Cookies Galore - Sweet, Salty & Spicy!

Dear Foodies,

Is your baking done, kitchen cleaned, gifts wrapped & mailed ? Sigh! My kitchen counters are still covered in flour, sticks of butter softening and the to-do list has a few more pending things on it. Since this is the one time I take up baking I try as many recipes as I can and there's just soooo many tempting treats popping up all over. It's extremely difficult to stop myself from trying just that o.n.e more cookies recipe. So if like me you have a few more batches to make, I've put together a very easy recipe that you can customize to your liking and crank out goodies in just a few hours!

The next three cookies are based on my shortbread cookie recipe here & here, both fantastic by themselves. This has become my go-to recipe because its really easy to create variations. The basic formula  used for all of these is - 1 stick (1/2 cup) Butter, 1/3 cup Sugar,1 cup AP flour + 1/2 cup Almond meal (or 1.5cups AP flour), a pinch of Salt  - then I add flavorings to make each batch unique.

Lets begin with chocolate, shall we...

3Tbsp unsweetened Cocoa powder + 1/2 tsp Instant Espresso powder + 1/2 cup toasted Walnuts +1tsp Vanilla extract

1/4 cup each chopped apricots & cranberries + 1tsp Vanilla extract

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese + 1Tbsp chopped Rosemary + 1/2 tsp Sea Salt + 1Tbsp Sugar (instead of 1/3 cup) + substitute 1 stick butter with 3/4 stick butter + 1/4 cup extra virgin Olive Oil

You can make so many more combinations of these shortbread cookies - different fruit & nut combo's -Apricot & Walnut, Cranberry + Pistachio, Cherries + Almond - Thyme + Parm cheese, toasted Cumin, Lemon zest & poppy seed, Deb has one for margarita cookies!!

Another great thing about this cookie dough is that it freezes really well. If you don't want to bake them right away then freeze the dough wrapped in cling wrap. Bring the log out whenever you want fresh cookies and slice just as many as you want. A fresh baked cookie will never be far off with a log of these in your freezer. For the detailed recipe see this post.

Chocolate Crackle Cookies

This is a recipe I tried the same day that Jen @Use Real Butter posted it, and the cookies were fantastic! Soft and chewy in the center with a crisp crust of sugar on the outside. It has a rich chocolate flavor and isn't overly sweet at all despite the outer coating.

I meant to post detailed recipes for the Linzer cookies & Gingerbread but with all the other stuff going on I was pressed for time. I wanted to at least share the ideas here before everyone gets busy with celebrations, so here you go....

Linzer cookies were based on Ina Garten's recipe, the only change I made was to substitute with 1.5 cup of almond meal for AP flour and added zest of 1 Lemon & Clementine. The best part though - homemade Raspberry jam & Peach Ginger jam.

My first batch of gingerbread cookies! This recipe is from Deb @smitten kitchen. I halved the recipe, added 1/8 tsp All Spice powder & 1Tbsp finely grated crystallized Ginger - fabulous! I also tried her recipe for goldfish crackers and they were sooooo good and easy to make and taste so much better than the store bought ones, but that's obvious I guess.

Homemade Cookie Sampler

I saved up to-go plastic containers that came with my sandwich lunches and turned them into the perfect cookie box. The savory cookies get their own little bag so they don't get a coating of sugar. And voila! You have a fantastic selection of cookies to please everyone. A little round of fruit cake wraps up the gift box and its ready to delight a loving family or friend. I think I'm done working with butter and sugar for another year, phew!

Have a beautiful holiday season filled with the things you love!

Eggless Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Dear Foodies,

During my Masters, we had a Subway sandwich place inside our campus and it was just outside the building that housed my lab. Needless to say a veggie sandwich was my lunch far more times than I can count. I hardly go there now, but every few months I start craving that sandwich. My sub would have most of the veggies and the dressing combo was always sweet onion & chipotle always. After a few months I did not have to repeat my selection at all, the moment I was spotted walking into the place, they would have my sandwich started. I had a well ordered 'usual' on the menu and recognized at most of lunch spots around campus. I know I should not be proud of it, but well it felt good in some twisted way...:) On the days that I knew I was going to have a long day ahead of me in the lab, I would add a cookie to my order at Subway, either the oatmeal raisin or the white chocolate macadamia nut. These cookies are massive, and a mini meal by themselves. I think this was my first introduction to cookies too, and though not the best ever, they atleast did not put me off cookies either. I've eaten many more cookies since, and also experimented with making them at home. These fabulous chocolate cookies were made last two Christmas's, to share with friends & family and I think it'll continue to become a tradition from now on.

One challenge that I face when baking at home is my aversion to using eggs. I've experimented with different egg replacements for different recipes to see which combination resulted in the best end product. Applesauce, flax seed, banana puree, leavening ingredients, cornstarch, tofu, vinegar have all been tested. Muffins, cookies and small cakes turn out really well using these substitutions and you'll never notice a difference. These cookies today use flax seeds to replace the eggs in this original recipe.

Shortbread Cookies - fruit & nut/salty

Dear foodies,

I hope all of you who had a long weekend last week, had a blast. I surely did :) We had a mini roommate reunion in California. I met up with two of my first and longest roomies from grad school, in California! The three of us lived together for close to three years and there is a nice comfort zone that we've fallen into. I've also shared an apt with two other gorgeous gals during grad school, and one of them is getting engaged next week! Hugs to all of them, love you :) We don't have to be in constant touch (though we do) and don't have to explain our words or actions or anything about us at all. We just know each other, plain and simple. We let our guards down and no topic is off bounds. I am known to lose my temper a bit (yeah, a bit. and I'm going to stick to that), but these gals know how to handle me, really well! I would never be able to do that, and thank God for them :D Its a blessing to have such wonderful girl friends. So when I knew the three of us were going to meet, I wanted to take a gift along. Ofcourse I had to make it myself right ? so I made these yummy shortbread cookies, in three different flavors ;-)

My entry to Click - Cookies/May 2009 hosted by the Jugalbandits, thank you :)

These are on the same lines as the fruitcake cookies I made earlier but a lot more simpler this time. The original recipe by itself is fairly easy to do, but I watched a recipe online for a citrusy and nut filled cookie and wanted to try that this time. I like this recipe cos it does not have any of the egg-substitution craziness and it turns out great every time. I made 3 different batches, one with walnuts and a hint of orange, dried cherries and walnuts in another and the third one was a savory & salty version. All of them turned out great and if I really had to to choose one, I would go back to the fruit n nut combo, though the salty one came really close to the top.

Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 stick of butter (unsalted) - at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cup - All purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp - milk

Fruit & nut

• 1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp - light Brown sugar (adjust to taste)
• 1/2 tsp - Vanilla essence
• 1 Tbsp - Orange zest
• 1/2 cup - Walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped or combination of nuts and dry fruits
• 1/4 tsp - Kosher salt

salty-savory version:

• 1 1/2 Tbsp - light brown sugar, packed
• 11/4 tsp - Kosher salt (adjust to taste)
• 11/2 tsp - Cumin seeds, lightly toasted and crushed
• 2 tsp - fresh Thyme leaves, finely chopped (optional, use 1Tbsp)
• 2 Tbsp - finely grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Method:

1. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. I used a hand blender for 3-4 mins on low speed. Add the vanilla essence, orange zest and salt and blend for another minute until the butter is fluffy and the sugar is well combined. (for the savory version, add all the ingredients, but for the parm cheese now)
2. Next add the flour in 1/3rd cup portions and blend lightly. Be careful not to overmix the dough, it'll lead to tough cookies. Blend just until the flour gets combined with the butter. Once all the flour is incorporated the dough will resemble crumbs, the size of peas. You should be able to form a ball with it when pressed together lightly.
3. Add the chopped fruit, nuts, milk and combine together. (Fold in the parm cheese at this point for the savory version.) Tip the dough onto a flat surface and knead lightly to form a round ball. Take some plastic wrap, place the dough on it and shape as a log using the wrap for help. The cross-section of the log will give you the final shape/size of your cookie since the cookies don't spread while cooking.
4. Refrigerate the dough for atleast 30 mins-1hr before baking. When ready to bake, pre-heat the oven to 350deg. With a sharp knife cut the log into 1/2 inch rounds. (If they fall apart you can easily force them together.) Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and arrange the cookies 1/2 inch apart.
5. Bake for 15-20mins, checking on them every minute after the 15 minute point. When the edges start to turn a light golden take them out. They will continue to cook for a few more minutes outside the oven. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack so that the residual heat in the pan does not burn them.

These are one of the easiest and quickest cookies you will make. They aren't any complicated steps and the logs freeze really well. I have half a log of each still sitting in my freezer, waiting to get eaten by friends visiting next week. I intended to dip the cookies in chocolate and melted some callebaut bittersweet chocolate and flavored it with some caramel flavored Kahlua. But I was a little impatient I guess and ended up heating it more than I should have. I was using very little chocolate and was microwaving it for 15sec intervals. It looked perfect when it came out from the microwave 30secs later, but the residual heat in the glass bowl made the chocolate seize up on me. I couldn't let such gorgeous chocolate go unused and so I quickly rolled them out and nibbled on them, topped the cookies with them :-P

All the three flavors turned out fabulous. I was initially worried about the sugar I added in the salty version. The butter tasted a lil salty-sweet and I wasn't sure I had made the right decision by adding it. But along with the flour it turned out really good. You could hardly taste the sugar in the final cookies but it enhanced the overall flavor. The Parmesan cheese speckled the cookies in gold when baked in the oven :) The thyme though, did not stand out in the cookies, you might have to use a lot more for its flavor to shine through. The cumin seeds gave the cookies a very nice warmth and taste, very similar to the Indian nankatai.

The sweet versions were great as expected, not overly sweet and crumbly, melt-in-your mouth style. My roomies enjoyed the fruit n nut one with the tartness of the cherries cutting through the richness of the cookies. We snacked on them during our drive to Lake Tahoe and SFO over the weekend. It was a picture perfect weekend, and here are a few of the photographs :D

The solutions to the foodie crossword are up, well N posted them more than a week back, it was me who hadn't updated this space. Solutions! I hope you enjoyed it.

These cookies are being packed up for Mansi of Fun & Food blog, for her Sugar High Friday June edition, Fruit & Nut.

Fruit cake cookies - eggless

Dear foodies,

Happy Birthday !

Fruit Cake Cookie! Isn't that like the most perfect set of words that can be put to together...whats not to love in that combination! I saw this recipe on Ina Garten's show Barefoot Contessa and knew I had to try it out soon. I love fruit cake, but haven't been super successful in perfecting a recipe for it. But to have a cookie that tastes just like it is just wonderful! I like most of IG's recipes, atleast watching them :D She does make a huge quantity of everything though and uses quite a bit of butter, but its her technique & cooking style that I like.

My main attraction towards this particular recipe, (apart from the name :D), was that it called for just one egg, now that could easily be substituted. I wanted to make them the very next day but then I hesitated. Making a whole batch of these decadent cookies with just me around wouldn't be good news for my weighing scale. So I waited for the perfect occasion and it came by earlier than expected. Its my brother's birthday today (Happy Birthday!) and I went to visit him this past weekend. I made a huge batch of these cookies and took them along with me. Trust me, a recipe cannot get any easier and also give such splendid results. A few of my brother's friends tasted it too and they only had compliments for me. *blush*

For those who are familiar with the famous Karachi bakery's fruit biscuits in Hyderabad, these cookies taste very similar to them, actually even better! I now can't wait to try the other biscuits that the bakery sells using this recipe as a base. woohoo! Another advantage with this recipe is that the dough freezes very well. It needs to be refrigerated for 1-2hrs before baking, but you can easily freeze and store it for a couple of weeks in there. Whenever you are in the mood for decadence, bring the dough out, cut a few cookies to bake and send the rest of the dough back to the freezer, soo convenient! Perfect for weekday parties too, and psst, the dough is delicious on its own too :D

For once I thought I will follow the recipe as is, but ended up tweaking it a little since the dough turned out to be really wet. I used a different combination of fruits and also used lesser sugar. I did not have brown sugar and used regular sugar instead. The fruits also contribute to the sweetness of the cookies, so adjust the amount of sugar to suit your needs. Below are the measurements I used, for the original recipe click here.

Fruit Cake Cookies (40-45 small cookies)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup, packed - mixed fruits and nuts, chopped
I used a combination of prunes, raisins, dried cranberries, blueberries & cherries. For the nuts, I choose unsalted roasted pecans (cashews will be great too)
• 1 Tbsp - Sherry or Red wine
• 1/2 Tbsp - lemon juice
• 1/2 Tbsp - Honey

• 1 stick - unsalted Butter (~ 8 Tbsp), at room temperature
• 1/3 cup - sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 tsp - powdered Cloves
• 1/4 tsp - powdered nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp - Orange zest
  
• 1/2 tsp - pure Vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp - ground Flax seeds + 1.5 Tbsp - water
• 1 1/3 + 2/3 cup - All purpose flour

Method:

1. Place the chopped fruits and nuts in a bowl and mix in the sherry/wine, honey and lemon juice. Cover the bowl and let them soak overnight at room temperature.
2. The next day, microwave the ground flax seeds along with the water for 30secs. Using a fork beat the mixture and microwave again for 15secs & beat. Set aside and allow it to cool.
3. In a wide glass bowl (or electric mixer) cream the butter, sugar, salt, orange zest, vanilla extract, clove and nutmeg powders until you get a smooth consistency. It took me 3-4mins using a hand mixer on low speed.
4. Sift the flour to remove lumps. Add all the flax seed mixture and the flour in 1/3rd portions. Mix at a low speed. The dough was really sticky even after the 11/3 cups were added, so I added an additional 1/2 cup of flour and mixed it in with a spatula. Don't over mix the dough since it will develop gluten and you will end up with really tough cookies.
5. Next add the fruits along with any leftover soaking liquid and fold it onto the dough. I added a couple of Tbsps of flour along with it.
6. Divide the dough in half and place each half on the longer end of a 15" wax/parchment paper. Shape and roll it into a log. The cross-section will give you the final shape/size of your cookie. (These cookies do not spread while cooking. I moistened my palms lightly with water to help me shape the logs, or roll the paper on the dough and use it to help shape). Repeat with the other half of the dough and refrigerate for 1-2hrs or until firm. If not using immediately move them to the freezer.
   
7. When ready to bake, pre-heat the oven to 350deg. With a sharp knife cut the log into 1/2 inch rounds. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and arrange them, 1/2 inch apart.
   
8. Bake for 15-20mins, checking on them every minute after the 15 minute point. When the edges start to turn a light golden take them out. They will continue to cook for a few more minutes outside the oven. Lift the foil and place it on the counter-top so the residual heat in the pan does not burn them.

These cookies are dotted with fruits all along and their sweet wine soaked flavor really comes through. I am in love with them. They taste a lot like a fruit cake but in a smaller, more flavorful package, and you cannot have just one. They crumble in your mouth and slowly melt away as you chew on the bits of fruit...bliss!

Last Sunday I made a tiny batch of 6 cookies and the rest of the dough was stashed in the freezer. I kept going back to the kitchen with excuses to have a bite or two and in no time all 6 cookies vanished :D On Thursday evening, all I had to do was slice them, pop them into the oven and pack before heading to the airport. My brother and his friends loved the cookies, and they could not believe it was home made. Did I tell you how gorgeous the weather in Houston is...aah, my heart craved for the sunshine and did not want to come back to this igloo of a place! hmph

When I started out with the recipe I had soaked 2 cups of the fruits & nuts. I refrigerated the unused cup and made another batch of cookie dough on Wednesday. They will be off to a few friends this week. These cookies are soo good that you will want to share it with everyone (and get tonnes of compliments in exchange :-P) I wanted to dip half of each cookie in some tempered chocolate, but I was soo in love with the fruity flavor that I let them be that way. May be you can try that out and let me know how it is ? Deal ?