Recipes Discovered

Christmas is coming fast, but my baking is finally done. I tried all new recipes this year, and, surprisingly, all the cookies turned out really well. Seth took some great pictures, so here are the Christmas cookies of 2008…

Christmas Cheer Cookies:

Loaded with dates and walnuts, these cookies are incredibly moist. The cookies are full of flavor, and if you like dates, they are great. The cherry on top is just a little added decoration.

Pistachio Wedding Cookies:

I love pistachios, so this little melt away cookie is one of my favorites.

 

Santa’s Whiskers:

Seth said that this cookie is ugly, but I think it’s festive. The cookie has cherries and pecans in it, and is rolled in coconut. Ugly or not, it’s still yummy.

 

  Rugelach:

This is a traditional Jewish cookie, although the addition of cream cheese in the dough is a little nontraditional. The filling is made of walnuts, raisins, and apricots, and the smell of cinnamon is outrageous.

 

 Candy Cane Cookies:

 These super cute cookies taste just like you would expect. Lot’s of peppermint extract and a little extra peppermint candy on top give a burst of flavor.

  Chocolate Malted Whopper Cookies:

I was a little concerned about this cookie when I baked them because they turned out flat and pretty hard, but after a day, they turned out to be soft and chewy. The malt powder gives a unique taste to the chocolate cookie.

 

Chocolate Chunk Peanut Cookies:

Peanut butter and chocolate – I love this cookie. The peanuts along with the chocolate chunks give this cookie a great texture. It’s also just a little bit salty, which balances the sweetness.

 

Triple Chocolate Mac Nut Cookies:

This cookie is incredibly chocolately, as the name may imply. It’s a dark, bittersweet chocolate though, so it’s not overly sweet. The nuts add just a little crunch.

 Lemon Ricotta Cookies:

These cookies are very soft and moist. I’m debating if I like the lemon flavor of the icing, but the cookie itself is delicious.

Cream Cheese Mac Nut Cookies:

You have to be a true cream cheese lover to enjoy these cookies (my mom is going to love them). The mac nuts make the cookie even richer, if that’s possible. It’s a small cookie, but it packs a punch.

Peanut Balls:

Seth’s mom usually makes these peanut balls, but this year, my mom and I teamed up to make them. The inside is a sweet, marshmallowy cream cheese, and the outside is rich dark chocolate covered in peanuts.

No comments

 

Almond Joy Oatmeal Cookies

I like Almond Joy candy bars. What’s not to like? Chocolate, coconut, almonds – all very good things. I decided to try to turn the taste of an Almond Joy into a cookie. I found a few recipes, but I really wanted to create the chewiness of the candy bar, so I settled on an oatmeal version. Essentially, the recipe is an oatmeal cookie with the addition of dark chocolate, coconut, and toasted almonds. I had to chill the cookie dough for about 20 minutes so the cookies kept their shape, but other than that, I pretty much just followed the recipe. The cookies turned out good – like an oatmeal cookies with chocolate, coconut, and almonds. It’s not exactly like an eating an Almond Joy, but it’s like eating a really good oatmeal cookie.

1 comment

White Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Back to desserts. This cookie recipe is adapted from Alton Brown’s “The Chewy” recipe. I did add some extra vanilla though, and swapped out regular chocolate chips for white chocolate chips. I also scoop the cookies out while the dough is still soft and then refrigerate the dough balls overnight. Although they aren’t as good as the Doubletree cookies, these cookies turned out really well. They are just slightly crisp on the outside, very chewy in the middle, and have an incredibly rich flavor. If you are looking for a basic chocolate chip cookie, this is definitely the recipe to go with.

No comments

Breakfast (Bacon) Cookies Recipe

After all of the cookies that Seth took to work with him, one of his co-workers decided that the only cookie missing was one with bacon. I thought Seth was crazy until he actually e-mailed this recipe, and asked me to make them. Raisins, multi grain flakes, and, of course, bacon are mixed into a standard cookie dough to create a sweet and savory cookie. It’s a very strange combination, but it has a lot of components of breakfast, hence the name breakfast cookies. I cooked the bacon in the microwave, which I find it the least messy cooking method. I used 6 slices of thick bacon, and ended up cooking them for 10 minutes to get them really crisp. After stirring the dough together, I used my cookie scooper to place the cookies on cookie sheets, and then baked them 10 or 11 minutes, just until the edges of the cookies were brown. I then transferred the cookies to wire racks and let them cool. Although I’m not a huge fan of bacon, I was very curious about these cookies. After tasting one (or two), I have to admit, they are really good. They are crisp from the flakes, but still a little bit chewy. And while the bacon flavor definitely comes through, it’s not the dominate flavor. The raisins give the cookies a little sweetness, which balances the saltiness. It’s a unusual cookie, but, as Seth tells me, everything is better with bacon! I just like an excuse to eat cookies for breakfast.
Breakfast (Bacon) Cookies Recipe

2 comments

My mom has made Christmas cookies for as long as I can remember and I always helped out, but this was the first year that I made cookies by myself. I actually didn’t mind the baking, but it was hard to decide what types of cookies to make. Seth’s solution to this was to make one batch of all the cookies I wanted to make, so we could at least try them all and decide which ones we liked. Which is how I ended up making 15 different cookies, plus hazelnut truffles, peanut butter cups, and tipsy turtle bark. It was a lot of fun though, and we ate a lot of cookies in the process. Here is a quick run down of all the cookies, plus our opinions of them.

 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Munchies – This is a chocolate fudge cookie with a peanut butter center. The recipe seemed fairly simple, but it was actually really complicated to get the chocolate around the peanut butter. They do taste pretty good though – very similar to a peanut butter cup.

 

 

 

Chocolate Macadamia Nut Clusters – A very chocolaty cookie with macadamia nuts, coconut, and chocolate chips. You can’t really get a better combination in my book. This cookie taste just like a chocolate covered macadamia nut, and if you have ever spent any time in Hawaii, you know how good they can be.

 

 

 

Snowmen Cookies – A cute little cream cheese cookie decorated like a snowman! These are really simple to made, and easy to decorate. The taste wasn’t quite what I expected though. I thought the cookie would be more of a delicate cream cheese cookie, but it actually taste more like a shortcake. They are good, just different.

 

 

 

Chocolate Crinkles – Seth’s Mom used to make these cookies, and was nice enough to give me the recipe. Classic chocolate fudge cookies, rolled in powdered sugar, and then baked until they crackle. They taste great, are fun to make, plus I get bonus points from Seth for making his Mom’s cookies.

 

 

 

 

Chocolate Surprise – I have made these cookies so many times because they are Seth’s favorite cookie. A rolo is wrapped inside a chocolate cookie to make a gooey chocolate center.

 

 

Chocolate Cherry Treats – This is basically a chocolate chip cookies (or an M&M cookie) with cherries and coconut. I thought they cherry flavor would be a little more prevalent, but it’s not as dominate as I would have liked. It’s a pretty colorful cookie too – I bet it would be popular in Key West. The cookie is really good regardless, but I will probably add more cherries and less M&M’s next time.

 

 

 

Quebec Maple Pecan Drops – I’m not sure how to describe this cookie. It has pecans, dates, oats, and maple syrup in the cookie, plus a maple cream cheese icing. They have a really complex flavor and a nice chewy texture. I can’t explain it, but I really enjoy eating them.

 

 

 

Pistachio Oat Sandies – Nothing is better than a green cookie, and these little pistachio sandies are definitely green! They melt in your mouth and have the delicious taste of pistachios. This might be my new favorite non-chocolate cookie.

 

 

Snowball Cookies – Little tiny mountains of mini chocolate chips sprinkles with powdered sugar. Similar to the pistachio oat sandies, these also melt in your mouth, but they are loaded with chocolate chips. A wonderful, simple cookie.

 

 

 

 

 

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies – Another old favorite. This is my spin on the classes Peanut Butter Kiss or Peanut Blossom cookie. Instead of just rolling the cookies in balls and putting a chocolate kiss on top, I bake them in miniature muffin tins and then put a peanut butter cup in them. It’s a delicious combinations of peanut butter and chocolate.

 

 

Kahlua Chocolate Chunk Cookies – I wasn’t sure about this cookie, since it’s base is a packaged chocolate chip mix, but it had so many reviews, I couldn’t resist trying it. The flavor of the cookie is amazing. It packs a major coffee punch! The package cookie mix did cause some consistency issues, so I may try something else in the future, but these are great cookies with a cup of coffee.

Molasses Cookies – When we were in Seattle, Seth had a molasses cookie from a local bakery that he raved about. I finally found a recipe for a soft molasses cookie. This cookie has a wonderful spiced flavor, plus has a great chewy texture. I really like the crunch from the raw sugar on the outside. It creates a nice contrast, both if flavor and consistency.

 

 

Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies – This is a jazzed up Christmas oatmeal cookie. It’s red and white! Cranberries and white chocolate chips are mixed in with the oatmeal batter, and it makes one outstanding cookie.

 

 

 

 

Cappuccino Crunch Bars – When I baked this, it puffed up very similar to a cake. When I took it out of the oven, it deflated and looked like a complete disaster. It taste incredible though. The bars turn into a carmely toffee that is studded with white chocolate chips and just a hint of coffee flavor. They are really rich though, so cut them into small bars.

 

 

Holiday Date Balls – I have never had a date ball before, so I’m not sure what possessed me to make these. I’m really glad I did though, because they are so good. Sweet and chewy, the flavors of dates and pecans all come together in a little ball that is covered in coconut.

 

 

 

 

Hazelnut Truffles – Seth has been harassing me for months to make truffles. The recipe is easy, but it need to be followed exactly time wise to get the truffles to come out right. I tried making the pretty molded ones, but that was just so time consuming, so I ended up making truffle balls that I rolled in hazelnuts. They may not look as nice, but they taste just as good.

Tipsy Turtle Bark – If you like chocolate turtles, you will probably like this. Dark chocolate is covered with a layer of pecans, then caramel, and then another layer of chocolate. The tipsy part? A little bourbon. It gives the chocolate a nice flavor, and pairs really well with the sweet caramel.

2 comments