…Black and White cookie. For my money, if a bakery can’t make a decent Black and White cookie, you’re better off buying dessert in the frozen food aisle.
That, plus a great rye bread. Not some presliced, seedless wussy kind, but crusty and seeded, sawed into thick slabs, slathered in butter and enjoyed with the Sunday paper.
Any other benchmarks for a good bakery? And is there truly anything better than a good Black and White?
For me the only test is a Kaiser roll.
And I haven’t had a good one in years!
It should be flaky, where there are flakes of crust falling off when you pick it up. And soft inside, not chewy.
The secret, I’m told, is taking the time to roll the dough extra thin and then butter/oil it. That keeps the layers apart and the flakes form where the layers separate.
Creme Horn
Nobody makes good ones anymore.
I used to get black and white cookies all the time, staying in Brooklyn with my grandmother. Now, in Texas, people think a black and white cookie is something like an oreo. I would commit some pretty atrocious acts for one of those things. Had to remind me, didn’t you?
cornbread.
really! cornbread (with apple butter) has always been my favorite bread. most likely because of the taste and texture. mmmmmmmmmmmm…
Crullers.
We used to get great ones when I was a kid. I can’t seem to find even palatable ones anymore. The proper cruller must be dense, lightly glazed, with a thick and satisfying outer crust. It remains my Holy Grail of morning donuts.
French Bread, it ain’t a decent bakery unless they can produce a decent loaf of French Bread.
There’s a bakery in Blue Island that makes THE BEST…THE BEST Smiley Face cookies in the history of the world. I mean, the apples on the tree of knowledge were useless lumps of pus next to these Smiley Face cookies.
I’ll drive an hour to get one. And now, I’ve fucked myself because I want one right now.
jarbaby
You are a being after my own heart, rundogrun, not three miles from my dwelling is a bakery that makes the best B&W cookies (though I grew up calling them Half Moon Cookies I have had to adopt the B&W name so as not to be stared at blankly) I have corrupted my son who now insists on a bakery trip at least a couple of times a month.
They also make a dandy 7 layer cake. If a bakery does anything but butter creame as a standard for frosting their goods are no better than buying a twinkie.