Holiday (cookie) season, 2018 - Part 2

It's almost Christmas!  The baking is essentially done and we can sit back and enjoy the fruits of our preparation.  I hope your holiday season has been sweet.  

I'm happy I checked off everything on my to-bake list and even had room to improvise a little along the way to the finish line.  Following my previous post, I made the requisite batch of sugar cookies.  The kids in my life adore sugar cookies and they seem to have to make an appearance at Christmas.  These sugar cookies, with mugs of hot chocolate, make for a sweet finale to our family Christmas party.  

And what's not to love about sugar cookies...they're classic for a reason.  They're sweet (obviously) and always festive and eye-catching decorated however you like.  I'm not very creative but some kids tell me that when it comes to decorating sugar cookies, the key is lots of sprinkles.  I may need to up the sprinkle quotient on my sugar cookies next season! 

Aside from sugar cookies, I loved the simple vanilla sables (recipe from Dorie Greenspan) I baked this year.  The wonderful sandy texture, with the simple yet delectable flavor of the vanilla butter cookies, made me forget my love and commitment to chocolate for a moment.  I will be making more slice-and-bake cookies during the next holiday season!

Almond Roca shortbread

As I mentioned before, I tend to think of shortbread and icebox cookies at this time of year.  If you're like me, you've probably had quite a few batches of Christmas cookies coming out of the kitchen and been savoring plenty of holiday goodies in general.  That said, let's squeeze in one more recipe for this holiday season.

Have you ever had Almond Roca?  They are small log-shaped buttercrunch/toffee coated in chocolate and almonds.  Growing up, they were the only candies I can remember my mother liking.  I used to eat them, too, and while they weren't my very favorite, I certainly enjoyed them and loved scraping off the chocolate and almond coating and then biting into that crunchy toffee center.

Last month, I caught a cookie roundup over at Kelly's blog (I do enjoy seeing all the holiday recipe roundups and gift guides at this time of year) and saw a recipe for Almond Roca cookies...it made me think of all those red tins of Almond Roca we used to have around the house during the holidays or around Chinese New Year.  

So I thought it would be fun to make these cookies, which are essentially shortbread with sliced almonds and toffee bits folded in.  To simplify things a little bit, I used chocolate-coated toffee bits (instead of plain) and omitted the chocolate coating on top of the baked shortbread.  

These were a fun version of shortbread to make and eat!  They have that classic sandy texture with extra crunch from the almonds and toffee bits.  If you like nuts and crunch in your cookies, this Almond Roca shortbread is a great rendition to try one day.

Chocolate peppermint sugar cookies

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving!  Now that the big meal is behind us, we can officially start making Christmas cookies!  I look forward to this moment all year long because the ritual of making cookies - filling the house with the aromas of sugar, butter, spice, and, of course, chocolate - and sharing these special morsels with loved ones, or to gift to others, is a big part of the holidays for me.

I'm so excited to be in my little kitchen baking cookies for the holidays.  Last year this time, we were living in a bit of a construction zone as we renovated our kitchen. Because of that, there was very little in the way of homemade cookies, or any cooking or baking in general, and I missed it dearly. 

It aways seems like there's so little time to make, eat, and share cookies during the holiday season so let's start early and savor it the best we can.  My agenda's pretty full with a few family favorites that I have to make but I also like to fit in a few new (to me) recipes.   So I started by making these chocolate peppermint cookies, which are delightfully soft and chewy on the inside while a coating of granulated sugar on them a light crunch on the outside.

These cookies are based on The Sweet and Simple Kitchen's chocolate espresso sugar cookie recipe.  I love the texture combination of a chewy interior and crackly exterior but as good as espresso sounds, I wanted to go for with peppermint flavor for the holidays (very much like these cookies).  I went fairly easy on the peppermint so that in the end, you have a soft and chewy chocolate sugar cookie with a cooling peppermint effect in your mouth.

Gingerbread biscotti with hazelnuts

Come November, I start craving those holiday spices we're all familiar with.  Since we're comfortably into December already, those cravings are at a peak!  It's so wonderful to bake something and have the aromas of warm spices like cinnamon, cloves, and ginger swirling in the air.  Sugar and spice really does make everything nice!

To get some of those holiday spices in the air - and for a taste of those yummy flavors - I made a batch of gingerbread biscotti.  To me, biscotti is just a great snacking cookie to have around all year round.  I really love making and eating them; they're not too rich but so satisfying, and go ever so very nicely with a warm drink.

I added toasted hazelnuts to these gingerbread biscotti, which are flavored with ground cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and a few grinds of black pepper.  The mix of these spices with dark brown sugar as it bakes makes an intoxicating aroma. The holiday flavors definitely come through!  

You can omit the hazelnuts but I think biscotti and nuts just go together.  The hazelnuts add a layer of richness to the cookies in a healthful way. Since this batch of biscotti has a little bit of butter in it, they are crisp and crunchy, as you'd expect, but maybe not quite as intensely hard as the biscotti that do not have butter.  I used to be firmly in the "no-butter in biscotti" camp but I've come around and now really enjoy both. 

I couldn't resist dipping some of my gingerbread-hazelnut biscotti in dark chocolate.  I think that white chocolate might have been more visually appealing but I'm all about the dark chocolate so I went with what we like to eat.  And I must say...I really, really loved the chocolate dipped ends of the biscotti!  That's probably not surprising given the well-established delicious pairing of chocolate and hazelnuts.  

If you're looking for a cookie option that's fit for the holidays but not quite so rich, gingerbread biscotti is a great one.  It's also just a great cookie to have on hand right now for snacking or everyday dessert...the gingerbread flavors put me in the holiday spirit while the nice crunch of these cookies always perk me up (so I'm ready for more holiday shopping)!

Chocolate thumbprints with peppermint ganache

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Not to rush from one holiday to another but it is the holiday season and I like to embrace these last few weeks of the year and soak up as much of the spirit and goodwill as possible.  That involves cookies!  Who's ready for holiday cookies and treats?  I know I am!

As we embark on the holiday season, I think about what it is I really want out of it. And basically, it's peace and joy, time with family and good friends.  May it be relaxing and comforting, reminding us of all the good out there and around us.  Of course, I hope it's filled with the sweet scent of cookies and the sight of steaming mugs of hot chocolate!

When it comes to holiday cookies, thumbprints definitely fit the bill because there's something special about the extra treat tucked within the treat!  Here, I made chocolate thumbprint cookies, which have a soft, almost brownie-like texture and a little bit of a crunch on the exterior since they're rolled in sanding sugar.  I filled their centers with ganache - a peppermint one - because mint and chocolate are a inseparable part of the holidays and I'm all for it!

When it comes to holiday baking, you know it's time to roll out the special sugars, the sprinkles, and candies for decorating!  I had fun sprinkling my thumbprint cookies with different decorations.  It's not necessary but the holidays are about adding a little sparkle to everything.

These are fun little bites for the chocolate-lover.  The cookies are soft and rich, with the soft ganache in the center packing a little peppermint twist.  While the holidays are certainly a time for making and enjoying family favorites, I like squeezing in a few new treats.  I always appreciate both the old and the new.

Chocolates Andes mint cookies

'Tis the season for chocolate and peppermint, and lots of it!  It is quite possibly my son's favorite holiday flavor combination so it's well represented at my house right now and I'm always on the lookout for more spins to try. 

One of my little one's favorite treats is this peppermint brownie concoction I cobbled together a few years ago.  He just loves it and I usually make a batch for him at Christmastime.  But this year, I swapped it for something different but still very familiar. 

We're having chocolate Andes mint cookies instead.  We are fans of those green foil-wrapped Andes mints, which also play a prominent role in those brownies that my son adores.  These cookies have largely the same flavor - moist chocolate with a big splash of mint.  

I spotted the recipe in the most recent Food Network magazine.  I think I've mentioned before that my son and I like to do the quizzes in the magazine together when there is one.  Well, there was no quiz in this issue but this recipe caught my eye.  As you can see, it's a chocolate base cookie and it's studded with an equal amount of dark chocolate chips as well chopped Andes mints.

These cookies were a big hit at my house and I'm already making a second batch to share with friends.  It's a moist cookie filled with chocolate flavor (from cocoa in the dough as well as the chocolate chips) and mint (from the Andes mints and peppermint extract) - an easy combination to love.  

Since it's Christmastime, I couldn't leave well enough alone so I melted some white chocolate and drizzled it over the top of some of the cookies.  For even more color, I sprinkled some candy cane bits on a few of the cookies using the white chocolate as "glue".  Taste-wise, the cookies don't need the embellishments but I love a little festive decoration on our treats at this time of year.  

Italian almond star cookies

One of the best things about the holidays has got to be the cookies!  I love thinking about, looking at, making, eating, and sharing all the colorful, festive, lovingly decorated cookies we conjure up. 

I think you'll agree that this is the time of year when we pull out all the stops - out come the cookie cutters, the star tips and piping bags, the sprinkles, frosting, candied cherries, nuts, and all sorts of other embellishments.  It's just a fun time to savor!

As much as I love French patisseries, when it comes to Christmas, I think of Italian-American bakeries and those festive cookie platters wrapped in cellophane and ribbon that are ready to be brought to someone's home.  Growing up in Brooklyn, I would pass by many of these bakeries and admire their cookies.  So when I was thinking about trying one or two new holiday cookie recipes (new to me, at least), I tend to think along the lines of those Italian-American offerings.  So now, here's another one I can recommend: almond star cookies.

These cookies are like a mix between classic butter cookies (like the ones from the blue tins) and almond paste cookies.  I'd say it's like 60% butter cookie and 40% almond. They are quite similar to the Italian-American butter cookies I posted last year except these have almond paste in them.  If you love almond paste as much as I do, I think you'd expect deep flavor as well as moisture and a little chewiness from it in your baked goods.  True to form, it does that for these cookies.  

I dare say my family and I prefer these cookies over the plain butter ones.  The little guy was practically shoving them into his mouth at an alarming rate so I'm glad even a half-recipe made a lot (about 40) since they were so popular.  I shared some of this batch with a friend of mine.  She told me she especially loved them because they were soft as opposed to hard, like she's used to when she buys them from a bakery.  These cookies are buttery and almond-y, softer than what you'd expect, and with a slight chew, thanks to the almond paste. 

The recipe for these cookies comes from Saveur though my version is somewhat different since I made a few changes to suit my needs.  I reluctantly omitted the kirsch since I don't have it, and added a splash of almond extract.  And instead of maraschino cherries, I used candied cherries (sliced in half) on mine.  I also opted to make thumbprint impressions on some and filled them with a swirl of chocolate ganache.  I love Ferrera bakery in NYC's Little Italy and they have cookies topped with a round of piped chocolate ganache that always looks so good, so here is my take on it.

I don't know if I'll have time to try any other 'new' cookie recipes since there are many family-favorites to make but I'm glad I finally tried these since I'd bookmarked the recipe for years now.  I have a feeling I'll be making them again.

Chocolate-orange crinkles

Happy December!  It's officially the season of unabashed cookie-baking and eating! I'm convinced that's at least part of the reason why this is the best time of year. 

Classic Christmas Crinkles - this one with an orange twist

I have plenty of family-favorite treats to make so I have to get busy!  I'm sure it's the same way for you.  I always wish there was more time and space to try more recipes but I can realistically only squeeze in a couple of new experiments during this busy month.  So I'm starting off with a Christmas cookie classic - crinkles (or crackles) - and this year I'm favoring them with an orange twist.  It's my way of having a familiar favorite in a slightly different way.  

I usually make a batch of these snowy cookies every holiday season.  Pure dark chocolate works perfectly well but these cookies also allow room for your own accents - I like adding almond extract and the Nutella version was a hit last year.  You could give your crinkles a peppermint flavor, which is always nice this time of year, or add depth with spices.  This year, I went with orange since that classic chocolate-orange combination never gets old for me.  I used Theo's Orange Dark Chocolate bar (a favorite of mine to munch on), along with some plain dark chocolate and fresh orange zest, for these cookies.    

Like I said, chocolate with orange never gets old.  I loved biting into this year's crinkles and tasting that flavor combination.  These cookies are so moist and soft inside.  They're fudgy and brownie-like, with a little crunch and extra sweetness on the outside from the sugar.  Instead of being overly sweet all in, you get a deep, dark chocolate (and orange) flavor thanks not only to the actual chocolate but also from cocoa powder as well as the use of brown sugar rather than granulated in the cookie dough.

It's no wonder crinkles are so popular.  They're not just fun to look at but a real holiday treat - whether you keep them plain or flavor them with a little something extra like I have here.

And given how much snow we've had in the last few winters, I'd be more than happy to simply appreciate the idea of snow through cookies.  These definitely make me think of winter, snow, and Christmas - plus, they definitely put me in the holiday spirit.