Ginger Snaps with Lemon Butter Cream

This is my Mom's ginger snap recipe but I have sandwiched two of them between a light and flavourful lemon butter cream. Lemon and ginger are AMAZING together. I especially like this combination in a Christmas cookie because it is a great contrast to the season's heavy meals and flavours. Tip: These are also great straight out of the freezer! Almost like an ice cream sandwich :) 

Ginger Snaps

Ingredients
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup white sugar
1 egg, large
1/2 cup molasses
2.5 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt


What to do
1. Cream butter and 1 cup sugar well.
2. Beat in egg.
3. Mix in molasses.
4. In another bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and salt.
5. Add to the creamed mixture and mix well.
6. Shape into 1 inch balls. Note: you want make each cookie the same size so you can sandwich them easily)
7. Let sit 20 minutes (you want them to be soft enough so that they will spread)
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Lemon Butter Cream

Ingredients

2 c icing sugar

1 c unsalted butter

1 tsp pure lemon extract

juice of 1/2 medium lemon

What to do

Cream butter and sugar for 5 minutes.

Add extract and juice. Beat 1 minute.

Putting Cookies Together

Place 1 tbsp icing onto flat side of a ginger snap. Place another cookie on top of icing (flat side in). Squish slightly. If desired, add Christmas candy decorations with a little bit of icing to act as "glue."

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cup Bites with Buttercream

Sweet little bites!

I love cake but sometimes the the chewy yet crispy nature of a great chocolate chip cookie can't be beat. And to be honest regardless of the cake, more times than not, I am more interested in the icing! And that's how this came cookie cup with buttercream icing came to life. Of course, you could make any chocolate chip cookie and just slather icing on it but this time I wanted a cute little presentation that would look fancy enough for showers, lunches, teas etc. What do you think?

Except for some added vanilla this cookie recipe is off the back of the bag. I also zap the chips in my food processor first. This, I think, infuses the chocolate taste into the dough better and because this recipe uses extra mini muffins tins, the chips as is would be too big.

The buttercream goes back to my childhood - simple and delicious. I added some pink colouring gel to it but the possibilities are endless.

I found the cookies needed a little coaxing to come out of the pan so maybe a little spray of oil would have helped. The pan I used was a little smaller than a classic mini muffin tin and had fluted edges (maybe 1-1/2 inches wide) but I'm sure the regular mini pans will work but might take an extra minute to bake.

Finally, if you don't need to make 5 dozen cookies. Feel free to make a dozen or two and freeze the rest. You can also freeze the icing!

Ingredients
2/3 cup melted butter
2 cups lightly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons hot water
2 tsp vanilla
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 package (270 g) CHIPITS® Milk Chocolate Chips

What to do

• Heat oven to 375°F (190°C).
• In large bowl, beat melted butter, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla and hot water until smooth- about 3 minutes.
• In medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir into butter mixture until blended.
• Pulse chocolate chips in a food processor until sand-like.
• Stir in the chips. Take about a teaspoon of dough and press into the muffin tin that you have on hand. If you put too thick of a layer of dough in it will rise up and not leave you with much of a "cup".
• Bake 10 minutes until golden (this may change depending on size of tin you use).
• Let cool at least ten minutes. Try to remove from tin. If it crumbles cool longer until you can remove the cookie cups.
• Makes about 5 dozen cookies.

Buttercream Icing

Ingredients
4 cups powdered sugar
1 cup butter, unsalted and at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 c milk

What to do

• Sift sugar into large bowl.
• Cut butter into smaller pieces.
• Turn mixer on low and slowly add the butter one piece at a time.
• Add vanilla.
• Slowly add milk.
• Turn to medium speed and beat for 4 minutes.
• If desired, add food coloring and beat until consistent color is reached.

Preparing Cookie Cups

• Using either an icing bag or a plastic sandwich bag with a small part of one tip cut away, fill the bag with a cup or so of icing.
• Neatly fill your cookie cups with a swirl of icing.
• Enjoy!

Honey Cookies

This recipe is adapted from an old Purity cookbook that was given to me by my Mom many years ago.  I still use many of the recipes including this one for simple honey cookies. The original recipe added a tablespoon of orange rind to the dough - too much work for me :) but you may want to add it to yours. These cookies also hold up well should you want to sandwich them with your favorite buttercream!

Honey Cookies

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Ingredients
2 c flour
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
¾ c butter, unsalted, at room temperature
1/3 c sugar
½ c honey
1 egg

Chocolate decorations (if desired)
1/2 c melted white chocolate chips
1/2 c melted milk chocolate chips

What to do

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line cookie sheet with parchment or silpat.
3. Sift together flour baking powder, baking soda and salt.
4. In another bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and honey until light and fluffy – about 4 minutes.
5. Mix in the egg and beat for an additional 30 seconds or so.
6. Gently mix in dry ingredients.
7. Refrigerate dough for 2 hours.
8. Once chilled, lightly flour your work surface and roll out dough until it is ¼ inch thick.
9. Cut into desired shapes with your favorite cookie cutter(s).
10. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. If your cookies are less than 2 ½ inches in diameter start checking for doneness at 8 minutes.
11. Cool completely. If desired drizzle with chocolate.

Decorated Easter Sugar Cookies

Black sheep of the family?

Decorated with pre-made cookie icing and a few sprinkles.
Twirly lines easily made with a tooth pick run through the icing.

These Easter cookies are made from a super easy recipe a friend gave me from Cook's Illustrated. The dough stands up well to rolling and tastes delicious. Try it and I'm guessing it will become your favorite go to cookie recipe!

Carrot outlined in black icing and dried before filling in the colours.

Adapted from Cook's Illustrated

Ingredients
2-1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup berry (or super fine) sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup butter, unsalted,room temperature and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp cream cheese, room temperature

What to do

• Using a mixer, combine flour, sugar, salt - on low speed to avoid flour going everywhere!
• Keep mixing on low and add the butter one piece at a time and mix until it is crumbly.
• Add vanilla and cream cheese and continue to mix until dough forms large clumps. This won't take long - maybe a minute or so.
• Using your hands knead the dough a few times so in forms one big ball.
• Divide in half and wrap each piece in plastic wrap.
• Refrigerate for 1/2 hour or longer.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Rollout dough so it is about 1/8 inch thick.
• Cut into shapes, place on cookie sheet and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
• Bake for 10 minutes until golden brown.
• Cool on sheet for 5 minutes and transfer to cooling racks.
• Repeat with remaining dough.
• Makes about 36 cookies.



Happy Easter!



Extreme Caffeine-Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

These are, without a word of a lie, my favorite cookies ever! Buttery, chocolatey, and a double hit of coffee flavour makes this shortbread recipe a must have in any baker's repertoire. Every time I share these cookies, someone asks for the recipe. I wish I could take credit for the idea but Dorie Greenspan is the original baker and Smitten Kitchen thankfully featured it for my eyes and taste buds to discover.

I've made them with just chocolate chips, a combo of chocolate chips and skor bits and now this version with cappuccino chips and mini chocolate chips. All of them will make your taste buds stand up and cheer!

I also like the use of a Ziploc bake to roll out the dough - it makes kitchen life super easy.

Let me know what you think of these little pieces of caffeine heaven!

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen who adapted it from Baking: From My Home to Yours



Makes about 35 cookies

Ingredients


1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
1 tablespoon boiling water
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup confectioners’ or powdered sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 c cappuccino flavoured chips, chopped or whirred in a food processor a few times (I use Guittard brand chips)
1/2 c mini chocolate chips


What to do

• Dissolve the espresso powder in very hot water, let cool to room temperature.
• Cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed for about 4 minutes. You want the mixture to be light in colour and completely smooth.
• Add the vanilla and espresso, then reduce the mixer speed to low.
• On your lowest setting, add the flour. To prevent your cookies from being to brittle and dry mix in the flour just until it is combined. Don't over do it!
• Gently stir in the chips.
• Spoon the dough into a large Ziploc bag .
• Gently roll the dough so it becomes the size of the bag and is about 1/4 inch or 1/2 cm thick.
• Close the bag and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Line a large cookie sheet with a silpat or parchment paper.
• Cut or slice the bag open so that the top side of the bag is removed.
• Using a knife or a pizza cutter cut the dough into 1-1/2 - 2 inch squares.
• 13. Move the cookies onto the sheet. They don't spread much so you don't need too much space between them.
• Bake for 15- 20 minutes (depends on your oven - Mine take 18 minutes.)
• Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.
• I recommend baking them 24 hours ahead of time - their flavour improves.

Cookbook Review - Whitewater Cooks with Friends by Shelley Adams

I love cookbooks! I've lost count on just how many I own. My favorite ones are dogged-eared, written in (I like to add in my own little changes, when I made the recipe, for who etc), and stained with various ingredients (a cookbook protector is on my wish list). But what does it take to earn favorite status? Well, obviously the recipe has to peak my interest, be easy to follow, not too time consuming (with 2 young kids interruptions are guaranteed), and I prefer cookbooks with mouthwatering photos to MAKE me want to recreate the dish. The other thing that I love are cookbooks with little stories or why the recipes are important to the author.

Shelley Adams is a Canadian cookbook author and former owner of a successful cafe in Nelson, B.C. known as the Fresh Tracks Café at the Whitewater Ski Resort. She has written three "Whitewater Cooks" cook books. The third book in this wildly successful series is titled Whitewater Cooks With Friends and features recipes to share with friends and family. It's first run sold out and a new production run has just been released.

To be honest, I somehow missed the first two books, but am beyond happy that the latest book was brought to my attention! The first thing that caught my attention was the opening sentence - "Food is all about sharing." I am in complete agreement! There are few things more fun than sharing good food with good friends! But in order to do this, I need easy recipes like these that allow me to cook, talk and hold a glass of wine at the same time.

The second thing that drew me to this book is the photography. David Gluns took the photos for Shelley's book and knows how to work a camera. Every image brings the food to delicious, mouth-watering life.

The cookbook itself is a compilation of recipes from Shelley and her friends which I find really appealing - recipes that have been shared amongst friends and family are usually the best ones since they have been tried and tested again and again. I think the book offers a small town feel with a big world appeal. The recipes look and taste quite sophisticated but are explained in simple terms and offer easy to follow instructions.

I also like the little tips and notes provided with each recipe - where to find ingredients, food prep tips etc they add to the fun and relaxing feel of the book.

I have a list of recipes I will be trying including:

• pacific sashimi towers
• paella chowder
• tuscan bread salad
• asian spiced braised short ribs

My sweet tooth dictated that the first recipes to try were two desserts: "fabulous molasses and 3 ginger cookies" and" lisa p's orange sour cream bundt cake".

The cookies were the best tasting ginger cookies I've ever had (this was seconded by my husband!). The dried, fresh, and candied ginger provided a sensory explosion of taste and smell. The recipe was easy to follow and almost healthy thanks to the addition of oats (yes, oats). The only negative thing I could say about it is mine came out much flatter than the ones shown in the book and they were crispier than expected so dipping in tea or milk is almost mandatory. I will be making them again.

The bundt cake was also a winner. So moist and delicious. And the glaze produces something akin to a sugary crust that makes that gives this bundt cake another layer of flavour. My five-year old son asked me to make 10 more and he isn't normally a big cake-eater! It's a recipe your friends will be asking you to share. It's one of the few recipes without a picture but as you can see from mine, it's truly yummy. I asked if I could reproduce the recipe and was kindly given the go ahead. 

This week I have a prosciutto wrapped pork loin and a spinach gomae recipe from the book on my list for dinner. I'll let you know how they turn out too.

I definitely recommend adding this book to your cookbook collection...in fact I will be picking up the first two in the series soon too! Check out Whitewater's website here.

lisa p's orange sour cream bundt cake
from Whitewater Cooks with Friends by Shelley Adams

Ingredients
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
1 cup sour cream
1 orange, zest of
1 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

glaze
2 oranges, juice of
3/4 cup sugar
1 lemon, zest of

Method
Beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add sour cream and orange zest and combine.
Sift together four, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Add dry ingredients to the creamed butter and beat until well mixed.
Spoon into well-greased bundt pan and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Combine orange juice, sugar and lemon zest in small saucepan.
Heat to a low boil, allow liquid to reduce by one third, about 10 minutes and keep warm.
Remove cake from oven and let cool for 10 minutes.
Invert cake onto serving plate.
Poke lots of holes into cake with a skewer and pour glaze over cake while both are still warm.

My notes: I added a white pre-made cookie icing as an extra drizzle for the photo but absolutely not necessary.

Also, in the interests of full disclosure please note that I received a copy of this book to review but I was not financially compensated in any way. The opinions expressed are my own.

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Sugar Rimmed Sugar Cookies Recipe

To me, these cookies are in between a sugar and a shortbread cookie - very buttery but a bit chewier than a regular shortbread.

I love this recipe because:

• few ingredients are needed
• can make the dough and then refrigerate overnight so time commitment is minimal
• the decoration is quick and easy
• no rolling of the dough!
• taste amazing
• flavour gets even better if you can let them sit a day or two
• sanding sugar easily goes with any theme - orange and black for Halloween, red and green for Christmas, pastels for Easter, blue and green for the Canucks!

Adapted from a recipe by the beyond talented Regan Daley

Ingredients
1/2 c unsalted butter
1 c sugar
2 c flour
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg yolk for adhering sprinkles
various sanding sugars - 1/3 c per colour


What to do

• Cream butter and sugar for 4 minutes until light, and creamy.
• Add vanilla.
• Gently mix in flour. Less is more here - you don't want tough cookies.
• Divide the dough in half and wrap in plastic wrap so they form a long cylinder of dough (like a soup can shape) that is about 2 inches in diameter. 
• Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silpats.Work quickly with one portion of dough at a time, leaving the other in the refrigerator.
• Brush the first cylinder with the lightly beaten egg yolk.
• Roll the dough into rainbow sprinkles. If you want many coloured sprinkles then cut dough in smaller pieces and then roll in chosen colours. Rotate the log every few slices to avoid flattening the roll on any one side.
• With a sharp knife slice the dough into 3/8-inch wide slices.
• Place on baking sheets about 3/4 inch apart.
• Repeat the procedure with second log.
• Bake the cookies for 15 minutes, or until the bottoms begin to colour. Watch carefully every oven is different!
• Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 5 minutes.
• Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Chocolate oatmeal flax cookie recipe

If I put flax and oatmeal in a cookie along with some dark chocolate that makes them a health food, right?.....right??? Come on work with me here, people!

Ok, ok maybe they are not a health food but they are delicious!

Makes 20 large or 48 small cookies

Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp milled flax
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups large flake rolled oats
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (or the whole bag...whichever ever is easier!)
1/2 c toffee bits
1/2 c premade icing, totally optional

What to do

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy...about 4 minutes.
• Add egg one at a time, mixing in the first before adding the second. 
• Add the vanilla.
• In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, flax and salt.
• Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter bowl until just incorporated - don't over mix.
• Add the oats and chocolate chips. Stir until just mixed in.  
• For large cookies drop dough in 1/4 c mounds on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or silpat.
• Bake for 14 -16minutes or until just starting to turn golden brown around the edges. For small cookies, use a tbsp or 1-1/2 inch cookie scooper and bake for 8-10 minutes.
• Cool for five minutes on cookie sheet before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
• If desired, drizzle a little premade icing on them!

Thumb Print Cookie Recipe

Thumbprint cookies are so simple and easy to make. They are also the perfect recipe when the kids want to help in the kitchen. Their little thumbs are the perfect size for making the needed jam holder!




Makes about 20 delicious cookies.


Ingredients
1-1/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs yolks
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups  flour
3/4 cup jam (any flavor)


What to do

• Preheat oven to 350 F.
• Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a silpat.
• In a large mixing  bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes).
• Beat in egg yolks, vanilla and salt.
• In another bowl whisk flour and salt. 
• Gently combine flour and salt into creamed ingredient bowl.
• Form dough into 1-inch diameter balls.
• Place 2 inch apart on prepared cookie sheets.
• Press down center of each with your thumb or back of spoon.
• Fill centers with about 1 teaspoon of your jam.
• Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges.
• Cool on baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Sugar & Spice Cookies

These are one of my favorite Christmas cookies. In fact, I like them so much I couldn't wait for Christmas! These skeleton cookies are made with a Wilton cookie cutter and premade icing for super easy cookie making. My advice is to follow the pictures and let each colour set for 10 minutes or so before adding another colour.

Ingredients
1 cup softened butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2-1/2 cups flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 teaspooon nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt


What to do

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In large bowl, beat butter and sugars together until smooth about 3 minutes.
• Beat in egg and vanilla. Beat for an additional 2 minutes.
• In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt.
• Stir in dry ingredients into butter mixture in 2 additions.
• Flatten dough into a disk shape.
• Wrap disc in plastic wrap.
• Refrigerate for at least an hour.
• Roll out each disc into 1/8 inch thickness.
• Using 3 inch cookie cutters, cut out shapes and place on ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, until edges are browned.
• Immediately move to cooling racks.
• Makes about 30 cookies.

My "Mummies" Favorite Gingerbread Cookies

Halloween is almost here! The kids and I sat down and decorated a bunch of gingerbread cookies last weekend. I didn't want to make royal icing so instead I used some premade Wilton icing that I had on hand. Since I only had white and red, we were limited in design options but the kids didn't seem to mind as they piled Halloween coloured sprinkles on top of everything!

The mummy and ghost and skeleton cookies are easy to create and don't take a lot of time or precision! My kind of cookie....especially when you have 60 cookies to decorate. The recipe below is simple and delicious. If you roll them thinner you will get a crispy gingerbread cookie but I like them softer so rolled them out to 6mm instead.

Happy Halloween!



Ingredients
1/2 c shortening
1/2 c granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 c fancy molasses
2-3/4 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda


What to do 

• In a large mixing bowl, beat shortening and sugar together for 4 minutes until light and creamy.
• Add and beat in egg and molasses.
• In another bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients.
• With a wooden spoon and in 3 additions, add the flour mixture to the shortening bowl.
• If dough is stiff, use your hands!
• Divide the the dough in two.
• Flatten dough into discs between pieces of wax paper and refrigerate for at least an hour.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness (6mm).
• Using 3 inch cookie cutters, cut out shapes.
• Place on cookie sheets lined with silpats or parchment paper.
• Freeze for 20 minutes.
• Bake for 12-15 minutes.
• Let cool for 5 minutes and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely before decorating.
• Makes about 30 cookies.

Brown-Eyed Susan Cookie Recipe

I must confess that I am much better at baking "flowers" than growing them. As I type, my husband is replanting our garden. It seems this year that mid-April on the westcoast was too early to plant veggies! April and most of May has been colder than usual and we even had frost. The frost destroyed all of our little veggies but this weekend, the weather seems to have turned the corner and we're replanting. I've also bought herbs to grow inside - mint (orange and chocolate), thyme, cilantro, 3 types of basil, and chives (regular and garlic) - so far I haven't killed thouse but there is still time :)

I recommend baking these cookies the day before you need them as they taste much better after resting for a day. The recipe is simple, and egg free (bonus for anyone with an allergy). The icing is simple too.

So remember...stop to smell the flowers...and eat a couple too!

Adapted from Marie Nightingale's Favorite Recipes

Ingredients

Dough

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp salt

Icing:

• 1 cup icing sugar
• 2 tbsp cocoa
• 2 tbsp hot water
• 1 tsp vanilla

What to do:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Cream butter and sugar for 3 to 4 minutes.
• Add almond extract.
• In a separate bowl, whisk flour and salt.
• Add flour mixture to butter and sugar.
• Mix until combined and dough comes together.
• Using sall cookie scooper or tablespoon, form into balls.
• Place on cookie sheet and flatten slightly.
• Bake for 10 - 12 minutes and golden around the edges.
• Cool completely.
• Once cooled, sift the icing sugar and cocoa into medium bowl.
• Add the vanilla and water and stir.
• Frost each cookies with about 1/2 tsp of icing.

Oatmeal Kiss Cookies

About 10 years ago, I found the best oatmeal cookie recipe ever! They were soft and chewy and a little bit spicy. The first, and only, time I made them were as treats for a weekend boat trip to Nanaimo where we were watching the sinking of H.M.C.S. Saskatchewan - Nanaimo's first artificial reef. The weekend and the cookies were fantastic! But I lost the recipe. Like many underwater treasures, it has remained lost ever since.

Being the optimist that I am, I continue to create original and test others oatmeal cookie recipes in the hopes of finding something as good as those lost cookies. This recipe isn't as spicy as the elusive one but it is still delicious! For me, chocolate and oats are one of those perfect flavour combinations and the addition of cinnamon makes it even better. I used "mini-kisses" by Chipits. They are 1/3 the size of original chocolate "kisses" and perfect for these small cookies. 

Ingredients

• 1-1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1-1/4 large flake rolled oats
• 1/2 cup butter, unsalted
• 1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 package baking "kisses" or large chocolate chips

What to do

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon in large bowl.
3. Stir in oats.
4. In another mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar.
5. Blend in water.
6. Stir dry ingredients into butter mixture.
7. Shape into small balls and place a "kiss" or chip in the centre.
8. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.
9. Enjoy!

Mom's Christmas Shortbread!

I think there are as many recipes for shortbread as there are Moms. This is my Mom's recipe. Christmas is not Christmas without these cookies. My Mom sent them 4,000 miles each year while I was in university. Many would end up in crumbs, but trust me, they tasted just as good that way as they did whole! They are amazing, simple and forever THE Christmas cookie in my house.

Ingredients
3 cups flour
2 cups butter
1 cup icing sugar
1 cup corn starch


What to do

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar and corn starch.
3. Beat butter until fluffy.
4. In three additions, add flour mixture to butter and mix after each addition.
5. Using small cookie scoop, drop cookies on to cookie sheet and press lightly with a fork.
6. If desired, dust with sanding sugar or other sprinkles.
7. Bake for 10-12 minutes until slightly golden at edges.
8. Cool for 5 minutes and remove to cooling rack.

• These cookies can be frozen and, in fact, taste great straight from the freezer.
• Crumbs also taste great sprinkled over ice cream!

Chocolate Overload Cookies!

So, it's a Wednesday night and I suddenly have a craving for chocolate chip cookies. Just thinking about the aroma of fresh baked cookies sends a shiver down my spine and puts a smile on my face. But I've had dinner, am comfortably sitting on the couch and waiting for So You Think You Can Dance Canada to come on the TV. And besides, how do I justify to myself eating cookies on a Wednesday night? Perhaps a bowl of strawberries will suffice??? Who am I kidding, it won't. In my head, I go over the ingredient list of one my fave recipes...I think I have everything so what the heck, let's do it.

Well.....apparently I used all of the regular flour when I made chocolate turnovers, all of the white sugar when I made a cake for a friend, didn't have any room temperature butter. Was my craving to go unfullfilled? No way, Jose. I decided to improvise. I used cake flour, cocoa (cause by now my chocolate craving was out of control) and melted butter. And by adding 2 more types of chips, my craving monster was finally satified! These cookies are cakier than my other chocoalte chip cookie recipes, soft and dense...and the aroma....oh man, I'm craving them again!!!


Ingredients
3/4 cup melted butter
2 2/3 cups cake flour (not self rising)
2 cups brown sugar
1 teaspoon instant espresso or coffee (optional)
2 tbsp hot water
2 eggs
1/3 cup cocoa, sifted
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt


What to do:

1. Heat oven to 375°F (190°C).
2. Dissolve coffee into hot water.
3. In large bowl, beat melted butter, brown sugar, eggs and hot coffee water until smooth.
4. In medium bowl, mix together flour, cocoa, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
5. Stir into butter mixture until blended.
6. Mix in chocolate chips. Drop from teaspoon onto ungreased cookie sheet.
7. Bake 8 minutes.
8. Let cool 1 minute.
9. Remove to wire rack.


Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

I think the original version of this recipe came from Bon Appetit many years ago. To be honest, I was planning on making my grandmother's old fashioned peanut butter cookies today but I didn't have any flour and didn't feel like walking to the grocery store! So I made these delicious cookies instead.

They are quick and simple and great for those trying to avoid flour. You can add 1/2 cup of peanuts or use crunchy peanut butter if you want some extra crunch.
Ingredients:
1 cup peanut butter (not natural)
1 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips

What to do:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
1. Mix all 5 ingredients in a bowl until combined.
2. Drop by tablespoon onto cookie sheet lined with silpat or parchment paper.
3. Bake for approximately 10 minutes.
4. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan.

Makes approximately 20 cookies. Enjoy!