Still We Rise Is the Only Cookie Cookbook You’ll Ever Need.
Welcome to Cookbook of the Week . This is a series where I highlight cookbooks that are unique, easy to use, or just special to me. While searching for a specific recipe online serves a quick purpose, flipping through a truly excellent cookbook has its own magic.
I’m pretty sure the first biscuit I ever tried was Bisquick drops. Although my mom was an experienced cook, she usually baked from boxes. That was fine with me and my brothers. But when I fell in love with baking myself, I was quite surprised to learn that baking cookies from scratch isn’t quite the same as Bisquick. Easy? Sure. But only in terms of the ingredient list. In fact, the simpler the ingredient list, the more difficult it is to make some foods. Cookies are a great example of the illusion of ease in baking.
There’s a balance to be found between reducing gluten and strengthening it, adding richness and maximizing rise, and then there’s the question of what to eat it with. This week’s cookbook spotlight is Still We Rise , a cookbook that collects all kinds of cookies, from those that can be used as a buttered side dish to others that are a major source of comfort.
A little about the book
Still We Rise was published in 2023 by Bomb Biscuit Company owner and chef Erica Council. You might be thinking: How many cookie recipes are there? Actually, a lot. There are more than 70 recipes in this book — yes, for different types of cookies, but also for jams and spreads, as well as recipes for savory cookie sandwiches.
In addition to serving as a collection of easy-to-follow cookie recipes, you’ll find anecdotes and personal stories on one page that tie into the recipes below. Council uses this cookbook as a place to tell stories about remarkable women cooks, about her family, about their experiences as black people living in America in the 1940s and beyond, and how the food prepared and shared by Council’s family members played a critical role in how she connects her past and present.
A recipe I made this week
When I first picked out the recipe I wanted to make this week, I was expecting a chore of cookie prep. I chose sour cream and chive cookies, so I made sure I had flour, sour cream, chives, and plenty of cold butter. I stretched out my arms and braced myself for a few minutes of “slicing” the butter. This is the process of breaking cold butter into little pieces, eventually flattening them so they bake into flaky layers. You’ll also see this done a lot in pie crusts. It’s like a hyper-lazy version of the dough lamination you see in croissants and puff pastry. It’s pretty annoying, to put it bluntly, but the cookies turn out delicious, so it’s worth it.
I started mixing the dry ingredients in a bowl and scanned the page for butter consistency. I scanned again. Where was the butter? Oh, no butter— no butter ? (Well, there was, but only a couple tablespoons to grease at the end.) This recipe uses sour cream and a little buttermilk to give the dough some richness, and that’s it. No beating or shredding butter? For those who don’t know by heart what that news means in practical terms, this recipe will potentially only take about 10 minutes.
And so it was. They were so easy to make. Too easy to make? At first I was suspicious, but the smell coming from the oven allayed my fears. The first thing I noticed when I took a bite was the hydration. These cookies weren’t your typical tall, flaky specimen, but instead were fluffy and tender, an onion-like bite. They weren’t moist or cake-like by any means, but they weren’t in danger of being dry either. I should have made a double batch, because the sour cream kept the cookies from hardening or going stale, even after they’d sat for a day.
A great cookbook for making cookies that suit your situation.
This is obviously a cookie cookbook; don’t come here looking for a pizza recipe (though there are pancakes). What’s special about this book is that it seems to have a cookie for every possible need, limitation, or casual desire. It’s about more than just a variety of toppings or add-ins.
There are recipes that don’t have butter, ones that use alternative fats like duck fat, biscuits made with regular milk and some with buttermilk, recipes for sweet occasions, savory ones, quick and low-rise recipes, and more complex ones. I can easily imagine thinking: I don’t have buttermilk today and I need savory biscuits ready in an hour, so what should I make? — and searching for a biscuit that fits my current pantry stock and time needs.
How to buy
I always recommend a stroll through your local bookstore, but since I couldn’t make it this week, I can’t blame you for ordering online. I went with the hardcover this week, but if your cookbook shelf is getting cramped, you can download the ebook for next to nothing. I’ll be keeping my copy right in my kitchen for strawberry and peach season. (There’s a recipe for honey peach cookies I’ve had my eye on.)