First up: espresso shortbread cookies. I had not attempted shortbread cookies before, and found that they were pretty fun to make! I used this recipe, which yields delicate shortbread with a strong coffee flavor. I went with the recommendation to use a toffee chocolate bar, and think the flavor combination worked quite well.
I also really liked the suggestion to roll out the dough inside a ziplock bag – this helps keep things nice and rectangular. Being the engineer that I am, I followed the “measure with a ruler” directions closely.. and was excited by the nice even results.
to make sure I cut these evenly, I marked notches in the dough on all four sides...
then I used a thin cutting board as a straight edge, lined up on the notches.
Mmmm.. matrix of cookie dough!
I boxed these guys up to give as homemade Christmas gifts - let's hope the recipients like them too!
Next was gingerbread men. These are a favorite of ours - in past years we used a recipe that somewhat “cheated”, in that it did not use molasses. But this year I wanted to try the traditional version. Since our preference is for softer cookies, I went with this recipe that I found that mentioned it produces soft gingerbread instead of crispy. So I rounded up some blackstrap molasses and dark brown sugar from Whole Foods, and gave it a whirl. I really like the resulting dark dough, and the finished product is indeed nice and soft, with a rich spicy flavor thanks to the molasses.
Third on the list were chocolate peppermint bark cookies, inspired by my fondness for peppermint hot chocolate. I didn’t actually find peppermint bark in the store, and didn’t have time to make my own, so instead I used Hershey’s candy cane kisses ~ white chocolate with peppermint bits. I through in a few chocolate chips as well. Result: tasty peppermint chocolatey goodness!
Finally – the best for last: orange cranberry bars. I liked the look of this recipe, which looked a tad healthier with its inclusion of almond meal and cranberries. I chose to zest it up a bit with some grated orange peel. The result: light, citrusy bars with tart cranberries, an addictive flavor combination. And the fact that it’s the healthiest of the recipes I tried makes me wonder if my taste preferences have changed after attempting to eat lighter over the years. Regardless, this one was my definite favorite.
That concludes this year's baking adventure. Now that the cookies are made, gifts bought and wrapped, and traveling complete after the 8 hr drive yesterday, I am ready for Christmas celebrations ~ dinner with my dad's family tonight followed by Midnight Mass, and then dinner with my mom's family tomorrow... then Sunday it's on to the in-laws! Hope everyone enjoys a merry, restful holiday!
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