Last week, while visiting Penzey’s, I picked up a fun recipe for Hot Chocolate Snowball Cookies, a variation on the Nutty Nuggets/Mexican Wedding Cake/Russian Tea Cake Cookie that is popular this time of year. The cookies were easy to make, and the whole family enjoys the addition to our holiday treat plate.

Becky had a unique opportunity this year – a local radio station, KGO, asked listeners to nominate their favorite cookies with a story and have the opportunity to participate on-air in the annual cookie contest. She was psyched, having found a wonderful recipe perfect for sharing.

Then last week, the night before she was scheduled to deliver 100 cookies, she got the call that the KGO owners had fired most of the on-air talent and the cookie contest was off. You can read about those changes and the impact to the long running radio personalities here.

In the meantime, Becky had all these cookies, with a story, with no place to go. Naturally, I offered her the platform of Kitchen Gadget Girl to tell her story. We don’t actually have staff to fire. Convenient.

We live in the San Francisco Bay Area, but have a cottage on a small lake in Pennsylvania where we spend a good portion of each summer. While there, I love to scour the countryside for auctions, estate sales and antique stores. A number of years ago, I bought a box of kitchen items at an estate sale. Inside the box, stuffed between an angel food cake pan and vintage tin icing tubes, I found a large zip lock bag full of an old woman’s recipe collection. Some of the recipes were clipped from old newspapers or magazines. Most were handwritten. Between the recipes, I found little notes that Mrs. Stull, the woman, had saved. One read, “I put some cream in the ice box. I came over to help with cookies or candy. If you need any help let me know. – Mom.” I was so saddened to think of an entire recipe collection being discarded in the effort to clear out a house at an estate sale. Periodically, I look through the recipes and choose one to make. I feel like it’s a little way to pay tribute to this woman I never met. All of the recipes are for old-fashioned type cookies and candies, things you remember your grandmother making. Even my kids love these Mincemeat Cookies.

Originally from Martha Stewart, the cookies were very easy to mix and bake, and the frosting came together nicely in the stand mixer. I used a 2 inch cookie scoop and my yield was slightly higher than the recipe indicated, 16 cookies total (with a couple misfits for tasting purposes). Now that they are made, I think they would be great additions to the Thanksgiving dessert table – little hands might find them more desirable than pie, and they travel well.

Michelle has been nagging suggesting I bring back this feature, Cookie Thursday, from last year; she has written several times about how much she enjoyed reading about what we were baking in our kitchen. Unfortunately, do to insane after school schedules, and lack of interest on the part of the kids (not in eating the finished product, mind you, just creating them), I have stopped baking every Thursday with the kids. Now I just bake when I find a free moment, or when the mood strikes. Which is still pretty much weekly.

Today I pulled together this quick recipe for Sparkling Ginger Chip Cookies, from 101 Cookbooks. As Heidi said in the intro notes, this recipe is easy to throw together without the mixer. I made a few changes, most notably using 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup cake flour in place of the 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour. Also, I did not have enough unsulphured molasses, so I used brown rice syrup to make up the difference.

The chocolate was the same, and in the future I would look to add ginger chips along with the chocolate, since I think the cookie might be interesting with that addition. It felt as though there was too much ginger in the original recipe, but after baking it was just the right amount. I also baked mine a little bigger than the recipe recommends, and increased the cooking time to 12-14 minutes.

Kids gave these a thumbs up and I think they will make a nice cookie this holiday season.

Have you tried a new cookie recipe recently? What do you crave this time of year?

Light as Air Vanilla Shortbread Fingers

A Nigella Lawson Recipe, from the December 2002 Observer Food Monthly

• 100g icing sugar
• 200g plain flour
• 100g cornflour/cornstarch
• seeds from 1 vanilla bean (slit the vanilla bean and use a small, sharp knife to scrap the beans out)
• 200g very soft unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius/325 degrees Farenheit. Line a cookie sheet/swiss roll tray (approx. 22x36cm or 9×14 inches) with greasproof paper.

Using a food processor (if you have one), whizz together the dry ingredients and the seeds from the vanilla bean. Add the butter, in tablespoonful sized pieces, then whizz until combined into a dough (it will clump around the blade of the food processor).

Gently flour your hands, and spread the dough out on the baking sheet. A little patience is required – it will take a bit of time. Suggest starting out by using your hands to distribute it as evenly as you can, and then smoothing it out with a wooden or firm plastic spatula or another flat cooking utensil. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into fingers of the size you want (say 3 rows of 12). Prick each shortbread finger a few times with a fork.

Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and using the same sharp knife, cut the shortbread into fingers again along the lines that you cut before baking (this ensures the fingers won’t stick together when it’s time to remove them from the pan). Return the pan to the oven, and cook for another 5-7 minutes. The shortbread around the edges of the pan should be just starting to turn a light golden brown.

Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then gently remove from pan and leave to cool on a cooling rack until completely cool. Store in an airtight container. These freeze very well.

Variations:

• Brown sugar & cinnamon: replace icing sugar with the same weight of brown sugar, and add 1 tsp of cinnamon
• Citrus & almond: Use 50g of finely ground almonds in place of 25g of the cornflour/cornstarch AND 25g of the flour, and add the zest of 1 lemon or 1/2 orange and 1/4 tsp of almond extract
• Hazelnut & chocolate: Use 50g of finely ground hazelnuts in place of 25g of cornflour/cornstarch AND 25g flour, and when cooled, dip the end of each finger in melted chocolate

I decided to go with the citrus and almond recipe, since I had ground almond meal on hand, as well as a couple oranges. Even though my batch was a little toastier than directed, I found the recipe super easy and the end result is tasty. Very good with a cup of tea in the morning while waiting for the kids to get off to school.

A very simple cut-out cookie, the Sand Tart has cinnamon ‘n sugar (my Mom always kept an old spice jar filled with her own mix) as well as a blanched almond on the top. We cut them into triangles, using angles and slides, but you could easily use your favorite cookie cutter.

Sand Tarts

Family favorite from the 1930′s, originally from Everyday American Cookbook

• 1 1/4 cup butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs, separated
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp grated lemon zest
• 4 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Cinnamon and sugar mixture
• Blanched almond halves

Sift flour and salt together.

Cream butter until light; add sugar and beat until smooth. Beat in 1 whole egg and one egg yolk, vanilla extract and lemon zest.

Gradually add in flour mixture and mix until well blended. Refrigerate dough for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 400F. Line cookie sheets with parchment. Beat remaining egg white slightly.

Roll dough out to 1/8″ thick on lightly floured surface. Cut out with a cookie cutter (or use a pizza cutter to make diagonal lines) and place shapes on the prepared cookie sheets. Brush each cookie with egg white; sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar and press 1/2 almond into the center of each.

Bake 8 minutes until delicately brown.

This recipe is submitted as part of Joy of Baking’s Vintage Thursday roundup. Check out Joy’s site for more great family favorites!

Drop In and Decorate is the brain child of Lydia, from The Perfect Pantry. The idea is to make a bunch of plain sugar cookies and invite your friends over to help decorate, then donate to an organization in your community. A party with a purpose! I hosted one of these events last December, when we decorated 95 cookies to donate to the Ronald McDonald House at Stanford. In May, I hosted another event for Mother’s Day, and we decorated and donated 160 cookies. This time, we surpassed both those achievements!

Special thanks to Donna, Christy, Rachel and Cherie for helping me with cookie baking, and Lisa for being my frosting buddy! Could not have done it without you!

I generally use Hachiya for breads and cookies, and enjoy Fuyu in salads. The trick with Hachiyas is to make sure you let them ripen completely, until very soft and gelatin-like, otherwise, they are too astringent. And the Fuyus are meant to be eaten crisp – I like to peel mine, and slice into thin pieces.

Here are many more of my family’s favorite persimmon recipes:

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Fuyu Persimmons

Persimmons in Salad

Originally from Joe Carcione’s The Greengrocer

Peel a Fuyu (the squat, crisp persimmon) and slice in small sections. Add to a bowl of salad greens and thin sliced red onions. Add a light vinegrette of lemon juice and olive oil for a refreshing seasonal salad.

Persimmon Cake

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 Tablespoons butter, softened
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cups persimmon pulp
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 2 cups chopped dates
• 2 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350F.

Sift together flour, soda, powder and salt. Mix sugar, butter, vanilla, milk, and persimmon pulp, and add in flour mixture. Mix in bread crumbs, dates and nuts.

Pour into two (2) greased loaf pans and bake 65 minutes. Cool.

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Hachiya Persimmons

Persimmon Oatmeal Drop Cookies

• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup persimmon pulp
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cup quick rolled oats
• 1/2 cup coconut
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 375F.

Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs.

Stir soda into persimmon pulp and add to creamed mixture. Add vanilla and sifted dry ingredients. Mix well. Stir in rolled oats, coconut, and nuts.

Using your cookie scoop, drop balls of dough onto greased or parchment-lined cookie sheets. Bake 12 minutes. Makes 6 dozen.

Persimmon Cookies

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups persimmon pulp
• 2 teaspoons baking soda (dissolved in persimmon pulp)
• 4 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups raisins
• 1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350F.

Pour boiling water over raisins and let stand while mixing other ingredients.

Cream sugars and butter well. Add eggs and beat well. Add persimmon pulp and mix well. Sift dry ingredients and add. Mix in vanilla, nuts and raisins.

Using your cookie scoop, drop balls of dough onto greased or parchment-lined cookie sheets. Bake 20 minutes, until light brown. Do not overbake.

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Hachiya (pointy and tall) and Fuyu (short and squat)

Persimmon Refrigerator Roll

• 1 cup persimmon pulp
• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts
• 10 dates, chopped fine
• 10 marshmallows, chopped fine

Mix all ingredients together, then turn onto waxed paper spread with more graham cracker crumbs. Form into a roll about 2″ diameter, coating well with crumbs.

Wrap in waxed paper and chill for at least 2 hours. Slice and serve with whipped cream.

Frozen Persimmon Mousse

• 1 1/2 cups persimmon pulp
• 1/4 cup diced orange
• 1/2 cup diced canned pineapple
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 pint whipped evaporated milk
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Combine pulp, orange, pineapple, sugar, salt and lemon juice. Blend gently, and fold in whipped milk. Pour into freezer unit of ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Indiana Persimmon Bread
originally from Recipe Source

• 1 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup brandy
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
• 2 cups persimmon pulp
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350F.

Soak raisins in brandy, set aside.

Combine sugars, persimmon pulp and oil. Add eggs, one at a time, beat well after each addition. Sift together dry ingredients into medium bowl. Add to egg mixture and stir in brandied raisins and nuts.

Pour into greased 9×5″ loaf pans (two) or 8×4″ loaf pans (three) and bake 1 hour. The larger pans make take a little longer. Use cake tester to ensure bread is done.

Hersheys Chocolate PB Cookies

Be sure to enter the Cuisipro and Vacu Vin Giveaway. A flour sifter would be a great kitchen gadget for this recipe!

I am sure you have seen this recipe, it has been in all my cooking magazines over the last 2 months. Today, we finally got around to making them and I have to say, they are definitely worth the effort.

We used Kirkland brand Organic Peanut Butter and Hershey’s Kisses Dark and the results are cookies that are crisp and light, not too sweet, with a good chocolate-to-peanut butter ratio. It is also an ideal recipe for kids to help with, as there are 60 chocolates to unwrap!

Hershey’s Kisses Peanut Butter Blossoms
recipe provided by Hershey’s Kisses

• 48-60 Hershey’s Kisses Dark Chocolates
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 Tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 375F. Remove wrappers from chocolates.

Cream butter and peanut butter together in a large bowl. Add in granulated and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add in egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Add flour mixture to butter, mix well.

Using your cookie scoop, form dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 10-12 minutes until lightly browned. Remove pans from oven. Immediately press one chocolate into the center of each cookie. Remove cookies to wire rack to cool. Makes 4-5 dozen.

pecan-oatmeal-chocolate-chip

This week’s cookie started out with inspiration from Ina Garten’s Back to Basics cookbook, a great addition to any cookbook collection. Ina’s original recipe is Raisin Pecan Oatmeal Cookies, but due to some dietary restrictions in our house (the husband will not allow a raisin to pass his lips), I was “forced” to modify. Naturally, my go-to in a situation like this are chocolate chips. And boy, was that a great substitution!

Note: Do not skimp on toasting the pecans. It really makes a difference in the final product.

Pecan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 1/2 cups pecans
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
• 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F.

Place pecans on baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes, until lightly toasted. Chop very coarsely.

Beat butter and sugars in mixing bowl until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla.

Sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon and kosher salt together. Add slowly to butter mixture and mix well. Add in oats, chocolate chips and pecans. Batter will be very thick and heavy at this point.

Using your cookie scoop, drop 2-inch balls of dough onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake 12 to 15 minutes, until lightly browned, do not over bake. Cool completely.

pumpkin-chocolate-chip

I had a moment of panic when I pulled them out of the oven – they looked like little rock hard balls and the color was very light pumpkin, and I was thinking they were going to taste just as bad.

Fortunately, looks can be deceiving!

The cookies are moist, and the semi-sweet chocolate is really nice against the autumn spices. I used a little less sugar than the original recipe called for, as I don’t like my cookies really sweet, but I have included the original amount in case you do. Let me know how your’s turn out!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
inspired by California Milk Advisory Board recipe
Makes about 6 dozen

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup each, packed brown and granulated sugars (original 1 1/2 cups each)
• 2 cups pumpkin puree
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups walnuts, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cream butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add in pumpkin, egg, and vanilla, beating well after each addition.

Sift together dry ingredients. Gradually add to pumpkin mixture until well blended. Mix in chocolate chips and walnuts.

Using your cookie scoop, drop heaping teaspoons of batter onto cookie sheets. Bake 15-17 minutes, until edges are golden brown. Do not over bake!

Related Cookie Thursday posts:

Cookie Thursday: Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes

Cookie Thursday: Pumpkin Oatmeal Drops

chocolate-oatmeal-drops

Thank goodness for schools that need cookie incentives. I love to bake, but certainly don’t need to consume all those cookies myself. Tomorrow, my son’s school needs 2 dozen cookies for some project, and I was only too happy to oblige. It has been nearly 3 months since I posted my last cookie recipe, and I did not do a lot of baking this summer.

Today’s cookie is another from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home to Yours, and as far as I can tell (along with my tasters) it is a winner. Very easy to make, you don’t even need a stand mixer or egg beater. And they are perfect for the chocoholic in your family, while the added oatmeal reassures you that they aren’t completely bad for you!

Chocolate Oatmeal Drops

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• 1 Tablespoon water
• 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 9 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I use Ghirardelli bittersweet chips)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups old fashioned oatmeal (not the quick cook kind)

Preheat oven to 350F. Line cookie sheets with parchment.

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.

In a heat proof bowl over simmering water, melt the butter, water, brown sugar and chocolate chips, stirring occasionally until all is melted. Mine looked pretty grainy, and Greenspan warns not to overheat, which would cause the butter to separate.

Remove from heat, and add eggs one at a time (I was whisking constantly to avoid scrambled eggs). Stir in the flour, and then the oats.

Using your cookie scoop, scoop the dough onto the cookie sheets, leaving space between the blobs (they will spread). Bake 12 minutes, swapping the trays top to bottom and front to back, until the edges are crispy and the centers still a little soft. Cool on baking rack.

Next time, I might try adding a little espresso powder, but that might be gilding the lily. They are really outstanding as written….