Lunchbox-Style Cookies

These are the cookies we think of when we want an afternoon snack, a mid-morning pick-me-up, or a very satisfying end to a family meal. Order a dozen or two of all one kind, or combine a few for a cookie platter. We'll make them big (palm-sized, one is a dessert!) or smaller (if you are serving these at a party or reception where people will want to taste more than one, this is the size for you). Please remember that our minimum order is $24.

Large cookies: $18/baker's dozen, 2 dozen minimum per variety

Munch-a-bunch size cookies: $10/baker's dozen, 3 dozen minimum per variety

Chocolate Chocolate Chunk cookies: Yes, I heard you the first time — these cookies have so much chocolate we have to say it twice! There's so much chocolate, in fact, that there's no room for eggs — yet these are as rich as can be. No nuts, just pure chocolate. And did I mention chocolate?

Clockwise from left: Sugar Curls, Helen of Troy Brownies, Shortbread, Pecan Pie Bars (center)

Chocolate Picassos: These are not your grammy's chocolate chip cookies. They aren't your mom's, either. Remember Aunt Louisa, who went to college when nice girls didn't, who lived in France and had a string of debonair lovers, who had an early and original Picasso hanging on the wall of her pied-a-terre in Paris, who introduced you to martinis and taught you what every woman should know and no man should — remember her? These are her chocolate chip cookies. They don't have chocolate chips, they have chocolate expanses — layers of rich, 60% El Rey chocolate disks melted into ecstasy between strata of buttery, rich cookie. Did we mention they are rich? And sophisticated, like Aunt Louisa. And you. These are cookies for grown-ups.

My Daughter's Chocolate Chip Cookies: Let her describe them: "These are the good ones. They don't have anything weird in them. They are just like the recipe on the back of the bag, made with all butter. I like them with milk chocolate chips, but you can have them with semi- sweet, or a mixture of the two. Don't put in nuts. That ruins them. Oh, Mom says you can have nuts if you want them. I wouldn't, though, if I were you."

M&M Cookies: Cheery cookies — a handful of fun. Our usual high quality is aimed at the younger set, with none of that scary dark chocolate or nuts. But since we're still using AA-grade butter and fresh eggs, and mixing them in small batches, they're still Best In Class. Some very elegant people of our acquaintance love these. Candy color can vary by season, or if you want a particular theme (may cost more for custom colors).

Compost Cookies: An odd name for an unusual cookie! These cookies have a passionate following among those who have tasted them. Everything gets tossed into them — chips of all descriptions, from milk chocolate to semisweet chocolate to butterscotch to peanut butter — but what makes them really odd is the addition of salty elements, like pretzels and potato chips. Why? We don't know why, but the combination catches our fancy. This recipe comes to us by way of Le Petit Lapin, an artisanal bakery in Stowe, Vermont, who credit the Momofuku Milk Bar in New York City with creating the recipe.

Monster Cookies: Kids adore these cookies, as do the young-at-heart. They have a little of everything sweet in them — a variety of chips and nuts make them different every time. The dough has both peanut butter and oatmeal. They are chewy-crunchy-delightful, a party in your mouth (minus the balloons and candles, because wouldn't that be uncomfortable?)

White Chocolate-Macadamia Cookies: "Macadamia" is one of the most fun words to say, along with "bouffant," "nitwit," and "tweak." These cookies are a secret indulgence. Yes, we know that white chocolate isn't really chocolate, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't have a place in the world. Try these and you'll agree. Chewy, crispy, a bit of crunch from the nuts, a hit of milky sweetness from those white chunks. You'll be back for more. Knock on the back door at 2 am. The password is "oddment."

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies: If you eat one of these, will it help your cholesterol level? Probably not. With the butter and eggs we put in, it's probably a wash. But who cares? They are thick, chewy, chock-full of raisins, and they have walnuts or pecans if you like. These have been pronounced "the best oatmeal cookie I've ever eaten" by a Professional Oatmeal Cookie Eater.

Peanutty Peanut-Butter Cookies: When we make these cookies, we add peanut butter by the truck-load. We have a special cement-mixer that backs up to the kitchen and pours out peanut butter. Not only that, but we add a dump-truck's load of chopped Virginia peanuts (the only kind, to our way of thinking) to each batch. Don't believe us? We'll prove it to you. Taste one of these and you'll see that there's no other way we could get this kind of flavor. These are sandy-salty- sweet-and-above-all-peanutty cookies. They even have that traditional fork-print on top.

Sugar Cookies: Every child's favorite! Ours have butter (of course!) and lovely citrus flavors that waft over the palate and move you to a higher level of consciousness. Our signature shape is a pink heart that says, of course, "Sweet!" But we are happy to shape them anyway you like, within reason (subject to the limits of our, or your, cookie-cutter collections). We ice them with a smooth, glossy icing in an array of colors. We can also write a brief message (one or two words, please, no Faulknerian sentences) on each one.

Snickerdoodles: Despite the long name, this is a very simple cookie — a plain dough covered in cinnamon sugar and baked until they are chewy inside and crackly outside. Take a bite and be a kid again.

Joe Froggers: Named after the cook in Bedford, Massachusetts, who invented these (or so the story goes), these contain no frogs. They are a big, chewy molasses-ginger cookie — not as spicy as a ginger snap, and not crispy. Wonderful in the fall with cider — or in the winter with cocoa, spring with tea, or summer with lemonade. In fact, we have it on good authority that these are even better during solar eclipses and on February 29. But don't wait for rare occasions — try these now.

Chocolate Snaps: Crunchy, glistening with sugar, a different sort of chocolate experience, but no less satisfying for that. Try dipping these in milk and letting them disintegrate on your tongue. Your taste buds are smiling.

Ginger Snaps: Some recipes call for a teaspoon of ginger. Can you imagine? That's like walking on the beach wearing shoes. What's the point? We put so much ginger in these we don't use a spoon to measure — we use a cup. (We're not saying how big a cup. That's classified.) We also put finely chopped crystallized ginger in them. These are robust in flavor and chewy-crunchy in texture. You're gonna love them.

Top to Bottom: Pecan Pie Bars, Lemon Bars, Almond Macaroons, Sugar Curls, Chocolate Essence Cookies

Elegant cookies

These are a little more genteel. They dress up a tea party, make your morning coffee break into a celebration, and are a wonderful idea for a hostess gift.

Prices, unless otherwise specified: $12/dozen, 4 dozen minimum

Almond macaroons: Just almonds, sugar and egg whites. They are chewy and slightly crunchy. Make a cup of coffee an occasion! Try them on the side with ice cream, wow your friends with your refinement and good taste. These are what they serve when you reach Nirvana.

Chocolate Essence: These are a little fancier than our Chocolate Snaps, a tad more intense, a tad more grown-up. They add sophistication that even a chocoholic will appreciate.

Chocolate Sandwich Cookies: These belong in another dimension entirely from the usual chocolate-cookies-with-white-filling that we are familiar with. For one thing, we make these with butter, not shortening. The cookies are intensely chocolate, crispy and rich, and the filling is a creamy, delectable chocolate icing. You will dream about these.

Shortbread: Not Scottish, just Pittsburghish. We make these with Plugra, an oddly-named European-style high-fat butter made in the USA. The other ingredients are sugar and flour. That's it. We bake them in ceramic molds so each one has a lovely design. Stick one into a dish of ice cream and you've got an elegant dessert, without your having to do anything except scoop! Have one (or two) with a cup of tea and pretend you are in your castle in Balmoral, watching the sheep graze. Do you know why bagpipers walk while they play? To get away from the noise.

Half recipe (about 24 cookies), $14; full recipe (about 48 cookies), $27

Sugar Curls: These are a delicate, crunchy, rich, sugar-spangled treat. They are closer to French puff pastry than to an American cookie. They remind us of palmiers. Made with sour cream, sugar, flour and butter. How could that be anything but delightful?

Lemon Bars: A shortbread base is topped by the lemony-est lemon filling we could make. Lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar, eggs, butter... what bliss! (These need to be refrigerated until it's time to arrange the cookie platter.)

8x8" pan (16-24 cookies), $14; 9x13" pan (36-48 cookies), $27

Pecan Pie Bars: Shortbread crust topped with chopped toasted pecans and whatever they call that gloriously gooey stuff in pecan pies. The flavor is deep and rich, and you'll be back for more. Don't panic, we'll be happy to make you another batch.

Half 10x15" pan (about 30 cookies) $14; whole 10x15" pan (50-60 cookies), $27