I realized yesterday afternoon that the new cookie sheets that I got for Christmas had been sitting off to the side, all wrapped up and unused. Since we were fresh out of Sachertorte, I decided that I wanted cookies and, specifically, olive oil cookies.
I found a New York Times Recipe of the Day recipe for Olive Oil Cookies with rosemary and black pepper. All flavors that I love, combined with a comparatively small amount of sugar made these cookies super appealing, and since I had all of the ingredients in the house, I went for it.
There was no lemon in the recipe; it was in other recipes and somehow it got in the photo. However, I would add lemon zest the next time. I think it would work wonders with the other flavors.
I started off with all of my dry ingredients, including rosemary and black pepper. The smell of fresh chopped rosemary reminds me of a spa. Lovely. . .
As I measure and mix, I now always keep in mind learning to bake at King Arthur Flour this past fall. I learned SO much that I bring to my at home baking.
Once the dry ingredients were blended, I added in the liquid ingredients. I actually ended up subbing milk for the red wine in the recipe, which it suggested as an alternative. We all know that I have more than enough wine in the house, but I just thought the red wine was a strange addition. I think I will give it a try next time.
The recipe said that it made about two dozen. I ended up with 18. 
My cookies were pretty big, but that’s okay. One or two makes the perfect snack.
And my, are they delicious! Moist, a little dense, and fragrant, with a kick of black pepper every now and then, these cookies could use a lot MORE black pepper. As I mentioned above, lemon would fit in perfectly with these cookies.
I had two right away and two later in the evening. Because these are not super sweet, they are ideal for those of us who don’t have a sweet tooth.
Do you consider yourself to have a major sweet tooth?
Have you entered my restaurant giveaway?! It ends on Sunday, so be sure to enter!
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- Pinch salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary or 1/2 teaspoon dried
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup olive oil, plus a little for cookie sheet
- 3/4 cup , or a little more, dry red wine
Method
- 1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Combine the dry ingredients. Beat the eggs with the olive oil and wine. Use a rubber spatula to stir the liquid mix into the dry one, just until well combined; if the mixture is stiff, add a little more wine.
- 2. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto a lightly oiled cookie sheet and back 12 to 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool a couple of minutes, then remove the cookies to a rack to cool further.
