Rothman couldn't find the Fisher dry-roasted nuts that the official recipe called for, so she substituted unsalted peanuts.
I found the million-dollar cookies flavorful but too flawed. Most peanut-butter cookies have tension between the sweetness of the dough and the salt of the peanuts. In this case, sweetness ruled. After eating one cookie, I longed for a glass of milk. Perhaps using nuts with more salt would have tempered the sugar.
But I have my opinion, and Gurtz has a million dollars.
Beyond the money, baking a prize-winning cookie has its benefits, Gurtz said. When she appears on the Today show tomorrow morning, she will carry a plate of the prize-winners. But Gurtz gleefully said she will not have to bake them. Instead, an assistant will do the dirty work.
For the next few days, Maryland's million-dollar-cookie maker will, she said, be "walking on the red carpet."
rob.kasper@baltsun.com
BATTLE OF THE COOKIES
We pitted a version of Carolyn Gurtz's winning Double Delight Peanut Butter Cookies against peanut butter cookies from several local bakeries in a blind taste test. The tasters were food editor Kate Shatzkin, former food editor and one-time Pillsbury Bake-Off judge Liz Atwood, restaurant critic Elizabeth Large and food columnist Rob Kasper.
BAKE-OFF WINNER
Double Delight Peanut Butter Cookies
verdict --Too sweet for most.
"A cross between a peanut butter cookie and a snickerdoodle," Large said. "Not enough peanut-butter flavor," Shatzkin said. "So sweet my teeth ached," Kasper said.
Atwood, however, praised the unique cinnamon flavor and complexity. "The cinnamon taste subsides, and the peanut flavor comes on strong," she said. "I like how one flavor yields to the next."
Best bite
Whole Foods Market 1330 Smith Ave., Mount Washington
Price --$5.49 for six
verdict --The overall favorite. Tasters praised its texture and strong peanut flavor. There were large peanut chunks throughout the soft cookie.
Berger's Bakery Lexington Market, 400 W. Lexington St.
Price --$2 for six
verdict --A split decision. Those who liked them found these cookies appealingly small and soft; others thought they were too sweet.
Also tasted
Atwater's Belvedere Square, 529 E. Belvedere Ave.
Price --$3.50 for six
verdict --These were dry and crisp, and didn't have enough peanut flavor.
Rob Kasper
