After posting my recipe for oatmeal okra cookies seasoned with fennel, I've learned that some of you really hate okra. Here's a quote from one reader, CC Smith:
I find [okra] THE most repulsive veggie on earth, if you boil it then you have chicken snot, if you fry it, you have something that has cornmeal with whiskers underneath. Maybe this is the recipe that will make me change my mind about okra. That and a VERY large white Russian.CC also compared fried okra to eating fried leg hair. Gross!
While I expected okra to be polarizing, I was surprised at how many of you also don't like fennel. No one was quite as descriptive in their disgust as CC, but I was asked by several people if an alternative spice could be used in the cookies (the answer is yes - use whatever spice you love).
Luckily, not all of you hate okra! Some, like Stephanie (who originally requested the okra cupcakes), love okra so much that they are all set to make the cookies right away. Others, like long time reader Rachel Dickson of Cupcakes and Journalism, were intrigued just enough to want to give it a try. And, the okra cookies even got a twitter shout out from super star food blogger Steamy Kitchen.
If you are in the pro-okra and pro-fennel camp, you are going to love these cupcakes - keep reading. If not, check out the recipe index for a flavor that you might like better. Either way, please share your stance on the two flavors in the comments. Do you love them or hate them?
