Swap!

Okay, so you know how you go to cookie swaps, and you come home with 5,000 iced sugar cookies or date cookies or those peanut butter cookies with the Hershey's kisses pressed in the top?  And then you load up the freezer with all those cookies, half of which you're tempted to dump directly in the trash because they're partially burnt and you really didn't like them in the first place?

This is not that cookie swap.

This is better because... wait for it... it's virtual!  It's more like a recipe swap with a cookie theme, and I have my good friend Diana to thank for the idea.  Diana bakes up dozens of cookies every December and gives them out to all the special people in her life.  Since I'm guessing many of you do the same, I'm taking the concept to the blogosphere.

Here's how it'll work:

1) Describe your favorite homemade cookie in the comments section below.  Don't type out a complete recipe or give me all the ingredients -- yet.  Just provide a title for the cookie and a short description of what it looks like/ tastes like/ and/or why it's special to you.  Be shameless and lobby hard, as the competition may be stiff.  If there's a quick story behind the cookie, please share it.  (The recipe can certainly be from a cookbook/magazine/website.)

2) After the deadline (more on this in a minute), you'll all vote for your top three choices.  I'll then contact those three people and ask them to email me full recipes, which I'll bake and blog about (with photos). 

3)  If you have your own food blog, I especially encourage you to participate. You can link to this swap on your blog and have your readers participate either on my blog or on your own.  If you don't have a blog, who cares!  It doesn't matter, and you should absolutely still participate.

Plus, I have PRIZES.

First, there's the raffle/participation prize.  Everyone who leaves a comment with a cookie description will be entered into a raffle after the swap is over, and I'll pick one name out of a hat.  The winner will receive a box of fresh California lemons from my Meyer lemon tree.  (If you live outside the U.S., I'll figure out an alternate prize since I can't ship lemons internationally.)

Plus, the Grand Prize winner -- whom I'll choose after baking the cookies from the three semi-finalists YOU'VE chosen -- will receive (drumroll) some lemons from my tree, PLUS a set of *beautiful* 5 Second Rule notecards.  (FYI: Zazzle is currently running a 50%-off promotion on cards through 12/6, if you enter code ZAZZLECARD50 at checkout. Plus, today only there's free shipping: code CYBERZSHIP08)

Deadline: All comments with cookie descriptions must be received in the space below by Sunday, December 7, 2008.  Then you'll have a few days to vote and I'll take it from there.

Here's a cookie recipe to start things off.

...

Recipe for Whole Grain Cookies with Pulverized Tidbits

I love nuts and coconut, and I sometimes get tired of leaving these out of my cookies since one of my kids hates the texture of both.  Well, I found a solution.  When you reduce the chunks to uniform tidbits, you not only get the subtle flavor notes of all the mix-ins, but your cookies end up with a beautifully speckled interior as well.  You can use any dried fruit or nut combination you like, and any kind of chocolate, too.  Don't like coconut?  Leave it out.  The idea is to have fun and to custom-make the cookies with what you like.  My kids love these, and they couldn't care less what's inside.

Makes about 70 small cookies

1/2 cup flaked (sweetened) coconut, dry-toasted

1 scant cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup pistachios

10 dried apricots

1-1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 sticks (8 ounces) butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

2 large eggs

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

For the pulverized tidbits: Combine coconut, chocolate chips, pistachios, and dried apricots in a food processor.  Process for about 20 seconds, or until reduced to colorful, gravelly rubble.  Click on the small photo above for the optimal size and texture, but you don't have to be too fussy about it.  You'll use 1-1/2 cups of these tidbits in the cookies.  (Save the remainder to sprinkle over oatmeal or granola.)

In a medium bowl, whisk together the two flours, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.  Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and two sugars until light and creamy, about four minutes on medium-high speed.  Add the eggs, one at a time, and then the two extracts.  Reduce the speed to low, and beat in the flour mixture in three additions, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.  Finally, beat in the pulverized tidbits in three additions as well.

Use a 1-1/4" scoop to portion out the dough onto parchment- or Silpat-lined baking sheets.  Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until cookies are set and nicely browned.  Cool on racks.

printable pdf

Comments

[Runaround Sous]

I'm *so* in...

I am entering my Christmas biscotti. (And Cheryl... these are based on the same recipe as the Coconut Pistachio Biscotti that I made for you.)

Why are they special? Ahem, well besides the fact that *I* make them... LOL... the red and green colors provided by the cranberries and pistachio just "scream" festive. And I have refined this recipe enough to add whole wheat flour and flaxseed while keeping a tender delicious cookie that will fool those whole wheat skeptics in your life. These biscotti travel great, ship well and have a long shelf life, too. You might be able to say this about some of your own relatives... but rarely can it be said about holiday baked goods.

There's my pitch! It's "go time"... Rule!

[heather walker]

only 1 cookie per person?

[Cheryl Sternman Rule]

Enter as many concepts as you like!

[Susan Rubin]

This sounds like a great idea, count me in!
Here's my family's favorite cookies, they are gluten free, dairy free, super yummy and easy to make:

Coconut Almond Macaroons

4 large egg whites
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
¼ teaspoon sea salt
1 cup sugar
½ cup flaked coconut
1/3 cup finely chopped almonds

•Beat egg whites & cream of tartar at high speed until soft peaks
•Add sugar 1 tablespoon at a time until stiff peaks form
•Fold in coconut and almonds
•Bake on parchment paper lined cookie sheets at 300 degrees for 40 minutes

[Susan Rubin]

Ooops! Looks like I jumped the gun with my recipe....sorry about that.
Here goes:
Rubin Rodeo Coconut Almond Macaroons
This cookie is near and dear to our hearts because the Rubin family is a clan of macaroon fanatics. We try almond and or coconut macaroons wherever we go. We do the same thing with Key Lime Pie in Key West, but that's another story.
These cookies are the best of both worlds: coconut and almonds. Two really yummy foods.
My fat phobic mother in law likes them because they are made with egg whites....she hasn't yet learned that eggs are back to being A-OK.
The nutritionist in my likes to think that these cookies are a good protein source!

[The Diva on a Diet]

As someone who spends nearly the entire month of December baking cookies to give away ... I'm loving the idea of your virtual swap! I will absolutely link up to this post and encourage my (few and silent) readers to participate. What a great idea, Cheryl, thanks!

The hard part is choosing which cookie to submit because I have so many favorites! And, because I generally try one or two new varieties each year.

Ok, I'm gonna go with: Hungarian Horns. These charming little cookies are a long-time family favorite, passed down from generation to generation on my mother's side. They are similar to a rugelach (sp??) in that finished cookie is rolled to contain the delicious interior of walnuts, cinnamon and sugar. The dough is more or less a sour cream crust - and once baked it puffs and becomes tender and flaky. They are easy to make, fun to roll and end up looking like lovely little croissants.

I love this cookie because it is not overly sweet, pairs well with coffee or tea, freezes and defrosts beautifully ... and they make for a really yummy breakfast as well!

Hungarian Horns are always the first cookie I bake each December. They usher in the holiday season and begin the baking madness! :)

My true favorite cookie is a traditional butter/sugar cookie cut-out. I really go to town in the frosting/decorating department and have standard, elaborate designs for each shape. I'd offer those as another possible entry - but its a 3 day commitment and who would really vote for that? Hungarian Horns it is!

[Charmian Christie]

Old Fashioned Shortbreads

These are the plainest cookies on the plate. No fancy shapes or pretty sprinkles. They aren't sexy, but they're pure heaven. Buttery and sweet. No one, no one can resist them.

Best part? With only four ingredients, they're fool proof (unless you mistake a cup of butter for a pound of butter like my friend one did).

[Natalie]

When thinking of my favorite cookies to bake at this time of year, there are so many great contenders but only one winner.
BOOB COOKIES.
They're pretty much a peppermint meringue with a drop of chocolate in the center on top. They are light, absolutely delicious, and addictive. I've never made anything smaller than a double batch because honestly, when I bring them to school or to cookie swaps or parties or whatever, people inhale them. Seriously, they are that good. Oh, and the name? I made them for a cookie swap a few years ago, and as I set them down on the table, the host's youngish son yelled "MOMMY THOSE COOKIES LOOK LIKE BOOBIES!" Needless to say, we have never let him forget that, but every time we tell the story another request is made for them.

[Mark Scarbrough]

OK, here's mine--and it's not going to sound good from the get-go. But Bruce and I developed a recipe several years ago for our chocolate cookie book--and it's for vegan chocolate chip cookies. (See, I told you it doesn't start off well. No butter, no eggs--and this is Christmas?) Frankly, it's the only chocolate chip cookie we make anymore. Here's the deal: I was sick of those mushy vegan chocolate chip cookies we found at Whole Foods. So we set about to create a very crunchy, very sturdy chocolate chip cookie that was also, ahem, vegan. And after about three weeks at it, we came up with this recipe. To be honest, it's the only recipe we make anymore--and I NEVER tell people they're vegan. I've even got my meat-eatin', steak-lovin', Texas Mom to make them. They're always in our house for the holidays. And a good cup of coffee, of course.

[Clare]

Sheez...there is NO competing with a boob cookie! But here's my favorite to bring to cookie swaps. It's easy. I can make a ton at once, and even better? I don't really have much of a sweet tooth, so these things are just right. Thank you Martha Stewart!

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/cornmeal-cherry-cookies

[Jess]

Do you have a technical definition for cookie? Or can it be anything one gives away for the holidays?

And I expect you to hand me a meyer lemon when I see you...

[Cheryl Sternman Rule]

Oh, man, I'm chomping at the bit here to comment (boob cookies! vegan cookies!) but I'll refrain for fear of influencing the results. (shortbread! coconut almond macaroons!)(Christmas biscotti!)(Hungarian horns!)

Jess, oh you do, do you? Okay.

And let's see: I hadn't considered non-cookie entries, but I don't see why not. Ultimately, it's your fellow participants who will decide the semifinalists, so they'll be the arbiters of whether you stepped too far out of the squiggly, ill-defined lines I drew. But I personally have no problem with thinking outside the box.

[Dana McCauley]

You are so clever! No wonder California is the center (note I used American spelling in deference to your omnipotence!) of the universe!

Here's my cookie: it's old fashioned; it's based on something my mom used to make for Christmas and it makes me happy. I doubt I'll be chosen but here's my descritipion anyhow:

Holiday Hermits: they contain sun dried cherries, blueberries and cranberries, coconut and love. They are humble; they are delicious; they are equally good for breakfast or for tea time. Santa always finishes them when he visits our house.

[Kate linehan]

I think the delicious banana chocolate chip cookie will be good to enter in the contest because it doesn't just taste like a normal chocolate chip cookie because it has a wonderful banana flavor. Once I made these cookies before my mom had come home from work and she was in love with them right away. I didn't add the mixed nut or raisins, but i think it will taste good with or without them. They taste the best when they are right out of the oven because the chocolate has just melted and they are nice and warm. Also, they make 18, but they were gone by one day!

[diana p.]

I'm with Sous on the biscotti train (and not just because the word bears a strong resemblance to my last name). Biscotti are the perfect cookie (says the Italian who never learned how to make Italian dessert foods because my aunts and grandmother only know how to bake in quantities suitable for stuffing four dozen of your closest friends and relatives with platters of zeppoli, pepper cookies, cheesecake and other desserts I don't know how to spell).

Biscotti are ridiculously simple to make, last forever and are so easy to vary according to taste and time of year. I once made nearly 650 of my classic almond biscotti recipe (very austere, just toasted almonds and a strong hit of vanilla) for a big event.

Though my classic recipe has now been retired for reasons too complicated for this blog, I have experimented of late with new versions for the holidays. Three combinations seem to be winners: pistachio, cranberry and dark chocolate; white chocolate and macadamia; and dried cherry, milk chocolate and walnuts.

The best thing is that the master recipe is simplicity in the extreme, includes olive oil instead of butter (one of my favorite baking trips) and always impressive to folks who have no idea exactly how easy biscotti are to make.

And for those who don't like to break their teeth on their biscotti, I always make them a smidge on the soft side (especially with all that chocolate!); they are still crunchy, but don't require a gallon of espresso to eat (though the espresso works particularly well if you add a little kick of something alcohol!).

[Carolyn Jung]

Four words: Ultimate chewy, nutty cookie. Got your attention yet? These Italian macaroons certainly will. I've made them every Christmas for the past eight years. I can't make anything else. Everybody who has ever tried them asks for the recipe. Everyone who has had them begs me to make them again each holiday. At the annual potluck at my former newspaper, people would grab one of these slivered almond-studded beauties before even heading for the entrees to ensure they got one before they all disappeared. Once you've had these, there's no going back. And in case I don't win the contest, those of you who are desperate for the recipe will find it on my FoodGal.com blog next week.

[Nancy]

Oh man, I want those Meyer lemons! Damn Australian import regulations....

Anyway, my submission is sugar cookies, because that's what I make every year. Yes, good old, boring old sugar cookies. But not just any sugar cookies. These are the ultimate sugar cookies. They are simple to make, and you can make them two different ways, neither of which requires rolling out--always a bonus in my book at holiday time--and still get a uniform cookie that is crisp at the edges, chewy in the center, and delicious all the way through. Plus you can accessorize them festively without the bother of icing them. And, no matter how many you make (my personal record is multiplying the recipe by six), you will wish you had made more, because people will devour them.

[Laurel from Simple Spoonful]

Lemon Sunshine Cookies! Oh, so perfect they would be with Meyer lemons, though I'm not sure they can be shipped here, either. (Arizona has some restrictions on shipping in Meyer lemons due to virus problems, but I don't know all the details.)

So here's the thing. I moved to Arizona from Wisconsin several years ago. When I went back to WI for my first Christmas since leaving home, I decided to show all the folks what they were missing and lugged a suitcase half-full of citrus from the trees in my yard to the Great White North. The fam was impressed. Very muchly. They feasted on grapefruit and oranges, and all was good.

However (oddly enough), no one was interested in lemonade when it was 25 degrees outside. To give my beautiful, sweet miniature mystery lemons a home, I hunted down a lime cookie recipe that I then adapted. It's a thumbprint cookie with buttery shortbread-like base that I make with white whole wheat flour and a touch of unrefined sugar for a slight nuttiness and depth. The center is a tangy, brilliant yellow circle of fresh lemon juice and agave nectar (no sugar). They contain very little sugar, a lot of delicious butter, and a whooole lot of happiness. It's also the type of cookie that should be pretty easily adaptable to meet gluten or egg-free needs.

And the fam ate three batches in about 2 days when I was home last week. 'Nuff said.

[Julie]

Cheryl, you made this really easy! One of the faves I go back to year after year are my grandma's thumbprints. But these are different than usual thumbprints! The dough is "eggier" so the cookie turns out really tender and moist (not overbaking is crucial). Plus, they are rolled in ground walnuts before baking and the filling isn't jam or the dreaded hershey kiss, but red and green icing made with powdered sugar. They are so good. PS, I really want those lemons!!

[heather walker]

Well - if I can offer more than 1, I say Game On! I'm giving you 3 entries.

1. Chrust: This is a traditional Polish cookie that my wife's family grew up making. It's a very simple dough of egg yolks, flour, powdered sugar, vanilla and rum. You knead it, roll it super thin, slice it into 4" strips. Then you slit the center of each strip and pull one end of the dough through, creating a 3 dimensional ribbon. These get fried and powdered with sugar. Delicious. Tradition has it that the kids get the important job of "sugar girl" or "sugar boy" and once, when my wife was bringing a box of them on the plane for Christmas at my home, she was bumped up to first clss for offering them to the flight attendant who had wistfully mentioned that she was raised with them too!

2. Orange-sable Ginger cookies: These are my perennial "cookie swap cookie" which, Cheryl, I think is a step to the left of the array of Rice Krispie wreaths and Peanut Butter Blossoms you ridiculed in your opening paragraph.
These are made with ground almonds, sugar, butter, orange zest, etc. I roll it out into logs, roll the logs into crystallized ginger and slice them. The log rolls can be made ahead and freeze beautifully.

3. Chocolate Coconut Pinwheels: here's another I make at Christmas, because really, anytime is a good time for coconut! They are a coconut dough that I roll out into a rectangle, slather with a dark chocolate/condensed milk ganache, rolled into a log and sliced. The swirl looks fancy, the cookie is delightfully chewy, coconutty and chocolate.

[Elisa]

My entry today -- Chocolate chip oatmeal peanutbutter cookies! These are delicious -- great texture and a wonderful peanutbutter/chocolate flavor (I don't like plain peanutbutter cookies as they are too peannuty for me). This recipe is special as someone I was working with made them and they were so delicious, I raved about them and demanded the recipe -- our great friendship began with this recipe exchange and has only deepened over the past 5 years.

If a cookie tastes good and creates great friendships, it is a winner! Plus it is easy to make.

[Eagranie]

I got all excited for the Meyer lemon care package and then I read the fine print about international shipping. Listen, I'll stand at the US-Canada border for those lemons, y'hear?

My submission is for cranberry shortbread. It's a standard shortbread, but with chopped dried cranberries added in for good measure. (One year I did crystallized ginger - that was good too.)

They're special because I've made them every Christmas for the past ten years, with the exception of one year when I couldn't get home in time for Christmas. I never really thought that my edible gifts were all that special (there are usually 4-6 types of cookies each season) until that year. My inbox overflowed with odes to my Christmas cookies, requests to have them shipped across the country, and repeated pleas of why why why??? weren't there any Christmas cookies that year.

Also, they're special because they're the only Christmas cookies that my mom will eat. It doesn't matter what beautiful recipes I've developed over the years - she just wants these.

[Sheryl Cardozo]

I'm going to nominate my "Saltine Crack-er Cookies" adapted from my passover time "Matzah Crack". Called such because you can't stop eating it. Its more like a nut roca, but I bring it to cookie swaps so I'm putting it here.

Near and dear to my heart because it is SOOOOO easy to make- takes about 15 minutes for a batch. And this time of year, quick and easy outshines low GI any day of the week.

[Lisa]

I wasn't going to submit because I'm already in a quandry over which cookies to vote for. So many good choices. Then Cheryl applied a wee bit of pressure...... My favorite is a bar cookie with a shortbread crust, caramel layer topped with a layer of brownie. Oh sooooooo good.

[Jess]

The only problem with holiday cookies, by my book, is that one CAN have too many. The Curiously Strong Buttermint Crunch I made last year - just an easy, straightforward buttercrunch recipe, sprinkled with (you guessed it!) crushed Altoids, gave me the minty pick-up I wanted after every meal without the leaden feeling I get after gorging on an entire plateful of cookies or the artificial taste of candy canes - and, my fave, the ingredients come with a gift tin.

Recipe here:
http://jessthomson.wordpress.com/2007/12/05/339-curiously-strong-buttermint-crunch/