Spanish Bubbles and the Crispy vs. Chewy Cookie Debate #CavaWeek #Sponsored

 This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of #CavaWeek
Complimentary wine was provided for this post and this page may contain affiliate links.
However, all opinions expressed here are my own. 

 

This week, a few of us are discussing the Cava DO (Denominación de Origin) for #CavaWeek. I received a nice trio of Cava* and was excited dive right in to my guided exploration. Muchas gracias to Susannah of Avvinare for coordinating!

Here are some of the articles that others have shared for #CavaWeek...

• Absence Makes The Palate Grow Fonder – Getting Reacquaintedwith Cava by ENOFYLZ Wine Blog
• Celebrating Fall with a Maset Brut Rose by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Four Estates Plus Four Varieties Add Up to Delicious #Cava by My Full Wine Glass
• Sparkling Wine Secrets: Seek DO Cava and Pair with Spanish Pork Chops and Potatoes by Wine Predator...Gwendolyn Alley
• The New Town Art and Wine Stroll with Cava DO to Celebrate! by Our Good Life
• Wine Wednesday: Celebrating with Cava by Avvinare

Spanish Bubbles

Cava has its origins in the Penedès, a wine region south of Barcelona, which is renowned not just for its sparkling Cava wines as well as its reds and whites. The capital of Cava is the municipality of Sant Sadurní d'Anoia though there are four main zones and even more sub-zones.

Made in the traditional method with a second fermentation in the bottle, Cava is abundantly bubbly. And, unlike its French counterpart, Cava is easy on the pocketbook. Let's start with the 2017 Alta Alella Mirgin Cava Reserva Brut Nature; that retails for less than $20!

 2017 Alta Alella Mirgin 

Cava Reserva Brut Nature

Alta Alella is helmed by husband and wife duo Josef and Cristina who are continually striving to achieve and improve with each vintage. Their wines are low-intervention with no added sulfites and very little done to the wines after pressing. Also the grapes are certified organic. This wine is a blend of  40% Pansa Blanca (Xarel·lo), 30% Macabeo, and 30% Parellada. I love that these are three indigenous grapes that were largely unknown to me!

In the glass, fresh aromas abound. I noted citrus blossoms, herbs, and just a whiff of vinegar. On the palate, there were those same citrus notes along with almonds and a layer of buttery pastry crust. There is also a slightly briny finish. It was a crisp, clean wine that I poured with both a Spanish meatball in an almond-saffron sauce and with cookies! I'll share the meatballs soon, but first the cookies!

Butterscotch-Chocolate Chip Cookies 

makes approximately two dozen 3-inch cookies

• ½ cup organic granulated sugar
• ½ cup organic dark brown sugar, lightly packed
• ½ cup butter, room temperature
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste (you can use extract if you don't have paste)
• 1 ¼ cups flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
• ½ cup butterscotch chips*
• Also needed: baking sheet, parchment paper, toothpicks, cookie scoop (I use an 1½-inch scoop)

*You can use 1 cup of whichever chips you prefer. I like mixing the semisweet and butterscotch for a nice mix of chips in a cookie.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until lightened and fluffy.

Beat in the egg and vanilla. Then mix in the flour and baking soda. Once it's a uniform texture, fold in the chips until evenly distributed throughout the dough.

Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes. While the dough chills, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Scoop the dough onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Leave at least 2 inches between the cookies as they will spread. 

Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, or until the edges have started to brown.'

Remove sheet from the oven. Serve when cool enough to touch. Enjoy!

Crispy vs. Chewy

This got me thinking about the chewy vs. crispy debate. I put this out on social media: "Talk to me about cookies. There seem to be two diverging opinions. Are you Camp Crispy or Camp Chewy? Or does it matter which KIND of cookie we're discussing?! How about chocolate chip cookies?"

The responses from my opinionated and engaged friend circle, as usual, made me chuckle. There were nearly a dozen votes for chewy...some with emphatic punctuation such as a forest of exclamation marks or a bright red heart emoji!

• Crispy. - S
• Anything but soft-baked. - D
• 100% Chewy. - B
• Chewy...chewy...chewy. - L
• Chewy. - A
• I am team chewy, too. - C
• Chewy! - M
• Chewy, too. - C
• I have WAY too many opinions on this topic. This would need to be an entire conversation over coffee... - L
• CHEWY❤️- S
• I'm not choosy.....I love cookies of any sort. - W
• Chocolate chip chewy. Brown sugar cookies crispy. Ginger cookies crispy. Peanut butter cookies chewy. Oatmeal raisin chewy. - J
• Chewy all the way! - K
• Crispy outside chewy inside for me. Indecisive or fussy, I’m not sure which. - L
• I'm camp cookie dough. - C
• With chocolate chip, chewy and with peanut butter and oatmeal raisin. Other than that it depends on the cookie for me.- R
• I lean toward crispy. Chewy is only OK if it's not raw! - S
• Put nuts in a chocolate chip cookie and I’ll spit it out. - J

Despite all of these opinions, I have found: most people will not turn down a cookie. When I brought these crispy butterscotch-chocolate chip cookies to two different parties this weekend, my cookie container came home empty both times. So, how do you like your cookies?

Stay tuned for my other posts about the remaining D.O. Cava wines. 

Find D.O. Cava on the web, on Facebook, on Instagram, on Twitter

*Disclosure: I received compensation in the form of wine samples for recipe development and generating social media traction. My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the organizer and sponsors of this event.