I have spent the past several weeks making something like 20 batches of cookies which I have shared with some friends and will share with more friends around Ottawa and have some left over to bring to the winterfest celebration down south.
This is madness! I even bought a chest freezer so that I could make heaps of cookies in advance. One lesson I may have overlearned from last year--one can freeze cookies without hurting them. Before I go through all of the different cookies/recipes, why have I done this?
Mostly two reasons: I am indecisive and I like giving out cookies. First, this all started in December of 2020 when I saw a NYT article about cookie boxes that had something like 7-10 recipes. I liked the look of most of them, and rather than picking one or two, I decided to make most of them. But wait, there is just Mrs. Spew and I at home (and we were not traveling that year due to the pandemic), so what to do with the extras? I asked folks if they wanted some, which has now led to a yearly ritual--driving around Ottawa a few days before we leave town, giving boxes of cookies to friends. This is real joy--as I chit chat with each receiver for a bit. Remember in December 2020, this was my first interaction in real life with many people after quarantining for the most part since March. So, yes, I get to exercise my sweet tooth, and I get to embrace my extroversion at the same time. Win-win as they say. That and the pandemic cause me to embrace a holy trinity--stress-baking--> stress-eating --> stress exercising.
Here are the cookies I made with the links to the recipes (if available) in rough order of delight, starting with the least delightful.
19. A different kind of taste, less sweet and more savory. They were fine, but a bit dry. They also didn't make that many, which is a problem for my mass delivery project. My wife thinks they are a dinner scone and not cookies.
The tasted fine, but were kind of hard and I didn't put as much frosting in the middle as I probably should have. I am a sandwich cookie amateur--ok, when it comes to baking. So, I may have to try this one again.
I really liked the taste as I am caramel fan going a long way back. However, they were too crisp, as they kind of crumbled, making them unsuitable for delivery in cookie cans. So, they will be coming with us to the family vacation. I don't seem to have a picture of them so here's the one at the NYT
16. Nigella's Christmas Chocolate Cookies:
Easy to make, easy to decorate. I used a half a bag of trader joe's christmas sprinkles. These are tasty, but not as special as those in the next tier.
15. Peppermint Mocha Cookies:
Sally's recipe is easy to follow, producing a cookie that was not as coffee-tasting as Mrs. Spew feared. It was good and interesting, but not as good as the other chocolate peppermint recipe that is near the top of our list. I made a double batch since the regular recipe does not produce that many cookies. Or so I thought. A funky blend of the classic B&W and the peppermint cookies that both are at the top of the list.
Smitten's ginger cookies are quite good, but their thunder is stolen by other ginger recipes that are simply better. I do need to double these (a recurring theme). I can't find the recipe online. Alas.
13. Vanilla Bean Spritz Cookies:
The Chicago way: you come at me with a cookie knife, I will pull out my cookie gun (I have two as someone gifted me a second one). Super easy, fun, fast, sweet, tasty, easy to decorate, and produces a large number. A really good cookie that is essential for the season's box as a small nibbler. I think this recipe is tastier than Sally's equivalent, but maybe I will have a shootout between the two to test.
A cookie box has to have some shaped butter cookies, I think. This year, I used a King Arthur recipe that used a ton of butter, so, of course, it tasted good. My cookie cutter collection is growing with more that fit the season so no Yodas (the ears always broke off) and fewer R2-D2's and Vaders. Also gives me a chance to play with googly eyes, which I have long known makes everything better even before the movie Everything Everywhere All at Once popularized that maxim. My art skills suck, so this is more about silliness than anything else. Oh and more sugary goodness.
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Now for something completely different: orange squares that taste like little bits of sponge cake. Different in source as well--not from any of the usual suspects. I have much nostalgia for my family's passover sponge cake (the only passover food I really enjoyed besides Matzah brie). Sticky and soft, so I am not sure how well they will travel. But a very nice change of pace. I forgot to take a picture so here's the way they are supposed to look:
You need at least one white cookie for a winterfest cookie box, right? Sally's are very good chocolate cookies that look and taste great. I may need to double the recipe next year.
Another Sally recipe--sweet and soft and easy. I have started substituting more vanilla for almond extract for the big cookie fest as I don't want to poison any folks who are allergic. And the cookies come out great. I made the same substitution elsewhere. I definitely need to get better sanding sugar as my cookies were too faded compared to Sally's.
Now we are in the top group of amazing cookies:
8. Marshmallow Hot Cocoa Surprise:
One of my faves disappeared. I guess I brought all of them to Thanksgiving? That is the problem with making so many cookies--tis easy to lose track. These are chocolate cookies (with hot cocoa mix included) with a marshmallow on top which is then covered in chocolate. Twas new to me, as I found it on Sally's website.
I have made these several times this year, and they are wonderful. These are not at the top in this listing because I got distracted and baked them for a minute or two too long, so they are not as soft as they should be. But they are wonderful anyway. Easy and fast to make, very tasty.
5. Brownie rollout cookies:
They are very thick roll out cookies that indeed taste like brownies. Smitten's recipe is again easy, and then it is easy to have fun with decorations. I haven't figured out how to decorate the santa ones, and the stuff I used took forever to dry. I will have to figure something else out for next year. I used this recipe in previous years, and I will keep on using it as Mrs. Spew loves these, and so do I.
Last year, somehow I ended up with candied ginger, so I made this recipe. This year, I made sure I had some as this is a great change of pace recipe--not just because they are triangles, but they are a spicy gingery cookie that is also a shortbread. I have had ups and downs with some shortbread recipes, but these are automatic. They just work really well. Turns out the King (Arthur) knows what he is doing. The problem with such recipes is that they don't make that many, so, again, may have to double next year.
I first made these last year, and they sailed to the top of the list. My wife loves chocolate and peppermint combined, and while that was never my fave in terms of ice cream or whatever, these cookies rock. And it is fun to pound candy canes into shards and dust. Yes, I doubled the recipe, why do you ask?
2. Black And White Cookies:
I only make these once a year, and they are wonderful. Very cake-y, require a bit more work since they need more ingredients than the average cookie including some zesting, and then there is the frosting. This year, I realized I could make a fun Star Trek reference about racism and ethnic conflict.
For several years running, the fave cookie is:
1. Grammy's Spice Cookies:
While my fave cookie is, of course, chocolate chip, tis the season for ginger cookies, and Grammy is wise. These cookies are super reliable, quite easy, and very tasty. After I made a batch, one that I cookied a smidge too long, I realized that I had far fewer than I had intended. Turns out, I made two batches last year. So, this year, I ultimately made three! For the best recipe of the season, I made the most batches. The second set included frosting, which my wife finds to be optional. The baileys I added to the frosting is a lot more subtle than the green dye I used. Festive, indeed.
Much thanks to Sally, Smitten, Nigella, King Arthur, the butter makers of the Canadian dairy cartel, the contractors who made this much easier as my new kitchen is now a great space for obsessive cookie making, kitchen aid (how did I do this before I had a stand mixer?), and Mrs. Spew for tolerating this madness. Of course, she gets to sample each batch to make sure they are fit for the public.
I invite those who have been or will be sampling these cookies (I have delivered about five boxes and will be delivering another 15 over the next two days) to let me know what their faves are.
The best part is really the hanging out with those on my nice list. The cookies are partly an excuse to hang out, but they are also fun to make and more fun to eat. I did put aside a bunch for my daughter and my in-laws for later this week.
I hope your holidays are as sweet and as silly as and perhaps less obsessive than this cookie fest!
I love this post and I love your cookie baking obsession!!
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