the cookie thread

[Rhubarbodendron]

It's only 6 weeks till Christmas - time for the big question: What kinds of cookies shall I bake this year?

Everyone has their special recipes, some handed down from generation to generation. Shall we share? It might be fun to have an international cookie plate


For starters a traditional recipe from my family. No cookies but a sweet treat: Quince Sweetmeat


You need a few very ripe quinces (3 big ones are sufficient for a baking tray). They should have an intense scent.
granulated sugar (about 1 lbs for 3 big quinces)
1-2 organic lemons, cinnamon to taste, cherry brandy (optional)


Rub the fluffy hairs off the quinces with a towel. Then cut the quinces into chunks, with peel, seeds and all. Cook the bits in very little water until they are soft.
Rub the cooked quinces through a sieve. The result will look like apple butter.
Mix this quince mash with the same weight of sugar (1 lbs quince puree + 1 lbs sugar) cinnamon to taste and a dollop of cherry brandy and simmer the mixture at a moderate heat until it thickens (this takes 1-2 hours). Keep stirring it - it chars very easily!
The mixture is ready when the traces of the cooking ladle won't close but stay in place (like with very stiffly whipped egg whites)
Then stir in the finely grated lemon peel, pour the pulp onto a baking sheet, lined with greaseproof paper and leave it to cool.
When cold, it should be as tough as leather.

Leave to dry for at least 24 hours, better for even longer. If necessary, you can dry it in the oven.

Cut the leathery jelley into cubes (or use a tiny cookie cutter), roll the bits in sugar and store them in an airtight tin.


This quince sweetmeat will keep for years if the container is tight enough and the sweetmeat is dry.

[MLJames]

I've got a couple I've been making for pot lucks and gift baskets off and on for about twenty years:

Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies

1 cup sugar
½ cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon

In large bowl beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add milk, lemon peel, vanilla and egg; blend well. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg; mix well. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate 1 hour for easier handling. Preheat oven to 375°. In small bowl combine sugar and cinnamon. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll in sugar-cinnamon mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets. Yield: 2 to 3 dozen cookies.




Whole Wheat Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup quick oats, uncooked
1 12-oz package semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1 cup raisins*

Preheat oven to 375°. In small bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. In large mixer bowl, beat butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla until creamy. Beat in eggs. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in semi-sweet chocolate morsels, oats and raisins. Drop by slightly rounded measuring tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until edges are lightly browned. Let stand on cookie sheets 2 minutes. Remove from cookie sheets; cool. Yield: about 5 dozen cookies.

*Substitute 1 cup chopped walnuts or chopped pecans for 1 cup raisins.

[Kira's Mom]

My cookie trays from past Christmases:







Ginger snaps, chocolate crinkles, black-and-whites, almond-cherry balls, Italian "rainbow" cookies, holiday fruit drops, and iced, decorated sugar cookies. I usually do the same selection each year!

Recipe for Tricolor cookies.

[Gary Mitchell]

These are my favorite cookies. Sorry, no recipe. Just pick them up at the store.

[Rhubarbodendron]

ooooh, these cookie plates look tempting!
would the Italian rainbow cookies by any chance be cucchidata? Basically a shortbread dough with a filling of glace cherries and figs, rolled up and sliced so that you get small spirals?
They are on my to bake list for this year as are black & whites.

I always do the quince meat, gingerbread and cinnamon stars because my siblings and parents like those best. I try to try out a few new recipes every year, though. Last year I found a recipe for nougat-orange cookies which my mom is very fond of.
This year I'll also make peanut butter kisses (because I love them. If my family doesn't: all the better! That means more for me, heehee), Springerle (a German specialty, rather hard-ish cookies with anise seed), Olga-rings (simple jam filled shortbread cookies), possibly Lekkebergskakor (spicy Norwegian cookies) and Pheonikia (Greek cookies with a walnut & orange filling).

And perhaps a few interesting ones from this thread


@Garry Mitchell: these look good. A pity they aren't available in my country. We don't have any really good cookies to buy here (my hamster would propably disagree - he is crazy about Leibnitz's whole wheat butter bisquits - whoa! that price is highway robbery. They cost only about $2 here)

[Gary Mitchell]

Rhubarbodendron wrote:

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@Garry Mitchell: these look good. A pity they aren't available in my country. We don't have any really good cookies to buy here (my hamster would propably disagree - he is crazy about Leibnitz's whole wheat butter bisquits - whoa! that price is highway robbery. They cost only about $2 here)

I'd try those but I promised myself that I wouldn't spend any more than $45.00 for cookies.

[RJDiogenes]

Rhubarbodendron wrote:

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This quince sweetmeat will keep for years if the container is tight enough and the sweetmeat is dry.

This comes in handy if you need something to throw at a window.

[ElimParra]

Like Gary_Mitchell - I buy my cookie, but at Christmas time - I generally make a cheesecake or two.

Might buy a packet of cookies today, when I go shopping.

[Kira's Mom]

Rhubarbodendron wrote:

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ooooh, these cookie plates look tempting!
would the Italian rainbow cookies by any chance be cucchidata? Basically a shortbread dough with a filling of glace cherries and figs, rolled up and sliced so that you get small spirals?
They are on my to bake list for this year as are black & whites.

They're more like petit fours. It's a spongy cake made with almond paste, layered with apricot jam and topped with chocolate.

[auntiehill]

My husband bakes the best cookies. We had a friend feed ourcat for a weekend this past October, and she agreed to do it only if we paid her in snickerdoodles.

This Christmas, it will be snickerdoodles and maybe I'll make cupcakes.

[Captain Ice]

'Nuff said.

[Rhubarbodendron]

Kira's Mom wrote:

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They're more like petit fours. It's a spongy cake made with almond paste, layered with apricot jam and topped with chocolate.

We have something similar, called Dominoes. They are a sponge-like gingerbread topped with a fruit jelley and almond paste, cut into cubes and then covered in chocolate. I love them but have never tried to make them myself.

RJDiogenes wrote:

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This comes in handy if you need something to throw at a window.

LOL naah, it'd be a pity to waste them.
(I think that calls for an explanation: the other day I accidentially locked myself out of my apartment and went to my office for my spare key. Unfortunately, that building was locked, too, but there were still a few lights in some offices. For lack of little pebbles to throw at the windows, I used little wild quinces that grow near the office.)

[MLJames]

ElimParra wrote:

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Like Gary_Mitchell - I buy my cookie, but at Christmas time - I generally make a cheesecake or two.

Might buy a packet of cookies today, when I go shopping.

Any particular type of cheesecake? I've got a lot of recipes for them, but I'm always on the lookout for new ones.

[Kira's Mom]

Rhubarbodendron wrote:

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We have something similar, called Dominoes. They are a sponge-like gingerbread topped with a fruit jelley and almond paste, cut into cubes and then covered in chocolate. I love them but have never tried to make them myself.

I love Dominoes! I can only get them at Christmas at World Market or the commissary at Quantico.

Tricolor cookies are more of an Italian-American thing- they started in Italian bakeries in New York City.

[Lumi]

I'm making a sugar cookie Christmas tree with this kit from Avon, and some "Rice Christmas Tree(t)s". Normally I make shortbread as well, but I'm just not okay with the amount of butter in anymore.