I remember when I was in high school, my mother once tried to convince me to go out with the dorky son of one of her bridge buddies. “What does he look like?” I asked. She replied, “Looks aren’t everything. He’s got such a great personality!” I knew I was doomed. Trust me. When words like that come out of your mother’s mouth, run for the hills!
Why am I bringing this up now? Because that is exactly what I would tell you if you asked me about these Cafe Volcano Cookies. They’re not much to look at, but they have lots of personality.
Cafe Volcano cookies are little brownish lumps of craggy, crispy, crunchy and nutty deliciousness. And, you can count the number of ingredients needed to make them on one hand. They’re a kind of meringue cookie, but there is no actual meringue involved. All you do is heat some toasted nuts, sugar, espresso powder and egg whites together in a pan, plop little spoonfuls of the mixture on a cookie sheet and bake. That’s it! No sifting, creaming, beating, whipping, whisking, folding or chilling necessary. It literally doesn’t get any easier than this, unless you just buy your cookies at the store. And even then, you’d have to take the time to drive there.
This article appears in Dec 16-22, 2009.