The 2nd Annual Cookie Takedown

The leftover bits

An old friend and I headed over to the Bell House (yes, I’m there a lot these days) and scarfed down 30 types of cookies at Matt Timms’ Cookie Takedown a few days before Christmas. A big thumbs up goes to Matt for having tons of paper plates on hand and carrying a labeled ballot box around. Atta boy!

With 30 contenders for me to talk to, I only recognized one from my previous litany of cook off competitions this year - that would be Phoebe and Cara from Big Girls Small Kitchen. Phoebe and Cara dished out brownie batter cookie dumplings with espresso dipping sauce. I was pleased to see their cookies in dumpling form. Bonus points for creativity! I made sure to congratulate the ladies on their new book Cara & Phoebe’s Quarter-Life Kitchen.

Drizzling espresso sauce on the dumplings

Being so worn out from chocolate at many recent events, I could barely tolerate the sight of all the chocolate & chocolate chip varietal cookies... God help me there were a lot of them.

Drawn to the unusual appearance and fabulously sweet flavor of Jane Hansen’s Birdie's Eye, I had to learn a bit more about them. Jane informed me that the cookies were based on a family recipe originating from a German lady whose name was, you guessed it, Birdie. The small butter cookie featured red current jelly, almond extract, powdered sugar and another ingredient beginning with a “b” that is mostly illegible in my notepad, but I think might say brandied. What can I say? I get a little excited while jotting down notes.

Mmm...red current jelly in Birdie's Eye

Newcomer Melissa Danchak dazzled me with her oatmeal apple cranberry crumb cookie. Hey, I’m a major sucker for cranberries. It had the perfect texture for me. Soft, sweet, chewy. She won third place Judge’s choice! Way to go Melissa.

With so many entries, I found myself stunned by the number of ordinary entries. Gingersnap, check. Triple chocolate, check. Chocolate chip, check. Yawn!

A damn fine gingersnap by Jessica Vail

Most everything was good, but there seemed to be a lack of originality compared with other food competitions I’ve seen. Sure there were some a-typical ingredients like sea salt, bacon, and pretzels, but I was expecting some outside-the-box cookies.

Speaking of outside the box....the wild card entry of the day was Nacho Mama’s cookies. I found them largely flavorless, but looking at the orange butter cream filled triangles below and I think you’ll see why these were memorable.

Nacho Mama's cookies tied for People Choice first place!