Two for the Price of One Valentine’s Cookies!
I heart these cookies! I know that is the lamest pun ever, but it's still true so I thought I'd say it anyway. If you can't decide between your favourite treats this Valentine's Day, why should you? Just go with both! This is actually two entirely separate recipes, that can be made entirely separately, eaten separately etc. For the sake of presentation - and because these two flavours go AMAZINGLY well together - I put one heart inside another for the best value two-for-one you'll see this Valentine's Day! Yup, peanut butter and chocolate heart cookies.
Christmas Cookie Times: Chocolate-Dipped Vanilla Walnut Biscotti
For the first of my Christmas cookies series - Better-than-Starbucks' Ginger Molasses Cookies - click here. So, I uploaded these pics, deleted the ones I didn't like, and then chose the one above - my favourite - and now that I see it in large size I see it's blurry! Aaahhh I hate when that happens but I've eaten ALL of the biscotti now - (I DID make them a couple of weeks ago in my defense), and I have so many more cookie recipes to try before Christmas. SO, I doubt I'll get to them again... I hope, then, that a good recipe is a decent exchange for a crappy photo? Sorry! These chocolate-dipped biscotti make a GREAT gift to give someone, because they last really well. Of course the meaning of biscotti (think bi-scotti) means twice-cooked, so the secret to the crunchiness of biscotti is cooking them twice. Actually, because on the second round of cooking you have to cook each side you’re really baking them three times. But it’s worth the wait! Biscotti last up to 2 weeks in an airtight container stored at room temperature, and I made 20 out of my batch. They're great for dipping in coffee or tea as they soften up nicely in the liquid and make a great accompaniment. You can get them really crumbly like the ones they serve at Starbucks, but these ones still have a slight softness to them and I prefer that myself. Although they are twice cooked, so it does take a bit longer to make them, they are super easy and if you have kids the chocolate-dipping part is lots of fun!
Christmas Cookie Times: Better-than-Starbucks’ Ginger Molasses Cookies
Have you seen those big ginger molasses cookies in Starbucks, and drooled? I have drooled, I'm almost certain. They are so big and perfectly coated in sugar crystals, and look so warm and inviting and like such a great accompaniment to a hot drink like, oh, I don't know...a gingerbread latte maybe? Or an eggnog latte? (*Update! Thanks to the coincidental timing of the universe, Chocolate-Covered Katie posted a recipe for a healthier, homemade Gingerbread Spice Latte on her blog today - check it out here - it's the perfect complement to one of these cookies!) The problem is, I give in, I have one, and I feel gross. Maybe some of you lucky ducks don't have this problem but with the sugar in them (41 grams! Wow. 41 grams = sugar high, and an inevitable - and bad - sugar LOW), the high calories (430! In ONE COOKIE! That's a whole dinner!) and the high fat content (12g baby), that cookie isn't looking so good anymore. But still - they LOOK so irresistible. And smell even better.
The Cookie Monster Strikes Again!…and the Amy’s Giveaway Winner
I've told you before that I love cookies. I officially turn into a Cookie Monster when they're around. Alas, the soft, gooey, chewy Mrs. Fields cookies I loved so much growing up now make me feel so ill from all of their truckloads of sugar that cookies are a rare treat to be enjoyed only when I bother to make a batch. I've been baking with stevia and agave, and both produce good cookies. Really yummy, delicious cookies, like these I made only a month or so ago. Oh they were delicious.