Amanda and I were recently in Boston and dropped by one of my old stomping grounds, Flour Bakery and Cafe in the South End. I worked there for a short while when I lived in Boston and was eager to catch up with the owner, Joanne Chang. Radiant, and generous as always with both her time and her baked goods, Joanne chatted with us for a bit and then sent us on our way with a box chock full of various sweet treats. Tucked in among the chocolate was one of my longtime favorites, Flour's cornmeal lime cookie. As Amanda and I were munching away, I thought about trying to replicate the cookie's bright, warm flavors, along with the delicate crunch that you only get from cornmeal. Since I've made Claudia Fleming's recipe for Cornmeal-Nut Biscotti (with orange zest, rosemary and anise) from The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern many times successfully, I thought that would be a good place to start. Joanne's cookies are much softer than biscotti, but I thought I'd be able to achieve the same basic mix of textures and flavors. By keeping to Claudia's technique but removing the nuts and replacing the other flavorings with lime zest, I'd keep the biscotti simple, finishing them off with a nice, tart glaze.

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