Look, Don't Taste

What is this, you wonder? Is it vegan "tuna salad," or is it something you'd feed a horse? Alas, it is an experiment that will possibly (probably) go awry. You see, a friend posted his success on Facebook with Mark Bittman's maple cornbread cookies, which were already a variation on butter drop cookies. One of the other variations was olive oil cookies.

Well, I'm mighty fond of the farro extra-virgin olive oil cookies from Alce Nero; so fond that I have only half a bag left. Naturally, I wondered if I could try to approximate them. But the ingredients in Bittman's recipe diverge from the ingredients in this bag of cookies, of course. Bittman's recipe contains an egg, vanilla, and milk. The Alce Nero cookies only contain farro flour, farro flakes (this is something I could never find in this town), extra-virgin olive oil, brown sugar, and baking soda. There is no mention of egg or any liquid.

Right now I'm in the middle of this ill-fated project. I haven't yet added any liquid, just the egg, but it is clear that I need to do so. There is no way this cookie dough will be dropping off the spoon. Also, the smell of olive oil is overpoweringly strong - Bittman cautions one to use light olive oil, as the flavor is less intense, but how did those folks at Alce Nero get away with it? This is one case where no one's going to be fighting to lick the spoon.

ETA: Is there something wrong with my oven? The cookies have now been in there for 10 minutes and show no sign of baking.

OK, which cookie is mine and which is Alce Nero's? Whoever guesses right gets the whole batch of

mine, for free.