Sesame-Almond Macaroons

A funny thing happened as I brought those three bowls of cookies over to the table to take pictures of them, I dumped them all over the floor.  Stranger still was that I picked them all up and places them all back into the bowls, reasoning that you weren't going to eat them anyway.  But then I did! Because they were too good keep a little dog hair from me eating them (and Shane too evidently, since he stuffed about eight in his mouth as he got home).  They're simple to make, except for the almond paste flying in chunks all over my kitchen.  Sugar, almond paste, toasted sesame seeds and two egg whites, they're ready to go in no time at all.  I had a harder time with baking them.  One batch I baked for 10 minutes, the next 13, but I'm still not sure what I like better.  All I know is, 14, like the book asks, is too long.  I think 12 minutes would be perfect.

These cookies are delicious.  The toasted sesame and almond is such a unique combination it keeps me coming back over and over again. The chewy macaroon is delectable, and if you have the ever elusive almond paste on hand, I suggest a batch of these. (I found mine at Ikea and snapped it up).

Baking notes:
-The almond and sugar are quite difficult to combine.  I've read that maybe heating the almond paste a little could help, but I don't have a microwave, so I couldn't test that theory.
-Be sure to avoid making the cookies too big, so they have a chance to cook evenly.  I used a heaping teaspoon and tried a few different baking lengths.
-I toasted the sesame seeds in a pan on the stove instead of the oven because my oven burns everything.  Keep a very close eye on them either way.

The recipe for Sesame-Almond Cookies can be found on the epicurious website.

83/569

Coconut Macaroon Bars

We had some car trouble that started late last night.  It was 10:35 and I was on my way to work.  I put the key in the ignition and turned it, the engine turned over once and it died out.  Each subsequent turn was weaker, until finally nothing happened.  I went back inside to wake Shane.  He came out heard it once and declared it a loss for the night, it was to late to do anything.  I, being as awesome as I am, had a breakdown complete with sobbing uncontrollably and a few "tell me what to dooooooo's".  Ten minutes before my shift was to start I called in, saying I couldn't come.  I felt awful.

This morning, still in her pajamas, my landlady gave me a jump and I drove up the hill to our mechanic (her dad).  He confirmed that our battery was shot and after I bought a new one, he installed it for me (and sent me home with some moose steaks).  After all those shenanigans I owed a lot of people a thank-you.  So I baked my favourite chocolate chip cookies and these delicious coconut macaroon bars.  I made my rounds dropping these off, for my landlord, our mechanic, Shane and when I go to work tonight, the last of them will be for my co-workers whom I so royally screwed over last night.  Sorry and thank you!

Baking notes:
-The bars are light and crisp, with a nice crunch from the coconut on top. The center is gooey and very sweet. The chocolate and the raspberry add something unique and make the flavour a little more special. They're so simple to make, I'll definitely bake these again.
-To the crust I added about one extra tablespoon of cream.
-In the coconut batter I used 9oz of coconut instead of 7oz.
-Between the bar and the coconut layer I spread 1/3 cup of raspberry jam over half and sprinkled chocolate chips over the other half. Then dumped the coconut on top and baked it. (They're both amazingly delicious)
-I only baked the bars for 20 minutes because they were getting quite dark, but this left the filling softer than it was supposed to be (it was still set).
-I am really glad I used a tin foil sling instead of only buttering the pan.  The bars are quite fragile and would have been very frustrating to get out otherwise.

The recipe for Coconut Macaroon Bars can be found on the epicurious website.

76/569

Chocolate-Dipped Coconut Macaroons

It's the dead of winter, where nothing seems to grow.  The only thing alive is the ever present falling rain, even the sky cries for us.  When it's been cold and dark for far too long I dream of warmer places.  My garden in June, the lake in July, and in particularly cold moments I remember the superheated Okanagan in August.  We've got a trip planned to a sunny warm place in March, and in the long five weeks before that I've got plenty of dreaming to do. To remind us of tropical locations there is coconut, warm toasty coconut.  These cookies hit the spot, absolutely every person who tried them, loved them.  They were a huge hit, and not one cookie survived.  I'd say these are one of my favourite cookies ever!  They're crunchy on the outside and softer on the inside, they're perfectly toasted and sweet.  My favourite part though, is the chocolate layer on the bottom, how it rounds out the cookies perfectly. These cookies hit the happy notes in my brain.  Ding! Ding!

Baking notes:
-I toasted the coconut for 8 minutes, 4 minutes less than asked for, and I stirred it three times.  Even after all that, I still had to pick out a few burnt strands of coconut.
-The cookies didn't stay together that well while I was putting them on the cookie sheet, but they baked up perfectly.
-I had to watch the cookies carefully, they only needed about 12 minutes, instead of 14.

The recipe for Chocolate-Dipped Coconut Macaroons can't be found online.

64/569

Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies

I started this cookie post on the right day, Tuesday, exactly one week before Christmas.  As you can tell it's Friday now, and the only reason I even have time to post is because I'm laid up in bed with a terrible cough and a fever of 101.3.  Not perfect timing for being sick if you ask me.  As is my usual, I got sick on my weekend, which is entirely irritating on it's own, since we had mega plans this weekend, Christmas gift deliveries, a birthday party, The Hobbit watching, and a wine and cheese party on Saturday.  Not only that, but I have Christmas gifts to buy and make, and it seems that today I'm not going anywhere at all.  My to-do list is getting compressed, but luckily this is one thing I can do from bed.

Peppermint is so perfect this time of year, I'm making everything with it!  I've done cupcakes, and chocolate bark, hot chocolate and now cookies.  They're crunchy and sweet and very cute to boot.  However, when you bit into them the filling squished out all over your hands, making them tricky to eat.  I liked them enough, but I wouldn't be bothered to make them again.

Baking notes:
-I made a half batch of cookies, we had about three dozen in the house already.
-The recipe is simple and quick, enjoy.

56/569

The recipe for Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies can be found on the epicurious website.

Classic Christmas Cutout Cookies

Next week will already mark the last installment of our Christmas cookie series.  I've got to say: I'm totally bummed!  I've loved my weekly timeline for baking (even if it usually gets up late). I'm guessing I'll continue at this pace, but with treats abound, as they are at this time of year, who can really say?  This cookie recipe came at a truly appropriate time, with cookie decorating being the thing to do at this time of year.  We've got plans for next week, but I considered this a trial run.  Unfortunately these cookies aren't as good as my go to recipe.  I find the flavour a bit boring and bland.  There isn't really much else to say.  The texture is nice, the process was easy, but I've had better.

Baking notes:
-I made a half batch of this recipe, since I knew we weren't going to be decorating.
-To roll out the dough after a night in the fridge I let it sit on the counter for 20 minutes.  Even then it just cracked under my rolling pin (which I hate!) so I kneaded it a few times into a softer ball and rolled it out liberally sprinkled with flour.
-I had to watch the cookies closely as they baked, turning the pan halfway through.  And took them out as soon as there was a hint of brown around the edges.

The recipe for Classic Christmas Cutout Cookies can not be found online.

54/569

Almond Thumbprints

I make thumbprint cookies every year.  I don't have a clue why, they're not Christmas-y at all.  But Christmas has me craving cookies, and so I do.  Every year I'm disappointed by thumbprint cookies that are dry and bland, with  jam filling that bubbles out and around, they always leave much to be desired.  Once again this year I tried a new recipe, this time from my book.  And what do you know? I finally found a great recipe! They're easy, buttery, very sweet and extremely delicious.  I totally loved them, and so did everyone who tried them!  As a bonus I got to use up two languishing jars of jam in my fridge, a cranberry-strawberry and a four-plum.

P.s. You might think this picture looks awfully similar to my last post, but when your Christmas tree takes up two-thirds of your living room...

Baking notes:
-I didn't have enough almonds, so I toasted some walnuts to go with them.  In all I had just short of a cup of nuts, so I added about an extra 1/4 cup of flour.  (You could totally use hazelnuts and fill the centers with nutella, my mouth waters just thinking about it!)
-To make the indentations I used the small end of a wooden spoon and then used my fingers to make the holes bigger while keeping the sides intact.  When I pulled them out halfway through baking I used the spoon again to make another hole.  In the end the cookies held a lot of jam, which my thinking tells me is way better.
-I found the cookies super simple to make.  Yes, there were a few extra steps, but I think they were definitely worth it.

The recipe for Almond Thumbprints can be found on the epicurious website.

52/569

Chewy Ginger Cookies

So I'm off again, week nine already?  I've missed two weeks so far, which isn't such a hot record.  I totally missed last week's cookie recipe, our mouths were otherwise occupied with another recipe and sometimes there is such a thing as too much sugar.  Happily this recipe is totally worth waiting for!  I chose this cookie on a whim.  The recipe I had picked out originally was very similar to a recipe I was already baking that day, so I went with these instead.  They're a perfect hybrid of the seasons, the end of fall and the beginning of Christmas.  They're something akin to gingerbread, with the molasses and ginger, but still in the spice camp that I love so much during fall.  These chewy ginger cookies were super easy to throw together, chill in the fridge and bake up perfectly.  They smelled amazing as I decorated my little house for Christmas, tunes playing softly in the background.  I absolutely loved them!

Baking notes:
-I made a half recipe of these cookies, which made one dozen plump cookies.
- I used blackstrap (very very dark) molasses instead of light molasses because that is all I had on hand.  It made them a little more gingerbread flavoured, but didn't bother me at all.
-I over baked the cookies by a few minutes, totally on accident.  They still turned out delicious, just a little crunchier (and not in a bad way!).

The recipe for Chewy Ginger Cookies is not available online.

50/569

Fig and Rum Squares

Week seven: go!  I'm sorry to report this week's Christmas cookies are late.  I was very busy snacking on the most delicious chocolate silk pie from the smitten kitchen cookbook and I seriously had no time for any other form of sugar.  It was that good.  After five days though, I'd had enough.  I threw out the very little remaining and baked up these bars.  It was Christmas in my nostrils while these baked! Christmas spice and shortbread, the combination is simply divine.

The fig and rum place these lightly sweetened cookies firmly in the adult camp.  The flavours are complex and layered, I really enjoyed them.  The crumb cookie underneath was very similar to shortbread. The fig layer, a puree of dried figs, brown sugar, spiced rum, orange and cinnamon was delicious. These flavours are very similar to those little candies I made two weeks ago and loved!  The crumble topping is a little tricky to eat, it tends to crumble all over the plate, and I personally dislike the almond mixed on top, however, the crunch is a welcome addition.  Overall I enjoyed these cookies as the mid afternoon munchies set in with a mug of milky tea.

Baking notes:
-I made a half batch of these cookies, to finish off a package of figs.
-I cooked the figs in the orange juice for 3 or so minutes to soften them before I pureed it all in the food processor.  This made them much easier to puree.
-The recipe calls for dark rum, but I only had spiced rum, so that is what I used.

The recipe for Fig and Rum Squares can be found on the epicurious website.

48/569

Lime Snowball Cookies

Okay, so lime snowball cookies for my sixth week of Christmas cookies.  It was a toss up of cookies vs. bars.  Cookies, being more radically different than last week's post, won.  I've made plenty a mexican wedding cookie, or russian tea cake, or whatever you like to call them, for the past few christmases and this was a welcome change.  It's a lot like a shortbread being crumbly and crunchy, but smooth and sweet all together.  Okay, so it might actually be a shortbread cookie with it's 1-2-3 sugar - butter - flour ratio, but they're good.  Then after all that butter and sugar goodness is a tonne of lime.  Lime! It makes this zest and bright with total in-your-face citrus.  I gave them all away and everyone loved them! Grandparent, co-workers, friends.  A few people even asked for the recipe.  Less than 24 hours later, they're all gone.  Great!

Baking notes:
-I did not have the lime oil, nor could I find it at my local store.  Instead I put in two tsp of lime zest and omitted the oil.  Worked fine.
-I weighed the cookies for consistent baking.  The first batch I did at 12 grams per cookie, but they were a little too small. So the next tray had 15 gram cookies on it.  They baked up better
-I baked the 12 gram cookies for 13 minutes, but they were underdone and burning at the same time.  The 15 gram cookies I baked a little lower for 20 minutes and they were perfect.

46/569

The recipe for Lime Snowball Cookies can be found on the epicurious website.

Sweet Almond 'Biscotti'

I did it again, I bought almond paste.  Almost every time I see it I buy it, and almost every time it goes hard before I get around to using it.  Shane called me out this time, while it was still in my basket and I vowed to use it before I had to throw it out.  There are a few recipes in the book that contain almond paste, and this is probably the easiest.  I whipped up the cookie batter in 6 minutes, literally.  It was very, very simple.  While it baked the house quickly filled with the smell of sugar and toasty almonds and after it cooled I sliced it into cute little cookies.  They are absolutely perfect for a morning coffee or an afternoon pick me up.  They're not to sweet, and perfectly nutty.  They're not exactly a biscotti, no, much softer than that.  Crunchy from the crust and the nuts and soft on the inside.  And biscotti actually means twice baked, and these are only baked once. Regardless, they're a simple and sophisticated cookie.  Enjoy.

Baking notes:
-I definitely thought these were going to be flat flavoured without so much as a drop of vanilla.  But I was pleasantly surprised and how good they are.
-I made a 2/3 recipe, because I only had 4 oz of almond paste instead of 6 oz.  The only unpleasant part was the dividing of an egg into 3 parts.
-I baked the biscotti for 32 minutes instead of the 40 called for, it was already a little overdone.

45/469

The recipe for Sweet Almond 'Biscotti' can't be found online.

Cottage Cheese Rugelach with Walnuts

Week four, week four! How did that happen?  I left Shane a note on top of the cookie jar before he came home, it read "Eat as many as you want."  He read it as "Eat all of these in one night."  When I came home there were 14 less cookies in the jar. (I counted)  Seriously?  He must have loved them.  I know I did. (I ate one).  I've made rugelach before, but it's never been as great as I hope.  Usually the sugar is overcooked on the bottom and it's too hard for these teeth, or the pastry is too dry.  This time the cottage cheese kept it moist (and simple!).  There is a little crunch when you bite in and then a lot of nutty - caramelized sweetness, nothing remotely dry or over cooked.  Decadent, flaky and sweet.  These will be my new standard rugelach recipe.  Stoked!

Baking notes:
-I did everything exactly as outlined except: I used butter instead of margarine.  That was a given.  Please Bon Appetit, what were you thinking?!
-I baked the cookies for a little less time (about 2-3 minutes) and they came out perfectly.

The recipe for Cottage Cheese Rugelach with Walnuts can be found on the epicurious website.

41/569

Cranberry Orange Drop Cookies

The rain is sliding down the south facing window, the one above the white couch with the grey blanket that warms my feet.  The dog lays on the floor blissfully asleep until the heater blows on and his head lifts.  I feel the rain sprinkle onto my cheek through the screen on the open window when the wind gusts.  I reach up to close it and feel a little puddle of water.  It's our first rainstorm in our new place and we've yet to discover the patterns and tricks the weather will play.  A day as blustery and wet as this deserves the comfort of baking and the warmth of an oven, my comfort lies in the recipes I try.

It's only the first rain of fall but I'm dreaming of snow and crackling fires, cinnamon baking and songs to sing, it's week 3 of 12 weeks of Christmas cookies.  Today I make Cranberry Orange Drop Cookies, they're Christmas in a cookie for sure.  There are cranberries, a lot of them, and spices, there is ginger and orange and walnuts and pistachios.  They are comforting and warm, soft and pillowy, they are perfect for this day.

[update: butter ate all of these.  I had one.]

Baking notes:
-I made a half batch of this cookie recipe, and I ended with 19 cookies, 5 shorter than the 24 approximated.
-I used water because I didn't have orange juice on hand (I forgot that the orange I zested was full of juice)
-I measured out the cookies into rounded tablespoons but only baked them for 12 minutes instead of 18, which was plenty of time, I imagine they would have otherwise been quite burnt.

The recipe for Cranberry-Orange Drop Cookies can be found on the epicurious website.

39/569

Italian Hazelnut Espresso Shortbread Cookies

You know, you could make almost any recipe in this book if you keep your pantry well stocked with nuts.  I've realized a recurring theme while flipping through the recipes, I've almost never got the appropriate type nut to make each recipe.  I've also noticed a lot of recipes calling for matzo meal and quick cooking tapioca, two things I've never had in my house, but who's absence has become glaringly apparent.  Come next payday my cart will be full with walnuts, pecans, pine nuts, almonds and hazelnuts, then I'll be set.

I had a few hazelnuts languishing in the bottom of my bulk basket and rescued them from a sad unnoticed fate by making these cookies.  Best idea of the week? You bet!  These cookies are so buttery and crisp, toasty and warm, I could gobble them up in no time.  This is the shortbread I dream of, I'd never known just how easy it was!  No chilling or rolling, just slap it all together in the food processor, knead it into a ball and press it into a pan.  Bake for 25 minutes and it's done.  Full of flavour and totally addictive.  It's a new favourite of mine!

Baking notes:
-I made a half recipe, which was very easy to do. (No splitting a single egg this time!)
-Everything went totally smoothly until I came back to the cooled shortbread two hours later.  While putting together the chocolate topping I failed to cut the recipe in half and ended up with an awful lot of chocolate.  I realized my mistake afterwards and covered the top of the cookies with chocolate, rather than drizzling it.
-Because I didn't drizzle the chocolate the cookies had to be cut again, which is why they look a little rough around the edges.  Follow the recipe and yours will look much better.

The recipe for Italian Hazelnut Espresso Shortbread Cookies is available on the epicurious website.

34/569

Puff Pastry Pinwheel Cookies with Jam

Ack! These cookies, they were not all that great.  I mean, I've definitely had worse, but I'd never go out of my way to make them again, or even snack on one if I saw it.  They're rather bland and boring, and sure a lot of work.
In fact, the first tray burned entirely.  When I didn't follow the instructions they worked out better, but save yourself the trouble and don't make these.  I brought a plate of these to work and came home with most of them.

Baking notes:
-The recipe called for the jam to be added before it was placed in the oven, but the result was cookies that were totally burned to shit.  In the next batch I added the jam immediately after they were out of the oven and it turned out much better.
-Using 1/4 tsp of sugar on each cookie was more than enough.

The recipe for Puff Pastry Pinwheel Cookies with Jam is on the epicurious website.

32/569

Hazelnut Meringue Drops

As you can see, there is clearly nothing meringue-y or drop-y about...well whatever this is.  Instead of light fluffy puffy little clouds with a tiny crisp shell, you get something very different.  I can tell you straight away what went wrong.  One egg white had a little bit of yolk in it.  That's it, that's all it takes, a little (tiny) bit of fat in the swirl of white and your egg whites won't whip.  I had four egg whites sitting in the fridge, sloshing around a bit for my attention every time I opened the fridge.  I decided to use them for this recipe, because frankly I didn't want an egg white omelette.  What do you do with all your leftover whites?  Next time I'm making a frosting, of the swiss buttercream style.  Now that is a good use of whites, do you think?

Baking notes:
-I could tell my whites were not going to whip, but I already had everything ready to go, so I powered on and prayed for a miracle.  Unfortunately it didn't happen, but I'm not that disappointed.
-I followed the recipe exactly, but because the whites didn't whip I just poured it into a pan and places it in the oven.
-I baked the meringue for 35 minutes at 300 F.  When I took it would I could tell it was complete garbage, so I decided to make something crispy and crunchy.  I put the "cookie" back in the oven at 150 F for 1 1/2 hours.  By then it really was crunchy.  We ate part of it broken up and then threw it out.

You can find the recipe for Hazelnut Meringue Drops on the epicurious website.

29/569

Vanilla Shortbread Cookies

Have you been watching the Olympics?  I've seen snippets here and there, when its on the tv at work.  It's fun to glance into another reality like this every once and a while, where all the drama in the world comes to a standstill and we just play sport.  I'd get bored though, watching too much of it and I'd eat an awful lot of cookies sitting on the couch.  But I'd like to hand a prize to each an every loser, a sort of consolation prize if you will, a cookie.  Maybe not these cookies, I know I've got better cookies in my repertoire.  Like my chocolate chip cookies, or maybe my chocolate gingerbread cookies for the winter Olympics.  Nothing helps the hurt go down like sugar, or maybe that's just me.

These cookies are okay, though I find them quite tough for a supposedly tender shortbread.  I was very careful not to over mix them, I wanted that butter-y crumbly traditional shortbread.  But alas it was not.  Instead the cookies have a bit of chew to them.  They are very buttery, and if I had used the fancy butter it called for, the results would have been even better.  So in the end, if I wanted shortbread cookies again, I'd find another recipe.

Baking notes:
-The cookies were very easy to put together.  They came together beautifully.
-I used regular (if not crappy) butter and the taste was marvelous, I can only imagine how much better it would be with a fancy european butter.
-I'm sad that I can never keep the wonderful round shape of the log when cutting rolled cookies, they turned into a lumpy circle.

You can find the recipe for vanilla shortbread cookies on the epicurious website.

24/569

Almond, Lemon and Anise Biscotti with Chocolate

It all started innocently enough.  All I needed to do was cut the lawn.  I loaded the lawnmower into my trunk for it's weekly trip through town, from it's home in my mom's shed to my house.  It's a heavy thing and I managed to wrangle it both in and out of my trunk alone.  I pressed the cold start button the requisite ten times, as instructed and pulled the cord.  Nothing.  Over and over again.  Nothing.  I swore.  I pushed the button ten more times, still nothing.  Ten more times just for good measure, what does this thing do anyways?  I kicked it once or twice.

Gas started dripping, from where I wasn't sure, down into the well that protects the blades.  Faster and faster it dripped, pretty soon it was a stream.  Shane woke from his all-to-short sleep.  He told me what I did wrong.  You flooded the engine you turd.  The gas ended up on the grass.  Bad Alyssa, bad.

The next day we looked into the gas chamber.  Bone dry.  We added a little gas, it turned on! And then it died.  Again and again.  It wasn't going to work.  Plan B, borrow Bill's.  I walked over to our neighbor's house and asked to borrow his lawnmower, citing an unruly lawn as our excuse to using it immediately.  I promised cookies as I always do.  These are what I made.  

Every time I make biscotti I'm reminded how much I like them.  And while I've liked every type I've made in the past, I'd say this is the best yet.  100%.  After I gave Bill his allotment I gave my sister a bag and brought the rest to work.  They went over so well I was asked if they could be purchased!  The biscotti are very well balanced.  Almond and chocolate are the main flavours, with a subtle note of anise and a bright pop of lemon.  Perfect I'm telling you, perfect.

Baking notes:

-The cookies are very easy to make and come together in no time at all.

-I forgot to reduce the oven temperature to 300 for the second baking and nothing went wrong.  

-I didn't understand the cocoa powder brushed on at the end.  I feel like all it did was make the chocolate look dull.  Maybe I'm wrong?  Next time I'll skip that step.

-If you taste the batter raw it'll taste heavily of anise, don't worry, it mellows out.

The recipe for Almond, Lemon and Anise Biscotti with Chocolate is not available online, for some reason unbenounced to me.

21/569

Milk Chocolate-Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

These. Cookies. Were. Awesome. and addictive.  Warning, make for a big crowd or you'll be eating them all.  I brought these cookies camping with my family and every time the container came out they were demolished in seconds.  Granted my family loves peanut butter (at least the non-crazy members) so these cookies were a guaranteed hit.

The cookies are a bit chewy, the filling is smooth, separately they're good, but together they're something else entirely.  Imagine: chewy, slightly melty, a teeny bit crunchy and totally sweet.  Done.  Taste-wise they're quite a bit like a peanut butter cup, a giant peanut butter heavy reese's.  I'll make these cookies again for sure and make a few more people very happy.

Baking notes:
-Be sure to use the chemical laden, multi ingredient, awesome tasting peanut butter.  With the 1/2 cup leftover slather your smores with them and thank me later.
-I made the cookies exactly as outlined in the recipe and the results were perfect
-I kept the cookies in the fridge, otherwise they had a tendency to slide off each other.  They were perfect chilled.

The recipe for Milk Chocolate-Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies is on the Bon Appetit website.

18/569


I'm sorry there are no normal pictures, my lens was broken at the time these cookies were made.

Orange and Rosemary Butter Blossoms

These cookies were made with high expectations, rosemary and citrus? Fave!  Even a little bonus pepper kissed on top.  Unfortunately I was disappointed, as were my tasters.  The most telling sign was the silence afterwards, where normally my cookies get great comments.  The rosemary was lacking, the orange barely noticeable and worst of all the cookies felt dry and tough in my mouth.  It may have been my fault, this was after all a press cookie, and I don't have a cookie press.  Instead I rolled the dough into a log and chilled it.  Afterwards I sliced and baked the cookies until they were ever so slightly golden and let them cool.  I loved the idea, but wasn't happy with the results.  If you are looking for this flavour combination find another recipe, you'll be happier for it.

Baking notes:
-I made the recipe exactly as called for, except for the cutting.  As I said I don't have a cookies press and won't be buying one, so rolling and slicing was the next best option.

The recipe for Orange and Rosemary Butter Blossoms is not available online.

17/569

Dark and White Chocolate Chunk Cookies with Ginger

The cookies were the first thing I packed into the camping basket.  Peanut butter, bread, bags of our favourite chips all made it, but after these cookies.  We ate them while hiking, while on the ferry and pretty much any other time they popped into view.  I know for sure they would make great food swap/potluck cookies, they'd be some of the first to go.

They were amazing!  The texture in them was pure bliss, fudgy and chewy, the super chocolate cookie of your dreams.  While the ginger was fine, none of the folks in my house (myself included) love candied ginger.  The first day was enjoyable, but a few days later the ginger was even more pronounced, too much for these cookie lovers.  I'll be making these cookies all the time now, they've earned a spot on this list, but minus the ginger.

Baking notes:
-Using a high-quality white chocolate, like lindt makes all the difference to those of us who claim not to like white chocolate.  The 3 1/2oz called for is exactly what a bar weighs.
-I used semi-sweet chocolate in the recipe rather than bittersweet, I personally found this to be perfect.

You can find the Dark and White Chocolate Chunk Cookies with Ginger recipe on the epicurious website.

14/569