
Maybe it was the recent record-breaking heat wave here in New York, but I just hadn't been feeling very fall. My heart may have been saying "sweater weather," but the thermometer was tauntingly registering "spring break." I figured this called for cookies.
I fell in love with "The Pain d'Avignon Baking Book" not because I'm a big bread baker (I'm not), nor because my annual summer vacations on Cape Cod make me any authority on one of its most beloved bakeries (though I think I am). I took to the cookbook as soon as I beelined straight for the back of it, where the enticing yet approachable recipes for non-bread things like honey cornmeal cake and dark chocolate scones could be found. There, I spotted promising-looking slice-and-bake cranberry cookies that offered all the cozy satisfaction of a walk in the woods.