How do you say 'Dulce De Leche?'

 dool-say day lay-chay
 dull-chey dey leh-chey
 dool-seh they leh-cheh
 dool-theh deh leh-cheh

Or how does this sound? 

Any of the above will do, but if you like caramel or if you like sugar, the most basic pronunciation is simply 'delicious.'  The literal Spanish translation is "candy of milk." If you had a cookie this week, then you know what I'm talking about - if you don't like sweet, you're not gonna like this cookie  It's from my new cookbook - uh, I didn't write it, I just bought it.  Dorie Greenspan's "Baking. From my home to yours."  She's a renowned baker and food writer and authored one of my other favorite cookbooks 'Baking with Julia."   This book also recently topped the James Beard Foundation "The Baker's Dozen," a list of the thirteen best baking cookbooks of all time. As I get further into this little project, it seems as if all searches for the best "fill in the blank with your favorite type of cookie here" always leads to a Dorie Greenspan recipe.  So about a month ago when I ducked into a Barnes & Noble to use the restroom, I ended up walking out with "Baking. From my home to yours" (and NO, I did not HAVE to buy it because I took in the restroom with me, ala Seinfeld's George Costanza! :)

So I've been itching to make one of the dozens of cookie recipes from this book.  It was a toss up for the first one - her most famous recipe is a chocolate cookie she calls 'World Peace Cookies'  (and I thought I had lofty goals for a cookie?!) and the Dulce De Leche Duos.  I opted for the later simply because last weeks cookies were chocolate based ( thanks again to Heidi and Paul for doing the baking at Gilda's Club).  I loved how this batter came together, but to be honest as I was baking these cookies, I was thinking, 'this is my first disaster.'  The cookies were spreading and flattening and running together and they'd go from under-baked to nearly burnt in about 30 seconds.  I was less than thrilled.  I'd seen pictures of these cookies on the web and other blogs and they didn't look like mine - and there there were no photos in the cookbook.  In desperation, I went back and re-read the recipe to see where things had gone wrong, then I read this:

"These cookies, flavored with ready made  filling, are round and flatish (whew - but maybe just plain 'flat' is a better description!), crisp on the outside and soft, almost cakey (if there was 'almost a cookie') and just a little chewy in the their skinny centers ('skinny centers' check! yay!)."

So I guess I'm not so far off.  These cookies are definitely dangerous 'for whom with sweet-tooth' so I had to steer clear - but the one I did have?  Yeah, it was like 'candy of milk'... buttery, creamy, and visuals aside, it was delicious!


I don't really understand it, but I hear all that 'sweet' really isn't for everyone, plus these were a bit heavier on sugar and butter than what I would typically put out, so I wanted to offer a lighter alternative.  And seeing how I really love the ease of making biscotti (I'll save that explanation for another time, but it really is SO much easier than baking individual cookies), and since there's so many light & low fat recipes out there, I chose a light, non-chocolate, non-sweet, Orange-Infused Cherry Almond Biscotti.  As I'm writing this I'm realizing that last week's light cookies had dried cherries also, so I hope no one minds, and if they do?  Well, then go for the Dulce De Leche Duos, they're totally worth it!

(Due to copyright laws and out of respect for the author, I'm not posting the recipe for Dulce De Leche Duos {you probably don't really want to know what's in them anyway!}  But that's not to say a properly phrased internet search won't lead you them posted elsewhere.)