can impact the enjoyment of a drink because it can affect aroma, temperature and, thus, flavor,” she says. “I provide a guide called ‘Know How to Hold ’Em’ in the book that shines a light on matching a particular style of drink to a glass.”
She suggests that the glass can also make a drink feel extra-special. After all, who doesn’t love to sip Champagne out of a coupe? It just feels Old World and elegant.
When it comes to baking cookies, Cobbs suggests that you read recipes all the way through at least twice and then set your items in place, so that all the ingredients are at your fingertips when you are ready to get started.
“Pay attention to whether butter or eggs should be chilled or room temperature,” she suggests. “Baking just isn’t as forgiving as cooking, but the recipes in this book are all pretty basic and approachable, so I think you will find that they are pretty easy, even for the novice baker.”
Whiskey-Pecan Milk Cowboy Russian and Maple-Pecan Sandwich Cookies with Bacon
Yes, yes…you’re welcome!
WHISKEY-PECAN MILK COWBOY RUSSIAN
This recipe hails from Chris Castro of The Kitchen at Commonplace Books in Oklahoma City. His spin on a White Russian swaps whiskey for the usual vodka, homemade coffee liqueur for the Kahlua, and uses the distinctively nutty “milk” from freshly ground locally grown pecans in place of dairy. It’s boldly flavored and dangerously drinkable.
1 ounce bourbon
1 ounce coffee liqueur (recipe below)
2 ounces pecan milk (recipe below)
Orange zest
Freshly grated nutmeg
Fill a shaker tin three-quarters full of ice. Add the bourbon, coffee liqueur and pecan milk. Shake vigorously until light and frothy. Strain into a rocks glass filled with ice. Finely grate a bit of orange zest and nutmeg on top with a microplane grater. Serves 1.
HOMEMADE COFFEE LIQUEUR
½ vanilla bean
2 cups whiskey
1 cup quality whole coffee beans, cracked 4 cacao nibs
1 orange peel strip
1 cup simple syrup
Slice the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape seeds into a clean jar. Add the whiskey and coffee beans. Cover, shake and set aside in a cool, dark place for 24 hours. Shake from time to time.
After 24 hours, add the cacao nibs and orange peel to the jar. Cover, shake and return to the cool, dark place for 24 hours more.
Strain the mixture through a coffee filter. Stir in the simple syrup. Store in the refrigerator up to 6 months. Makes 3 cups.
PECAN MILK
1 cup raw pecans, soaked 30 minutes and drained
4 cups water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon maple syrup
¼ teaspoon Himalayan salt
Combine the soaked pecans, water, vanilla extract, maple syrup and salt in a high-speed blender. Blend on high 2-3 minutes until creamy.
Refrigerate 1 hour until the liquid separates from the solids. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean quart-sized jar. Discard solids.
Refrigerate for up to 1 week. Shake well before serving. Makes 1 quart.
MAPLE-PECAN SANDWICH COOKIES WITH BACON
This is a rich and buttery partner for Chris Castro’s alt-milk whiskey punch that he makes using pecans from the state’s abundant pecan groves. Bacon complements bourbon’s smokiness, while maple tempers the sweet, caramel-y burn.
1 cup salted butter, softened
½ cup sugar
⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
¾ cup cornstarch
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup finely chopped pecans
1 cup maple frosting with bacon (recipe follows)
Center racks in the oven and preheat to 350 F.
Combine the butter, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Whisk together the cornstarch, flour and chopped pecans. Add the dry ingredients 1/4 cup at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl if needed, until dough is smooth.
Halve the dough and roll each portion between two sheets of parchment paper into a 10-inch circle, about ¼-inch thick. Transfer the rounds to the freezer for 20 minutes to firm up. Cut the chilled dough with a 2-inch round cookie cutter. Bake, in batches, 12-15 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through, until the cookies are golden brown at the edges. Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool completely.
Spread the flat sides of half of the cookies with a heaping tablespoon of frosting and top with the flat side of another cookie. Makes 18.
MAPLE FROSTING WITH BACON
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup evaporated milk
½ cup unsalted butter
¼ cup maple syrup
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 slices crisp-cooked bacon, very finely chopped
Combine the brown sugar, evaporated milk, butter and maple syrup in a saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes. Raise the heat to medium-low and boil for 5 minutes more. Remove from the heat and stir in the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla extract. Let the frosting cool in the saucepan for 10 minutes. Transfer the frosting to a mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until smooth and spreadable, 2-3 minutes. Fold in the finely chopped bacon. Makes 2 cups.
Flora-Bama Bushwacker and White Chocolate-Cherry-Pistachio Oatmeal Cookies
A boozy adult shake and a cookie for dunking equal a match-made-in heaven!
FLORA-BAMA BUSHWACKER
The Flora-Bama recipe is large-batch and top secret, but these are the components, scaled for one drink, using ice cream in place of the milk that freezes as it churns in the bar’s drink machines. If you prefer, lose the ice cream and mix everything with 1 cup milk, half-and-half or heavy cream in an ice-filled shaker instead.
1 ounce white rum
1 ounce dark rum
1 ounce Kahlua
1 ounce crème de cacao
2 scoops vanilla ice cream
1 maraschino cherry
Combine everything except the cherry in a high-speed blender and blend for 30 seconds. Pour into a pint glass and serve with a straw. Garnish with a cherry. Serves 1.
WHITE CHOCOLATE-CHERRY-PISTACHIO OATMEAL COOKIES
White chocolate lends a welcome creaminess to these chunky drop cookies; plus, its neutral flavor lets the bright cherry and distinctive pistachio flavors shine through.
½ cup dried cherries
¼ cup, plus 1½ tablespoons kirsch
½ cup (1 stick/4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
¼ cup granulated sugar
⅓ cup packed dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup rolled oats
½ cup white chocolate chips
½ cup shelled pistachios, chopped
Center racks in the oven and preheat to 375 F.
Combine the cherries, 1⁄4 cup of the kirsch and 3 tablespoons boiling water in a bowl. Set aside for 20 minutes to allow the fruit to plump up.
Combine the butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, starting on low speed. Cream the mixture by gradually increasing the speed to high until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in the egg and the remaining 1½ tablespoons kirsch (or substitute 1 teaspoon cherry extract) to incorporate. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
Whisk together the flour, baking soda, allspice, salt and oats in a medium bowl. Gradually add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, stirring with a wooden spoon until combined. Fold in the white chocolate chips and pistachios. Drain and fold in the cherries to evenly distribute.
Drop rounded tablespoonfuls of dough onto two parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake 11-12 minutes, until the edges are golden brown. Let cool on the pans for 1 minute. Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight tin at room temperature for up to 1 week. Makes 18.