Cooking
These Swedish Ginger Cookies were a joy to make and tasted great too - they just missed my short list.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel! I miscounted the number of remaining chapters when I concluded the icebox cookie chapter, but though there are still two chapters remaining, there are just 32 cookies to go. 116 other cookies are but memories now, including 27 rolled cookies...
I have to say, this was probably the chapter I feared most. I've never been very good at rolling cookie dough and I'm not sure I improved much as I worked my way through this chapter. I wish there were tips I could pass along for rolling dough evenly or preventing it from sticking, but these things still seem to more dependent upon the character of the dough than anything I do. I have learned that I have a fondness for filled cookies over plain old rolled cookies and given a choice, I will shy away from thinly rolled dough.
Though the seemingly endless number of plain brown cookies (be they honey, ginger, or whole wheat) got a little boring, there was only one truly awful cookie. I found it difficult to narrow my favorites to just a few but though I was tempted to include just about all of the filled cookies, I finally managed to winnow the list down to six. So here's my quickie recap of the best of the best. As usual, the runners-up are in no particular order and I've saved my very favorite cookie for last...
My go-to sugar cookie recipe - Plain Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies - with a new look, but the same wonderful flavor thanks to plenty of real butter and vanilla.
Unbelievably light and tender, these Rum Raisin Shortbread cookies had a wonderful rum flavor that wasn't the least bit harsh.
I loved the flavor of these elegant Viennese Chocolate Cookies - chocolate and almond with a surprising hint of lemon.
Perfect for the holidays, for company, or any other special occasion, Ischler Cookies are bound to please just about everyone. Two almond cookies with a little apricot jam in the middle and a semisweet chocolate glaze on the outside sounds like a winning combination and it is!
What I like most about filled cookies is the filling and these Hamantaschen deliver a generous helping of a delicious prune and apricot filling. The delicate orange-scented pastry is pretty great too!
And surprise, surprise, the greatest of them all - BIG NEWTONS! (Ha! Take that Cookie Panel!) Really though, these are seriously good cookies. Each time I look at that picture, the memory of them is so strong, I can practically taste and smell them. They're really that good.
So now on to "Hand-Formed Cookies" - I've been looking forward to this one. I love rolling little balls of dough between my hands and welcome the break from the rolling pin! By the way, in case you're new here - all the cookies on this page are from Maida Heatter's Book of Great Cookies. The book is out of print but still available as a remainder, used, or in your library. All but one of the recipes were also reprinted in the newer Maida Heatter's Cookies which also includes cookie recipes from a couple of her other books. Read about my little project here and start here if you're interested in exploring my earlier posts.
- Mondays With Maida - Chocolate-chip Pillows
Page 194 in the old book / page 222 in the new book Wouldn't you know... chocolate finally shows up again and Denny is away for the week on travel. It would be hard to imagine anyone not liking these little pie-shaped cookies filled with chocolate...
- Mondays With Maida - Uppakra
Page 186 in the old book / page 216 in the new book If only these had come up a week earlier in the rotation! These pretty little Swedish cookies are rich and crumbly and would be perfect included in an assortment of Christmas cookies. With their buttery...
- Mondays With Maida - Ischler Cookies
Page 171 in the old book / page 206 in the new book I knew these were going to be a hit - how could they not? Two cookies, rich with butter and ground almonds, are sandwiched together with some sweet and tart apricot jam and then given a crowd-pleasing...
- My Favorite Icebox Cookies
This is where I usually put the photo of a cookie that didn't make it onto my short list, but the more I thought about these simple-yet-beautiful, go-with-anything Sesame Fingers, the more I realized that they deserved a place on my list of favorites....
- My Favorite Bar Cookies
Aspen Date-Nut Fingers aren't on my short list, but from now on, powdered-sugar-dusted cookies will always make me think of Suzanne! I'm nearing the halfway point in this little venture and already I'm starting to think about what I will...
Cooking
My Favorite Rolled Cookies
These Swedish Ginger Cookies were a joy to make and tasted great too - they just missed my short list.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel! I miscounted the number of remaining chapters when I concluded the icebox cookie chapter, but though there are still two chapters remaining, there are just 32 cookies to go. 116 other cookies are but memories now, including 27 rolled cookies...
I have to say, this was probably the chapter I feared most. I've never been very good at rolling cookie dough and I'm not sure I improved much as I worked my way through this chapter. I wish there were tips I could pass along for rolling dough evenly or preventing it from sticking, but these things still seem to more dependent upon the character of the dough than anything I do. I have learned that I have a fondness for filled cookies over plain old rolled cookies and given a choice, I will shy away from thinly rolled dough.
Though the seemingly endless number of plain brown cookies (be they honey, ginger, or whole wheat) got a little boring, there was only one truly awful cookie. I found it difficult to narrow my favorites to just a few but though I was tempted to include just about all of the filled cookies, I finally managed to winnow the list down to six. So here's my quickie recap of the best of the best. As usual, the runners-up are in no particular order and I've saved my very favorite cookie for last...
My go-to sugar cookie recipe - Plain Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies - with a new look, but the same wonderful flavor thanks to plenty of real butter and vanilla.
Unbelievably light and tender, these Rum Raisin Shortbread cookies had a wonderful rum flavor that wasn't the least bit harsh.
I loved the flavor of these elegant Viennese Chocolate Cookies - chocolate and almond with a surprising hint of lemon.
Perfect for the holidays, for company, or any other special occasion, Ischler Cookies are bound to please just about everyone. Two almond cookies with a little apricot jam in the middle and a semisweet chocolate glaze on the outside sounds like a winning combination and it is!
What I like most about filled cookies is the filling and these Hamantaschen deliver a generous helping of a delicious prune and apricot filling. The delicate orange-scented pastry is pretty great too!
And surprise, surprise, the greatest of them all - BIG NEWTONS! (Ha! Take that Cookie Panel!) Really though, these are seriously good cookies. Each time I look at that picture, the memory of them is so strong, I can practically taste and smell them. They're really that good.
So now on to "Hand-Formed Cookies" - I've been looking forward to this one. I love rolling little balls of dough between my hands and welcome the break from the rolling pin! By the way, in case you're new here - all the cookies on this page are from Maida Heatter's Book of Great Cookies. The book is out of print but still available as a remainder, used, or in your library. All but one of the recipes were also reprinted in the newer Maida Heatter's Cookies which also includes cookie recipes from a couple of her other books. Read about my little project here and start here if you're interested in exploring my earlier posts.
- Mondays With Maida - Chocolate-chip Pillows
Page 194 in the old book / page 222 in the new book Wouldn't you know... chocolate finally shows up again and Denny is away for the week on travel. It would be hard to imagine anyone not liking these little pie-shaped cookies filled with chocolate...
- Mondays With Maida - Uppakra
Page 186 in the old book / page 216 in the new book If only these had come up a week earlier in the rotation! These pretty little Swedish cookies are rich and crumbly and would be perfect included in an assortment of Christmas cookies. With their buttery...
- Mondays With Maida - Ischler Cookies
Page 171 in the old book / page 206 in the new book I knew these were going to be a hit - how could they not? Two cookies, rich with butter and ground almonds, are sandwiched together with some sweet and tart apricot jam and then given a crowd-pleasing...
- My Favorite Icebox Cookies
This is where I usually put the photo of a cookie that didn't make it onto my short list, but the more I thought about these simple-yet-beautiful, go-with-anything Sesame Fingers, the more I realized that they deserved a place on my list of favorites....
- My Favorite Bar Cookies
Aspen Date-Nut Fingers aren't on my short list, but from now on, powdered-sugar-dusted cookies will always make me think of Suzanne! I'm nearing the halfway point in this little venture and already I'm starting to think about what I will...