My grandma has long practiced what we call “cookie diplomacy.” She keeps a regular supply of home-baked cookies on hand so that she can gift them to her hairstylist, her doctor, her butcher, etc.* While I have yet to reach a first-name basis with anyone at the grocery store, I do share with my grandma a firm belief in the power of cookies to say “thank you.” ...
cookies
Molasses Crinkle Cookies
After the classic chocolate chip cookie, the cookie I remember most vividly from my childhood is the molasses crinkle. Spiced with cinnamon, ginger, and cloves, and topped with a subtle sugary sparkle, the molasses crinkle strikes me as the cookie version of Throwback Thursday: often forgotten but enthusiastically embraced whenever someone dusts off the old recipe card and shares it with their ...
Peanut Butter Butterfinger Truffles
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #mixinmoments #CollectiveBias Last week was quite a week. There was a seemingly endless flood of heartbreaking events around the globe. The weather in the Midwest felt stifling and oppressive. I found myself facing some big decisions in my personal life. Obviously, the local weather and ...
Peppermint Hot Chocolate Cookies
As a child, mint and I did not get along. I tolerated it in toothpaste, but that was about it. Mint chewing gum, mint chip ice cream, and candy canes could have disappeared off the face of the planet and I wouldn’t have shed a tear. At some point before high school, however, my taste buds reconsidered, and I began chewing mint gum by the Costco (brick-sized) pack, making up for lost time with mint ...
Ginger Spice Peanut Butter Cookies
When I was a child, I asked my mom what her favorite season was, and she told me that it was fall. I was a little insulted, assuming that it was because my brother and I went back to school in fall, but now that I’ve moved to the Midwest (and grown up and realized that not everything is directly related to me), I better understand her reasons. Fall in the Midwest (which is also where my mom grew ...
White Chocolate Macadamia Shortbread Cookies
Yesterday was a day full of fail. It began when I realized that the Fourth of July is less than a week away and not, as I had somehow convinced myself, a week and a half out. I had bought ingredients to make a patriotic-themed dessert and wanted to be able share it with you, so I put my other plans for the day on hold and started making a mess in the kitchen. ...
Peanut Butter Pumpkin Cookies for Dogs
I don’t know exactly when Phoebe’s birthday is. I adopted her from a rescue group, which took in her litter from a high-kill shelter in another state, and no one knew the details of the puppies’ early life. While it’d be nice to know her actual birthday, I think the uncertainty of it just makes her adoptiversary that much more special and fun to celebrate! This week, we’re celebrating her second ...
Cranberry Hazelnut Biscotti
Did you know that the word biscotti comes from the neo-Latin word biscoctus, meaning “cooked twice”? I just learned that in the course of writing this post – I did some very scholarly research Wikipedia searching. By nature of their dryness, twice-baked baked goods last relatively longer before going bad, so foods prepared in this way were particularly useful in pre-modern times before ...
Cranberry Orange Coconut Cookies
Well, Christmas 2014 is technically now behind us…but I hope you all are still basking in the holiday spirit, because I have another holiday cookie recipe to share with you! If you’re anything like my family, the baking doesn’t end after Christmas – we’re only just getting started! These cranberry orange coconut cookies are another of my family’s favorite Christmas cookies, along with ...
Aunt Della’s Sugar Cookies
As much as I enjoy coming up with new recipes in the kitchen, I consider Christmas a time for traditions, and baking these Aunt Della’s cookies has been one of my family’s holiday traditions as far back as I can remember. We’re not exactly sure where the recipe originated at this point, but my mom got the recipe from her mom, who we think got it from a friend of hers…who either got the recipe ...