Spritz Cookies

My partner recently mentioned he missed having spritz cookies this past holiday season (we did not encounter any) so I decided to make him some for Valentine's Day, using the cookie press my friend's mother gifted me a long time ago. I have made spritz cookies before and posted about them here, but I wanted to try a new recipe this time. I know I can count on a recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction to turn out like it looks in her photos.

Notes:

• I chilled my pans from 5-10 minutes in the refrigerator before extruding the cookies onto them and it worked very nicely to get them to stick to the cookie sheet and come off the press.
• I tried brushing water on to get the colored sugar to stick but didn't have a lot of luck with it so I just sprinkled it directly onto the cookie. A little uneven and messy but still works. 
• I use my cookie press just infrequently enough that I forget its little quirks every time. Writing down notes here so I remember for next time.
• Maybe there's a better way to fill it but you can kinda make logs of dough just smaller than the tube and try to drop them in there.
• Change the cookie thickness dial depending on what shape you're making!
• Heart: THIN (if you do THICK they will look more like the opening in the plate hahahaha)
• Flower: THICK (if you try to go thinner they will stick to the gun instead of the pan)

Verdict: These were really tasty and turned out just like the recipe promised. I would happily make them again.

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RECIPE: Spritz Cookies (Sally McKenney, Sally's Baking Addiction)

Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I really miss cookies and I'm starting a hunt for a go-to keto friendly cookie that I like.

Notes:

• I used Swerve brown sugar to make them keto friendly.

Verdict: These were just OK for me. Mine did not look anywhere near as good as the photo; they were significantly darker in color and texture was different. I used the end of a jar of almond butter so maybe it had less oil than it was supposed to. The texture is a little nicer than an almond flour cookie but it's not quite the soft chewy kind that you get with regular flour and sugar. They were darker and more crumbly looking. I don't know if it's possible to get that yummy soft chewy texture with keto ingredients but I'm going to keep looking. Pros of this recipe is that it was very simple to make and if you need a quick cookie fix these will do the trick.

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RECIPE: 3 Ingredient Almond Butter Cookies (Arman Liew, The Big Man's World)

Keto Chocolate Chip Cookies

This was one of the treat recipes I wanted to make for my birthday, and I ended up making them a little later for a tea with a visiting band!

Notes:

• The brown sugar substitute was indeed nice flavor wise but had the same sort of acid-burn after-mouthfeel that the allulose did.
   

Verdict: The texture was different from normal cookies for sure but the flavors were spot on. I would make them again if I felt like having chocolate chip cookies.

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RECIPE: Keto Chocolate Chip Cookies (All Day I Dream About Food)

Matcha Latte Cookies

As a huge fan of matcha and matcha lattes (the flavor of matcha just works so well with dairy) I HAD to try these.

Notes:

• I found it unusual that the matcha is mixed with the vanilla extract rather than sifted into the dry ingredients, but the recipe author says it's to "bloom" the matcha flavor with alcohol. I do think it made a difference (the matcha tasted less bitter), but I'm used to the mild bitterness of the matcha so I don't know that I'd do it this way if I made it again. I personally found it kind of messy.
• There's a LOT of vanilla extract for one batch of cookies (1.5 TABLEspoons)and I found that combined with the above it almost felt like too much, like it overpowered the matcha a bit.
• I could also taste the peanut butter in the final product and I'm not sure I liked that. I might try a more neutral/complementary flavor nut butter next time, like almond butter.
• The ermine frosting was really interesting in a good way (milk flavored frosting sounded good) and I'm glad I got to try it with this recipe.
  

Verdict: They were pretty good but quite sweet. I prefer the taste without frosting, though the mix of textures of the cookie and frosting is really nice. While they were good, I think I like these matcha cookies better. But that's a personal opinion. I would make these again with the changes I listed above to see if I like them any better.

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RECIPE: Matcha Latte Cookies (Eric Joonho Kim, NYT Cooking)

(Video version)

Café Coffee Cookies

I came across these while looking for recipes for "coffee biscuits", something from a Final Fantasy game I have not played, because they sounded good. The official recipe didn't look all that interesting but I had to try these once I saw the picture.

Verdict: They were good but I think I really wanted the flavor of coffee + milk and the coffee flavor here sort of blended into the chocolate. I was afraid of adding too much espresso powder and making them bitter. I am glad I tried them and they are pretty but I don't think I'd go out of my way to make them again unless someone specifically asked.

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RECIPE: Café Coffee Cookies (Betty Crocker)

Cashew Snowball Cookies

We had Christmas dinner with our neighbors again and I was asked to make a dessert to share. We recently discovered the wonders and dangers of Costco and as such I had a large container of cashews in the house. I had been wanting to make this style of cookie ever since I failed at making them a long time ago (no thanks to Padma Lakshmi, lol). This time they turned out much better!

Notes:

• I added some ground cardamom to these (about 1/2 tsp) and loved it.
  
• Exercise care when rolling these cookies because they are very delicate. I managed to only break one of them.

Verdict: I thought they were delicious and relatively easy to make, and they received rave reviews at the dinner.

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RECIPE: Cashew Butter Balls (Smitten Kitchen)

Soul Cakes

My partner is in a band and organizes an annual "thank you donors" private concert with a snack potluck, and this year, these Soul Cakes showed up on the snack table. I had no idea what a soul cake was or that they are a traditional Samhain/Halloween time item in England, but I liked them so much that I brought several home with me and tracked down the person who made them, and she was kind enough to share her recipe and methods with me.

Notes:

• SKULL PANS: The ones BurntCookie and I used are made by Wilton, or Holiday Home if you get the knockoff version. It has 6 cavities and the size of each cavity is about 4 in tall x 3 in wide x 1 in thick. The original recipe calls for 3" diameter circles that are 1/4 in thick. I find the cookies made with this pan to be quite big. If you get a different skull shaped pan, remember to adjust the baking time (less time if they're smaller) and check often to make sure they don't get too dark.
  
• I greased the pan lightly with the paper the butter was wrapped in as a precaution, but I don't think it was necessary. I think they would have released from the pan just fine even if I hadn't. It did make the top surface nice and golden brown though, which made the shape details a little easier to see.
  
• The person who made them for the party (BurntCookie) made quite a few changes to the initial recipe but didn't have exact amounts for some things, so I have approximated them here. Disclaimer: I did try this recipe as I wrote it below, but halved everything.
• I put in about 1/2 cup dried fruit total, but would use more next time. (If my partner's food mantra is "Yes! Ham!" mine is "More Fruit," haha.) I used dried cranberries and raisins because they're what I had in the house, but I think other dried fruits like apricots, prunes, or cherries would also taste good.
  
• I think some orange or lemon zest (1 teaspoon or so) would also taste delightful in these depending on what dried fruit you use.
• A teaspoon of vanilla or almond extract in the dough might also be tasty and I plan to try this in future batches.
  
• I finished them both ways that were described, and while both tasted good, I prefer the glaze since the cakes are already kind of dry and adding a powder to the top adds to the dry feel.
  
• I might slightly increase the amount of spices next time because their flavor wasn't as prominent as I would have liked. But the ones I used were kind of old so maybe that was why.
• I would use either lemon juice or vanilla in the glaze, but not both together.
  

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RECIPE:

Soul Cakes
adapted from Cooking Journey Blog by BurntCookie and me
Makes about 10 (4 in x 3 in x 3/4 in) skull shaped cakes, or about 18 round cakes

Cakes:
175 g butter, room temperature (6.1 oz, about 1 1/2 sticks)
175 g white granulated sugar (about 3/4 cup)
3 egg yolks
450 g all purpose flour (about 3 5/8 cups)
2 tsp cinnamon, or mixed spice (= 1/2 tsp each ground cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger)
85 g (about 3/4 cup) dried cranberries, raisins, or other dried fruit of your choice, chopped in small pieces
6-7 tbsp milk

Glaze:
120 g (about 1 1/2 cups) confectioner's sugar
1 1/2 tbsp milk, water, or lemon juice
1/4 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Special equipment (optional): Mini skull shaped nonstick cake pans (see above note for details)

Preheat the oven to 375 F/190 C. Place butter and sugar in a stand mixer bowl fitted with paddle attachment. Cream butter with sugar until lightened in color and fluffy. Add egg yolks and mix again until well blended. In a medium bowl, combine flour and spices. Add flour mixture into the butter mixture in 2-3 additions, mixing after each one. Add milk in several additions, until the dough comes together. Mix in cranberries/raisins/dried fruit on low speed (or by hand with a spoon or spatula) until well combined.

Press dough into each cavity in your skull pan about 3/4 full, up to about 1/4 inch (0.6 cm) from the top. (If you don't have skull cake pans: Transfer the dough to a silicone mat or other surface, dusted with flour. Roll the dough with a flour-dusted rolling pin to about 1/4 inch (0.6 cm) thickness. Cut round shapes with a 3-inch round biscuit cutter or other similarly sized cookie cutter, score a cross onto the top of each [optional], and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.) Bake 18-22 minutes, or until the edges are golden. (For rounds, bake for 15-20 minutes.) Remove the pan from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Let cool completely, then turn cakes out onto the rack or other flat surface. Dust cakes with powdered sugar, or dip in sugar glaze (see next paragraph). Soul cakes will keep up to 4 days in an airtight container at room temperature.

Glaze: Mix glaze ingredients in a medium bowl until the glaze is thick and will coat the back of a spoon but not immediately run over the sides. (If too thick, add milk/water in very small increments; if too thin, add more powdered sugar.) Dip each cake face down in the glaze to coat it, and set on wax paper glazed side up until glaze has dried and hardened completely.

Matcha Green Tea Cookies with Almonds and White Chocolate

I made these because I wanted something with matcha and to use up a few odds and ends in the baking pantry, and these sounded great. I have been looking for a solid green tea cookie recipe.

Notes:

• I only had about half of the amount of white chocolate the recipe called for. Even with that amount it was plenty sweet.
• I only had whole almonds in my pantry, so I used those instead of slivered almonds. I gave them a rough chop before mixing them in. They had a nice rubble-y texture, and I liked that because they still had the skins on, they were visually easy to tell apart from the white chocolate chunks.
  

Verdict: I loved them! They had enough green tea in them to be appropriately green and you could taste the green tea flavor clearly. Some green tea cookies I've tried before ended up very dry and crumbly, but these stayed together nicely and had a pleasant soft texture. I would definitely make them again.

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RECIPE: Almond White Chocolate Matcha Cookies (Jacinta Halim/Jaja Bakes)

Natural Peanut Butter Cookies

I arrived at this recipe after finding myself with a surplus of natural peanut butter (the kind that's just ground peanuts and sometimes salt) and finding that it does not cookie all that well. I have substituted it for regular peanut butter in other recipes and the cookies came out kind of dry and crumbly so I wanted to make sure I used a recipe that specifically called for it.

Notes:

• I didn't have a fancy cookie stamp so I flattened my cookies with a potato masher.
• I rolled the cookies in turbinado sugar before flattening for some extra crunch and sparkle.
  

Verdict: I thought they were really nice! I might make them smaller next time, but sometimes big cookies are fun.

EDIT 10/13/2021: I made a couple of variations on this cookie for my partner's birthday with peanut butter candies. I made thumbprint type cookies with a mini peanut butter cup in the middle, and another kind where I mixed in Reese's pieces (peanut butter filled hard-shelled chocolate candies). Both worked pretty well and tasted great. I think I liked the Reese's pieces ones the best.

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RECIPE: Soft and Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies (Lovely Little Kitchen)

Fruit Pizza

A friend left us a block of cream cheese and thought this would be the perfect thing to make after picking 10 pounds of strawberries. We used to make fruit pizza sometimes when I was a kid but it had been a long time since I'd had it. It's a giant sugar cookie frosted with cream cheese frosting, then topped with any kind of fresh fruit you like.

Notes:

• You can make it on a sheet pan (like I did) if you don't have a pizza pan.
• You can use whatever fresh fruit you like; I used all strawberries because it was what I had.

Verdict: Just as good as I remember from when I was a kid. A 12-inch round seems like a lot but it was way easier to finish than I expected. This would be a really good thing to bring to parties since it doesn't keep especially well. I would definitely make this again, especially for a summer party.

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RECIPE: Fruit Pizza (Sally's Baking Addiction)

Neapolitan Cookies

I was drawn to these cookies because they looked cute, and who doesn't want three flavors in one cookie?

Notes:

• You can buy dried powdered strawberry and I highly recommend saving yourself the hassle of powdering your own. I decided to try making my own because I wasn't sure I wanted an entire bag of strawberry powder for the amount I needed, so I bought freeze dried strawberries and ground them in my food processor. I was successful, but it made a huge mess.
• The different doughs don't really like to stick together. They'll bake together in the oven but smashing them together while keeping the nice 1/3 sections was a bit challenging.
  

Verdict: These tasted nice but holy hell were they a lot of work for just 15 cookies. I wish the strawberry flavor was a little more pronounced -- maybe a bit of lemon juice would turn up the tartness a little. They're on the large side for a cookie (mine ended up being about 4 inches in diameter). I'm probably not going to make them again, but I'm glad I tried them!

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RECIPE: Neapolitan Cookies (Hummingbird High)

Holiday Bakeathon 2019

Our sixth holiday baking day together! We were all kind of tired but things still moved along nicely.

Left: marshmallow, right: cream cheese icing

Gingerbread cookies this year were conspicuously Untitled Goose Game themed.

*honk*

Left: gingerbread; Right: chocolate biscotti

We all have a fancy stand mixer now so we had to take the below video because we can. And for internet points.

*Wagner's Flight of the Valkyries plays*

RECIPES

• Spicy Gingerbread Cookies (Smitten Kitchen) -- our old standby. I never get tired of how they taste with cream cheese frosting, and we keep coming up with new and/or funny ways to decorate them.
• Chocolate Caramel Crackers (Smitten Kitchen) -- chosen because both Sarah and I were eyeing it for several years but hadn't made it yet. We used matzo and added sliced almonds on top. Pretty easy to make, makes a lot, and tastes great. I made a second batch for my work holiday party because I missed it after my portion was gone and we had enough leftover ingredients to make it again. Definitely keeping this recipe around. I'd love to try it with saltine crackers. *Update: I tried it with saltines and very slightly prefer the matzo crackers because they're less crumbly.
• Cream Cheese Frosting -- for the gingerbread.
• Cinnamon-Sugar Rugelach -- a perennial favorite. Made a second batch because my husband was sad when they were gone (they are his favorite cookie) and I'm glad I did because I got to introduce my sister to them.
• Double Chocolate Biscotti (MyRecipes) -- we added dried cherries and pistachios and I really liked them this way.
• Homemade Marshmallows (Alton Brown) -- another perennial favorite. I wanted to put peppermint in them but Sarah said no. :P
• Linzer Torte (Maida Heatter via Smitten Kitchen) -- my big error for the day was accidentally baking it on too high a temperature. The outside got very very dark, a shade before burnt, which is very sad when you spend all that time shaping dough into a lattice and making it look pretty. (This recipe takes two hours of active work to make by myself.) Make sure you turn your oven down for the final long bake. I made a small (5 inch) heart shaped one out of the leftover dough that I did not burn, and that one turned out really cute! If you decide to make it a non-standard shape, make sure you have a pan or mold to keep the bottom crust's shape while it bakes. The sides of my bottom crust started collapsing once it got warm in the oven, but an aluminum foil mold helped. Once the bottom crust was parbaked and solidified, it held its shape and I didn't need the foil barriers anymore. I redeemed myself by making a second batch that DID turn out really well, half for my parents (my dad liked it but my mom is seemingly impossible to impress) and half for Christmas Day dinner with my neighbor's family.

BAKEATHONS PAST

• 2018
• 2017
• 2016
• 2015
• 2014

No Bake Cookies

These were one of my favorite cookies as a kid, and easy for me to make too since they did not require the use of an oven so it was one of the first things I learned to make when I started cooking. This recipe comes from one of my mom's church cookbooks. They have chocolate, peanut butter, and oats in them.

Notes:

• Be sure to use old fashioned oats; if you use the instant kind they may dry out the mixture too much.

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RECIPE:

No Bake Cookies
Makes about 48

½ cup (4 oz) butter
2 cups granulated sugar
½ cup milk
¼ cup cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup creamy peanut butter
3 cups old fashioned oats

Place first four ingredients in a saucepan, and heat on medium heat until they melt and begin to boil. Boil the mixture for one minute, then remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and peanut butter until well blended, and mix in oats last. Drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper or press into a 9x13” pan, and let cool. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Rosemary and Lemon Balm Cookies with Golden Raisins

My coworker and officemate Erin introduced me to these cookies. Her mother was visiting her and helping take care of Erin's baby, and her mom made a whole bunch of these cookies. I can't remember if she brought these cookies for a work potluck or if she brought some specifically for me (as she sometimes did with snacks, sweet friend that she is) but I absolutely loved it. When Erin gave me the recipe, it was a paper copy with her mom's handwriting on it, detailing changes she'd made.

To me, this is one of those foods that is more delicious than the sum of its parts. It's buttery and sweet (but not too sweet), with lots of interest from the herbal flavors, the texture of the raisins, the aroma of lemon and rosemary, and the slight saltiness that makes everything pop.

After she got a different job we had lunch dates every month or two since we still worked in the same general area of town, but today she moves somewhere much farther away. When we were hiring for her position, we narrowed it down to three people, and my bosses gave me the power to make the final decision -- the first time I had ever been involved in a hiring, so it was a big deal for me. I am so glad I picked her. She's a great worker, a great friend, and a wonderful human being. I love her and I will miss her dearly. I might even get to visit her again someday, since it's not too far away to drive there. I hear there is lots and lots of snow in the winter, and lots of beautiful nature all the time. Until then, I will think of her every time I make these cookies, ride my bike, or see a beautifully knit scarf.

Notes

• The original recipe calls for 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup shortening, but I use all butter because I'm increasingly skeeved out by shortening and don't really like how it tastes. My friend's mother used half lard, which I liked. The original recipe called for flattening them with a fork like a peanut butter cookie, but I have found that using all butter they tend to spread a lot anyway and I like the finished texture better if you don't flatten the ball before baking it. If you do end up using half lard/shortening, flatten them with a fork because they tend to hold their shape better.
• Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) can be hard to find in grocery stores, but you may be able to find it at a farmer's market in early summer, or buy a plant in the spring or summer and grow some. If you know someone with a plant, it is also very easy to root a cutting (cut a stalk off and stick the bottom end in water, and it will grow roots) and then plant it. It's easy to grow and smells good but unfortunately it is also good at growing out of control and taking over entire planting areas so I'd recommend growing it in a food-safe container. I have also found dried lemon balm for sale by weight at a health supplement/natural pharmacy type store; use about 1/3 to 1/2 the amount if you're using dried.
• Dried rosemary would be kind of sad to use here but if you must, use ~1 1/2 tsp.
• If you can only find brown raisins, those will work instead of golden ones.

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RECIPE:

Rosemary and Lemon Balm Cookies with Golden Raisins
Makes about 40-48

1 cup (8 oz/2 sticks/225 g) butter, softened
1 1/2 cups (320 g) sugar
2 large eggs
1 tbsp minced fresh rosemary
2-3 tbsp minced fresh lemon balm leaves
Zest of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp pure lemon extract
3 1/2 cups (420 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (150 g, about 6 oz) golden raisins

Preheat oven to 400°F. Cream butter and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer until fluffy and lightened in color slightly. Beat in eggs one at a time until well incorporated. Stir in rosemary, lemon balm, lemon zest, and lemon extract. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients (except raisins) and gradually add to butter mixture in several additions. Stir in raisins. Roll into 1 1/4" (3 cm) balls and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes or until edges have browned slightly. Place pan on a cooling rack for about 5 minutes, then remove cookies directly onto the rack to cool completely.

Lavender Shortbread Sandwich Cookies

 

I wasn't much for floral flavors up until a few years ago because they reminded me of soap. My first real try was in 2015 after I made a friend who absolutely loves the flavor of lavender, and because of her I came to think there was some merit to eating things that taste like flowers, especially if the flavor is combined with something else familiar.

However, what really cemented it for me was a cookie. A few years ago during the early summer, a different friend was visiting me from Chicago and we went to a milkshake shop. They had a lavender-lemon sandwich cookie, which she promptly bought because she also loves floral flavors, and shared some with me because it was huge -- two 4 inch diameter lavender sugar cookies with lemon buttercream frosting in between. The perfect flavor of sugar coma for a warm, sunny summer day.

The milkshake shop folded later that year but the memory of that cookie stuck with me. I ended up wanting to recreate it a couple of months later. I blended two recipes, one from Imagine Childhood and the other from From Calculus to Cupcakes. I was very happy with the result and shared them with my sister Kelly because she loves good food too. She apparently gave one of the cookies to her roommate Kayla, who went absolutely wild for it. Kelly told me that ever since then, whenever she comes back from seeing me and Kayla hears we were making food, she asks (only half jokingly I'm sure) if we made these.

I love this story and think it's adorable. I found out a couple of weeks ago that Kayla's birthday is in late February, and decided to surprise her by sending Kelly home from our latest hangout session with a bunch of these cookies so that this time, the answer to "did you make lavender lemon cookies?" was "yes, and I brought you some!" :)

Someday I'm going to make these heart shaped and serve them at a tea party.

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RECIPE: 

Lavender Shortbread Sandwich Cookies
Adapted from Imagine Childhood (cookie) and From Calculus to Cupcakes (filling)
Makes about 50 sandwich cookies

Cookies

1 cup granulated sugar

3 tbsp dried culinary lavender (if it's particularly fragrant you might use less)

1 1/3 cups (about 22 tbsp) salted butter

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

Filling

2 tbsp (1/4 stick) salted butter, at room temperature

2 oz (1/4 of an 8 oz brick) cream cheese, at room temperature

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

Juice and zest of half a large lemon

Cookies: Grind the lavender and half the sugar together with a mortar and pestle, then transfer it to a mixing bowl along with the other half of the sugar. (If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, place sugar in the stand mixer bowl and add the lavender slowly, rubbing it between your fingers to break it down a little bit.) Add the butter and cream until light and fluffy, then stir in the vanilla. Add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda on top of the butter mixture, stirring slowly until well incorporated.

Shape the dough into 3 logs about 1 1/4 inches in diameter each. Wrap each log in parchment paper, and place in the freezer until it becomes hard enough to slice (20-30 min). If you're going to chill it for longer, put it in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Unwrap the dough and slice into rounds about 1/4 inch thick. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. A standard half sheet pan will fit about 35 cookies. Bake until the bottom edges just begin to brown (8-10 minutes). After taking them out of the oven, let them stand 1-2 minutes on the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. While the cookies cool, prepare filling.

Filling: Beat butter and cream cheese on medium speed until well combined. Add the lemon juice and zest and mix on low speed until incorporated. Add the powdered sugar in 2-3 additions, mixing slowly, until incorporated. Once incorporated, beat the filling until well mixed, about 1-2 minutes.

Assembly: Using a knife, spread about 2 tsp of the filling on the bottom of a cookie. Top it with another cookie of similar shape/size bottom side down (so both cookies have top sides out) and compress gently with your fingers to stick everything together.

Store in an airtight container in a single layer in the refrigerator. Keeping them cold will help the filling stay in the cookie.