…Wait, cookies? Hm, maybe not so hard to think of things after all.

A whole tray of 'em!

Once cookie I just can’t get my head around is the snickerdoodle. I guess it’s because I never had one until a year or so ago, so I have no nostalgic childhood memories of buttery sugar cookies rolled in crunchy cinnamon sugar. (It was all ginger molasses, all the way for me!) Even though the first one I had was good, it just didn’t impress me. I figured there had to be some way to make it more appealing, and eventually I realized what that was.

They so pretty.

Pumpkin + spice = awesome. Plain old cinnamon would sure be fine, what with the spice grinder and whole spices I stocked up on for my Christmas cookie extravaganza, but since I’d already mixed up a batch of my gingerbread spice blend for marshmallows I decided to go with that.

The floating cookie?

Since the recipe I found for pumpkin snickerdoodles only called for white sugar and you can’t REALLY have anything gingerbread flavored without good old molasses flavor, I decided to add a little light brown sugar. Only a little, and only light brown because these cookies are soft like cake.

Slide them into your gullet!

The texture reminds me of the whoopie pies I made back in the day, nice and round and fluffy, just the way I like my whoopie pies. These would be excellent sandwiched with your favorite whoopie pie filling…cream cheese, chocolate, caramel, dulce de leche???

Freaky neon orange insides.

Oh yeah, they really are that orange inside. That means they must have a lot of beta carotene…which means they’re healthy, right? :D

Spicy pumpkiny goodness.

Pumpkin Gingerbread Spice Snickerdoodles (adapted from For the Love of Cooking):

For the cookies:

1. 1/2 cup butter
2. 1/2 cup sugar
3. 1/4 cup light brown or demerara sugar
4. 1 egg
5. 1/2 tsp vanilla
6. 1/2 cup pumpkin
7. 2 cups AP flour
8. 1 tsp gingerbread spice blend*
9. 3/4 tsp baking soda
10. 1/2 tsp salt

For the Sugar Coating:

1. 1/2 cup sugar
2. 2 tsp gingerbread spice blend*

In a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla, scraping down the bowl to ensure that it’s fully incorporated. Beat in the pumpkin and scrape down again. Combine the remaining dry ingredients and whisk or sift together (if your baking soda or flour has clumps definitely sift). With the mixer off, add all the dry at once and mix on low speed until almost completely incorporated. Scrape down the beater and bowl (especially the bottom) and briefly mix on low speed until everything is fully combined. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Combine the sugar coating ingredients thoroughly in a small bowl. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and form into balls slightly smaller than golf balls. Thoroughly coat each one in the sugar coating and place at least 1 1/2″ apart on the baking sheets. Flatten each slightly with the heel of your hand. Bake for about 10 minutes, turning the sheets halfway through. Remove from oven when the cookies are firm to the touch on top. Cool for about 1 minute on the sheet then move to a rack to finish cooling.

Makes about 24.

*I make my own blend of gingerbread spices. It’s phenomenal when made with freshly-ground spices (which is why my cookies have bigger specks of some spices and little ginger fibers here and there) but is also really nice with pre-ground spices, too. I usually measure one part as a teaspoon when I make a batch.

1. 2 parts cinnamon
2. 2 parts ginger
3. 1 part nutmeg
4. 1 part cloves
5. 1 part allspice

Snowball?

I had fun though, and was rewarded with reports of happy snarfing from around the country. Among a couple of old favorites I included some new treats, many of which were variations on recipes I use at work.

Cute!

You won’t be seeing posts on the triangle-shaped biscotti, salted bitter brownies or experimental fudge cookies; though they all came out delicious I considered them to be sort of works-in-progress.

But these cookies? They’re pretty much my ideal.

So nibbular!

A crunchy, chocolatey twist on the classic Mexican Wedding/Russian Tea Cake. Shortbread dough, classically mixed with toasted chopped nuts, instead is peppered with cocoa nibs. Texturally fun to eat, with a sophisticated bitter flavor, these are among my very favorite cookies that we’ve done for the cookie plate at work.

Making them at home, I wanted to give them my own personal twist, something cute and clever and tasty that would make these cookies even more interesting and unique. So I thought about cocoa nibs…and what goes with cocoa nibs? Cinnamon and spice. Perfect! I took a little artistic liberty on the name and added a little cinnamon and cayenne to the outer layer of powdered sugar. And then I baked them and packed them and sent them with love.

Smells so good.

Oaxacan Wedding Cakes:

1. 12 oz. butter (not cold but not soft or melty either)
2. 3/4 cup powdered sugar
3. 1 tsp vanilla
4. 2 cups AP flour
5. 1 cup cornstarch
6. 1/2 tsp salt
7. 1 cup cocoa nibs
8. More powdered sugar, for rolling
9. Cinnamon to taste
10. Cayenne pepper to taste

In a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, cream together the butter, powdered sugar and vanilla. You will probably have to scrape your bowl and beater(s) a few time. Make sure there are no stray lumps of butter in the mixture. Add the flour, cornstarch and salt all at once and beat on low until the mixture comes together, scraping down as needed to create an even mixture without overmixing the dough. Gently mix in the cocoa nibs and pack into an airtight container (makes about one quart of dough). Seal the container and refrigerate the dough overnight.

Preheat the oven to 325F. Use a spoon to scoop chunks of dough and roll them quickly into roughly 1″ balls in your hands. Place at least 1″ apart on parchment-lined baking sheets and bake for 5 minutes, then rotate the sheets and bake for another 5 minutes or so, until the cookies are very lightly browned on the bottom and slightly cracked on the top. Allow to cool completely on the sheets before removing. Combine powdered sugar with cinnamon and cayenne pepper to taste (you want a cinnamony smell and a slight bite from the pepper, neither should be overwhelming). Once the cookies are cool, roll thoroughly in powdered sugar mixture, more than once if necessary to get an even opaque white coating.

Makes about 6 dozen cookies.

Quite elegant.

Well, if you’re like me and are lucky enough to have a store right downstairs that sells frozen passion fruit pulp, you can rush down and get all the ingredients to make this passion fruit ice cream within a few minutes, churn it and be enjoying a flavorful frozen treat in an hour or two. It’s an interesting recipe in that it uses the whole egg as opposed to just the yolks – I think it makes the texture a bit fluffier. I changed it up a little by using half-and-half, which also lightened the recipe somewhat. It’s incredibly simple and something I will be making again, though quite possibly with cacao nibs in it next time. Yum!

Have a little more time on your hands and a hankering for something classic? Want something to do idly while watching a TV show? Then maybe this other recipe can help you out…

Bet you never thought of making THIS at home.

That’s right. Homemade chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. Egg-free and full of awesome vanilla bean flavor! Totally worth the time and effort involved, especially since it makes a nice big batch.

Extra dough balls added for emphasis.

One thing you are going to need when making this ice cream is very high quality vanilla extract. Homemade is best – you know, put scraped beans in a jar and fill with vodka, use when dark and fragrant. It makes an excellent addition to any ice cream or sorbet where vanilla flavor and a little alcohol for softness is desired. If you haven’t had the foresight to make your own, just make sure to use real vanilla with a high alcohol content. You will also need a vanilla bean – buy them online in bulk, grocery stores are a rip off in this case.

As elegant as raw cookie dough gets.

And YES, this is an entirely egg free recipe. The dough is essentially a shortbread since there is no egg, and I decided that with the added richness from the butter, the base didn’t actually need to be a custard. The ice cream comes out very fresh and vibrantly vanilla-flavored, with no custardy richness to cover anything up.

Waffle cone not required.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream

First, Make the Cookie Dough Balls:

1. 1/2 cup butter
2. 1/2 cup sugar
3. 1/4 cup brown sugar
4. 1 tsp vanilla extract
5. 1 1/2 tsp water
6. 1 cup AP flour
7. Pinch salt
8. 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp miniature chocolate chips

Cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl and beat in the vanilla and water until thoroughly combined. Scrape down the bowl again. Add the flour and salt and beat on low speed until just combined, scraping down and incorporating any flour left on the edge of the bowl. Fold in the chocolate chips.

This is the part of the recipe that takes some patience. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment or a Silpat. Grab a small piece of dough and pinch it into a rough cube, then gently roll it into a sphere. It should be about marble-sized – add or remove more dough as needed and re-roll. Line up the balls on the sheet as you go and freeze them once they’re all in place.

Then, Make the Ice Cream:

1. 2 cups milk
2. 1 vanilla bean, scraped
3. 1 1/2 cup sugar
4. Pinch salt
5. 2 cups cream
6. 2 Tbsp vanilla extract

Place the milk, vanilla seeds and pod, sugar and salt into the pot. Heat to a simmer, then remove from heat and cover. Steep at least 5 minutes. Remove the pods and wash them for use in extract or sugar. Pour hot milk into a bowl and chill over an ice bath. Whisk in the cream and vanilla extract, then churn in a machine or by hand. Fold in the cookie dough balls as you remove the ice cream to its container (if you’re doing it by hand, fold them in once it’s the consistency of soft serve). Freeze until firm and scoopable.

On another note, I’m FINALLY going to make a real effort towards making pastry technique videos. Really basic stuff, like folding, whipping, piping, handling dough…Things that have been drilled into me, but are important for anyone to know if they’re interested in pastry. I don’t have a fancy camera or any video skills whatsoever, but I’ll figure it out (actually I just told Z that he’d have to learn how to edit the videos and stuff). At least I’ve got a list of topics! :D

It's like a one-cookie party!

First I had to get an appropriate cookie cutter. I went to a well-known cooking store but was disappointed in the option they sold – flimsy-looking, with a too-narrow stem in the design (it would definitely burn/fall apart) and no handle. I ended up turning to Etsy and finding a lovely handmade cutter (I picked up a teacup cutter too).

Not actually lime flavored.

My friend had included an example of someone else’s attempt at Margarita cookies, which had simply been sugar cookies flavored with orange zest – no lime to be seen! However I did like the idea of a nice orangey sugar cookie, so I kept that element, using Dorie‘s sugar cookie recipe.

Oh, salt.

Since all good Margaritas must have a nice, salty rim, I incorporated that by brushing the “rim” of the cookies with agave nectar (because it’s the tequila plant) and affixing large crystals of Bali smoked coconut-lime salt that my mom had sent me.

These cookies were Serious.

Finally, because you REALLY can’t have a Margarita without bitter, tangy lime, I decided to make sandwiches with the cookies, sticking them together with homemade lime marmalade.

Green, sticky, bitter...and absolutely perfect.

These cookies were pretty awesome. The sugar cookies bake up very crisp, almost crackery, but after they’re sandwiched and have a night or so to sit in the fridge, they soften and the lime flavor permeates both cookies, creating a really limetastical treat.

It's Margarita time!

Margarita Cookies

First, Make some Marmalade!

1. 2 limes
2. 2/3 cup water
3. 1 cup sugar
4. Pinch salt

Wash and slice the limes. Roughly puree them, leaving some chunks of skin intact. Place the puree and the water into a small saucepan and cover. Simmer for 30 minutes. Uncover and add the sugar and salt. Bring to a boil and allow to boil for at least 5 minutes, then test a small amount of the marmalade on a chilled white plate, letting it sit for a minute and then poking it. If it acts like jam (not watery, wrinkles when poked) then it’s done; if not, boil for another 5 minutes and try again, repeating until it’s perfect. Transfer to a glass jar, Pyrex container or restaurant-quality plastic quart container, allow to cool slightly, then refrigerate until chilled. Cover for storage.

Also Make Cookies! (adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan)

1. 2 cups AP flour
2. 1/2 tsp salt
3. 1/2 tsp baking powder
4. 5 oz. (10 Tbsp, or 1 stick plus 2 Tbsp) unsalted butter
5. 1 cup sugar
6. Zest of 1 orange
7. 1 egg
8. 1 egg yolk
9. 1/4 tsp vanilla
10. Green liquid food coloring

Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder, set aside. Cream the butter with the sugar and orange zest. Once light and fluffy, add the egg, yolk and vanilla and beat until combined and emulsified. Gradually beat in the flour on low speed, being careful not to overmix it. Divide the dough in half and pat into discs. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350F. Roll the discs out one at a time, to about 1/4″ thick. Chill the rolled out dough in the freezer briefly before cutting the cookies (your dough will be firmer and won’t bend or tear when you move the cookies to the baking sheet). For every 2 Margarita cookies you cut out, cut out one half-moon shape and brush it lightly with food coloring (diluted with water if it’s very dark). Bake on a lined baking sheet for about 10 minutes, until very lightly browned around the edges. Allow to cool on the sheet for a minute before transferring to a rack. Cool completely before assembling.

To Assemble:

1. Cooled cookies
2. Marmalade
3. Agave nectar
4. Some manner of limey salt, or at the very least a nice crunchy sea salt

Spread a layer of marmalade on half of the Margarita cookies and sandwich with the other half. Chill for a little while to allow the marmalade to set back up so the cookies don’t shift around on top of each other. Brush a small amount of agave nectar along the “rim” of the cookies and sprinkle with salt crystals, making sure to press them in slightly. Add a small amount of marmalade to the backs of the lime cookies and stick them onto the “glasses” to complete the Margarita cookie experience.

Though they ended up being slightly belated (oh, work) these cookies were VERY well-received, and totally delicious. Plus, as I pointed out in the accompanying note I sent along, belated birthday presents are actually great – you get to stretch out the potential gift-getting timespan!

No?

…Reeeeally?

Maybe this will jog your memory.

Helloooo, wonderful ice cream.

That’s right! I make lots of ice cream! Well, I used to, anyway. But no matter how busy or distracted I may get with my new job and new life, when the weather warms up I need frozen treats.

One flavor I’d never made or even tried before was black sesame, but after seeing some the other day I knew that had to change. Black sesame is pretty much the most awesomest thing I know of at the moment.

Whatcha got there, ice cream?

I wanted to make something fun and unique to go with the ice cream, so I whipped out the Flavor Bible and looked up black sesame. Ah, bananas! Of course!

I’d been wanting to try a recipe for banana meringues that was in my school recipe book, but we hadn’t actually made. I also really wanted to pipe them into banana shapes. Which I did!

I see! ...Weird.

I added Chinese 5 spice to the meringues because I have this thing where I’ve decided that 5 spice makes bananas taste more banana-y. Kind of like a mixture of real banana and banana candy. Anyway, they’re really tasty,but the meringue is highly unstable so work with it quickly.

Weird = Good

Black Sesame Ice Cream

1. 60g black sesame paste
2. 2Tbsp sugar
3. 200mL half & half
4. 2 egg yolks
5. Pinch salt
6. 70g sugar
7. 100mL half & half
8. 1 Tbsp roughly ground black sesame seeds

Combine the sesame paste and 2Tbsp sugar in a medium bowl, mix to combine thoroughly. Set aside.

Heat the 200mL of half & half in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk together the yolks, salt and 70g sugar; once the half & half barely comes to a boil, slowly pour it into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon.  Gradually strain it into the paste, whisking it in thoroughly. Chill over an ice bath, then whisk in the 100mL half & half and the ground seeds. Churn in an ice cream maker or by hand, then freeze until hard enough to scoop.

Banana Meringues

1. 200g ripe banana (about 2 medium)
2. 1/4 tsp Chinese 5 spice
3. 4 egg whites
4. 120g sugar
5. Yellow food coloring

Preheat the oven to 200F, or as low as it will go if it doesn’t go to 200. Prepare several baking sheets with silicone liners or parchment.

Puree the bananas with the 5 spice thoroughly in a blender. Set aside.

Using a stand mixer or electric hand mixer, whip the egg whites to a soapy-looking foam, then gradually add the sugar. Continue whipping until the meringue reaches soft peaks. Very briefly stop whipping and add a few blobs of yellow gel food coloring, or a couple drops of liquid color. Whip to stiff but not dry peaks. Quickly but gently fold in the banana puree, then fill a large piping bag and quickly pipe as kisses, bananas, nests, etc. Bake for at least 30 minutes. Once the outside of the meringues becomes slightly rubbery, turn the oven off and leave the meringues overnight to dry. Store in an airtight container with parchment between layers.

The verdict? Banana and black sesame are a really kickass combination, one that I plan to play with soon. I need some black sesame flour first, though. And sesame ice cream is amaaaaaazing. My only complaint here is that the recipe makes about a third of what I usually make at once. However, the sesame paste isn’t all that cheap and only comes in small jars, so this is all I could probably afford to make at once anyway. It won’t stop me from going out and getting more paste tomorrow to make another batch, though.