Category Archives: Favorite Cookie Recipes

The Holiday Taste of Cranberries in Florentine Bars

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Get your cranberry fix with these sweet florentine bar cookies.
Get your cranberry fix with these sweet florentine bar cookies.

Two treats in one.

Like cookie meets candy.

Like buttery, chewy, sweet, and nutty all at once.

That’s what “Florentine Bars” are like. Plus they have the festive sweet-tart taste of dried cranberries that we call can’t get enough of at this time of year.

This recipe is from “Baking School” (W.W. Norton, 2022), of which I received a review copy, by the King Arthur Baking School.

The book is filled with the time-honored recipes that the Vermont cooking school has been teaching students for more than 20 years. They include the likes of “Perfectly Pillowy Cinnamon Rolls,” “Raisin Pecan Bread,” “Kouign Amann,” “Dark Chocolate Cake,” and all manner of pie crusts and fillings to mix and match.

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Get Your Cookie Fix With Ras El Hanout Snickerdoodles

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Not your usual snickerdoodles.
Not your usual snickerdoodles.

When it comes to cookies, my husband is decidedly “Basic Boy.”

Meaning, he likes his chocolate chip, peanut butter, and snickerdoodle. And doesn’t like to veer to far from them.

So, “Ras El Hanout Snickerdoodles” satisfied both of our appetites. His for the classic. And mine for something a little more adventurous.

This wonderfully chewy and warmly spiced cookie recipe is from “Love Is A Pink Cake” (W.W. Norton & Co.), of which I received a review copy.

It’s by Claire Ptak, a Californian who moved to London to open her Violet Bakery. Of course, you may also know her as a former pastry chef at Chez Panisse in Berkeley. Or you may recognize her as the baker commissioned in 2018 to make the wedding cake for none other than Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

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Everything’s Coming Up Strawberries

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Chunks of strawberry chocolate dot these chewy-licious cookies.
Chunks of strawberry chocolate dot these chewy-licious cookies.

Other gals may covet a Prada purse or a pair of Louboutin heels.

This Food Gal? For the longest time, I had my eye on strawberry chocolate.

That would be the Valrhona Strawberry Inspiration Baking Chocolate that I spied online.

It’s white chocolate thoroughly combined with freeze-dried strawberries to create the prettiest-in-pink baking chocolate discs.

At $20 to $29 for an 8-ounce bag online, they were a splurge to be sure.

The color of these Valrhona chocolate discs is just dazzling.
The color of these Valrhona chocolate discs is just dazzling.

But I’m worth it, right?

At least that’s what I told myself when I finally went for it.

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A Rice Krispies Treat of A Different Sort

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Rice Krispies and rice flour make these cookies crisp as can be and light as a feather.
Rice Krispies and rice flour make these cookies crisp as can be and light as a feather.

Meet the more elegant and sophisticated Rice Krispies treat.

Sure, there are days for the winsome nostalgia of the marshmallowy, sticky-sweet squares we all grew up with.

But there’s also a time and place for wonderful “Toasted Rice Sables” that take the puffed rice cereal and turns it into airy, crumbly, and crispy-throughout cookies that are oh-so buttery and toasty tasting. They’re also gluten-free.

This clever cookie is from “What’s For Dessert” (Clarkson Potter, 2022), of which I received a review copy.

It was written by one of my favorite baking book authors, New York City-based Claire Saffitz, a best-selling cookbook author who hosts the cookbook YouTube series, “Dessert Person.”

Her desserts are winningly approachable, designed to entice but not to cause any undue stress in their making. Instead, they are doable and delightful.

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Double Chocolate Oriolos

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Chocolate plus more chocolate. Who can resist?
Chocolate plus more chocolate. Who can resist?

At this time of year, you can never have too many chocolate cookies.

I stand by that thought unequivocally.

While versions of this chocolate-frosted, chocolate cookie abound, these particular “Double Chocolate Oriolos” are more modest in size, making them a perfect treat to indulge in without overindulging.

The recipe is from “The Cookie Bible” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), of which I received a review copy, by legendary New York baker Rose Levy Beranbaum.

The collection includes recipes for cookies of every sort: drop, cut-out, bars, sandwiches, chocolate-dipped, and more.

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