Cookie Palooza Part 1
Last week, Suzanne suggested a vitual cookie swap. Yes! Yes! I love seeing the cookies everyone bakes (although, in a more recent post, Suzanne linked to this article on how to create a “stunning” cookie platter, and now I have an inferiority complex.) For what it’s worth, here’s my “mini’ Cookie Palooza. I originally planned to make two different cutout cookies (regular sugar cookie and gingerbread) plus two other cookies. But I went to two grocery stores and they were both out of molasses. What is going on??? Is there a nationwide molasses shortage? How am I supposed to my make gingerbread? I decided to pivot and save the cutout cookies for later in the week- I don’t need them until Christmas Eve. I made two beloved favorites and one new cookie. First up- luckily I had just enough molasses to make one batch of these Seriously Soft Molasses Cookies from Sally’s Baking Addiction. The backstory of these cookies is, one year when my son was in high school, he had his wisdom teeth extracted in December. I was googling recipes for soft foods, and came across this recipe. He LOVED these cookies, and I’ve made them every year since. A quick note- all the cookies I made are vegan! When I’m adjusting a non-vegan recipe, I usually substitute a flax egg (one tablespoon ground flax + two and a half tablespoons water= one egg)) and it works great. I also use Earth Balance vegan butter in place of the butter. Every December, Sally publishes ten new cookie recipes. This year one of the new ones was this recipe for Lemon Shortbread Cookies. Shortbread cookies don’t require an egg at all! I figured a tangy lemon cookie would be a nice addition to our cookie platter. The third cookie I made was a tried and true recipe from Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s Veganomicon cookbook, orange chocolate chip biscotti. These cookies are SO GOOD. One year we gave them to my son’s teachers, and one sent us a note saying they were the best biscotti he had ever had, vegan or otherwise. I think my family would mutiny if I didn’t make these at Christmas. Here’s the platter of cookies I put out for my family: The rest were packed into gift bags, or frozen, to be taken out closer to Christmas when my son is home. Still to come- Cookie Palooza Part 2, with peanut butter balls, gingerbread men (depending on the molasses situation) and sugar cookies. Who else is making cookies? What are your favorite Christmas cookies? Top photo by Deidre Schlabs on Unsplash