Leave any of these cookies for Santa, and you'll be sure to get everything on your list. Be sure to leave a nice tall glass of milk or a hot cup of tea so the big fella has something to wash these down with.
1) Eggnog Cookies 2) Peppermint Bark-Stuffed Cookies 3) Peppermint Bark Cookies 4) Stuffed Red Velvet Cookies
Boy, oh boy. It's like I blinked, and it's Christmas week. It's about time I posted a new seasonal cookie here! And so here it is: an inside-out (or is that outside-in?), stuffed version of my Yuletide (A.K.A. Peppermint Bark) Cookies.
This recipe uses my basic oatmeal sugar cookie base--but with a twist. I cut the white sugar to 1/2 a cup and added 1/2 a cup of light brown sugar because I wanted a chewy exterior to contrast with the crunchy bits of candy cane in the interior.
An all-white sugar version is great, especially if you want a crispy cookie. (I know because I've made that version before a bunch of times.) But because this recipe is for a stuffed cookie, I wanted a soft, pliable dough that would hold up to scoping, stuffing, rolling, and baking and still come out of the oven chewy. I chose right!
The semisweet chocolate chips are just right for the filling. They're rich and chocolaty and sweet but not too sweet--they compliment, not overpower, the crushed candy canes.
When I put the first tray in the oven, I had my fingers crossed because I was a little afraid that the candy cane bits would melt and solidify and turn into a tooth-shatteringly hard chunk o' peppermint flavored rock candy. You know I breathed a sigh of relief when these guys came out just right.
Here's a tip, though: you don't won't big pieces of candy cane here. I put my candy canes in a plastic sandwich bag and used a pan to crush them down into mostly powder. If you have any pieces that are bigger than a pencil's eraser, keep smooshing.
The finished cookies come out perfectly round, perfectly plump. Kinda like Santa.
Makes 2 dozen cookies. (To see this recipe in process, check out Picturing Peppermint Bark-stuffed Cookies.)
Filling |
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips 2 tablespoons milk 8 candy canes |
Creamables |
1 stick butter 1/2 cup light brown sugar 1/2 cup white sugar |
Wet Ingredients |
1 egg 1 tablespoon vanilla 1 teaspoon milk |
Dry Ingredients |
1 1/4 cups finely ground oatmeal 1 1/4 cups flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt |
Here's the recipe for my Peppermint Bark-Stuffed Cookies in process.
Melt the chocolate chips and milk over a double boiler or in the microwave.
Smash up the candy canes--8 in all. Make sure you don't have huge chunks of candy.
Add the crushed candy canes to the melted chocolate, mix, and put in the fridge to firm up.
Cream the creamables: butter, light brown sugar, and white sugar.
Combine the wet ingredients: an egg, vanilla, and milk.
Add the wet ingredients to the combined creamables. Mix.
Combine the dry ingredients. Don't forget to measure the oatmeal after you grind it. Add to the combined wet ingredients and creamables. Mix.
Scoop the dough balls and then split them in half.
Stuff the dough balls and chill them a few minutes.
Bake, split, and enjoy. But consider saving a few for Santa. Ho, ho, ho!
Hi OCG!! I made these a while ago and really loved them! I goofed a bit and used quick cooking oats (1-minute) rather than my usual old-fashioned oats because I was trying to get rid of them, and I think it made the cookies a little more "mealy" than they otherwise would have been, but they were still delicious and chewy after they were fully cooled. Citrusy, crunchy buttery pecans, sweet white chocolate....mmmmmm--you're awesome at coming up with good flavor combos. I'll definitely be making these again in the future =) Hope everything is going well with you! Happy holidays!
Thanks, DPLK! These were a big hit with my officemates when I came up with the recipe. So glad you continue to like them.
Quick oats are OK in a pinch, or if you use them accidentally. (I've done that once or twice myself!)
Maureen emailed me a couple days ago to ask which of my cookies could be paired with hot chocolate for Christmas gifts:
Just wanted to get your expert opinion...
Which of your cookies do you think would go best with hot chocolate? I'm putting together gifts and would love to include some of your cookies!
Hi, Maureen. Thanks for writing in!
When I read your email, my Boston Cream Pie Cookies immediately came to mind. The chocolate topping and vanilla pudding filling are the perfect accompaniment for a cup of hot chocolate.
Definitely give 'em a try. And Merry Christmas!
My friend Ryan and I took in some theatre (pronounced thee-at-UH) on Sunday and saw The Slutcracker, a scene-by-scene burlesque interpretation of Tchaikovsky's holiday classic of a similar but very different name. Who knew bodies came in so many shapes and sizes?
After the show, we headed downstairs to the Museum of Bad Art, where I found a few paintings that I thought were pretty good. Apropos of the Oatmeal Cookie Guy, though, I decided to focus on one piece in particular: Queen of the Chocolate Chip.
From the curator:
The piece comments on the incongruity of royalism at the close of the second millennium. The formality of the pose contrasts with the laissez faire attitude of Her Majesty, caught mid chew, as she sports a jaunty beret in preference to her emerald encrusted crown. We are, in fact, amused.
Serious art and gallery lovers should check out my friend Pam's blog.
How's that saying go..."You've got to break some eggs if you want to make an omelet"? Well, the same is true with nuts and cookies. And I almost found out the hard way...with an Oops!
The other night when I was making my Nutella-Stuffed Chocolate and Hazelnut Cookies, I was a moment a way from ruining my Cruisinart because it hadn't dawned on me that I needed to shell the nuts before I chopped them up. Duh!
Here’s the most up-to-date list.
|
Good Ol’ Peanut Butter Caramel-Espresso Grasshopper
Dulce de Leche Shirley Temple ChocAlmScotch Almond Brickle Almond Joy |
Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies Lavender & Lemon Lovelies
Stuffed Date Nut Cookies Maraschino Cherry Cookies Wine & Chocolate Cookies Almond Butter & Raspberry |
Spicy Valentine's Heart Cookies Black Sesame Cookies Strawberry-Rhubarb Cookies Meyer Lemon & Thyme Strawberry Shortcake Cookies Peaches & Cream Cookies Lemonade & Iced Tea Cookies XXX Cherry + Chocolate Cookies Ambrosia Cookies Parmesan & Black Olive Cookies Rose Water Cookies Stuffed Carrot Cake Cookies Goat Cheese Cookies Oatmeal Cannoli Cookies |
Here's the recipe for my Nutella-Stuffed Chocolate and Hazelnut Cookies in process.
Shell and chop the hazelnuts.
Mix Nutella and chopped hazelnuts to make the stuffing. Stick in the fridge to firm up. (I forgot to take pics of the creamables. Oops!)
Combine the wet ingredients: an egg, vanilla, almond extract, and milk.
Add the wet ingredients to the creamed creamables. Mix.
Combine the dry ingredients and add to the combined creamables and wet ingredients. Mix again.
Scoop the dough and then split the dough balls in half.
Stuff the cookies and chill the dough balls.
Bake and eat.
Kim, a reader, real-life recipe user, and fellow food blogger, wrote in to sing the praises of my XXX Cranberry Cookies:
These are amazing. I think we decided these were better than the strawberry ones - and we thought those were the bomb! Thank you.
Thanks, Kim! I'm so glad you liked my XXX Strawberry Cookies. But I have to agree with you. The cranberry version is pretty darn good! It's definitely among my favorites.
Gail asked about an almond-free version of my Cranberry Crunch Cookies:
This is almost exactly what I'm looking for my holiday cookies. However, I need them to be nut-free. Do you have an idea for a replacement for the ground almonds?
Hi, Gail. Thanks for writing in! Having a nut allergy can be tough, especially around this time of year when so many treats seem to be loaded with hazelnuts, walnuts, etc. (I'm afraid my next recipe--a Nutella and hazelnut cookie--will only contribute to the nutfest at the holidays.)
I think you could just go ahead and leave out the nuts. Or replace them with an equal amount of craisins. But if you want to retain the crunchy part of the recipe, you might want to consider using some unsalted soy nuts as an almond replacement. Soy nuts are crunchy, taste kind of like peanuts, and--best of all--aren't actually nuts. (Full disclosure: While I've been meaning to make a soy nut cookie for a while, I haven't actually tried it yet.)
For a truly nut-free cranberry cookie, you might want to make my XXX Cranberry Cookies instead. The flavors are very similar--cranberry and orange--but with ground up Nilla Wafers instead of graham crackers.
According to my Are You Participating in Any Cookie Swaps This Christmas? poll, about as many people plan on eating cookies as do actually sharing cookies.
Interesting how that works, right?
Thanks to all who participated. Voting still remains open, so feel free to weigh in.
Tracie emailed me to ask a question about using silicon baking mats:
I've been wanting to try the silicone baking mats, but will cookies get crisp on bottom like they do with parchment paper? I'm dying to try the Margarita Cookies!
Hi, Tracie. Thanks for writing in! I love, love my Silpat baking mats. They make cleanup a cinch and make it possible to achieve any level of cookie crispness you desire. The few times I used parchment paper, I found that I had to put down a new sheet for each tray of cookies because the paper started to brown and get brittle after a couple trips to the oven, making it difficult to remove the cookies easily and cleanly. Which is the whole point, right?
I think Silpats--or any other brand of silicon baking mats--are well worth the investment, especially if you do lots of baking.
Happy cookie-making! And good luck with the Margarita Cookies. They're really good and are my friend Gary's favorite (so far).
It's official: 'Tis the baking season. As I gear up for my Christmas baking, I'm curious to know how popular cookie swaps are. Any of you doing cookie swaps over the holidays?
Laurel, my blog buddy all the way over in Belgium, had some advice for a reader from Denmark who asked about using a Rolo replacement in my Chocolate and Salted-Caramel Cookies:
I am not sure if they have these in Denmark, but in Belgium, they have a candy called Chokotoff, and they are essentially the same thing, just a caramel covered in dark chocolate. Maybe this is something she could find in Denmark too???
Thanks, Laurel! It really tickles me that I've gone international. :-)
Carol's a big fan of my Cranberry Crunch Cookies. But I think this recipe won her over all over again:
Hi Greg! I'm glad I reminded myself of your Cranberry Crunch cookies, too - I picked up what I needed the other day and just made a batch of these tonight. I'm bringing them to a Thanksgiving party tomorrow, but of course I had to sample a couple now (have to make sure they are as good as I remember them to be...they are!) Thanks again for this great recipe. I know there will be some happy folks tasting them tomorrow!
Thanks again for your thanks, Carol! I hope the cookies were a success at your Thanksgiving party.
Shikin, a reader and real-life recipe user all the way from Singapore, wrote in with some blog-love for my Flat, Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies:
Hello =) Just so you know, I've baked about a million and five batches of these oatmeal cookies. Everyone loves them! Two weeks ago, I asked my students what they wanted on the last day of school (which was last Friday). Guess what they unanimously agreed on? Yes, you got it. THIS COOKIE. So in I came with an unbelievable amount of cookies and milk for 40 10-year-olds and we spent the last hour of the school term eating EXCELLENT cookies and chatting. So thank you for the gift of these cookies. I already love them. That they made my 40 children happy make me love the cookies a whole lot more. Much love from the Singaporean crunchy cookie lover, Shikin
Thanks, Shikin! I'm really glad these cookies helped make your end-of-term celebration a success. I'm so happy you and your students like them. :-)
Here are some pics from Plymouth, Massachusetts, birthplace of Thanksgiving (and bad drivers).
1) Pilgrim-era inspired cottages overlooking Plymouth Harbor. 2) Plymouth Rock. Yup...that's it. 3) Mayflower II, a full-size replica of the Pilgrims' ship.
Despite a few bumps here and there, I have a lot to be thankful for this year: family, old friends and new friends, and you--all my readers and real-life recipe users and cookie tasters.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I wish you all a happy, safe, food-filled day.
Here's a mini-list of cookies that would make any Thanksgiving table shine.
1) XXX Cranberry Cookies 2) Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies 3) Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
4) Cranberry Crunch Cookies 5) Cranberry in the Coconut Cookies 6) Caramel Apple Bars
According to my What's Your Favorite Thanksgiving Sweet Treat? poll, people are topping off their turkey and stuffing with either pumpkin pie or a whole mess of other stuff. Gobble gobble gobble, indeed!
Poor hard sauce and cranberry bread get no love, with each getting only 1.8% of the vote.
Thanks to all who participated. Voting still remains open, so feel free to weigh in.
Hallee wrote in to ask a question about the shippability of my Stuffed Red Velvet Cookies, which have a cream cheese-based center:
My husband is in Afghanistan. He always has red velvet cake for his birthday (his late mother started that tradition and then died right after his 8th birthday, so he's never wanted anything else.) I've been looking for a red velvet cake cookie to send him and found this. We LOVE using ground up oatmeal - I found a phenomenal waffle/pancake recipe using that method. But I'm wondering about shipping these. They'll take about 2 weeks to get to him. I seal-a-meal cookies for him. These look like they'd collapse under the pressure of the sealing. So, I would probably just put them in ziplock then in gladware. Most of the time, the container carrying the mail will be outside or in a cargo plane with no heating, and it's cold outside. So I wonder if that will be good enough?
Hi, Hallee. Thanks for writing in and for sharing your family's wonderful tradition of red velvet birthday cake. Knowing what a treat and connection to home these cookies would be for your husband, I really, really want to tell you that you'll be able to send these cookies to him. But, based on some research I did for an earlier query about shipping my cheesecake-stuffed Golden Girls Cookies, I'm afraid I can't say with certainty that they'd be safe to ship. Here's some food-safety info on cream cheese that I found for my earlier post:
The Food Safety and Inspection Service, a department within the U.S. Department of Agriculture, states that cream cheese (and, by extension, cream cheese-filled products) should be shipped refrigerated and kept cold. Check out the mail order food safety chart (cream cheese is about halfway down).
In addition, FoodSafety.gov's info for food safety during power outages states that you should discard any cheesecake that has been above 40º F for more than four hours.
I'd hate for your husband or any of his buddies to get sick from spoiled cream cheese. So, instead of stuffing the cookies with a cream cheese frosting, why not top them with a thick, nutty royal icing? Here's a quick recipe I adapted from the icing I used from my Margarita Cookies:
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1/3 cup toasted, finely chopped pecans
3 tablespoons water (or lemon juice)
1 tablespoon vanilla
You'll want a thick but not too-thick icing, so fee free to add water as needed until you get the desired consistency. Drizzle the icing over the cooled cookies and set aside for the icing to harden. (You can pop them in the fridge for a bit to speed this process up.) These iced versions should hold up fine for seal-a-mealing and shipping.
I hope you and your family have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving this year. And that your husband stays safe and returns home soon for some good and proper red velvet cake!
Line, a reader all the way from Denmark, wrote in to ask a question about the Rolo candies I use in my Chocolate and Salted-Caramel Cookies:
Hi :) love your blog. Do you think that I can use Dulce de leche instead of Rolo's? We don't have them here in Denmark. Maybe just ad a little melted chocolate under the dulce de leche :)
Hi, Line. Thanks for writing in! Essentially, these are thumbprint cookies, so I think the idea of using dulce de leche instead of the candies is a good idea. Just poke a little indentation into the cookie balls and scoop in some dulce de leche--about a 1/2 teaspoon's worth. Then sprinkle on the sea salt and bake.
I haven't tried this myself, but it seems like it would work. My only concern is about the dulce de leche leaking out of or being absorbed by the cookies while they bake. I guess it all depends on how thick your dulce de leche is. This is where your idea of using a little melted chocolate underneath the caramel could come in. If your dulce de leche is a little runny, the melted chocolate could provide a good foundation to keep the sauce from leaking out or being absorbed by the cookie. You wouldn't need much melted chocolate--just a light coating. If you're feeling fancy, you could even use a pastry brush to apply a thin, light coating of chocolate to the thumbprints before adding the dulce de leche. That should work!
The other night when I was chomping away at the movies, I thought of another candy that could be a Rolo stand-in. They're similar to Rolos--caramel centers coated in chocolate--but are much denser and chewier. And then I thought of how many dental problems a denser, chewier caramel center to these cookies could cause. So...I'm not recommending that other candy. :-)
Whitney wrote in recently to ask about freezing cookies:
Do any of your cookies freeze well? Can you freeze baked cookies as well as the cookie dough?
Hi, Whitney. Thanks for writing in. The baked cookies hold up really well in the freezer. I know from experience.
I've frozen cookies plenty of times, and they stay tasty for about 3 weeks. The cookies I froze were supposed to be for distribution later on to far-away family and friends, but--truth be told--they didn't always last long enough to make it to their intended destinations. I'll eat cookies hot, cooled, frozen, or thawed. It's that frozen part that often sabotages my good cookie-spreading intentions.
Frozen cookie dough holds up well, but I have noticed that cookies made with frozen dough bake up a little rounder than cookies made with fresh dough. The frozen guys don't spread out or flatten much--something to do with the leavening, I think. They're not as pretty as the ones made with fresh dough, but they taste just as good. But, of course, the danger of having frozen cookie dough on hand is that you've got frozen cookie dough on hand. Be prepared to snack on dough nubbins snapped from the mama log until you've got only enough dough left to bake off a few misshapen cookies.
Carol, a reader and real-life recipe user, wrote in to remind you--and me--about my Cranberry Crunch Cookies:
I admit I haven't tried the ones that OCG recommends (but I'll have to soon), so I can't compare - but his Cranberry Crunch Cookies are to die for. I made them several times last fall and they were a consistent hit. I adore them!
Thanks, Carol! I can't believe I forgot about these guys. And this is an award-winning recipe. I'm going to add them to that earlier post.
Here’s the most up-to-date list.
|
Good Ol’ Peanut Butter Caramel-Espresso Grasshopper
Dulce de Leche Shirley Temple ChocAlmScotch Almond Brickle Almond Joy |
Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies Lavender & Lemon Lovelies
Stuffed Date Nut Cookies Maraschino Cherry Cookies Wine & Chocolate Cookies Almond Butter & Raspberry |
Spicy Valentine's Heart Cookies Black Sesame Cookies Strawberry-Rhubarb Cookies Meyer Lemon & Thyme Strawberry Shortcake Cookies Peaches & Cream Cookies Lemonade & Iced Tea Cookies XXX Cherry + Chocolate Cookies Ambrosia Cookies Parmesan & Black Olive Cookies Rose Water Cookies Stuffed Carrot Cake Cookies Nutella Cookies Goat Cheese Cookies Oatmeal Cannoli Cookies |
As promised, here's my peanut butter cookie topped with honey and sea salt.
I know...you're probably thinking I've lost it. Peanut butter, honey, and sea salt? Trust me. You'll like it.
I love the crunchy/chewy texture combination about as much as I love the salty/sweet flavor combination...which is a lot. And this cookie hits all the right mouthfeel and flavor buttons. It's like a chewier, more flavorful, less tooth-damaging version of peanut brittle. Sounds perfect, doesn't it?
I thought these would come out looking like old school peanut butter cookies--the flat kind with the crosshatches on top from the overlapping indentations of fork tines. They didn't, but the flattening step played an important part because it gave a nice, even surface for the honey and salt to stick to.
Using honey as a cookie glaze can be a little tricky. It's sticky and doesn't spread easily when cool but runs all over the place when hot. If you keep an eye on your oven, you'll see that the honey gets foamy as it heats up. If you've got a flat surface to coat, your honey will stick pretty much where you put it.
I used flaked sea salt because it's not as salty as regular old table salt and because it holds up pretty well when you sprinkle it on top of stuff and bake it.
Makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies. (To see this recipe in process, check out Picturing Honey-Roasted Peanut Butter Cookies.)
Creamables |
1 stick butter 1 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter 2 tablespoons white sugar |
Wet Ingredients |
1 egg 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla 1 tablespoon milk |
Dry Ingredients |
1 3/4 cups oatmeal 1 cup peanut butter chips 1 cup ground Peanut Butter Cap’n Crunch 3/4 cups flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt |
Topping |
Honey Sea salt |
Here's the recipe for my Honey-Roasted Peanut Butter Cookies in process.
Cream the creamables: butter, dark brown sugar, peanut butter, and white sugar.
Combine the wet ingredients: an egg, vanilla, and milk.
Add the wet ingredients to the creamed creamables. Mix.
Grind the Cap'n Crunch and combine the dry ingredients.
Combine the dry ingredients and add to the combined creamables and wet ingredients. Mix again.
Scoop the cookies and flatten them with a fork or spatula.
Drizzle with honey, sprinkle with sea salt, and bake. Salty/sweet, crispy/chewy, yum yum.