Cookie Calendar: Snickerdoodles

Hands down, these were my favorite cookies when I was a kid. Soft and buttery with a hint of cinnamon, and sporting a crazy name like "snickerdoodles" - what wouldn't a kid love?

On top of all that, snickerdoodles require shaping the dough into balls and then rolling the balls in cinnamon sugar, a step perfect for kids who like helping in the kitchen. I loved helping in the kitchen, and I'd often beg to make snickerdoodles just for the chance to roll the dough.

My usual recipe growing up came from the Better Homes and Gardens New Junior Cookbook, which looked a lot dorkier than the version they're selling today. I read that cookbook, full of pictures of kids from the '70s, over and over again, feeding an obsession with cooking that I never grew out of.

Snickerdoodles
Source: Better Homes and Gardens
Yield: 36 cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. In a medium mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the 1 cup sugar, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg and vanilla. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

2. In a small mixing bowl combine the 2 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll balls in the sugar-cinnamon mixture to coat. Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

3. Bake in a 375 degree F oven for 10 to 11 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; cool.

Cookie Calendar: Soft Gingerbread with Hard Glaze

Is it a cop out to post the same recipe twice in one year?

It's not exactly the same, however. I'm giving you a variation today on the crunchy gingerbread I made a few days ago. By changing the size and shape of the cookies, you can make a big, soft, slightly chewy cookie that will get just as many oohs and aahs but won't put you out the effort of making a second batch of molasses cookies.

Plus, I'm throwing in a recipe for an opaque Hard Glaze today. It's all good.

I spread each cookie with a generous dollop of said icing, which thickened considerably upon standing for, well, more than a day before I got around to using it. I then dipped each cookie in a bowl of mixed sprinkles and sparkling sugars I had rescued from the kids' last attempt at decorating gingerbread men.



For the Soft Gingerbread Cookies, follow the original recipe for Gingerbread Cookies, but chill the dough in the bowl. Then, use a medium-sized tablespoon cookie scoop (or heaping tablespoons) to portion the dough onto ungreased cookie sheets. Use the bottom of a drinking glass to flatten the balls to rounds about 1/2-inch thick. Bake for 8 minutes, until the cookies start turning slightly golden at the edges and look dry but are still soft. Let them rest on the sheets for a couple of minutes to firm up before removing to a cooling rack.

And now, for the icing on the cookie. I left out the vanilla, so my glaze might look slightly whiter. Still, when I make this for my sugar cookies, I think I'll include the vanilla for a touch of extra flavor.

Hard Glaze for Cookies
Source: The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion
Yield: 1 1/4 cups glaze

1/4 cup (1 ounce) meringue powder [look for it by the baking supplies at the craft store]
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 to 4 cups (12 to 16 ounces) confectioners' sugar
1/3 to 1/2 cup (2 5/8 to 4 ounces) cool water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Food color or coloring paste

1. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the meringue powder, salt, and confectioners' sugar. Add 1/3 cup cool water and the vanilla, and stir, or beat on slow speed. The mixture will seem hard and lumpy, but the sugar will dissolve after 4 or 5 minutes and everything will smooth out. Add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition to achieve a spreadable consistency. For a very smooth, shiny glaze, the icing should be the consistency of corn syrup or molasses. For colored icing, add food color or coloring paste a drop at a time.

2. Dip the tops of cooled cookies in the glaze, then sweep a spatula over them to remove the excess. Place cookies on a rack for several hours for the glaze to harden and dry. This may take as long as overnight, depending on the humidity of your kitchen and the consistency of the glaze.

Cookie Calendar: Iced Oatmeal Applesauce Cookies

Why mess with a classic?

That's what I ask myself every time I bake a recipe for oatmeal cookies that's not the recipe found on the underside of the Quaker Oats canister lid. That recipe turns out perfectly every time: sweet, chewy, and satisfying.

Still, I will give Martha Stewart's folks credit for creating a decent oatmeal cookie so low in fat. This svelte Iced Oatmeal Applesauce Cookies recipe calls for a mere half stick of butter. As you might have guessed if you have familiarity with low-fat baking, the applesauce replaces the moisture lost to fat cutting, in addition to adding its subtle flavor.

The cookies have a more tender, cakey texture than typical oatmeal cookies. They're also sticky, so be sure to use parchment on your cookie sheets.



While these won't displace my go-to recipe, at least I can feel better knowing that my helper is taking in healthier cookies as his reward.

We added 1 teaspoon of vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg to the dough for extra flavor. We also subbed in dried cranberries for raisins in half the dough. We'll add the icing to these cookies closer to Christmas Day.

Iced Oatmeal Applesauce Cookies
Source: Martha Stewart Living
Yield: About 2 1/2 dozen cookies

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup chunky-style applesauce
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup golden raisins
1 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup

1. Make cookies: Preheat oven to 350. Put butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until combined. Add egg and applesauce, mix until well blended, 2 to 3 minutes. Mix in oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix in raisins.

2. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake cookies until golden and just set, 13 to 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack set over parchment paper; let cool completely.

3. Make icing: Whisk confectioners' sugar, syrup, and 3 tablespoons water until smooth. Drizzle over cookies, let set.

Cookie Calendar: Iced Citrus Crackle Cookies

Today's Cookie Calendar pick comes from 2006's Food Network 12 Days of Cookies newsletter. Iced Citrus Crackle Cookies can cut through the the rich buttery and chocolaty cookies on your table this year with a sharp smack of lemon and orange.

Actually, the sourness is tempered by a hefty dose of sugar, both in the cookies and the glaze. While the recipe suggests dying said glaze to match the fruit that inspired the cookies, my five-year-old cousin decided blue and pink were better choices for us. And if that's what the family wants, why stand in the way?



As I have with almost every batch of cookies I've made so far this season, I went looking for helpers among the many children running through my grandparents' house daily. My three-year-old cousin signed on right away, but we saw two friend helpers fall through before a slightly older and braver kid from the baby-sitting group downstairs managed to make it through the whole dough-making session.

I decided to keep my two very enthusiastic helpers around for the scooping of dough onto the cookie sheets. I let each one try to make an even scoop of dough using my tablespoon disher, but they struggled with filling it, leveling it, and squeezing it out, so I scaled back. I filled the cookie scoop myself and then gave it to each kid in turn to dish out onto the cookie sheet. They then caught on quickly with this task, easily manipulating the handle after a few tries. Moreover, without prompting, they started trying to perfect their scooping technique by aiming to drop each ball where it was supposed to end up on the sheet.

Ah, so proud.

Dishing the dough turned into a mathematics teachable moment as well when the kids got wrapped up in counting how many cookies there were after each ball dropped. Cousin A is in his first year of preschool, so our focus had to be mostly on proper counting technique (so he wouldn't count cookies twice), but I did attempt to get them thinking about adding, too ("If we have eight cookies, and A adds one more to the sheet, how many will we have then?").



Cousin A loves lemon almost as much as mint apparently. He enjoyed his miniscule dab of raw dough as well as one and a half finished glazed cookies. Cousin B licked the glaze off his fingers but turned finicky at the prospect of taking a bite from the cookie. Methinks he was too shy.

I did alter the recipe a bit. I used clementine zest in the cookie dough, but I used a full teaspoon of lemon extract rather than orange. I didn't have any orange extract, and besides, there's a lot of lemon lovers in the family. I substituted about a teaspoon of lemon extract for the zest in the frosting (I didn't bring a rasp grater with me, and getting zest any other way is a pain). I also replaced the sanding sugar with granulated sugar and a few drops of food coloring. Finally, I dipped each cookie twice, as there was a ton of glaze.



My cookies didn't end up flat like the ones in the picture. I didn't expect them to, as the recipe calls for freezing the rounded mounds at least 30 minutes prior to baking, then popping them straight in the oven. Beats me how the ones in the picture turned out flat.

My comments in [brackets].

Iced Citrus Crackle Cookies
Source: Food Network Kitchens
Yield: 2 dozen cookies [I had 27 . . . then 25 . . . then 22 . . . then 20 . . .]

Dough:
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated citrus zest (Meyer or regular lemon, tangerine or lime)
2 large egg yolks, room temperature
3/4 teaspoon lemon extract (or use all orange extract for tangerine cookies)
1/4 teaspoon orange extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine salt

Icing:
1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons colored sanding sugar (yellow, orange or green, depending on the flavor of the cookie)
2 to 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed citrus juice (the same flavor of the cookie)

1. Evenly space the oven racks in the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. on the convection setting, if available. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.

2. Beat the butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high heat until smooth. Add the sugar and citrus zest and continue to beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. (The creaming is important to get a great texture so don't skimp here.) Add the yolks, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the extracts.

3. Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together in a bowl. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, mixing at low speed to make a soft dough.

4. Scoop the dough into rounded heaping tablespoons with a cookie scoop or measuring spoon. Space the cookies about 2-inches apart on the prepared pans. Freeze for at least 30 minutes. (The cookies can be frozen for up to 1 month.)

5. Bake the cookies, straight from the freezer, until edges are firm and bottoms are lightly browned, 15 to 17 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.

6. For icing: Mix the confectioners' sugar, colored sugar and appropriate flavored zest in a medium bowl. Add the citrus juice and mix with an electric mixer to make a firm but pourable icing. (If needed, add up to 1 teaspoon more juice, but keep in mind that if the icing is too loose it won't set.) Dip the rounded side of the cooled cookies into the icing; then let the excess icing fall back into the bowl. Dry cookies icing side up on a rack. Serve.

7. Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

12 Days of Cookies: Duff's Black and White Cookie

More like blue and white cookies. Or at least one was in the picture, in order to put this classic New York cookie recipe more in the Hanukkah spirit.

No doubt most of America at large was introduced to the black and white cookie through the episode of Seinfeld when Jerry explains how they demonstrate world peace:

The thing about eating the Black and White cookie, Elaine, is you want to get some black and some white in each bite. Nothing mixes better than vanilla and chocolate And yet somehow racial harmony eludes us. If people would only look to the cookie all our problems would be solved. (seinfeldscripts.com)

Of course, he ends up upchucking the cookie, so maybe world peace was too lofty a goal for that treat. Maybe he should try this one next time.

If you're lighting the menorah at sunset this December 21, or if you'll wait to celebrate the season on December 25, these soft, yeast-leavened mini-cakes should serve as a toothsome (and peaceful) complement to your meal.

Check out today's recipe on Food Network's site, or download Duff's Black and White Cookie into MacGourmet.

Cookie Calendar: Chocolate Crinkles

You could call these brownie cookies, they're so rich and fudgy. The centers stay soft and gooey as they bake a mere eight to 10 minutes, and the surface takes on the same sort of shiny, crackled appearance.

That is, where you can see it through the powdered sugar dusting the outside of these cookies. You roll one-inch dough balls around in the snowy sweetener before baking, and as they rise and spread in the oven, crevices of chocolate break through the white surface. The result resembles snow-covered hills.



These cookies look festive, yet they're among the easiest to pull off. You melt some chocolate in the microwave, dump everything but the flour into a bowl, mix, then beat in the flour. Chill a couple hours to firm up the dough, then use a medium cookie scoop to portion it out into a pie plate full confectioner's sugar. Roll the balls around, place them on a cookie sheet, pop them in the oven, and watch the magic unfold.

Taste? If you like fudgy brownies, you'll love these.

My comments in [brackets].

Chocolate Crinkles
Source: Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book
Yield: makes about 48 cookies [I got closer to three dozen.]

3 eggs
1½ cups granulated sugar
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
½ cup cooking oil
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
Sifted powdered sugar

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, granulated sugar, chocolate, oil, baking powder, and vanilla with an electric mixer until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour. Cover and chill dough for 1 to 2 hours or until easy to handle.

2. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll balls in powdered sugar to coat generously. Place balls 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in a 375 degrees F oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are set and tops are crackled. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool. If desired, sprinkle with additional powdered sugar.

12 Days of Cookies: Chocolate Covered Snow Peaks

A new and interesting offering today!

Meringues typically fall on the healthy end of the cookie spectrum. They use no flour and, in pure form, no fat. Like angel food cake, the base of these cookies are whipped egg whites, with cream of tartar for stability, sugar for sweetness, and an extract for flavor. Simple, light, yet tasty, too.

If you're trying to make it through the holidays without putting on extra pounds, meringues are one cookie that you can pop several of, guilt free. You won't feel left out of the merriment, and you won't have to leave a trail of half-eaten cookies in your wake.

Still, watch out for the chocolate that coats the bottom of Tyler Florence's spin on the classic meringue kiss. While a plain meringue packs a mere handful of calories, the chocolate coating makes these Snow Peaks more indulgent.

But hey, it's dark chocolate. That's supposed to be healthy these days, isn't it?

Check out today's recipe on Food Network's site, or download Chocolate Covered Snow Peaks into MacGourmet.

Cookie Calendar: Butterscotch Sundae Cookies

I baked this recipe not for Christmas but for an end-of-year picnic for my third graders a couple years ago. They aren't fancy or especially pretty looking, truth be told. Nevertheless, these homely drop cookies would make a perfectly tasty addition to the dessert tray.

The idea of ample caramel flavors combined with one of my favorite nuts (pecans) was enough to overcome my reluctance to present a bowl of not-sugar/chocolate chip cookies to a passel of kids. The adults in the crowd at least could appreciate the flavors.

Butterscotch Sundae Cookies emerge crispy, especially around the edges. The edges actually are a bit delicate because of this; watch out for spread and store the finished cookies carefully to avoid breakage.

Butterscotch Sundae Cookies
Source: The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion
Yield: 3½ dozen cookies

3 tablespoons (1½ ounces) plus ¾ cup (6 ounces) unsalted butter
2 cups (8 ounces) small pecan halves, or use coarsely chopped larger pecans
¾ teaspoon plus ¼ teaspoon salt
1⅓ cups (10⁷⁄₈ ounces) dark brown sugar
A few drops butter-rum flavor, to taste
2 large eggs
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
2 cups (8½ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup (6 ounces) butterscotch chips

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.

2. In a medium-sized skillet, melt the 3 tablespoons butter over low heat, and add the pecans. Stir for a couple of minutes, until the nuts begin to brown and smell toasty.

3. Sprinkle with ¾ teaspoon of the salt, stir to combine, and remove the pan from the burner. Transfer the nuts to a small bowl.

4. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream together the remaining ¾ cup butter, sugar, and butter-rum flavor, then beat in the eggs. Beat in the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt, baking powder, and baking soda, then stir in the flour, reserved pecans, and chips.

5. Drop the dough by the tablespoonful onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake the cookies for 13 minutes, until they're a deep golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and transfer to a rack to cool.

12 Days of Cookies: Paradise Macaroons Recipe for MacGourmet

The first 12 Days of Cookies newsletter arrived today bearing a whiff of coconutty goodness: Alton Brown's Paradise Macaroons.

While the newsletter has featured coconut macaroons in the past, this particular recipe tries for a new spin by dipping the tops in chocolate and sprinkling them with chopped macadamia nuts. That's appropriate, no? Two tastes of the tropics in one.

I've had hit or miss results with Alton Brown's baking recipes. His pie crust did not work for me, but we enjoyed his chocolate waffles. Still, any macaroon recipe has to be better than the one from Nigella Lawson's How to Be a Domestic Goddess, which fell apart on me twice.

As they say . . . shame on me.

Check out today's recipe on Food Network's site, or download Paradise Macaroons into MacGourmet.

Cookie Calendar: Sparkling Cranberry Gems

It's officially December 1, which sounds like an excellent date to kick off this year's Cookie Calendar!

While you likely aren't planning to start your holiday baking for at least another week or two, now's a great time to start browsing recipes. Check out last year's Cookie Calendar for instant inspiration.



I'm kicking off my holiday season with the cookies I baked for Thanksgiving this year. While they feature an ingredient most often associated with Turkey Day - cranberries - the red color and shiny sugar sparkles make them a perfect fit for Christmas as well.

While I loathe giving up control over my holiday dinners, I am pressed every year to outsource some dishes. I cave, of course, because it's terribly rude to refuse a guest's thoughtful offer to help out, plus it's not so nice on my part to hog all the spotlight.

Much as I adore it.

I opted to farm out dessert this Thanksgiving. As I mentioned before, I don't relish pie making. My crust dough is invariably disastrous in some way: It crumbles, sticks to the counter, tears, slides, sticks to the pan, or turns sodden.

But pie is a must on Thanksgiving! So I told people who asked to bring pie. Sure, I might also have mentioned cake or cobbler, but mostly, I talked pie.

And so, we ended up with three variations on streusel-topped apple pie at our Thanksgiving feast.

Whoops. But, lucky for me, it's my favorite!

I swear it was a coincidence.



The cranberry cookies I'd baked broke up the pie parade a bit, though the cookie dough bore a striking resemblance to pastry. Instead of creaming the butter and sugar, you "reverse cream" this dough by cutting the butter into the mixed flour and sugar.

Once you achieve pea-sized pieces of butter (I used the whisk attachment on my stand mixer to get there, but frankly I wonder if the whole business could have been completed in the food processor), you drizzle in milk to bring the dough together. If you've ever made biscuits or pie crust, you know the drill.

After dissing teaspoon cookie scoops in my last post, here I go stumbling onto a recipe that requires one. I eyeballed it and produced cookies that were generally even, but they must have been too large as I ended up with 25, not 36.



Do you need sparkling sugar? Regular white sugar would probably melt into the cookies, negating their sparkle. I could only find white sparkling sugar by making a special trip to the craft store. A commenter at King Arthur's site suggests using demerara sugar, but though it may be chunky, it is most definitely brown, not sparkly clear. You definitely need the extra sugar for taste and texture, but it's up to you whether to go with aesthetics or convenience.

My comments in [brackets].

Sparkling Cranberry Gems
Source: King Arthur Flour [Visit the site for a picture of the ideal results.]
Yield: 36 cookies [I had 25.]

Cookies
1 cup (4¼ ounces) King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour, organic preferred; or King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour [I used all-purpose flour.]
1 1/2 cups (7 ounces) dried cranberries, packed
2 tablespoons (½ ounce) confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into pats
3 tablespoons (1½ ounces) milk

Coating
⅓ cup (3 ounces) coarse white sparkling sugar
¹⁄₈ teaspoon tart and sour flavor (optional, but very good) [Good grief, it was hard enough finding white sparkling sugar. I didn't go here.]

Place the flour and dried cranberries in the bowl of a food processor. Process until the cranberries are coarsely shredded. Imagine a single dried cranberry cut into about 4 pieces: that’s your goal.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.

Whisk together the flour/cranberry mixture, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the vanilla and butter, mixing until the butter is thoroughly distributed, but some pea-sized chunks still remain. Dribble in the milk while mixing; the dough will become cohesive.

Place the coarse sugar and tart and sour flavor in a jar, and shake to combine thoroughly. Pour the sugar into a roomy plastic bag; about ½-gallon size should do.

Using a teaspoon cookie scoop (or a spoon), scoop the dough by 1¾-teaspoonfuls (about 1¼" balls) into the bag, 6 or 8 at a time. Close the top of the bag, and gently shake to coat the balls with sugar. Place them on the prepared baking sheet, and use the bottom of a glass to flatten them to about ¼" thick (about 1½" in diameter). Repeat with the remaining dough.

Bake the cookies for 16 to 17 minutes, until they’re set and barely, BARELY beginning to brown around the very edge; the tops shouldn’t be brown at all. Remove them from the oven, and cool right on the pan.

Lemon Coolers

My husband and I stopped by Trader Joe's at the spur of the moment one day soon after moving to Seattle. We'd come from the university campus, where we'd had a light lunch at the history department's barbecue and then spent an hour or two soaking up the wonderful Internet joy at the library (after days without any in our new place). I was starving, having avoided most of the food at the barbecue, and why say no to a chance to pick up some Three-Buck Chuck along with a snack?

Wandering around, I grabbed whatever Trader Joe's specialty items I thought we might want in our still-barren kitchen, knowing it was unlikely I'd be coming back for at least a few weeks. Greek yogurt, check . . . maple granola, check . . . garbanzo beans . . . hmm, we could make hummus . . .

I sent Scott after a lemon to jazz up the potential hummus, and he returned with a whole bag. We left the store with a Mediterranean plate for snacking, three bottles of cheap wine, and way more food than I had intended to purchase, including now a whole mess of lemons.

I decided to find a cookie recipe for the extra citrus, as our kitchen was also in need of some dessert options. However, much like the still-unmade hummus, the cookies kept getting put off, and my choice of recipe changed as the next shopping day drew closer. So much for using what was already on hand.

All I really had to buy was cream cheese, though, to make Lemon Coolers, a recipe I had marked years ago in my King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion. I could easily justify the additional purchase -- now I'd finally get to try that roasted-vegetable sandwich spread I saw on Good Eats with the leftover cheese. Cookies happen for a reason.

Incidentally, that sandwich spread is divine. Mmm.

I elected to take a hint from the King Arthur baking blog and use the plunger from my food processor to flatten the cookies in lieu of a drinking glass. They held the pretty circles pattern well after baking, and my fear that the sugary coating would obscure it turned out to be unfounded.



I skipped making the recipe's lemony sugar coating. In part, it was late and I didn't want to make more mess, but also I had zested all the lemons I could find just for the cookies themselves. I later turned up another lemon in the back of the crisper, but by then I'd dunked my cookies in plain confectioner's sugar.

If you make these cookies, though, I'd recommend buying more lemons than I did and giving the suggested coating a try. The lemon flavor in my cookies seemed muted at best, though it did gain in strength over the next couple of days. Still, I would have appreciated more lemon to balance out the sweetness and doughiness.

I'm not sure how else to describe the flavor. Floury, maybe? I would have said they weren't sweet enough except that I could taste plenty of confectioner's sugar. Maybe it's that they weren't rich enough. I did use full-fat cream cheese, though.

My cookies needed slightly longer than the stated 10 to 12 minutes to show any browning. Your mileage may vary.

The cookies were soft and delicate, as you might expect from a recipe incorporating confectioner's sugar into the dough itself. They stayed soft stored at room temperature for a few days. Be careful not to stack them crookedly, as they will bend over the edges and crack without support underneath.

I'd give these cookies three out of five stars. OK, but I probably wouldn't make them again.

My comments in [brackets].

Lemon Coolers
Source: The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion: The Essential Cookie Cookbook

Yield: 2-1/2 dozen cookies

Ingredients
Dough:
1 cup (2 sticks, 8 ounces) unsalted butter
1/2 cup (4 ounces) cream cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind (zest) [I followed the suggested substitution and used 1-1/2 tablespoons total lemon zest instead of lemon oil]
1/4 teaspoon lemon oil [see above note]
1/2 cup (3-1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (2 ounces) confectioners' sugar
2 cups (8-1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

Coating: [I used just confectioner's sugar]
1 cup (4 ounces) confectioner's sugar
3/4 cup (5-1/4 ounces) granulated sugar, superfine preferred
2 tablespoons grated lemon rind (zest), or 1/4 teaspoon lemon oil

Directions
1. To make the dough: In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat together the butter, cream cheese, salt, baking powder, lemon zest, and lemon oil. When the mixture is creamy, add the sugars, a bit at a time, beating until fluffy. Finally, mix in the flour. Cover the bowl and refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.

2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets. [They will try to stick, which is problematic with such delicate cookies.]

3. Scoop out about 2 level tablespoons of dough for each cookie (a tablespoon cookie scoop works well here) and roll each piece into a ball. [Um, you will not get 2-1/2 dozen cookies with 2 tablespoons of dough per cookie. I used one scoopful of dough for each cookie and they were plenty big.] Place balls on the prepared baking sheets and use the bottom of a drinking glass, dipped in confectioners sugar, to flatten them to a thickness of about 1/4 inch, and 1-3/4 to 2 inches in diameter. [Use a food-processor plunger for the circle design.]

4. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, until they're lightly browned on the bottom and edges.

5. To make the coating: While the cookies are baking, make the coating. Combine the sugars in a food processor or blender and add the lemon zest. Process until well blended.

6. Allow the cookies to cool on sheets for about 5 minutes, then dip their tops into the coating. Place the cookies on a rack and let them cool completely. After they have cooled completely, shake more of the lemon sugar over them, or, if that's gone, cover them with confectioners' sugar; you want them to be well covered. [I actually didn't bother coating them a second time since my first coating didn't melt into the cookies the way it usually does.]

Cookie Calendar: Chocolate Chip Cookies

You could make these famous chocolate chip cookies as a quick dessert on Christmas morning, but I doubt even the familiarity and drop-cookie-ease of this recipe is enough if you have to cook a big meal today.

Still, these would be greatly comforting to enjoy in the post-holiday season soon upon us, as you sit back, relax, and relish a job well done.

As a hint for next year, my mom often would bake these as (highly anticipated) gifts for school staff when we were in grade school. As the recipe states, she alters the standard Toll House cookie recipe by always using butter-flavored Crisco (which is fattier than butter, by the way, making these cookies darker and crisper on the outside) and by dropping them with an enormous cookie scoop. We're talking about a scoop on the high-end of what's sold at the kitchen store, which holds something like two or more tablespoons of dough. The cookies will end up bake-sale sized, maybe about four inches across.

Cookie Tip #24: Don't trust what a recipe gives as its yield. I often end up with far less than what's stated; I imagine that others always end up with more. A lot depends on the size of your scoops or slices, true, but you'll also run into variations due to measuring differences. Flour is especially difficult to measure accurately because it compresses under its own weight. Someone who sifts and gently scoops flour with a spoon into a cup will end up putting much less flour in the bowl than someone who uses the measuring cup to shovel straight out of the canister and presses the top flat. It's best to find recipes that measure ingredients by weight rather than volume for this reason.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Source: Nestlé and Mom

• 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour


• 1 teaspoon baking soda


• 1 teaspoon salt


• 1 cup (1 stick) butter-flavored Crisco


• ¾ cup granulated sugar


• ¾ cup packed brown sugar


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 2 large eggs


• 2 cups (12 oz. pkg.) chocolate chips

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by ice cream scoop onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 11 to 13 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Notes:
Mom's way: Use the big cookie scoop to create huge, four-to-five-inch cookies. Will take a few more minutes to bake.

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Cookie Calendar: Famous Oatmeal Cookies

Oatmeal cookies may be your typical, everyday cookie fare, but it wouldn't be Christmas without them making an appearance on our holiday cookie platters. It's a special favorite of my grandpa, but I think a lot of people would be disappointed not to be able to have a few (and take some home!).

Oatmeal cookies do have a holiday flavor, too, with their molasses-like brown sugar. You can up the Christmas factor by adding in some cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice -- whatever gets you in that celebratory mood.

We always add raisins to our oatmeal cookies, but at this time of year, dried cranberries or even cherries would be perfect!

Cookie Tip #22: If you're not already planning to pre-wrap a bunch of your cookie stash as gifts, consider having pretty bags or storage containers nearby so that guests can pack up a few cookies for the road as the party breaks up. Your waistline will thank you come New Year's.

Famous Oatmeal Cookies
Source: Quaker Oats
Yield: About 5 dozen

• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar


• ¾ cup vegetable shortening


• ½ cup granulated sugar


• 1 egg


• ¼ cup water


• 1 teaspoon vanilla


• 3 cups Quaker Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)


• 1 cup all-purpose flour


• 1 teaspoon salt (optional)


• ½ teaspoon baking soda

1. Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat brown sugar, shortening and granulated sugar until creamy. Add egg, water and vanilla; beat well. Add combined oats, flour, salt and baking soda; mix well.
2. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 11 to 13 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

Notes:
Cook Tips and Variations

* Add 1 cup of any one or a combination of any of the following ingredients to basic cookie dough: raisins, chopped nuts, chocolate chips or shredded coconut.

LARGE COOKIES: Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 15 to 17 minutes. ABOUT 2-1/2 DOZEN

BAR COOKIES: Press dough onto bottom of ungreased 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. Store tightly covered. Makes 24 BARS

* HIGH ALTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: Increase flour to 1-1/4 cups and bake as directed.

Nutritional notes:
Serving Size:
1 cookie
Nutrition Information:
Calories: 70, Calories from Fat: 25, Total Fat: 3g, Saturated Fat: .5g, Cholesterol: <5mg, Sodium: 10mg, Dietary Fiber: 0g, Protein: 1g

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Cookie Calendar: Chocolate Crinkles

Not having my King Arthur Flour baking books here with me, I can't say for sure that this version of Chocolate Crinkles from the flour maker's web site is the one I baked for a past Christmas (I seem to remember using Dutch-processed cocoa), but it's likely close enough.

The cookies produced have a deep, dark, chocolaty flavor that makes you feel all tingly inside. Plus, with that contrasting white sugar on top highlighting all the crackles in the cookie's surface, these treats also please the eye.

I remember these being especially a hit with my aunts, including the one who passed away a year and a half ago, just like the jam-filled rugelach.

Cookie Tip #18: It's often recommended in cookie baking that you bring all ingredients to room temperature before beginning the mixing. Supposedly, you can work more air into warmer ingredients, plus they're easier to work with. If you've planned ahead, you can take out your butter and eggs for the day as soon as you wake up in the morning, and they should be ready for you by the time you start baking. I've read that you can speed up the softening of butter by using the microwave, but I've always ended up with butter that's melted on the outside and stone cold on the inside. Melted butter is definitely not a recipe for success! Instead, I like to just cut the butter into chunks and throw it in the mixer bowl cold. But before I add the sugar, I run the mixer for a minute or two, until the butter turns soft and coats the sides of the bowl.

Chocolate Crinkles
Source: King Arthur Flour
Yield: 5 dozen cookies

• 1 ⅓ cups (8 ounces) chopped bittersweet chocolate or chocolate chips


• ½ cup (4 ounces, 1 stick) unsalted butter


• ⅔ cup (4 3/4 ounces) sugar


• 3 large eggs


• 2 teaspoons vanilla


• 2 teaspoons espresso powder (optional)


• ½ teaspoon baking powder


• ¼ teaspoon salt


• 1 ⅔ cups (7 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour


• confectioners' sugar* (for coating)

Dough: Place the chocolate and butter in a small saucepan or microwave-safe bowl, and heat or microwave till the butter melts. Remove it from the heat, and stir until the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth.

In a separate bowl, beat together the sugar, eggs, vanilla and espresso powder. Stir in the chocolate mixture, baking powder and salt, then the flour. Chill the dough for 2 to 3 hours, or overnight; it'll firm up considerably.

Shaping: Put about a cup of confectioners' sugar into a shallow bowl. Using a teaspoon-sized cookie scoop, a spoon, or your fingers, scoop out heaping teaspoon-sized portions of the dough; they should be roughly 1 1/4 inches in diameter. Drop the dough balls into the confectioners' sugar as you go. Once about five or six are in the bowl, shake and toss the bowl to coat the balls with the sugar. (If you try to do this with too many balls at a time, they'll just stick together.)

Baking: Place the coated dough balls on a lightly greased or parchment-lined cookie sheet, leaving about 1 1/2 inches between them. Bake the cookies in a preheated 325°F oven for 10 to 12 minutes, switching the position of the pans (top to bottom, and front to back) midway through the baking time. As the cookies bake, they'll flatten out and acquire their distinctive "streaked" appearance. Remove the cookies from the oven, and allow them to cool on a wire rack.

Notes:
*We often call for our glazing sugar to be substituted for confectioners' sugar, as it's a "purer" sugar: it doesn't include cornstarch. However, in this case, go with confectioners' sugar; the cornstarch keeps the sugar from melting atop the cookies as they bake.

Nutritional notes:
Nutrition information per serving (2 cookies, 28g): 113 cal, 6g fat, 2g protein, 5g complex carbohydrates, 8g sugar, 30mg cholesterol, 33mg sodium, 38mg potassium, 38RE vitamin A, 1mg iron, 10mg calcium, 25mg phosphorus, 6mg caffeine

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Cookie Calendar: Toasty Coconut Macaroons

I don't think a whole lot of my family members give coconut its just due. It's delicious, sweet, and tropical-tasting. Coconut also has a nice chew to it, enough to give you time to contemplate the wonder that is coconut as you consume a bit of macaroon.

I know some of you out there like coconut. Scott professes an undying love for it, after all. But I sure wish you'd eat more of my coconut macaroons.

Coconut macaroons are a perfect Christmas cookie! Not only are they rich and sweet, they look like a mound of snow! How can you beat that?

I forget every year which recipes I've tried more or less successfully in the past (it's often the same way with cut-out sugar cookies, though I'm certain I've used yesterday's Crisco recipe before). I may have used this one in the past -- I do have it saved, after all -- but I don't know if I've every taken the time to toast the coconut before baking the cookies. They get toasty enough while baking, I think, and besides, I want them to look like snow!

If you are testing various recipes, I'd recommend avoiding the macaroon recipe in my dearly departed (as in seemingly lost forever) baking book, How to be a Domestic Goddess, by Nigella Lawson. I made them at least twice, and they always turn out to be a sticky mess.

Cookie Tip #13: When you're planning a pre-Christmas baking blitz, look carefully at your selected recipes before you begin. Not only will you want to evaluate your pantry and make a full shopping list, you'll want to decide when exactly you'll make all these cookies. Doughs meant to be chilled can be made first and parked in the refrigerator until you have the time to bake and decorate them. Drop cookies can be made whenever you have a pocket of a couple of hours. Delicate cookies such as macaroons and those with intricate frosting, though, should be saved for the last minute so that you can store them flat at room temperature. Plan on freezing the rest (after they've cooled!) as you bake them off to keep them fresh-tasting.

Toasty Coconut Macaroons
Source: Alton Brown
Yield: 40 cookies

• 4 large egg whites


• Pinch salt


• ½ cup sugar


• 1 package (8-ounce) sweetened shredded coconut, lightly toasted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a mixer fitted with a whip attachment. whip egg whites and salt until they become white and begin to stiffen. Add sugar in 3 parts. Continue to whip until the egg whites are very stiff. Using a rubber spatula fold in toasted coconut.

On parchment lined cookie sheets, drop a teaspoon of the mixture leaving 1 to 2 inches around each cookie. Place into the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. The outside should be golden brown but the insides should still be moist.

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Cookie Calendar: Minty Christmas Cookies

I suppose it's all the red-and-white candy canes and starlight mints we see this time of year that make us associate mint with the holidays. Mint is a refreshing flavor any time of the year, of course -- just ask the Girl Scouts -- but at Christmas, it's bound to sneak its way into a higher number of confections.

Such as . . . M&M's! Plain M&M's are already pretty tasty and a good way to satisfy a chocolate craving without going overboard (a whole bar is usually way more chocolate than my tastebuds require), but around the holidays, the company adds a sweet mint-chocolate variety to the lineup.

By the way, have you tried those (relatively) new dark chocolate M&M's? I love dark chocolate. Even when I was a kid I stole all the Special Darks from the Hershey Miniatures bag.

Anyway, this recipe came to our family via M&M's, from the web site or promotional material or something. It's great as a replacement for those everyday sort of chocolate chip cookies, giving you the same sort of satisfaction in a more festive package.

Cookie Tip #8: Don't limit yourself to the baking aisle when looking for cookie mix-ins or garnishes! M&M's, Hershey's Kissables, chopped-up candy bars -- all good stuff to take the place of chocolate chips.

Minty Christmas Cookies
Source: M&M's
Yield: 36 cookies

• 2 bags M&M'S® Brand Mint Chocolate Candies for the Holidays


• 2 ½ cups flour


• ⅓ cup cocoa powder


• 1 teaspoon baking soda


• ½ teaspoon salt


• 1 cup butter, softened


• ¾ cup sugar


• ¾ cup brown sugar


• 2 eggs


• 1 cup chopped pecan pieces


• 2 non-stick cookie sheets or parchment-lined cookie sheets

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine the flour, baking soda, cocoa and salt in a bowl; set aside.

3. With the mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, until blended. Gradually stir in the flour mixture.

4. Fold in the pecans and all but 1 cup of the M&M'S Brand Mint Chocolate Candies for the Holidays.

5. Make the cookies with a tablespoon of dough in the cookie sheet. Add extra reserved M&M'S Brand Mint Chocolate Candies for the Holidays on top of each cookie before baking.

6. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Notes:
Tip: If your family likes their cookies extra minty, try adding a few more M&M'S Brand Mint Chocolate Candies to the mix!

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Cookie Calendar: Ruth Moulton's Spice Balls

I love the warm, spicy flavor of gingerbread. I love the cuteness of gingerbread, too, but despite my affinity for baking, I have little patience for rolling out dough, making cutouts, and decorating finished cookies.

Because I make so many Christmas cookies each year (each year that I have an oven, that is), I much prefer cookies of the dropped, pressed, or sliced varieties. I can deal with a little hand-shaping, too, like with these cookies, which get rolled into balls before taking a tumble in some sugar, much like snickerdoodles.

I believe this recipe might have been part of one of those classic 12 Days of Cookies newsletters, but it's been so long I can't remember for sure. Back when I first came across this recipe, Sara Moulton was a far more visible presence on the Food Network. Nowadays, she's just one of the many stars of the early days who has been pushed aside to make room for all those popular home cooks.

Even though I enjoy many of the newer shows more than a number of the older ones that often featured hosts lacking charisma or recipes that were too complicated to reproduce most nights, I do miss Sara Moulton's old show Cooking Live. She made a lot of recipes from Gourmet accessible and was a great teacher each night back when I was just learning to cook on my own. Plus, like Julia Child, she was a human chef -- she messed up, especially during the weekly live "cook-along" show, and she just laughed it off and kept going.

She still pops up at odd hours on Food Network with the show Sara's Secrets, and she's on Good Morning America a good bit, if you're interested.

Cookie Tip #7: Many spice cookies call for molasses. Unless the recipe states otherwise, always go for the bottle just labeled "molasses." You want the sweeter first boiling, not a later one. If nothing else, just remember to never get blackstrap molasses. It's not a brand-name! It refers to the least sweet, most bitter type of molasses (albeit probably the most nutritious).

P.S. The first time I made these cookies, I had to use blackstrap molasses because my brother did the shopping. They were still delicious! Still, I wouldn't go substituting blackstrap in for recipes that don't call for it, as a rule.

Ruth Moulton's Spice Balls
Source: Sara Moulton
Yield: 48 cookies

• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened


• 1 ¼ cups sugar


• 1 large egg


• ¼ cup molasses


• 2 cups all-purpose flour


• 2 teaspoons baking soda


• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon


• 1 teaspoon ground cloves


• ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg


• ½ teaspoon ground ginger


• ½ teaspoon table salt

Combine the butter and 1 cup of the sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in the egg and molasses.

Sift the flour, soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, and salt together onto a piece of parchment. Add to the butter mixture in 2 batches, beating just until combined. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 2 to 3 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a pie plate. Shape the dough into walnut-size balls and roll in the sugar to coat. Arrange 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets and bake until cracked and dry but still soft, about 10 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to cool on wire racks.

Notes:
Please note: Even though these are called spice “balls” they end up flat after baking.

To begin with, the dough freezes very well. Unfreeze it and bake your cookies whenever you like. Like chewy gingerbread without all the ginger, they are a special treat at holiday time and comfort food anytime.

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Cookie Calendar: Fourteen-in-One

I relish the idea of putting my hand to a dozen different cookie recipes at least every holiday season. I go through butter and sugar like water throughout November and December, and I buy countless bottles of special spices, extracts, nuts, and dried fruits to create a vast spread.

However. . . I think most people prefer the idea of a cookie swap, where you save time and money buy investing in one giant batch of the same cookie, then meet up with friends or co-workers to exchange wares. I've participated in these before, too.

But I (and Scott) end up eating all the exchange cookies well before Christmas!

Anyway, this recipe, from The Joy of Cooking (maybe The Joy of Cookies right now!), is like a cookie swap without the get-together. You stock up on just the ingredients for the master recipe, make the one giant batch, but you customize and add little bits as you go to end up with different varieties.

While pretty much all the variations sound scrumptious, I've only tried the Cornmeal-Citrus and the Coconut myself. The cornmeal adds a bit of grittiness to the cookies, which is good if you're looking for a contrasting texture, but the cookies remain very tender. The Coconut cookies might be improved by adding coconut extract, maybe to replace some of the vanilla.

Cookie Tip #2: If you hold a cookie swap this year, plan on bringing a cookie that's sturdy enough for travel and not sticky. Jam or other coatings can get onto the other cookies you're collecting, making for poor presentation later. And don't forget to bring a collecting container!

Fourteen-in-One (Master Recipe)
Source: The Joy of Cooking

• ½ lb. unsalted butter (2 sticks), at room temperature


• 1 c. sugar, processed in a food processor for 30 seconds (or superfine sugar)


• ½ teaspoon salt


• 1 large egg yolk


• 1 large egg


• 2 teaspoons vanilla


• 2-½ c. all-purpose flour

Cream butter, sugar and salt. Add egg yolk and beat until well blended. Add egg and vanilla and beat until well combined. Reduce the speed to low and beat in flour until just combined.

Divide the dough in half and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, at least one hour. (The dough can be refrigerated for up to two days or it can be double-wrapped and frozen for up to one month.)

To bake, position a rack in the upper third and lower third of the over. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Remove one disk of dough from the refrigerator and cut in half. Return the unused portion to the refrigerator.

Either: Scoop the cookie dough into 1-tablespoon balls with a small ice cream scoop and roll each ball between your palms until smooth. Place the dough balls on parchment-lined cookie sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart. Using the bottom of a smooth, flour-coated glass, flatten each dough ball to about 1/8 inch thick.

Or: Lightly flour the work surface. Roll the dough to 1/4 inch thick, using an offset spatula to loosen the dough. Sprinkle the surface lightly with flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking (use powdered sugar or wax paper, alternatively). Cut the dough into desired shapes. Place the dough shapes on parchment-lined cookie sheets, spacing about 1/2 inch apart. Get as many dough shapes as you can our of each sheet, because the dough should be rolled only two times. Discard any leftover dough after the second rolling, or form the leftover dough into balls and flatten them to about 1/8 inch thick.

Bake, two sheets at a time, until the cookies are evenly golden brown, 6-8 minutes; rotate the sheets halfway through baking for even browning. Using a thin-bladed spatula, immediately transfer the cookie to racks to cool to room temperature. Decorate the cooled cookies, if desired, and transfer to an airtight container.

Notes:

Variations:

Cornmeal Citrus Cookies
Follow the master recipe, adding 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon or orange zest to the creamed butter, sugar and salt, and substituting 1 cup fine cornmeal for 1 cup of the flour.

Chocolate-Cinnamon Cookies
Follow the master recipe, adding 1 ounce melted and cooled unsweetened chocolate to the creamed butter, sugar and salt. Substitute 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa for 1/4 cup of the flour and add 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon to the flour-cocoa mixture.

Marble Cookies
Follow the master recipe, stirring 2 ounces melted and cooled semisweet or bittersweet chocolate into 1/4 of the master recipe dough. Divide the chocolate dough into six portions. Press into the remaining 3/4 of the master recipe dough. Knead the doughs together to create a marbled effect.

Lemon Butter Cookies
Follow the master recipe, adding 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest to the creamed butter, sugar and salt.

Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies
Follow the master recipe, adding 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest to the creamed butter, sugar and salt, and stirring 2 tablespoons poppy seeds into the finished dough.

Orange Butter Cookies
Follow the master recipe, adding 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest to the creamed butter, sugar and salt.

Orange-Nut Cookies
Follow the master recipe, adding 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest and 1 cup finely ground walnuts, pecans or skinned hazelnuts to the creamed butter, sugar and salt.

Coconut Cookies
Follow the master recipe, stirring 1 cup flaked sweetened dried coconut, toasted, into the finished dough.

Ginger Cookies
Follow the master recipe, adding 1 teaspoon ground ginger to the flour and stirring 6 tablespoons finely minced candied ginger into the finished dough.

Butterscotch Cookies
Follow the master recipe, substituting 1 cup packed light brown sugar for the sugar.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Because of the extra fat from the peanut butter, these cookies have a sandier, melt-in-your-mouth texture. Follow the master recipe, creaming 2/3 cup peanut butter with the butter, sugar and salt.

Spice Cookies

Follow the master recipe, substituting 1 cup packed light brown sugar for the sugar and adding 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice and 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves to the flour.

Raisin-Spice Cookies

Prepare Spice Cookies, above, stirring 1/2 cup finely minced raisins or 1/2 cup dried currants into the finished dough.

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