The Missing cookies

I made a batch of Chewy Almond Bars yesterday and I gave some to church, a few to my friend Rick and a few I put in a cookie tin. I had forgotten to take a picture of them for this blog and so this morning I trotted into the kitchen took the lid off of the tin and found NO Chewy Almond bars. My only conclusion is that there is a cookie thief in my house. This thief complains that I shouldn't have cookies lying around because he can't eat them. So, no picture of the Chewy Almond Bars.

The Cookie Press

I baked Cinnamon hearts and Pecan Butter Balls yesterday. The Cinnamon hearts were shaped by a cookie press, a new toy. It was a little tricky getting the dough out of the press but they turned out alright. It don't think the recipe is that great however.
On the other hand the Pecan Butter Balls are great. There is a lot of pecans and butter but no eggs. The cookies don't spread out when they bake so they remain the balls you've shaped. Then you roll them in confectioner's sugar. What's not to like.

One of the great pleasures I experience with my project is that I can wake up realize that I have cookies to deliver and trot downstairs to the kitchen heat up a cup of tea and start baking. I have to admit that I have become a morning person over the years. I am clear headed and calmer in the morning. And baking is zen-like experience. You have to concentrate and think only about the task at hand. So with that said my labors of the morning yielded Koulourakia, Greek Sesame Ring cookies. This cookie has quite a bit of butter so it practically melts in your mouth.

The wonderful Gingersnap and others

I went off to Cleveland for a family event this past weekend and I brought two refrigerator cookies with me to bake at the in-laws house. I brought Tennessee Icebox Cookies and Pistachio Thins (the middle two cookies on the plate). I love the Tennessee Icebox cookie. It is made with brown sugar and slivered almonds, great texture and taste. The Pistachio thins are very crumbly, a good taste but extremely delicate. 

Yesterday I had my book group over and I made the Good Cook's Gingersnaps (the left cookie). What a great cookie! I love ginger and these are great. I had to watch the baking time. Nick's time was too much for this cookie and the first sheet was overdone, so I adjusted for the other cookie sheets. And I also made the All-Corn Biscotti. This biscotti is gluten free which means two things to me: no flour and hard work with. It does include an egg and some honey to hold it together but it doesn't do that very well. The taste is great but it crumbled a lot when I cut it for the second baking. 

So with the All-corn biscotti I have completed 66 of the 210 recipes in Cookies Unlimited. 

Chocolate Rings and Viennese Linzer Squares

Frankly rolled cookies like the Chocolate Rings are at best a labor of love and at worst a pain. The dough is very buttery and so it rests in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. When you take it out it is as hard as a rock so you have to beat it with the rolling pin. Nice image. Then you flour the surface and the rolling pin and the dough still sticks as you roll it out ... well you get the picture. It is a mess. Finally I resorted to rolling the dough out between two sheets of plastic wrap. Also this recipe for whatever reason specified a ring shape. I could have cut the dough into any shape I chose but I honored the recipe and voila, chocolate cookies in the form of rings. In this recipe the chocolate comes in the form of cocoa powder versus melted chocolate. I am not a fan of chocolate so the cookie tastes okay to me but not great. 

The distinguishing characteristic of Linzer-type dough is the addition of hazelnuts. This version is a bar cookie. In this case the dough was formed in the food processor. The Viennese Linzer Squares were interesting to put together, half of the dough is laid down in the bottom of the pan then you put the raspberry preserves and then you pipe a criss-cross design on the top and pop it into the oven. As you may recall this was my second try with this recipe. In my first attempt I forgot the sugar and it turned out terribly - sort of edible but the dough didn't spread as it baked. So sugar is important. This version emerged from the oven light and fluffy and tastes great. 

Mostaccioli Baresi and Dark Chocolate Macadamia Biscotti

Mostaccioli Baresi means Spice Cookies from Bari. They have an unusual ingredient, a third of a cup of sweet wine. Sweet wine is red wine and sugar that is boiled and simmered for hours reducing the liquid to a syrup. Another ingredient might not be evident when you taste them is the cocoa powder. It gives them a rich taste. To create the shapes you roll pieces of dough and then cut them diagonally. After they bake you dunk them into icing and then pop them into your mouth. Some of these delicious morsels didn't quite make it. I dropped a few of them in the oven. 

To further my mistakes of the week, the biscotti should have had hazelnuts not macadamia nuts. I mistook the package and put in the wrong nuts. My tasters didn't mind, but I'll have to bake the real recipe soon. I have finally gotten over the mess of the initial biscotti dough. I formed the logs in the pan versus putting them on a board and then onto the cookie sheet. This means less frustration on my part. This biscotti really grew in the baking process and they had a great texture. 

Cookies at the in-laws

When we went to Shuba Mulgaokar's funeral I had made a few cookies and so I took them along. My offerings to my in-laws were Chunky Peanut Butter Cookies, Date and Walnut Bars (not shown), Cheesecake Squares and Orange Spice Refrigerator Wafers.
The mourners loved the peanut butter cookies. They remarked that the cookies were not overly sweet and they were crunchy - thank you butter!
I must say that my experience with the recipes in this book is that they are geared to a more adult palate than perhaps the average cookie from the supermarket. Each cookie does have sugar or a sweetener in them but it is not overpowering and that makes each cookie a nice treat.