Tag Archives: cookies

A Holiday Cookie Exchange That Gives Back

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We’re heading to a holiday cookie exchange on Saturday (hence my cry for help on Facebook) that I’m really excited about. Our friends thought this type of party would be a great way to mobilize a bunch of people to help the community while having a lot of fun in the process. I could babble on, but I think I’ll just cut and paste the invite instead so you can see the details for yourself. Feel free to use it as a template for your own party!

We invite you to  join us for our annual cookie exchange.  Our hope is to again send you home with a wonderful assortment of delicious holiday cookies while at the same time working together to help make the holidays a bit better for others in our community.

COOKIES

The idea is for you to take home about half of the cookies you bring.  Together, we will put the other half into individual tins to be delivered to seniors and shut-ins.  So bring as many cookies as you want to bake!  And if you do not care to bake nor to take home any cookies, please just bring more of the items needed for the food pantry.

FOOD PANTRY

We are also asking for your help with gathering items for local food pantries.  Listed below are those items which they need most.

Beans + Rice:  We hope that as many of you as possible will bring large bags of black beans (10#), pinto beans (20#) and/or rice (20#), all of which may be purchased at Costco.  We will then work together to break down the large bags into smaller individual bags, which saves the food pantries a great deal of volunteer labor.

Senior bags:  The Healdsburg food pantry assembles bags for about 35 seniors in our community and they are always in need of the following items in individual packages:

  • fruit/breakfast bars (soft to chew)
  • instant oatmeal packets
  • fruit and/or pudding cups
  • hot cocoa
  • bar soap or soft soap in pump bottles
  • toothbrushes and toothpaste
  • cereal
  • jello + boxed pudding
  • macaroni + cheese
  • tuna fish
  • low sodium soups
  • peanut butter
  • dish detergent
  • toileteries: shampoo, conditioner, mouthwash, deodorant
  • tea and coffee-individual sizes (like Starbucks)

We look forward to spending a fun and rewarding afternoon together and thank you in advance for your generous souls.

How cool is that? I’m bringing these oatmeal cookies as one of my contributions and would LOVE to know your favorite cookie/bar/brownie recipe. Leave a link below or on Facebook!

Need more creative cookie ideas? Alison recently when to a cookie exchange hosted by Food Bloggers Los Angeles. Here are some more recipes from our creative friends at FBLA:

FBLA 2013 Cookie Exchange Recipes

Non-Cookie Items

 

Cardamom Gingersnap Cookies

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Inspired by Monica Bhide’s suggestion, we’ve updated traditional gingersnaps with the addition of freshly ground green cardamom for a sweet pungency that underscores the warmth of the ginger. We also use maple syrup instead of traditional, stronger-flavored molasses so the spices can really shine. And for deeper flavor, I’ll use our DIY Ghee instead of regular butter.  A 2-teaspoon cookie scoop is ideal to portion out the dough. Gently flattening the dough with the bottom of a sugar-dipped glass gives them a uniform shape and lends a pretty sparkle to the finished cookies. Or, if you like your gingersnaps thin and crispy, roll the dough to a 1/8-inch thickness and cut it out with a cookie cutter for a spicy spin on traditional sugar cookies. When rolling the dough out, I find it helpful to roll it between two sheets of parchment or waxed paper and chill it for 15 minutes before cutting out shapes. This makes it easier to remove the paper and to cut the cookies cleanly.

cardamom-gingersnap-cookies-recipe1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground green cardamom
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) butter OR DIY Ghee, softened
1/2 cup sugar, plus additional for shaping cookies
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon water
Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Whisk together the first 6 ingredients; set aside.

Place butter and 1/2 cup sugar in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer until thoroughly combined. Add maple syrup and water; beat until thoroughly combined. Beat in flour mixture. Chill dough for 15 minutes.

Drop dough in 2-teaspoonful mounds onto 2 cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Place about 1/4 cup sugar in a shallow bowl. Dip the bottom of a small glass into regular or turbinado sugar, and use the bottom of the glass to gently flatten each cookis to a 2-inch diameter. (Continue dipping the glass into the sugar as needed to prevent it from sticking to the cookies.) (Or roll dough to 1/8-inch thickness between 2 sheets of parchment or waxed paper, chill 15 minutes, and use a 2-inch cookie cutter to cut out cookies. Then sprinkle cookies with regular or turbinado sugar.)

Bake at 375 F for 12-14 minutes or until light golden-brown. Cool on pans for 2 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely on a wire rack.

Yields 18 cookies

Fair-Trade Chocolate Earthquake Cookies

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I made a version of these addictive chocolate cookies in culinary school. Rolling the dough in two kinds of sugar creates a crackled appearance when the cookies spread as they bake. Since chocolate is the main ingredient, they’re an ideal way to showcase an artisanal product like Fair Trade-Certified chocolate.

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:4]

Need more Valentine’s Day inspiration? Check out these recipes from our friends at Food Bloggers Los Angeles:

FBLA Chocolate Party 2014 Recipe and Resource Links

Desserts

Savory Dishes

Champagne/Sparkling Wine Recommendations

  • Jaume Serra Cristalino Brut Cava ($7 “but tastes like $20+”) — Andrew Wilder of Eating Rules
  • NV Presto Prosecco Brut ($10-$12), a “price performer” — Alison Ashton of NOURISH Evolution
  • Brut Roederer Estate Mixed Vintage ($20) — Jennifer Daskevich of A Little Gourmet Everyday
  • Colbert Eco Brut (sugar-free organic sparkling wine; $25) — Caren Magill of The Fit Habit
  • Barefoot Bubbly Brut Cuvée ($10.99). “When serving mimosas there is no need to buy expensive bubbly, but naturally you don’t want to serve your guests headache-inducing sparkling wines or champagne either. The Brut Cuvée is Barefoot’s most traditional bubbly and tastes of green apple and jasmine with hints of kiwi and peach flavors which bubble up for a crisp finish and, in my opinion, make a delightful Mimosa,” said Priscilla Willis of She’s Cookin’.

 

Chocolate Orange Pistachio Biscotti

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By Jacqueline Church

This chocolate biscotti recipe is infused with orange flavor. Much of the vitamin C from citrus is in the pith and peel which also contain its essential oils. Use a microplane grater to remove the fragrant zest, but not the bitter pith, from a well-washed Minneola. The zest and wine or liqueur lends an additional orange boost to these delicious anytime cookies.

chocolate-biscotti-cookies-recipe1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon Minneola zest
2 tablespoons orange Muscat dessert wine or orange liqueur
1 cup shelled pistachios
3 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate, cut into pieces (about 1/2 cup)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

In a separate large bowl, cream sugar and butter with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping down bowl as needed. Mix in zest and wine. Add flour mixture a little at a time, and then pistachios and chopped chocolate.

Form two flat logs about 12 x 2-1/2 inches on prepared baking sheet. Bake 25-30 minutes, until slightly firm.

Remove sheet from oven and cool for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees F. Transfer logs to cutting board by lifting parchment, then slice logs into 3/4-inch slices. Line the baking sheet with new parchment and transfer biscotti, cut side down, onto the sheet. Bake until crisp, turning halfway through, about 10-15 minutes.

Cool completely on a wire rack.

Makes 36 biscotti