Christmas Cookies

[marmalady]

So, how many different kinds did you make this year? I only made 10 - compared to 13 last year!

French Butter Cookies
Marble Swirl Butter Cookies
Butter Pecan cookies
Chocolate/cinnamon Mexican Wedding Cakes
Lime-Nut buttons
Hazelnut bars
Molasses Crinkles
Peanut butter cups
Chocolate Raspberry bars
White chocolate apricot bars

Do you try new cookies every year? My 'newbies' this year were the Lime and the chocolate Mexican Wedding cakes; Yum!

[momoreg]

Used to be, I'd make 10,000 (about 25 kinds), which I'd start in early October. Thankfully, I didn't make ANY this year!

Yours do sound yummy, though.

[katbalou]

let's see, this year i did mostly italian based cookies -
tarallos - fennel loops, boiled and then baked, similar to pretzel making
pizzettes - chocolate, almond, spice
pizzelles
almond slices
sesame seed cookies
frosted anise
white choc, almond, apricot biscotti
dark choc, almond, cherry biscotti
baklava - not really a cookie, i know.
and my kids were upset because that's all i made!!!
of course they do know where the kitchen is......
kat

[Anna W.]

Lets see-

Coconut Macaroons
Mexican Cinnamon Cookies
Raspberry filled shortbread
Marzipan Brownies
Truffled Brandy Balls
Sicilian cookies
Hazelnut
B-52's

And Cannolli- shells made from scratch from a family recipe that make the commercial ones taste like cardboard.

I tried to take the month of December off so it was just for friends and family- usually I make about 5 or 6 more kinds.

[marmalady]

Wowl, guys! Wouldn't it be neat if we could get one of those 'cookie exchanges' going on Cheftalk?!

Anna - What are B-52 cookies? I have a B-52 cake that's basically three different layers of liquor-flavored truffle mixture. Same idea?

[Anna W.]

Marmalady-

The B-52's are a layered chocolate chip cookie from Jeanne Benedicts Sophisticated Cookies. They are slice and bake- extremely easy to make in large quanities and have a big WOW! factor.

I have a cake, too, only with flavored buttercream but I think I like the ganache idea better- I'll have to try it.

[Athenaeus]

OMG

This is year I only made kourabiedes and I made an issue of doing so...

[shroomgirl]

pecan balls....always yummy
gingerbread boys....new recipe out of Gourmet, incredible dough pilant and tasty, easy to work with and doesn't need to chill.
brown sugar...really tender
cinnamon twists...no brainer
thumbprints....not again the jam went everywhere and they were just OK
sugar cookies...I made tiny trees with icing
orange pinwheels...again not a great dough....

So all in all most great, but some will be no repeats.

[Mezzaluna]

Kourabiedes!!!! I wish I could taste yours, Athenaeus.

They are part of a wonderful childhood memory. Our Greek neighbors would bring us a plate of sweets every year: kourabiedes, theples, melamacarona, katiafi and or course, baklava. We fought over the kourabiedes, and tried to make each other breathe in while eating the sugar-dusted treats or at least get the sugar to spill on each others' clothes. My mom's friend also made dozens of kourabiethes for my brothers' bar mitzvahs and my bat mitzvah. When their church had their annual pastry sale, we always bought our share.

We were at my brother's on the 25th. My sister-in-law converted to Judaism, so they don't have Christmas. But her family visits, and my SIL loves to keep alive those traditional family recipes: date balls in coconut, homemade peanut brittle, filled cookies of several kinds, various butter cookies.... the plate is so pretty! And she makes them so small you can taste a bit of each kind without going too far overboard.

[Isa]

I didn't make as much cookies as I usually do this year. There were so many other cookies I was dying to try and never got to it. I always think I'll make 100 different kinds of cookies for Christmas even though I know it's unrealistic...


Almond Spritz Cookies
Chocolate Chestnut Cookies
Chocolate Coins
Chocolate Crackles
Chocolate Peppermint Pigs
Chocolate Pistachio Checkerboard
Cinnamon Crackers
Cinnamon Sugar Crinkles
Cocoa Nibs & Tahitian Vanilla Shortbread
Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti
Florentines
Linzer Cookies
Mexican Wedding Cakes
Moravian Spice Crisps
Pistachio Coins
Toffee Crunch Shortbread
Vanilla Shortbread
White Chocolate Chunk Fudge Cookies


P.S. All those cookies are made to be given to friends and family. For dessert on Christmas I just go crazy and make too many miniature pastries....

[kthull]

This year the only cookie I made from past years were snickerdoodles. The rest were all new:

Cherry swirls
Snickerdoodles
Pecan shortbread
Sour cream sugar cookies
Pignoli
Triple chocolate biscotti
Linzer cookies
Snickers cookies
Hershey kiss cookies
Stained glass cookies

Bought the ingredients, but ran out of steam:
Lemon cookies
Pirouettes filled with almond pastry cream and capped with chocolate
Chocolate almond sandwich cookies
Toffee squares
Caramel nut acorns
Rum balls (Isa's recipe...sounded soooo good)

Made, but didn't make it to the tins:
Cherry chocolate biscotti

Definitely planning on more next year. Freezing the dough was a new experiment for me and quite the lifesaver.

[KyleW]

I just finished my Super Bowl Binge. I only made 8 kinds, but I made about 25 dozen total.

Shortbreads
Cantucinni
Spice "Balls"
Sugar
Thin & Crispy Chocolate Chip
Honey Oatmeal Raisin
Peanut Butter
Pecan Crescents

[Isa]

Would you mind sharing your spice balls recipe Kyle?

[panini]

[KyleW]

It's Sara Moulton's mom's

Ruth Moulton's Spice Balls