Favorite Cookie Round Up

With the holidays coming up, most bloggers are getting ready by digging up their favorite recipes from the past or searching for something new and delicious for cookie swaps or to surprise guests. This year, I decided to bring out some tasty gems from the past.

One the recipe I chose is a traditional favorite from the Hershey website that has not been posted previously. The others are in the blog history. As you know, all recipe books have indexes on types of cookies. I feel that this compilation covers most of the types listed. If I was limited to only making one of these recipes, it would be quite difficult since they all are wonderful in flavor as well as texture.

If you only have the time for one recipe, remember that there is no "wrong" choice here. Time to click on one of these links and get started in the kitchen!


Chocolate Covered Alfajores - Two tasty vanilla cookies sealed together with Dulce de Leche and dipped in chocolate. Caramel and chocolate with the crunch of a cookie- a nice package of what good is.

Spicy Date Filled Cookies - a decorative, crunchy round cookie filled with dates, nuts and spices. There is enough exotic flavor in one of these to transport you to another country.

Minnies Chocolate Chip Supreme Cookies - A monster cookie that has all the components to make these the ultimate treat for kids- toffee, milk chocolate, dark chocolate and nuts.

Peanut Butter Blossoms - this traditional combo of peanut butter and milk chocolate is so tasty that the recipe has remained as a keeper in a countless number of recipe boxes.

Maple Pecan Pinwheel Cookies - A nice example of format change. These gems have all the flavor of pecan pie in the form of a cookie- one layer of flaky crust and one layer of maple/brown sugar and pecans all rolled up in a round swirl.

Hmmm..after typing all of this I am hungry for some cookies!

Citrus Ginger Cookies

At this time, I find myself in a foodie dilemma. I am still drawn to the winter/fall type of recipes. I realize that there is less appeal when things are made out of season, so I should be focusing on the spring and summer recipes.

These particular "S" shaped cookies have helped out the situation. One type of dough is flavored with lemon and orange zest, which equates to tastes of the spring/summer. The other dough is a myriad of spices and some molasses, flavors of fall and winter.

The texture of the cookie reminds me of spritz, except they are not as crisp. The wonderful mix of the complimentary flavors is memorable and unique. As you bite into one of these, the heavy spices strike your taste buds only to have a chaser of citrus to tone it down. This delicious combo rolled together in a cookie makes them perfect for coffee or tea. In addition, they are pleasing to the eye, which makes a lot of people reach for them when served.

This recipe makes about 3-3 1/2 dz cookies.

Citrus Ginger Cookies
adapted from Gold Medal Cookie Contest 

Ingredients
1/3 cup milk
2 egg yolks (beaten together)
1/4 cup molasses
2 tsp vanilla extract 
1 cup or 2 sticks of butter, room temp
1 tsp orange zest
1 tsp lemon zest
2 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp allspice
2 pinches of nutmeg
2 pinches of cayenne
1 cup sugar
3 cups flour and 2 tbs flour (reserved separate)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Place butter inside the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and beat again another 2 minutes or until mixture is light and fluffy. Add egg yolks and milk. Beat until mixture is thoroughly combined, it will result in a curdled-looking batter.

Take out another bowl and sift together 3 cups of flour, baking powder and salt. Add the sifted mixture in 1/2 cup increments to the butter/sugar batter, beating on low after each addition. Once the sifted ingredients are incorporated into the batter, divide batter in half. Each half should be about 2 cups each.

Remove one half of the dough from the mixing bowl and set aside. Add both types of zest and vanilla extract to the remaining dough in the mixing bowl. Blend on medium speed for about 1 minute to distribute the additions throughout the dough. Shape into 2 even sized balls and cover dough with plastic wrap and set aside.

Clean the mixing bowl and then place the other half of the plain dough inside. Add remaining ingredients (spices, molasses and 2 tbs flour) and mix on low until the add-ins are evenly distributed into the dough. Shape the dough into 2 balls of the same size (like the other) and cover with plastic wrap. Place all 4 of the wrapped dough balls on a plate and put in refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.

Prepare a flat surface by covering with parchment paper. After chilling time is complete, remove one ball of the citrus dough. Place it on the parchment paper and cover with another piece of parchment. Roll dough out to form a a 9x6 rectangle. Do the same with one ball of the spice dough. Lift top piece of parchment off of both rectangles and stack one on top of the other, so all edges of the dough are flush with each other. Press or roll lightly to adhere the layers together.

Place the dough so the narrow ends are at the top and bottom and long edges left to right on the flat surface. Then, form part of a roll by using the parchment paper to help. Roll from the narrow edge over the top of the rest of the dough, stopping at the halfway point. Carefully flip the dough over, with the unrolled narrow edge at the bottom. Again, roll from the narrow edge over the top of the dough and stop, meeting at the same point as the rolled under portion of the dough (just on the backside). The end result will be a spiral log that is "S" shaped. Cover with parchment and place in refrigerator.  Repeat the same process with the remaining 2 rounds of dough.

Let both logs of dough chill for a minimum of 1 hour. 15 minutes prior to completing the dough chilling, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

At the time the dough has chilled for 1 hour and the oven is preheated, remove one batch/ one log from the refrigerator. Slice the log into 1/4 inch-thick pieces and place each piece on prepared baking sheet. There are about 16-18 slices per log and each piece should be spaced about 1-1/2 inches apart on the baking sheet.

Place in oven and bake 8-12 minutes or until the bottom of the cookies have a light, golden hue. Transfer to rack to cool. Repeat the same process of slicing and baking with the remaining dough log.

Tips and Notes:

1. The spices were distributed evenly in the dough. However, the citrus zest may distribute better if the mixture is divided prior to adding the sifted ingredients. It is more liquid at that time and it keeps you from over-working the dough. Also, fresh zest has a tendency to cling together.

2. You may use a little flour in order to roll out the dough, but dampen the surface of the dough before you stack the other layer on top. A damp surface will keep the layers of dough from splitting when baking.
                                   **LAST YEAR: Chocolate Banana Muffins**

Chocolate Almond Marsala Cookies

These little Italian cookies are quite unique.  Just by appearance, the first thought is- did you want a little cookie batter with your add ins?  That batter does not just hold everything together, it actually provides the spice to these cookies.  The cinnamon spice is a good flavor base to enhance all those add ins.  The batter is studded with almonds, dried fruit and mini chocolate chips.  Also, since the recipe includes 1/3 cup of Marsala wine, these cookies can be classified as Italian. Especially since this recipe makes only 2 dz cookies.

Concerning the "high gloss" look that the cookies have, it can be attributed to the use of an egg wash prior to baking.  

The original recipe is stated below.   My tweaks on the original are: that I used dried apples instead of candied orange peel and mini choc chips instead of the standard. Candied orange peel, if you are not already aware, is a specialty ingredient that cannot be found at a regular grocery store.  The recipe  cautions not to buy candied fruit as a substitute, but to use the real candied orange peel.  As far as my twist, the dried apple was already in the pantry and it did not hurt that I love the flavors of apple, cinnamon and chocolate melded together.  The mini chocolate chips were chosen based on the fact that these are a slice cookie.

Chocolate Almond Marsala Cookies
adapted from Martha Stewarts Cookies

Ingredients
1/2 cup or 4 oz chopped chocolate
1/2 cup finely chopped candied orange peel
1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds
1/3 cup Marsala wine
2 large eggs
3 tbs honey
1 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp gnd cinnamon

Prepare 2 baking sheets by lining with parchment paper and dust a flat surface lightly with flour.  In a small bowl, whisk 1 egg and wine together until frothy.  Set aside.  Pull out a larger bowl and sift together cinnamon, baking powder, salt and flour.  Pour wine mixture into sifted ingredients and fold together until a dough is formed.  Mix in honey. Then knead in all the almonds, chocolate chips and orange peel into the dough, using 1/4 cup increments of each of the add ins.

Once all is distributed, knead dough lightly on floured surface until it holds its shape.  Divide dough into 2 equal pieces.  Form each piece into a log, measuring 10 1/2 x 1 1/2 x 1.  Place each log on a wax paper lined plate.Cover and chill in refrigerator for about 45 minutes. At the 30 minute mark, preheat the oven to 250 degrees. 

Remove and slice each log crosswise, ending up with 12 slices per log.  Slices should be approx 3/4 of an inch thick.  Flatten bottom half of slices, so the slice actually looks like a 1/2 moon.  Place cookies on cookie sheet about 1 inch apart with the bottom half facing down and the top curved part facing up, so the cookies are actually standing up from the pan.  Each is cookie is kind of like the sun coming over the horizon, with the pan being the horizon. 

Once all the cookies are on the pan, take the remaining egg and whisk in a small bowl.  Then brush on tops and sides of each cookie. Place pan in oven and bake for 20 minutes.  Increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees and rotate the baking pan.  Continue to bake cookies for an additional 10 minutes. The should turn a golden color when done.

Cool cookies completely by placing pan over rack. 
                                      **LAST YEAR: Cherry Ripe Cake***