Michelle McKenzie

I grew up eating fried cornbread next to bacon-infused collard greens, often for breakfast. My grandfather would rise with the sun, don his button-up flannel and loose Wranglers, and prepare a hearty meal that would keep his stomach humming for hours while he toiled in his vegetable garden and woodshop. The combination of rich, nutty cornmeal and those sweet, slow-cooked collards is a memory worth keeping. Here I’ve paired those well-suited mates in a more unusual but still delicious way. I think Papa would approve.

This recipe was inspired by my first batch of smoked fig leaf sugar, a creation born of playful experimentation. That sugar ended up in all sorts of places: chocolate cakes and glazed roots, simple syrup, and macaroons. Yet it was this simple, coarse-crumbled cookie that best presented the seductive and subtle notes of incense, musk, and mint.