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Gingerbread Cookies
Ring in the holiday season with a batch of my classic gingerbread cookies, with patterns that fit your holiday mood. Snowflakes, trees, and a scattering of stars filled my baking racks over the weekend while I made the season’s first batch of homemade Christmas cookies. Since my family always made gingerbread without icing, I decorate the centers of each cookie with cut-out patterns so each one is unique. Save plenty of the little shapes and bake them to serve alongside the larger cookies. With warm spices and rich flavor, these cookies lend festivity to the table with their cheerful designs. Once you get into a merry rhythm of rolling and…
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Chamomile Cookies
With hints of floral sweetness, chamomile tea is just as tasty in these delicate cookies as it is made by the cup. The light herbal flavor calls to mind a specialty shop treat, but this recipe comes together beautifully right at home. Simply open the tea bags to measure the dried chamomile and add it to the flour mix while you bake. These are the cookies that taste just like spring to me. Ingredients 2 cups all-purpose flour2 ½ tablespoons dried chamomile from high quality chamomile tea bags½ teaspoon baking powder¼ teaspoon salt12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter¾ cup granulated sugar1 egg¾ teaspoon vanilla extract Yields 3 ½ dozen…
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Chocolate Pecan Checkerboard Cookies
Slicing cookie dough to reveal a pattern is the most satisfying part of this recipe – until it comes to tasting what you’ve baked. In fact, these little sweets were given the title checkmate cookies by a friend who enjoyed tasting quite a few. With chopped pecans lacing the vanilla squares and rich chocolate flavoring the others, these crisp yet buttery treats serve my take on the classic vanilla and chocolate pairing in a package that’s fit for the holiday table. While many of the cookies I make for Christmas have layers and fillings that make them pretty enough to look like ornaments, these have a cheerful geometric pattern. Their…
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Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
With a scarlet cranberry filling and a golden top studded with coconut and chunks of chocolate, these layered cookies are as pretty as they are delicious. Bake them like cookie bars then use cookie cutters to create shapes of various sizes. On the plate this gives the same effect as ornaments on the Christmas tree. As everyone plucks their favorite from the tray, replace them one by one for a dessert plate that flickers before everyone’s eyes. Ingredients Cranberry Filling 1 ½ cups cranberries ¾ cup granulated sugar ¾ cup water 2 tablespoons Cointreau 2 tablespoons cornstarch Cookie Bar Base 1 cup all-purpose flour ½ cup unsweetened flake coconut ⅓…
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Rustic Chocolate Chip Cookies
The ultimate chocolate chip cookie is an ideal every baker aspires to achieve. The challenge is that we each have a different, and sometimes contradictory, concept of what makes the perfect one. Crispy but chewy. Crunchy but soft. Add to that the vastly different preferences of family and friends, and you can see why you might want to master a few recipes based on who’s going to be indulging in your cookie stash. When I created this recipe, I wanted a cookie that gave a satisfying crunch and deep color at the edges, but with a buttery, softer middle. The resulting version is just that – crunchy and crispy right…
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