Dough

Dear SOS: The San Diego bakery the Cravory (formerly 410 Degrees) makes the most amazing cinnamon roll cookies. Any chance of getting the recipe? Many thanks! Brian Boroff San Francisco Dear Brian: These little creations, which look and taste like a cinnamon roll but are neatly compact with a cookie crumb, combine the best of both worlds. The Cravory was happy to share its recipe for cinnamon roll cookies, which we've adapted below. Total time: 1 hour, 10 minutes, plus chilling and cooling times Servings: Makes 20 to 24 cookies Note: Adapted from the Cravory in San Diego.

Galette dough Total time: 20 minutes, plus chilling time Servings: This makes enough for 1 (9- to 10-inch) galette Note: This is a basic pie crust recipe, with the dough worked a bit more to strengthen it. The cider vinegar is used to help "shorten" the crust, improving the texture. Though you might smell the vinegar as you roll out the crust, you should not taste or smell it in the finished galette. 2 1/4 cups (9.6 ounces) flour Generous 1 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon sugar 1/4 cup cold shortening 1/2 cup (1 stick)

Apricot almond galette Total time: 1 hour, plus cooling time Servings: 6 to 8 1 1/2 pounds apricots (6 to 8) 2 to 4 tablespoons granulated sugar, depending on the sweetness of the apricots 1 teaspoon almond extract or 2 tablespoons almond liqueur Prepared galette dough 3 tablespoons sliced almonds 1/3 cup raspberries, if desired 1 egg, beaten 1 tablespoon coarse sugar 1. Cut each apricot into 6 to 8 wedges, discarding the pits.

Dear SOS: My husband and I recently spent a weekend in San Francisco and had a superb dinner at Perbacco. Everything was wonderful, but our dessert was one of the most delicious I've ever tasted. If you could get the recipe for its pine nut and honey tart, I could begin to cure my craving. Deborah Pollack Ventura Dear Deborah: I love everything about this tart. Not too sweet and with just the right touch of saltiness, this rustic dessert takes on light floral notes from the addition of Tasmanian honey, balancing the richness of the buttery pine nuts.

Sometimes the old ways really are the best. When Test Kitchen manager Noelle Carter took a shot at perfecting pretzels, she tried every kind of "wash" in the book — egg whites, whole eggs, baking soda and more. But in the end, she found that the traditional dunking of pretzel dough in a bath made of lye and water created a dark color, a crisp, chewy texture, and deep flavor that none of the others could approach. Be sure to use food-grade lye, which can be ordered online at Essential Depot (www.essentialdepot.com)

An investigation of a 2009 outbreak of E. coli traced back to raw cookie dough finds the culprit may be raw flour. A report released Friday in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases provides the details of the analysis, from the first outbreaks of E. coli to interviewing patients to tracking the illnesses to raw cookie dough and trying to determine which ingredient cause the illnesses. In all, 77 patients from 30 states were affected; 35 people were hospitalized but there were no deaths.

Whither the dinner roll? Once the hallmark of a great home cook, when we think of dinner rolls at all today, it's as some kind of quaint artifact of another time. "Remember rolls?" we laugh as we tear off another chunk of sourdough baguette. But this recipe, from food writer Regina Schrambling, is a reminder that a well-made roll is something special. Crisp on the outside but tender at the center. Bready, certainly, but already so rich and buttery that they practically melt as you chew.