‘Tis the season for Christmas cookie baking —and swapping.
If you have a get-together planned, or are looking for new cookie inspiration, here are eightrecipes thatare easy to make in large batches and are sure to go over well if they’re destined forgifting.
If you’re planning a cookie swap, plan ahead and have a few extra containerson hand (they are inexpensive at the dollar store).
Remember not to packagesoft and crisp cookies together, or they’ll take on each others’ characteristics—thesoft cookies drying out and crunchy ones getting soggy.
Most cookies freeze well inairtight containersif you wind up with more cookies than you’ll eat (or share) in afew days.
Chocolava Cookies
These are rich, intensely chocolate, brownie-like cookies, rolled in icing sugar beforethey’re baked to create a crackled surface as they rise and spread in the oven.
Don’toverbake them — they should be set around the edges but still soft in the middle. Ifyou want to make Nenshi's red velvet cookies, add a couple teaspoons of red foodcolouring along with the eggs.
- 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
- ½cup cocoa
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼tsp salt
- ¼cup butter, at room temperature
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 tsp vanilla
- icing sugar, for rolling
Preheat oven to 350˚F.In a large bowl or in the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, brownsugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt, breaking up any lumps of brown sugar. Addthe butter and pulse or stir with a fork, pastry cutter or whisk until the mixture iswell combined and crumbly.
Add eggs and vanilla and stir by hand just until the dough comes together. Thedough will be fairly dry — it will seem at first that there isn’t enough moisture, butif you keep stirring, or get in there and use your fingers, eventually it will cometogether.
Place a few heaping spoonfuls of icing sugar into a shallow dish. Roll dough into 1 ½-inchballs and roll the balls in icing sugar to coat.Place them about twoinches apart on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed withnon-stick spray. Bake for 12–14 minutesuntil just set around the edges but still softin the middle.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Makes more thana dozen cookies.
Apricot, Almond andChocolate Chip Biscotti
Sturdy biscotti is perfect for giving; it travels well, keeps well, and is easy to makein large batches. Logs of dough are baked, then sliced and baked again, giving themtheir characteristic crunchy texture. This basic biscotti can be used as a blankcanvas; add any kind of dried fruit, nut and chocolate you like.
- ½cup butter, melted
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 3 Tbsp. orange juice
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½tsp. baking powder
- ¼tsp. salt
- ½cup sliced or slivered almonds, toasted
- ½cup sliced or chopped dried apricots or dried cranberries
- ½cup chocolate chips or white chocolate chunks
Preheat the oven to 350°F.In a large bowl, stir together the butter, sugar, eggs, orange juice and vanilla untilsmooth; add the flour, baking powder and salt and stir until almost combined. Addthe almonds, apricots and chocolate chips and stir just until blended.
Divide the dough in half and with dampened hands, shape each into a log two- to three-incheswideand one-inchthick on a parchment-lined baking sheet. (You may be able to fit both on thesame sheet.)
Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden. Let cool, then transfer to a cutting board and cut on a slight diagonal into ¾-inchslices with a sharp or serrated knife.
Turn the oven down to 300°F.Place the biscotti upright on a baking sheet, leaving at least a half inch betweenthem, and bake for another 30 minutesuntil crisp and golden.
Makes about three dozen biscotti.
Alfajores
An alfajor or alajú is a traditional confection found in some regions of Spain andin parts of Latin America, including Paraguay, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay.
InNorth America, they most often refer to shortbread or sugar cookies sandwichedwith dulce de leche, a soft milk caramel that makes a delicious, simple fillingand aperfect pairing with buttery shortbread.
- 1 ½cups butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 3 ½cups all-purpose flour
- ¼tsp. salt
- dulce de leche or homemade caramel, for filling
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter andsugar for three to fourminutes, until pale and light. Beat in the vanilla.
Add the flour and salt and beat just until the dough comes together; gather it intoa ball, divide it in half, shape each piece into a disk and wrap in plastic or waxedpaper. Refrigerate for half an hour or so.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F. On a lightly-floured surface, roll eachpiece of dough out ¼-inch thick and cut into 1.5-inch rounds with a cookiecutter. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and prick each once or twice with afork.
Bake for 15 minutes, or until pale golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Once completely cooled, spread half the cookies with dulce de leche or caramel andtop with a second cookie.
Makes about twodozen sandwich cookies.
Barley Chocolate Chip Cookies
Support our Alberta barley farmers while you do your holiday baking.
Barley ishigher in fibre than oatsand soft barley flour produces a chewy cookie that stayssoft longer than those made with wheat flour, without the tweedy texture of wholewheat or oat flour.
- ¾cup butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- ¼cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups barley flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- ½tsp. salt
- 8 oz. dark or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped into chunks
Preheat oven to 350˚F.In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugars until pale and almost fluffy. Beat in theegg and vanilla.
Add the barley flour, baking soda and salt and stir or beat on low until almostcombined; add the chocolate chunks and stir just until blended.
Drop dough by large spoonfuls onto a parchment-lined sheet and bake for 10-14minutes (depending on their size) until golden around the edges but still soft in themiddle. Let them set for a minute, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool.
Makes about twodozen cookies.
Chocolate Angelica Cookies
The famous Tofino taco truck Tacofino is known for its spicy chocolate Diablocookie. I omitted the chile peppers but kept the ginger. If you’re a real ginger fan, tryadding chunks of candied ginger to the doughtoo.
To make the traditional chocolateDiablo cookies, add one teaspoon of cayenne pepper to the dry ingredients.
- 1 ½cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup cocoa
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
- ¼tsp. salt
- 1 cup chocolate chips or chunks (optional)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- ½cup canola oil
- 2 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
- 1 Tbsp. vanilla
- coarse salt or sugar, for sprinkling
Preheat the oven to 375˚F. In a large bowl, stir or whisk together the flour, cocoa,baking soda, cinnamon (if using) and salt. If you like, toss in the chocolate chips.
In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugars, oil, ginger and vanilla. Add to thedry ingredients and stir (you may need to get in there with your hands) until youhave a stiff, dark dough.
Scoop out the dough by the ¼cupful and place a couple inches apart on a greasedor parchment-lined sheet. Sprinkle with coarse salt or sugar, if you like. Bake for 15minutes, or until cracked and set but still soft in the middle. Transfer to a wire rackto cool.
Makes adozen big cookies.
BeurreandSel Jammers
These substantial jam-filled cookies are perfectly round and uniform in size,having been baked in muffin tins.
They can be Christmasfied by using marmalade,cranberry sauce or fruit mincemeat. Adapted from Dorie Greenspan via Bon Appétit,December 2012.
- 1 cup butter, at room temperature
- ½cup sugar
- ¼cup icing sugar
- ½tsp. salt
- 2 large egg yolks
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- Streusel and filling:
- ¾cup all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup sugar
- ¼tsp. salt
- 5 Tbsp. chilled butter, cut into bits
- ¾cup thick, chunky jam, marmalade or mincemeat
Make the cookie dough first.In a large bowl beat the butter, sugars and salt fora few minutes, until pale and creamy. Beat in the egg yolks and vanilla.
Add theflour and beat on low speed or stir just to combine. Take walnut-sized chunks ofdough and press into the bottom of muffin tins; alternatively, roll between sheets ofparchment ¼-inchthick, freeze and then cut into rounds the same size as your muffintin (I used a small glass rim).
To make the streusel,mix the flour, sugar, and saltin a small bowl, then rub in thebutter with a fork or your fingertips until well blended. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Drop a small spoonful of jam into the middle of each round of dough. Using yourfingers or a small spoon, sprinkle roughly 1.5 Tbsp ofstreusel around edges of eachcookie, trying not to get any in the jam.
Bake for 20 minutes, or until the sides and streusel are golden; cool until warmenough to handle, then use a thin knife to remove the cookies from the pan.
Makes about twodozen cookies.
Peppermint Brownies
A batch of brownies is often overlooked at a cookie swap.If you line your pan withparchment first, it’s easy to lift the batch out of the pan and cut into squares. Orleave it whole and wrap —an easy way to package a dozen or so at a time!
- ½ cup butter
- 2 squares unsweetened chocolate
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp. peppermint extract
- ¼cup all-purpose flour
- ¼tsp. salt
- ½ cup dark chocolate chunks (optional)
Preheat the oven to 325°F. In a small saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate. Pourinto a bowl and stir in the sugar, eggs and peppermint extract.
Add the flour and salt (and chocolate, if you’re using it) and spread into an 8x8-inchpan that has been lined with parchment. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the edgesstart to pull away from the sides of the pan.
Makes 16 brownies.
S’Mores Cookies
Classic chocolate chip is upgraded with mini marshmallows and a shake ofgraham cracker crumbs. The dough is quick to pulse together in a food processor,streamlining the process when you have plenty to make.
- ½cup butter, at room temperature
- ½cup packed brown sugar
- ¼cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 ½cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup graham cracker crumbs
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- ½tsp. salt
- 1 – 1 ½cups chocolate chips
- 1-2 cups mini marshmallows
Preheat the oven to 350˚F.In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, pulse the butterand brown sugar until well blended. Add the egg and vanilla and process for a goodminute, until the mixture is pale and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl ifyou need to.
Add the flour, graham crumbs, baking soda and salt and pulse until almostcombined; add the chocolate chips and pulse just until the dough comes together.
Drop by the spoonful onto a parchment-lined sheet and press a couple minimarshmallows into each. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until pale golden and just set.
Makes more than adozen cookies.
