I so totally got scooped on my cookie diet. I should have written about it years ago, but I got sidetracked — and I wasn’t sure I really wanted to share my secret for staying thin.  So this week I get a mass e-mail regarding “The New Cookie Diet!” Of course their take on the deal is a little different from mine. Check out the press release:

“Wedding season is in full effect and that means that brides-to-be everywhere are looking for a quick and easy way to fit perfectly into those gowns! Instead of practically starving themselves before their nuptials, brides can now drop the pounds quickly by eating delicious cookies; YES cookies! The Dr. Siegal’s Cookie Diet famous diet cookies effectively suppress hunger… Each daily bag contains six cookies at 90 calories each…”

To that, I say, “Hello? Six cookies to last an entire day? Are they nutts?” On my cookie diet, you can have six or eight or 12 cookies just for breakfast!

Since I know you want to know, I’ll share details on My Cookie Diet. The toughest step for my diet is that you have to make the cookies. Store-bought cookies simply won’t do. They have way too much wrong fat, way too little sugar, and way too little flavor. So make yourself a batch or two of cookies, any flavor works.

Morning 1: Eat cookies, say about 6 medium to large size should do. Enjoy with coffee and go about your day. When you get hungry – dive for that cookie jar. Feel free to eat as many as you like. Enjoy your cookies with any no-calorie, no-nutrient drink. 

When you find yourself hungry again, yes, cookies. If you must, you are allowed to eat a few nutrients around the dinner hour. But don’t overdo it. And no, you may not have ice cream, candy and other treats as well. Just the cookies.

The result: By the time you’ve dusted off 4 to 5 dozen cookies, you will notice that you are not so much wanting to eat the cookies anymore. In fact, you may begin to lag and lack the energy to eat much of anything. But you will lose weight. I promise. I have much experience with this diet — it works.

UNscientifically speaking, the reason you lose weight, (I think), is that most of what you are eating isentirely nutrient-free.The weight-loss is rather nice, but you may also experience fatigue, foggy brain activity, even a touch of irritability. The most common side effect, however, is a rip-roaring cold that lasts for days — because your body lacks the nutrients it needs for your immune system to work properly.

If you would like more information on My Cookie Diet, I suggest you find yourself a book on good nutrition, quick. If you’d like information on Dr. Siegal’s Cookie Diet, you’ll have to get with him, 212-584-4325 or jevans@5wpr.com.

When I saw the news item about the cupcake dispute — regarding cupcakes served to school children back East — I got tweaked. Not about cupcakes per se, but about treats that are served to our children who attend public school.

This is what I don’t understand. Principals, teachers and alarmist parents have decided that all treats to be served to children in public schools must be store-bought or store-made.

Under no circumstances are fresh, homemade cookies or cupcakes to be served to children in public school. Treats made at home from fresh eggs, oil or butter, flour and milk, real vanilla and real chocolate, the authorities have decided, put our children at risk.

Much better, they reason, to get treats from a commercial source.

I can’t help but wonder if they realize that these commercially made treats are almost always laced with not-a-bit natural preservatives.

Do they know that these treats are very often made with transfats that are known to raise cholesterol and contribute to heart disease? Are they, aware that the bulk of these treats are made from mixes that contain imitation flavorings, imitation eggs, and imitation colors? Do they realize that many of these imitation ingredients have been fingered as carcinogenic?

I also wonder if they realize that these treats taste like what they are — imitation food. They have no real food flavor, which means children (and adults) tend to eat more and more of these treats in an effort to feel satisfied. Eating more imitation food puts our children even more at risk for obesity and dozens of other diseases.

The reality is that these new rules barring mom’s baked goods from school are seriously misguided. I suggest that those in authority take a good long look at the nutritional information their next store-bought treat, then read it out loud before they serve it to their children.

– Jolene Thym

Everyone raves about Peppermint Cream Cheese Bars

By Kari Hulac
STAFF WRITER

A perk of being a judge at our annual Holiday Cookie and Candy contest isn’t necessarily getting to taste all of the winning entries. It’s sampling dozens of other goodies, many of which could have been contenders.

But as you might have read in our Dec. 13 Food section, where we announced the winners, narrowing down the field from 40 entries to a few finalists isn’t easy. The harsh reality is that sometimes the best man — er, cookie — doesn’t always receive its just desserts.

I felt that way about Elsa Bouman’s Peppermint Cream Cheese Bars, and I lobbied unsuccessfully on their sweet behalf to name them finalists.

The bars — full of crushed candy canes in a cream cheese filling between two layers of sugary crust — are a perfect example of what makes a dessert worthy of your holiday table.

The candy cane, which Bouman uses liberally in her recipe, is such a classic seasonal treat. Plus, with a touch of pink in the filling and a snow-like topping of powdered sugar and crushed candy canes, it’s quite attractive.

Bouman, 52, of Oakland, gives credit for the basic recipe to her good friend Ina Ippolito of Alameda.

The two met while they were waitressing at Walkers Pie Shop, and they’ve been getting together to bake holiday treats for more than 15 years.

Bouman says Ippolito introduced her to the concept of combining cream cheese with peppermint in a snowball cookie, but she changed the recipe to bars because “it was just so painful to make all those snowballs.”

After trying the bars as a contest judge, I couldn’t get them out of my mind. I used my clout to get the recipe from Food Editor Jenny Slafkosky, who also agreed there was something special about them.

When I baked them at home and shared them at a neighborhood cookie exchange and at the office, the response was overwhelmingly enthusiastic — so much so that I decided I’d be neglecting my journalistic duties if I failed to give Bouman some kudos.

So, I’m happy to bestow upon Bouman a belated Honorable Mention in the 2006 ANG Newspapers Cookie and Candy Contest and to share this recipe with our readers — it’s a great way to use up all those leftover candy canes. Give these bars a try. I guarantee they’ll be the hit of your holidays.

Elsa Bouman’s Peppermint Cream Cheese Bars
Dough:
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Filling:
3/4 cup cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup finely crushed peppermint candy or candy canes (Bouman likes Leo’s)
1 drop red food coloring

Topping:
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup finely crushed peppermint candy or candy canes

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar; add vanilla. Stir in flour; knead until well-mixed. Reserve half of dough. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate. Press remaining dough into bottom of 9″ x 9″ glass pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. Let cool.

For filling, combine cream cheese and milk in a small bowl. Crush candy canes (1 box — about 12 regular size) in food processor or blender. Stir in sugar, candy and food coloring; mix well. Spread this filling layer onto cooled bottom layer, then roll out reserved dough with a rolling pin to square-ish shape. Lay it on top and gently press into corners to cover filling. (Tip: Once you roll out the dough, gently set your glass pan on top to create square impression. Cut dough to fit.)

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-12 minutes.

For topping, combine sugar and candy canes and sprinkle on top, pressing down gently, and cut into small squares while warm. (If you find bars too soft to cut while warm, they can be refrigerated or frozen. Thaw slightly before cutting.)

You can e-mail Kari Hulac at khulac@angnewspapers.com or call her at (925) 416-4837.