There are only two things better than getting to play hooky when Portland freaks out over a couple inches of snow, and those are sledding in Laurelhurst Park and warming up afterwards with a cookie party.
As a daring departure from my standby Pillsbury or Safeway brand cookies-from-a-tube, my testers and I tried out Seattle-made Cougar Mountain sugar cookie dough. It’s a bit less sweet and flavorful (and less artificial-tasting) than its bottom-shelf brothers, but for this reason is ideal for topping with a powdered sugar frosting or other flavor additions, or pairing with hot chocolate (see below) without going into sugar shock. The dough, which is sold refrigerated, is very easy to work with: It rolls out nicely and doesn’t fall apart when cut and handled. Plus, it’s delicious raw, the benchmark for any pre-made cookie dough.
While defrosting our butts by the furnace, we warmed our snow-frozen hands with mugs of Dagoba Xocolatl, an organic Mexican-style hot chocolate seasoned with chilies and cinnamon. It seemed like a good idea to spike it with brandy, and in a general way it was, but from a culinary standpoint the rich oiliness of the high-quality chocolate combined with the sneaky kick of the chilies would have been enjoyably intense on its own, but with the brandy it was a little too much. If you’re going to doctor your cocoa, stick to Dagoba’s original, plain hot chocolate. Either way, you want to be sure to stir or whisk it thoroughly to achieve a smooth consistency and avoid grittiness.
Dagoba Xocolatl or plain hot chocolate mix, $7.99 for 12 ounces. New Seasons Market, 1954 SE Division St. and other locations, 445-2888. 8 am-10 pm daily. Cougar Mountain sugar cookie dough, $3.19 for 18 ounces. Wild Oats Natural Marketplace, 2825 E Burnside St. and other locations, 232-6601. 8 am-10 pm daily. Call first though; this stuff has been flying off the shelves faster than a garbage can lid down Mount Tabor.
