Category Archives: Favorite Cookie Recipes

Starry-Eyed Over Star Anise Snickerdoodles

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A simple cookie with a powerhouse of flavor.

A simple cookie with a powerhouse of flavor.

 

Think of these as your favorite snickerdoodles — only taken up a big notch.

They’re crisp on the edges, and wonderfully chewy in the center. And they boast that old-fashioned cinnamon-sugar flavor we all love. What’s more, they get an unexpected punch of star anise, which lends warm, balanced licorice, tarragon and fennel notes.

My husband said they tasted exotic. I think they taste irresistible. Especially with coffee, chai tea or hot chocolate.

“Star Anise Snickerdoodles” is a recipe from “Incredibly Decadent Desserts Over 100 divine Treats with 300 Calories or Less” (Oxmoor House, 2015), of which I received a review copy.

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The cookbook is by Cooking Light recipe developer Deb Wise. The recipes use moderate amounts of sugar and fat without sacrificing texture or flavor. Wise is a fan of whole grains, reduced fat cream cheese, fat-free Greek yogurt, and even Cool Whip.

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Going Green (Tea Lemon Wafers) This Christmas

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A different kind of Christmas cookie.

A different kind of Christmas cookie.

 

You have to love a book that invites you to bake a different cookie every day in the lead up to Christmas.

Indulging in a different, freshly baked treat every day? What could be better?

That’s just the premise of “Cookie Advent Cookbook” (Chronicle Books), of which I received a review copy. The cookbook is by Virginia Van Vynckt and Barbara Grunes, two authors who are avowed cookie lovers.

Kids will love the cover of the book, depicting a Christmas tree laden with 24 ornaments. Lift up the flap on each ornament to uncover a tiny illustration of the “cookie of the day.”

The cookies are standard classics for the most part, such as “Swedish Thumbprints,” “Candy Cane Cookies,” and “Pistachio Cranberry Biscotti.”

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I gravitated toward one of the slightly more unusual ones, “Green Tea Lemon Wafers.” These are a breeze to make because the flour, sugar, egg and butter get cooked on the stovetop in a saucepan.

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Introducing Cookies & Beer — Really!

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Would you like a cookie with your beer?

Would you like a cookie with your beer?

 

If you’re like me and usually associate drinking beer with noshing on salty, savory or spicy foods, then you’re in for a delightful surprise with “Cookies & Beer” (Andrews McMeel).

The fun little book, of which I received a review copy, is by Jonathan Bender, a Kansas City-based journalist and founder of Recommended Daily, a site devoted to local food news.

Bender solicited cookie recipes from chefs around the country. With each, he’s paired a specific beer, and tells you his reasoning behind his picks. It will definitely make you see beer — and cookies — in a new light.

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Sugar and Spice, And Apricot-Ginger Cookies That Are Oh-So-Nice

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Start your ovens, people. It's cookie time.

Start your ovens, people. It’s cookie time.

 

Say good-bye to turkey, and hello to cookies.

With Thanksgiving over, it’s now the serious start of cookie baking season.

What better treat to get you in the mood, too, than “Big Chewy Apricot and Ginger Cookies”?

Nothing says winter holidays quite like the fragrance of cinnamon, ginger and molasses wafting from the kitchen. And this cookie has ginger in spades. Three kinds: ground, fresh, and crystallized. It’s ideal for a ginger fanatic like myself.

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Prepare Yourself For Guittard’s Luscious Chocolate Banana Blondies

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Brownies? Or blondies? Whatever you call them, they are the bomb!

Brownies? Or blondies? Whatever you call them, they are the bomb!

 

What’s in a name? Well, would you believe these are blondies?

In my world, just by appearance alone, these are brownies.

But in the first cookbook by Burlingame’s bean-to-bar chocolatier Guittard, these are indeed blondies. “Chocolate Banana Blondies” to be exact.

No matter how you refer to them, you will be calling them ravishingly good after one bite.

“Guittard Chocolate Cookbook” (Chronicle Books) was written by Amy Guittard. We should all be so lucky as to have born into a chocolate dynasty. Her great-great-grandfather founded the Guittard Chocolate Company in 1868. It is America’s oldest continuously family-run chocolate company.

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You probably know its baking products from store shelves. If you’re a See’s Candies fan, you also know Guittard because it supplies the chocolate that goes into all those homespun bonbons.

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