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Christmas Gingerbread Bowl

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This Christmas Gingerbread Bowl is perfect for your Christmas cookie exchange or to give as a home made gift during the holidays! Simply fill with cookies, wrap in cellophane and finish with a big bow.

Christmas Gingerbread Bowl
Christmas Gingerbread Bowl

Christmas Bowl Inspiration

The story of this Christmas Gingerbread Bowl goes way back to the 1990’s and one of those office potlucks I’ve referenced several times in this blog.

One of my co-workers brought in this show stopping gingerbread bowl filled with cookies and it did indeed wow us all. I re-created the bowl while living in Vancouver, put the recipe away and forgot about it.

Living in Calgary I attempted to make the bowl again, several times with no luck. Living so far above sea level definitely was affecting this bowl. So I decided to try turning my Orange Gingerbread Cookie into a bowl. Low and behold it worked.

Christmas Gingerbread Bowl
Christmas Gingerbread Bowl

What you need to make this bowl

  • Patience
  • Aluminum Foil
  • Cooking oil or spray
  • Cutting board or platter to fit bowl (not too big, not too small)
  • Small cookie cutter
  • Baking sheet
  • 1 1/2 quart ovenproof glass bowl (I use a Pyrex Mixing Bowl with a lip)
Pyrex Bowl
Pyrex Mixing Bowl, Photo Credit Pyrex

 

PRO TIPS:

  • Give yourself a day to make this bowl.
  • Make the dough from the Orange Gingerbread Cookie recipe.
  • Refrigerate dough a couple of hours.
  • Remove dough from fridge, let warm up a bit and start to roll. If you start to notice cracks, you need to let it warm up a little longer but not too long!
Christmas Gingerbread Bowl
Christmas Gingerbread Bowl

Here’s How You Make the Bowl

With aluminum foil cover outside of 1 1/2 quart ovenproof glass bowl with a lipped edge. Ensure the foil comes over into the inside about 1/2 inch. Spray or oil the entire surface of the bowl including the lipped edge getting every crack and crevice. Do your best to make sure foil is smooth and has no rough aluminum foil creases.

On floured surface roll out one disc of dough into a circle about 1/4 inch thick. Lift rolled out dough and place evenly onto bowl. Carefully and lightly press dough onto bowl, moulding firmly to shape bowl without stretching. If you end up with a crack, a little bit of water rubbed onto crack will help seal it.

Trim dough around edge of bowl with sharp knife. Place on same size cutting board or plate and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Remove from refrigerator, and using your small cookie cutter start carefully cutting out cookies around the middle of the bowl about 1 1/2 – 2 inches apart. Do not go to close to the top or bottom.

Refrigerate for an additional 1 1/2 hours. Firming your dough will help stop slippage during baking.

Christmas Gingerbread Bowl
Christmas Gingerbread Bowl

Preheat your oven to 350F.

Place inverted bowl on an ungreased baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Allow gingerbread bowl to cool right on bowl on the sheet. When completely cool, carefully loosen foil and lift foil and gingerbread bowl off your glass bowl. Remove any additional foil.

Until ready to use, store it uncovered in a dry place. With the second gingerbread disk, make cookies for your bowl following the steps in the Orange Gingerbread Cookie recipe.

This recipe will make two bowls or one bowl and cookies.

Looking for more holiday cookie ideas?! Check out these popular recipes:

Honey Cranberry Cookies

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A new year means healthier eating right? But what about the cookies?

With resolutions of healthier eating it’s hard to give up snacks. So let’s talk oatmeal cookies, which come in all shapes and sizes. They really do. Soft and chewy, with ginger, chocolate chips, raisins, cinnamon and more. Everyone has a favourite and/or a favourite recipe they love. When I was a kid, my mom would make us papaya oatmeal cookies. I haven’t had one of those in years. But I found her recipe so it’s coming. To satisfy our sweet tooth and help get us through the first month of the year, we whipped up these Honey Cranberry Cookies.

Honey Cranberrey Cookies
Top view of the cookies

We’ve added cranberries, honey and sunflower seeds into this cookie to make us feel better about eating it. It works! And is the perfect January, get back to healthy, cookie treat to allow yourself on cheat days. Or in between.

Espresso Cookies

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Espresso Cookies
Espresso Cookies

I like coffee and I love the smell of coffee. But I typically can only drink about half a cup of coffee before I’ve had enough. I even like it cold so the new nitro cold coffee fad was made for me. Unless of course my coffee comes with baileys or some other delectable enhancer.

While I may not drink a lot of coffee, I do like to eat my coffee. In baking and rubs and whatever else might work.

For this recipe I whipped up a batch of cookie dough and dropped in some of my ground espresso. What happened next was this insanely delicious cookie dough. In fact it was hard to stop eating it. The ground espresso showed beautiful flakes in the dough. It’s easy to roll out and doesn’t need to be refrigerated to firm up before baking.

The cookie dough displays a strong coffee flavour. The baked cookie just a hint. In fact my kids love this cookie (they are to young to drink coffee so they don’t really recognize the coffee flavour). You can add some sprinkles or not. Cut out any shape you like, re-roll and start over. These cookies were so good I’m going to go espresso & cookie crazy I think since the combinations could be endless.

Espresso Cookies
Espresso Cookies

 

Cocoa Nib Shortbread by Kimberley’s Kitchen

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Kimberley over at Kimberley’s Kitchen and I share a common bond….we are both Northern BC girls. I grew up in Northern BC and even though I left in 1989, I still pay homage to the town I grew up in. Kimberley lives in a town near where I grew up and it is there she creates hand-crafted artisan confections and fine foods using organic, fair trade and local ingredients/foods to create delicious treats and baked goods. Cooler yet is she sells them in her online store and packages them in sustainable bags and boxes. I’ve actually had my eyes on her marshmallows for quite some time!

We’ve gotten to know each other over social media, and I’m so thrilled to have Kimberley as my Guest Blogger for December. She is another one of those friends I feel like I’ve known a long time. Maybe it’s that NBC bond we share. In any case I was supposed to have this post up a little earlier this month, but sick on top of sick, my husband being sick, my MIL sick following surgery, plus a new puppy to keep us up at night…well let’s just say we are doing our best to capture the Christmas spirit this year.

I hope Kimberley doesn’t mind me sharing her fantastic news, but she is going to be moving her baking operation into a commercial kitchen in the New Year with construction beginning in January!! Such an exciting time for her and her family. I know it’s going to be a great year for her and wish her much success! Make sure you get to know Kimberley from Kimberley’s Kitchen…I think she’s going to be quite famous one day :).

Shortbread cookies are a mainstay in my kitchen and a popular cookie to make with my daughters. We love to experiment with new flavors and we recently tried making some with raw cocoa nibs. Have you cooked or baked with cocoa nibs before? They have a wonderfully nutty, chocolate flavour but are not at all sweet. So if you like bittersweet chocolate or coffee, try adding cocoa nibs into your recipes for something a little different. The bittersweet cocoa nib perfectly compliments the sweetness of the shortbread in this recipe and is a fun, new cookie for the holidays. Variations include using orange extract instead of vanilla, or finishing the cookies with some sweet chocolate drizzle. Enjoy! – Kimberley

 

Cocoa Nib Shortbread by Kimberley's Kitchen
Cocoa Nibs for Shortbread. Photo by Kimberley’s Kitchen

 

Eggnog Sugar Cookies with Candy Cane Sprinkles

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What a crazy past couple of weeks. I remember Halloween..then my son’s birthday and wham here we are just weeks away from Christmas. From frantic bake sale baking, long distance cookie swap baking to mom’s wine night & cookie exchange baking….I feel like I barely came out alive. Maybe I just take on too much every holiday season and need to rethink my strategy next year. To add to all the craziness was the onset of the sick in November. From colds, pneumonia, bronchitis, tonsillitis to ear infections..4 in our party of 5 got hit pretty hard and I was one of them. Seems the older you get the harder you fall and while I don’t usually get sick, I fell pretty hard this time. Which meant no wine for weeks. On the bright side we are all done with being sick and I refuse to let it back in the house any time soon. Bring on Christmas.

One of the cookie swaps I am involved with again this year is the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2014. It’s a world wide affair but you have to be a Food Blogger to participate. For a small submission fee (goes to Cookies for Kids’ Cancer), you get matched up with other Food Bloggers in your Country. You always hope you end up with delicious cookies but that is the chance you take when you participate in something like this. It annoys me to no end to hear people complain that their cookies were not that good. Then honestly don’t participate it’s that simple since it’s for charity and it’s fun. The only thing I wish more bloggers would do is get acquainted with the more popular social media channels!! This year I sent my cookie swap cookies to BC and Saskatchewan. A little closer for me and I was happy about that (less travel time).

I had wanted to do a shortbread cookie this year. And after testing out one recipe I totally changed my game plan as I had also been wanting to create an eggnog cookie. For like years. So with just days to spare I came up with I guess a cross between a blossom cookie and a sugar cookie. I say sugar as the ingredients closely resemble a sugar cookie recipe. Took me two tries to get the ingredients right, but I did and it’s pretty darn good. I ran out of chocolate kisses so improvised with chocolate balls. I like this idea so much, my next batch of blossom style cookies will have balls and not kisses.

The cookies I received from Bloggers are: World Peace Cookies from The Blenderist, Coffee Sugar Cookies from Oven Mitt Adventures, and just received is my prettiest package yet, Sour Cherry White Chocolate Chunk Cookies by Wanna Come With. A fun way to get to know other bloggers!

This recipe makes close to 30 cookies so I had lots leftover. So much so I made these Eggnog Sugar Cookies with Candy Cane Sprinkles for another cookie swap!

 

Carrot Lentil Whoopie Pies

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This recipe is the combination of a Carrot Cupcake and a Pumpkin Whoopie Pie recipe. Yes it is possible to put pureed lentils into cookies which is how we got to these Carrot Lentil Whoopie Pies. And the kids don’t have a clue.

Batch one came about last week. Just before I got hit with a wicked head cold and the sick. Needless to say I couldn’t taste them, so I didn’t bother to ice them. Just sent the cookies out as is to friends, teachers at the school and of course my husband’s work mates. The feedback I got was incredible. Words like “exotic flavours” and the perfect amount of spice. Others advised there wasn’t enough spice. All good feedback since I cut back on sugar and oil in this recipe. The other surprise for everyone was they contained pureed green lentils. In fact you can put pureed lentils into most baking for that extra protein kick. Loved the feedback, which helped immensely.

Lentil cookie round two came about today. My sniffer was back, taste buds in check, a few modifications I needed to make were made and I think batch two was way better than the first batch from last week. Will have to wait to hear from the testers again but this time they have been iced.

One thing I decided to change with batch two was only using baking soda. In batch one I used baking soda and powder. The cookies were pretty big. This time, without using baking powder, they still turned out puffy. So the kids are enjoying eating them as singles with a dollop of icing on top. I say whatever works.

This will be my second entry into the Canadian Lentils Contest and my baked goods entry. I further created a Lentil Balls recipe a couple weeks ago, well according to the photo dates, it was March 5th. But the sick and all kinds of other stuff has kept me from getting that recipe posted. Soon I hope.

These cookies are moist, not too sweet, yet flavourful and I’m told delicious as is or with a dollop of icing in the middle.

 

Vanilla Kipferl

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My daughter has been in Girl Guides for 4 years. My time flies. During this time she has been able to experience all kinds of fun outings and adventures with her district group. Truly a great activity for children to be involved in.

This week they celebrated Chinese New Year and part of the celebration included a Mission Impossible. This translates to Brownie Badge Work. Part of their cultural celebration included being asked to share a food from within their own culture. While our family is definitely a mixed bag (Ukrainian, Romanian, German, English, Swedish), we do not follow any one culture or religion. We keep an open mind and are open to all cultures and religion. Having said that I did grow up eating all kinds of yummy goodness including: cabbage rolls, borscht, pierogi, sauerkraut, and more.

Looking at ideas for food items for her to make and bring in, that were relatively easy, I told her about some of the German cookies my mom used to make. Cookies I’ve never even made. And honestly had forgotten about. Together we decided on a cookie recipe, one I remembered being almond and crescent shaped. A quick call to some relatives and we were ready to get baking.

We modified the recipe slightly and it turned out spectacular. I am so very proud of my little girl and her enthusiasm about this Mission and excitement over making something from our German heritage.

These are easier than you think and oh so enjoyable.

 

Orange Pistachio Ice Box Cookies

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This was the second batch of three ice box cookies I was testing in December. The last of the 3 turned out but one or two things didn’t, so the 3rd recipe won’t be featured on the blog. What I learned making Ice Box Cookies is you can put almost anything into them…well almost.

These cookies are both pretty to look at and easy to make. The combination of pistachios, orange and cranberries transcends both sweet and savory items and is always a winner when it comes to baking.

And I love the ice box cookie concept. Get your dough ready, roll and pop into the freezer to be made at a later date. This is something I might consider for a future cookie exchange. Each lady gets a frozen log to take home and a batch of the cookies. Fun!

 

Kringle’s Cookies

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These cookies should really be called the last of the Christmas baking ingredients garbage cookies because essentially that is what they are. Searching through my pantry one day looking for inspiration on a cookie, and I started coming across all kinds of last little bits of ingredients to use up…a small ziplock bag of toasted coconut…bag of pecans…leftover glazed cherries…whatever I could find that looked good is what I grabbed and tossed into these cookies.

The cookie testers (including my Uncle) loved the cookies plain, meaning without any additional dipping into the naughty white chocolate and sprinkling of candy canes. The rest of the cookie testers loved them both ways and I must say the extra candy canes and white chocolate really do add that extra touch to these cookies that make them spectacular.

Now they could be made anytime of the year. Just omit the candy canes and use any hard candy, or even sprinkle plain rice krispies on the chocolate instead of holiday ones. And you could dip them into milk or dark chocolate.

Very pleased with how these cookies turned out and I can’t wait to make them again!

 

Orange Gingerbread Cookies

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A couple years ago I started a Mom’s Wine Group and this lead to an annual Cookie Exchange. It’s turned out to be a great evening hanging with the ladies each holiday season, talking smack, kids, partners or husbands, enjoying wine, bites and at the end of the evening getting to go home with dozens of cookies and/or holiday baking. Love this time with friends and the gift of cookies that keeps on giving. Until they are all gone.

This year I am making cookies for both our Annual Group Cookie Exchange, and, since I am always up for a challenge, The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2013. This Cookie Swap is Worldwide and you have to be a Food Blogger to participate. For a small submission fee (goes to Cookies for Kids’ Cancer), you get matched up with other Food Bloggers in your Country. Since my country “Canada” is rather large, I was paired with Food Bloggers who live in Eastern Canada. I am in the West.

For the cookie swap I needed a cookie that could stand up to traveling across Canada and arrive in one piece. Since moving to Calgary, I had been slightly challenged with getting a gingerbread cookie right, so I decided I was going to conquer gingerbread and declared let Battle Gingerbread begin.

Orange Gingerbread Cookies
Orange Gingerbread Cookies

A month or so ago I got to work playing with ingredients as I prefer soft gingerbread cookies and wanted to make sure I could come up with a recipe to get a soft cookie. In Calgary we are 3400 ft above sea level and as such ingredients need to be adjusted to compensate as this affects baking. The higher the altitude, the lower the atmospheric pressure. Lower pressure in turn causes water to evaporate more quickly. On or around my 3rd gingerbread cookie attempt I got the ingredients right with a little help from my Five Spice Ginger Cookies. Using a similar ingredient plan I was able to get the right consistency and taste adding in some orange zest for additional zip. Super Yum and I’ve even turned a few non gingerbread cookie fans into gingerbread cookie lovers with these gems.

If you choose to decorate and ice, I have included the royal icing recipe I use. The kids love to decorate these cookies and I love this cookie that has now become a family favourite and a new tradition.

By participating in the Food Blogger Cookie Swap I also received 3 fabulous cookies from Food Bloggers across Canada. Heather from The Tasty Gardener in Toronto sent over some “tasty” Egg Nog Cookies. Sarah at Feasts For All Seasons in Vancouver (my old stomping grounds & heart City) provided me with a Lovely cookie called Chocolate Gingerbread Crackles. Evelyne from Cheap Ethnic Eatz in Montreal sent along some Ohh La La Candied Orange Peel Shortbread. Fantastic cookies all around and I can’t wait until next year’s Cookie Swap 2014!

 

Orange Gingerbread Cookies
Orange Gingerbread Cookies

Merry Cherry Ice Box Cookies

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Always wanting to create and try new cookie combinations I decided to investigate Ice Box Cookies as they are new territory for me. I googled ice box cookies and learned they are simply butter, sugar, eggs, flour, a few other ingredients and your add in of choice. Pretty much the basis to any cookie, except they are rolled and put into the fridge or freezer until ready to use. As usual my mind started spinning with all kinds of combinations I could make and so I went back to one of my basic cookie dough recipes and excitedly made 3 different variations of ice box cookies in two days hoping they would all turn out great.

The only time I used candied cherries is in Christmas baking, so I fondly named these Merry Cherry Ice Box Cookies. For my first batch of cookies, I opted to make them without baking soda or powder to see what they’d do. And I rolled them in toasted coconut since I love coconut. They turned out lovely and good enough to share. A simple but tasty little cookie that has received 4 thumbs up here.

 

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

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Seems we live in a world of Whoopie Pies these days. Everywhere I go there are Whoopie Pies! Never being one to jump on a band wagon, I can honestly say this is the first time I’ve ever had or made a Whoopie Pie. It started when friends invited us over for Thanksgiving dinner. Our friends were making a traditional turkey dinner and so I planned on making a traditional pumpkin pie. But I wanted something else, something more, just in case some people do not care for pumpkin pie. I googled pumpkin and have no idea how I ended up at pumpkin whoopie pies, but I did and the idea stuck. Always up for a challenge, this was definitely going to be uncharted territories. I do not particularly like to bring a recipe to a gathering that I have not tested yet. But there wasn’t much time and with the array of ingredients I had assembled, I felt quite confident making these cookies.

After browsing tons of whoopie pie recipes, all with similar measurements and ingredients, I finally made up a list of what I needed, combining a few ideas into my own concoction. In the end this recipe is not too far off some of the ones I saw and so I’m not sure who to give credit to, but I will go with the first recipe I looked at.

These cookies ended up being super easy to make and incredibly tasty both with and without the cream cheese icing. They would be the perfect bake sale item.

Now that I have made a basic whoopie pie, and they were a huge hit this past Thanksgiving, I am predicting more whoopie pies in our future. And just so you know, these cookies taste equally delicious with a dollop of leftover whipping cream on top!

 

Five Spice Ginger Cookies

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Thrilled to be participating again in the 3rd Annual Calgary Food Bloggers Bake Sale. Proceeds from this Bake Sale go to The Calgary Foundation’s Flood Rebuilding Fund. A great charity to support considering the year Calgarians and Albertans have had following the nasty flood of 2013.

This is my first kick at the can with a ginger molasses cookie. Love to eat them. Bad habit of buying them at Starbucks all the while wondering about all the extra additives that might be in them. Until now. Starting with a basic cookie dough recipe and adding a whole whack of stuff, I believe I have given Starbucks a run for their money and no longer need to buy their cookies since these are delicious.

Early this week I decided to make these cookies but as always wanted to add my own spin. At first I thought chocolate dipped ginger cookies. But then, after snooping through my spices, I decided I would add in some Five Spice. I use Five Spice all the time and figured it would pair nicely with the spice in the cookie.

My gamble paid off as it’s an explosion of equally balanced flavours in every bite. I’ve gotten all kinds of positive feedback from the taste testers who have received a batch of these cookies and loved them. I choose to make these cookies for the bake sale, monster size. Definitely make them smaller if that’s what you prefer and you will get more out of the batch.

Another tip: make sure your butter is softened, not melting. It is the key to getting a good chewy molasses cookie. It was a hot day when I made these cookies and as such a hot evening in the house. I recall the inside temperature reading 27 degrees at one point. As you can imagine, my room temperature butter would melt and I would have to put it back in the fridge to firm up. Quite the game butter and I played the night I made these cookies.

 

Blueberry Mint Cookies

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It’s time again for the Food Bloggers of Canada and Eat In Eat Out Christmas in July Cookie Contest! I look forward to this cookie contest as it give me the opportunity to brain storm cookie ideas that I would not normally create. Since we were smack dab in the middle of blueberry season I wanted to create a fresh blueberry cookie. Although I never got around to posting the recipes, last summer I experimented with some fresh herbs in cookies and they worked out nicely. And so I wanted to incorporate a fresh herb in my blueberry cookies.

After thinking about what flavours pair nicely with blueberries, I decided on a combination of crystallized ginger, fresh mint and fresh blueberries. The trio tasted lovely together before being baked into a cookie so I figured it could work as a savory cookie.

The first batch fell a little flat, literally, and the blueberries released their lovely juices all over the cookie sheet. They were still edible and in one piece so I sent out test cookies to various audiences. The Sr. Director of my husbands department at work compared the taste of these cookies to the complex yet subtle notes of a fine wine. NOW that is a compliment! So I went back into the kitchen and reworked some of the ingredients resulting in this variation. Sent some more out for testing again and so far the feedback has been remarkable. All the kid testers have also loved them.

I ran out of all purpose flour while making these cookies so I substituted 3/4 cup white flour with whole wheat flour.

A very unique cookie that will leave your cookie monsters delighted.

 

Sugar Cookies

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A day late and a dollar short I am with this recipe.  It was to be Recipe 12 of my 12 Day of Holiday Baking but for some reason my 2 yr old hard drive decided to die on me 3 days before Christmas.  Since we were expecting the In-Laws to arrive any minute I really had no time to commit to getting it fixed.  Then colds & sick came along as well as other distractions.

Happy as pudding to report hard drive data recovered, new hard drive in place programs reinstalled and everything good in the land of nod.  I am happy to bring the final entry.

I never had sugar cookies growing up…it’s one thing my mother never made.  I feel like somehow I must have been missing out since they are so yummy and such a great cookie for kids to be involved in making.  My kids have so much fun with these cookies and I love creating these memories.

I’ve experimented with a few sugar cookie recipes over the years and haven’t had the best luck until I found this one.  It’s yummy, easy to make and fun for all.  Even hubs gets involved when it comes to our cookie making & decoration sessions.  It’s awesome!

 

Candy Cane Cookies

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Candy Cane Cookies
Candy Cane Cookies

One our favourite things to do during the holidays is bake cookies, squares, cakes and treats. One of my fondest memories of my mom is making these Whipped Shortbread Cookies as kids. Family time together and making memories are part of what makes us who we are.

Every year for quite some time now, a group of us moms get together and have an Annual Holiday Cookie Exchange Night. It has become a much anticipated event every year and grown to include wine, food and usually some sort of other element.

For our cookie exchange this year I wanted to make something new and adventurous and I think I found the right recipe – Candy Cane Cookies. This cookie does take a little work since you have to refrigerate the dough, take out small amounts at a time and work fast. But look at them! The extra work is worth it – aren’t they stunning?!

Candy Cane Cookies
Candy Cane Cookies

This sugar like cookie with a peppermint twist is my cookie contribution for this year’s cookie exchange.

What is your favourite cookie to make or eat during the holidays?!

Boxed Candy Cane Cookies for cookie exchange
Boxed Candy Cane Cookies for cookie exchange

White Chocolate Cranberry Kiss Cookies

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Christmas is everywhere.  Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars are back.  My kids won’t stop singing Christmas Carols.  Neighbours have their Christmas lights up. We are 10 days away from Advent Calendars & Christmas decorations.  Bliss is in the air & Life is Good.

These White Chocolate Cranberry Kiss Cookies were created for a couple of reasons.  First I absolutely adore cranberry bliss bars and could spend way too much money treating myself this season…so I needed to create my own version. Second I wanted to challenge myself again to see if I could create another cookie made with canola oil. And finally I wanted to create a holiday cookie that becomes a family tradition.

For those that didn’t catch my Pumpkin Cookie post, I am trying to win a trip to a food blogging conference next spring hosted by the Food Bloggers of Canada.  I found making the pumpkin cookies with canola oil fairly simple and as such have been inspired to bake some more goodies using canola oil.

I even went as far as adding bacon to this recipe, just because I’m crazy like that!

In this process I came up against a mental block while trying to create a name for this cookie.  So I shouted out for help on Facebook and I’m grateful to those who shouted back (Laurie) with ideas & suggestions & eventually a name for the new cookie.

Pumpkin Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies

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These are my Blood, Sweat & Tears Cookies…..but I’ll call them Pumpkin Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies cause that sounds better!   Why Blood, Sweat & Tears?  Well….while I was experimenting and making these cookies somehow my baby finger ended up slamming into the top of the opened pumpkin can = deep cut.  I won’t get into too much detail since we are talking about food…but there was blood, sweat & tears that ensued!

I’m so proud of these cookies I am entering them into the Food Bloggers of Canada and Eat In Eat Out’s Christmas in July Cookie Contest 2013. Wish me luck!

The first time I ever tried a pumpkin cookie was at one of the Mom’s Wine Tasting Nights I organize here in Calgary. Each evening consists of a theme and we all bring a bottle of wine and some bits & bites to share. On this particular night pumpkin cookies were on display and after tasting them I was in love. So in love I knew I wanted to make my own pumpkin cookies.

The results of my cookie experiment?  Outstanding. Every one in the family adores these cookies as well as several of the cookie taste testers I have given cookies to.  They are our new family Fall Cookie favourite!

These cookies are moist and melt in your mouth.  The cinnamon spiced glaze added later pairs nicely with the pumpkin, orange and chocolate flavours in this cookie.  If you like pumpkin and chocolate you must try these!

 

Spooky Halloween Cookies

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Halloween is such a fun time for the year. Fun for kids and fun for grown ups! I fondly remember dressing up, filling up our pillow cases with all kinds of candies, coming home so mom could check our candy bags and enjoying sugar highs for days on end. We never baked a lot of Halloween treats while I was younger…but I loved to when I got older and moved away. Office potlucks, dinner parties…always a reason to create in the kitchen.

And then came a husband and kids. Funny how that happens. The kids started going to school and I wanted to send treats for Halloween. They have a Halloween evening dance every year since they don’t celebrate during the day and we are asked to provide treats for sale during the dance. Enter Spooky Halloween Cookies. We use coloured Royal Icing for these cookies and the kids do the decorating. Too much fun.

This recipe makes 3-4 dozen cookies, depending on the size of your cookie cutters. I need a minimum of 25 cookies for class or to bring to the dance, so I kept the recipe as is knowing some would go to work….some to school…some to friends….well you get it!

 

Chips & Bits Cookies

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Well I must say I earned my namesake in September since I did a ton of baking and averaged a big batch of home made cookies (such as these Chips & Bits Cookies) weekly.   It’s fun to try and create new cookies and make existing cookie recipes.

It was a beautiful September here in Calgary, averaging almost 24 daily with only 1 Rain Day.  Kind of made it hard to put the oven on since none of us want to let go of Summer but Fall is definitely in the air as it cools off nicely in the evenings.

This week they are forecasting snow and I cringe knowing this will take out the last of the late summer flowers and be the final sign Summer is officially over.

These cookies come out of the oven puffy and then they drop to a flatter state.  You could substitute an actual skor bar (broken up) for the plain toffee bits.  The addition of the butterscotch chips adds an extra sweetness to the cookie.  And the chocolate chips, well doesn’t everyone need a little chocolate sometimes?

 

Chewy Chipsters (Cookies)

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Several cookie monsters in our house and so these Chewy Chipsters (Cookies) hardly last a couple of days.

We’ve made so many cookies that incorporate the basic ingredients (sugar, butter, flour, baking soda/powder) that it’s easy to start with the basics and spin variations from there.

My daughter wanted to make cookies (I wanted some baking for school lunches) so we started with a basic recipe and added chocolate chips and peanut butter chips. Unfortunately I forgot she is not allowed to bring peanut butter and/or variations and as such the cookies didn’t get to go to school that week but ended up as an afternoon and evening snack.

Here are our Chewy Chipster Cookies (as named by my daughter).

 

Double Cherry Chocolate Cookies

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Summer reminds me of Cherries and fresh Cherries remind me of home.  This was the inspiration for a new cookie recipe I created today..Double Cherry Chocolate Cookies.

My folks used to have all kinds of fruit trees, berries, a garden and a green house….it was endless and always fresh food from Garden to Table…organic and delish.  They kept busy and we grew up indulging in everything from fresh fruit/berry jams, crisps, pies, fruit perogies to homemade fruit & berry wine (when we were old enough lol).

Since we are leaving for vacay in a couple days (my hometown in B.C.) I had some fresh cherries to use up and found myself lost in a memory from long ago.  So I decided to cut them up, combine them with dried cherries and some chocolate to create a new cookie.  I also added a new secret ingredient to add more chocolatey goodness (instand pudding powder). The end result is a chocoholic’s dream pairing chocolate with fresh & dried cherries made into a lovely bite that satisfies the soul.

The addition of fresh Cherries makes this a summer cookie.  In the winter months when fresh cherries are unavailable use extra dried cherries instead.

Bacon Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

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I’m thrilled to share with you these cookies took 3rd place in a Canada Wide contest sponsored by the Food Bloggers of Canada and Eat In Eat Out digital magazine! The contest was the Christmas in July Cookie Contest 2012.

A couple years ago I started buying hubs Vosges Bacon Candy Chocolate Bars for his stocking at Christmas. He is hard to buy for and I was getting desperate when I heard about these chocolate bars. Well elated does not even describe how we felt after tasting bacon & chocolate together. This is a match made in heaven.

And so calling all Bacon Lovers and Chocolate Lovers. I’ve been inspired by Vosges and wanted to create a chocolate chip cookie with bacon. I decided to take it a step further and add peanut butter to my bacon, chocolate chip cookie creation…booya!

What I came up with was a lovely tasting cookie that is not too sweet. Of all the flavour profiles in this cookie none are over powering…..instead you get a little bit of everything in each bite. Bacon lovers stand united and chocolate reigns supreme in the delightful bacon infused chocolate chip cookie.

Chocolate Easter Egg Cookies

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Up your chocolate chip cookie game by adding candy coated mini chocolate eggs to create Chocolate Easter Egg Cookies and become the new favourite parent on the block.

Chocolate Easter Egg Cookies
Chocolate Easter Egg Cookies

Some days you end up with way too much leftover chocolate or candy from Halloween, even Easter and you need a plan to determine what to do with all the leftovers.

Or you just eat it all no matter how hard you to try to hide it. That’s what happened here where chocolate chip cookie met leftover mini chocolate candy coated eggs and became one.

Chocolate Easter Egg Cookies
Chocolate Easter Egg Cookies

Get the kids involved in making these cookies. They are easy and delicious.

Here’s a fun fact about these cookies, they are on Food Network Canada’s website. You can check out the link by clicking Chocolate Easter Egg Cookies.

PRO TIPS:

  • Swap chocolate chips for white chocolate chips
  • If your mini eggs crack while baking, add them to cookies as soon as they come out of the oven instead of before baking
  • Essentially you need 48 mini chocolate eggs plus extras for the cook to sample because quality control