I mentioned previously I read Phil Gaimon’s book Pro Cycling on $10 a Day: From Fat Kid to Euro Pro, so when I needed something to read when relaxing without classes for a month, I looked for another light read. I did not plan on finishing the book in a day, but I did, so I needed a new activity. Then I saw the cookie recipe in the back of the book.
This book is a compilation of Phil Gaimon’s Ask a Pro columns from Velonews with the occasional additional witty comment you would expect at this point if you are familiar with his work. I enjoyed Pro Cycling on $10 a Day, so I knew I would probably enjoy Ask a Pro, and I was not disappointed. It is rare I laugh out loud at a book, and this was one of them.
The book is split into multiple parts, based on Phil’s journey as a pro, and you can see how some of the answers seem to change throughout the book. Another thing is that some questions may get answered twice, because the answer changed, the same way cycling has changed over the years, just like how now aero bikes are for a lot more than time trials. His answers are honest, sometimes sarcastic, and on occasion point out how ridiculous some of the questions people constantly ask him tend to be when looked at from his perspective.
At the end of the book, he includes the recipe for the Phil Cookie, which includes, peanut butter, peanuts, chocolate chips, pretzels, and homemade peanut brittle. Just reading the ingredients I knew I needed to make this cookie. I also really like cookies and am always hungry right now from beginning to get my training on track for some possible 2020 racing.
I went to the grocery store, bought all of the ingredients, made a huge mess of my kitchen, and learned a few things about baking cookies. Number one was that a stand mixer is a great addition to any kitchen. I went ahead and used mine for all of my mixing for this recipe and highly recommend it. Number two is that this recipe makes twelve big cookies, meaning I had to run three batches in my single oven. If you have two ovens it will be a lot faster. Number four, peanut brittle is actually super easy to make.
After all of my struggles with spilling flour all over the kitchen when trying to sift and then pour my dry ingredients into my mixer I managed to burn my fingers a few times on the oven when adding toppings to the cookies, but the final product was worth it. The cookies are chewy in the middle, and crisp on the outside, with a texture kind of like a peanut butter cookie. They are also extremely rich, and I could only eat half of one, so I am also sending some to Ohio to my family with my dad this weekend, and I am thinking about bringing some to a group ride one night to share.