For June 18

Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, from David Lebovitz

Peppery Nibby Chocolate Sables, adapted from Nick Malgieri

Another crazy work week. Sigh. But two interesting cookies. Both of these come from noted bakers who have their own Web sites. The Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies are from David Lebovitz' web site, but he is adapting a recipe from Nick Maglieri. These are good cookies and, even better, they are very low fat. This recipe made around 7 dozen cookies, but only used 4 tablespoons of butter. The secret is to use applesauce in place of some of what would otherwise be butter. This is a nice, chewy, very simple cookie reminiscent of childhood.

The other one, well, not so much. This is a recipe of Nick Malgieri (who is adapting someone else's recipe) for a chocolate sable, which is a type of butter cookie. This recipe calls for cinnamon, cayenne and fresh ground black pepper as part of the dough; I have slightly adapted it by adding some cacao nibs (what can I say, they were there, it seemed the right thing to do). Anyway, not your average childhood cookie! These are quite yummy - petite cookies, with a very complex flavor profile. They are quite a contrast to the oatmeal cookie!