The round, green door of Bag End is one of the strongest icons in the stories of Middle Earth. It represents so much—home and journey, beginnings and endings, comfort and adventure—and it holds all these otherwise contradictory ideas in effortless resolution. It’s the door through which Bilbo greets his unexpected guests and leaves for adventure in The Hobbit. It’s a symbol of the home that Frodo longs to return to in The Lord of the Rings, but when he does, he finds that although we can go home, we can never go back. It’s a door that, when opened, leads to the promise of good company, a full larder, and a kettle of hot tea. It holds a special place in my heart (and that of many other Tolkien fans as well), so I knew my Lord of the Rings menu wouldn’t be complete without a tribute to it.

I’ve made giant chocolate chip cookies in the past, and I loved the idea of making one to look like a hobbit door. So here it is! The recipe is the giant chocolate chip cookie recipe from Tollhouse. I love how it turned out, though if I’d been thinking ahead, I might have tried to create a wood grain effect with my smoothing knife as I spread out the frosting for the base. I love the yellow doorknob and Gandalf’s rune in the corner. The quote around the border comes from Bilbo and Frodo’s traveling song, and it couldn’t be more perfect! 🙂

A

Hobbit Door Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way,
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.

— The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

 

INGREDIENTS:

• For the Cookie
  • 2 1/4 cup flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 sticks butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups chocolate chips
  • You will also need a pizza stone or pizza pan.
• For the Frosting
  • 1 cup plus 2 tbsp butter, softened
  • 4 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar, separated
  • 3 tbsp milk, separated
  • 2 1/4 tsp vanilla
  • Green, pastel green, and yellow gel food coloring (for regular liquid food coloring, use twice the amount listed in the instructions below)

 

Makes 1 giant chocolate chip cookie

 

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. To make the cookie, stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat together the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla on medium speed until creamy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Gradually beat in the flour mix. Stir in the morsels.
2. Rub a sheet of plastic wrap with flour. Gather the dough together in the middle of the plastic wrap and flatten it out into an 5-inch disk. Wrap the disk in the plastic wrap and chill for 1-3 hours.
3. Preheat oven to 375°. Unwrap the dough and place it in the center of a pizza stone or pizza pan (if using a pan, line it with parchment paper first). Lightly dust the disk with flour and roll with a rolling pin until it reaches 3 inches from the edge of the pizza stone. Bake for 17 minutes or until golden brown and baked through to the center. Allow to cool on the pizza stone. When cool, slowly slide a large knife or offset frosting knife under the cookie and gently rotate it to separate the cookie from the stone.
4. To make the frosting, beat the butter in the bowl of a standing mixer on medium speed until smooth. Gradually add 1 cup powdered sugar and beat until combined. Add the vanilla and 1 tablespoon of milk and beat until combined. Alternate beating in the remaining milk and powdered sugar.
5. Divide the frosting into 3 bowls: 3/4 cup in one, 1 1/4 cup in another, and the remainder of the frosting in the last. Mix 9 drops pastel green food coloring in the first bowl, 7 drops green in the second, and 3-4 drops yellow in the last.
6. Use a sharp knife to lightly draw an 8-inch circle in the center of the cookie 2 inches from the edge (you can use a Tupperware lid as a guide). Spread the pastel green frosting into a flat layer over the circle. Transfer the regular green frosting to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip and pipe a border around the circle in the center of the cookie. Pipe another border around the first one to double the width. Lightly spread flat to smooth the seam. Transfer the remaining regular green frosting to a piping bag fitted with a small round tip and pipe 4 equidistant vertical lines across the green circle in the center. Transfer the yellow frosting to a piping bag fitted with a small round writing tip. Pipe two large dots of frosting midway down the outer border, directly across from each other. This will separate your two lines of text. Pipe the words “The road goes ever on and on” across the top half of the border and “Down from the door where it began” across the bottom half. You can lightly trace the letters with a toothpick beforehand to be sure your letters are small enough to fit. Use your remaining yellow frosting to pipe a 1.5-inch circle in the center of the cookie and pipe Gandalf’s rune in the lower right hand corner of the door (it looks like an “F” with the two arms slanted upward). Your hobbit door is finished!
   

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7. Serve your giant chocolate chip cookie a friend when they return from a long journey!
   

 

Check out my other Tolkien recipes!

Sam Gamgee’s Rabbit Stew and Lembas

Tom Bombadil’s White Bread with Basil Butter, Honey, and Berries

A Short Cut to Mushrooms