Believe in the magic … of cookies!
That dog-eared page in a treasured cookbook, grandma’s handwritten recipe, the dough you know by heart ... it’s cookie time! And it’s a gift guaranteed to “bake” the holidays a little brighter.
“If you make something using your own two hands, and it comes from the heart, people will appreciate it so much,” said personal chef Lynn Lampe Lindquist of Cook on Call in Paoli.
Her Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Pecan and Dried Cherry Cookies hit all the right notes.
“I like the fact that it has something good it in oatmeal,” she added with a laugh. “I’m obsessed with dried cherries. I put them in so many different items. What I like about dried cherries is they are tart and sweet at the same time. They add a nice little spark to a cookie.”
Another favorite: Mr. B’s Cookies from the “Kimberton Whole Foods Cookbook: A Family History with Recipes.”
“It was our former baker, Barby Bonett,” recalled co-owner Pat Brett. “She would go around asking people what they liked, and she would come up with a recipe. Dave (Biddison) said he wanted a cookie with everything in it.”
The result: a “kitchensink cookie” starring oatmeal, peanut butter and chocolate chips - “made with love for Mr. B” and later tweaked to be gluten-free.
Speaking of twists … at Vituperio Artisan Breads & Studio in Lansdale, head baker Javiera Montoya combines ginger, molasses and the ancient grain spelt for a chewy crowd-pleaser.
“It’s just a very simple cookie,” she said. “It has ginger. It has a little bit of nutmeg. It has a little bit of cinnamon. It has a little bit of cloves.”
Those spices signal the holidays. And so does fruitcake?? One chef offers a tasty alternative - Holiday Fruit Drops.
“Here is a recipe for a cookie that is rather addictive, chewy and crunchy, looks so festive and holiday-ish and puts the candied cherry to excellent use,” described Brenda Kieffer, executive chef at Kieffer’s Appliances in Lansdale.
“Ban the fruitcake. Eat a Fruit Drop!”
Tips to “sleigh” the cookie exchange
“Egg”-cited for a big batch of melt-in-yourmouth cookies? “For goodness bakes,” know your oven. Each one has quirks. A silicone baking mat or parchment can help too.
Also, “use a portion scoop. Then everything is the same size, and they bake the same time. And they come out looking perfect,” said personal chef Lynn Lampe Lindquist of Cook on Call, who teaches at Delaware County Community College and Valley Forge Flowers.
She gives clients “a diverse selection” of Christmas cookies, focusing on “variety, texture, shape and color.”
One last word of advice: Be a “whisk”-taker.
“Go outside your comfort zone,” Lindquist suggested, “and try something a little different.”
Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Pecan and Dried Cherry Cookies
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups unbleached allpurpose flour (6 1/4 ounces)
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon table salt 1 1/4 cups rolled oats, oldfashioned (3 1/2 ounces)
1 cup toasted pecans (4 ounces), chopped (optional)
1 cup dried tart cherries (5 ounces), chopped coarse
4 ounces 60 percent chocolate, Ghirardelli (about 3/4 cup)
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened but still cool
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar (10 1/2 ounces), preferably dark
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla paste Instructions Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions; heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two large (18-by-12-inch) baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. In second medium bowl, stir together oats, pecans, cherries and chocolate. In standing mixer fitted with flat beater, beat butter and sugar at medium speed until no sugar lumps remain, about 1 minute. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula; add egg and vanilla and beat on medium-low speed until fully incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down bowl; with mixer running at low speed, add flour mixture; mix until just combined, about 30 seconds. With mixer still running on low, gradually add oat/nut mixture; mix until just incorporated. Give dough final stir with rubber spatula to ensure that no flour pockets remain and ingredients are evenly distributed.
Divide dough evenly into 16 portions, each about 1/4 cup, then roll between palms into balls about 2 inches in diameter; stagger 8 balls on each baking sheet, spacing them about 2 1/2 inches apart. Using hands, gently press each dough ball to 1-inch thickness. Bake both baking sheets 12 minutes, rotate them front to back and top to bottom, then continue to bake until cookies are medium brown and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft (cookies will seem underdone and will appear raw, wet and shiny in cracks), 8 to 10 minutes longer. Do not overbake. Cool cookies on baking sheets on wire rack 5 minutes; using wide metal spatula, transfer cookies to wire rack and cool to room temperature.
Mr. B’s Cookies
Makes 2 dozen Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened at room temperature
2 cups raw sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup natural peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups gluten-free flour 2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups gluten-free rolled oats Instructions Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and raw sugar. Add eggs and beat well to combine. Add peanut butter and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Mix on a lower speed or stir by hand with a spoon until well-blended. Add chocolate chips and rolled oats and stir just until combined.
Drop tablespoons of dough onto the parchment-lined cookie sheets and then press each spoonful very lightly with your hand to flatten slightly. Space about 1-inch apart. Cookies will spread while baking. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until they begin to brown around the edges.
Recipe as featured in the “Kimberton Whole Foods Cookbook: A Family History with Recipes” (Hickory Grove Publishing). Available at Kimberton Whole Foods stores and at www.HickoryGrovePublishing.com
Ginger Molasses Spelt Cookies (Chewy)
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups spelt flour (see note below)
1 cup all-purpose flour 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature 1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice (needs to have ginger, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon at least) Instructions
In your stand mixer using the paddle attachment, put the butter and sugar and mix until both are combined and soft. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula if needed to combine all ingredients. Stop the mixer, then add the eggs and molasses and keep mixing to ensure everything is evenly combined. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients: flours, baking soda, salt, pumpkin spice. Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients inside the stand mixer. Mix on low speed until the dough has been evenly combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl a few times to make sure everything is incorporated. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it inside the fridge for at least 1 hour or overnight.
Make round balls with your hands of around 30 grams each and dip half of it inside brown sugar. Place the balls over a sheet tray with parchment (space them out evenly) and bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. The cookies will look and feel underbaked when you take them out of the oven, but trust me, this is what makes them chewy and yummy! Yield: 12 cookies.
Note: For extra flavor, I recommend Castle Valley Mill’s spelt flour. They are a local mill in Doylestown. Their flours are freshly milled, which adds an enormous amount of flavor and health benefits to these cookies.
Recipe courtesy of Vituperio Artisan Breads & Studio
Holiday Fruit Drops
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup dark brown sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
2 cups Rice Krispies 1 cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup red candied cherries
1/2 cup green candied cherries
1 cup white chocolate chips
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
4 ounces white chocolate (in bar form) Instructions Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a large cookie sheet or line with parchment. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. In a mixing bowl with the mixer at medium speed, beat the butter and sugars until creamy, scraping down the bowl occasionally with a rubber spatula. Beat in the vanilla, then the eggs, one at a time. At low speed, gradually add the flour just until mixed. Scrape down the bowl. At low speed or with a wooden spoon, add the cereal, walnuts, cherries and chocolate chips.
Drop by rounded teaspoons (or use a melon baller), about 1 inch apart onto the prepared sheets. Put the 2 tablespoons granulated sugar in a small bowl. Dip a flat-bottomed glass into the sugar and lightly press on each cookie to flatten slightly. Bake until golden about 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Place the block white chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and melt in the microwave. Stir until smooth. Note: I have indicated block white chocolate here because it is easier to melt for this purpose. Chips contain an additive designed to help them keep their shape and are therefore much harder to melt without scorching. You can use them if you can melt them.
Put the melted chocolate in a small Ziploc bag and snip of a very small corner … voila! Instant small disposable piping bag. Drizzle the cookies with the melted chocolate. When chocolate is set, store airtight for 1 week. Or freeze for up to 3 months.
MUCH better than the dreaded brick!
Recipe courtesy of executive chef Brenda Kieffer