Holiday Baking the Easy Way

Chocolate nibs, chocolate extract, cocoa and dark chocolate all supposedly add unique layers of flavor.

I’m open to suggestions. Anyone? I’ve got nothing. Nothing but 15lbs of flour and 3lbs of butter taunting me from my kitchen counter.

Actually, I noticed a listing in the Pee Dee for a cookie class at the Legacy Village Viking store. Unfortunately, I’ve already got my butter. My cruel, cruel butter. The class costs about $70 but I assume you leave with enough cookies to choke a rhino. I also remember hearing that La Campagna (blog) has a similar event but I don’t have any details, including whether or not it’s already come and gone.

It’s nice to give something personal but it’s also nice to have a spacious, well-equipped kitchen and I’m not too proud to get a little help selecting recipes, procuring ingredients and coping with the mess. Next year I’d like to take advantage of some professional assistance. In addition to La Campagna and the Viking Store, are there any other options? Please let us know in the comments. Thank you.

Last year, I decided to give cookies for the holidays. It was the first time. Actually, it was just my first time baking cookies. I scoured the internet for recipes, finally settling on a well curated selection of five. It never occurred to me that baking five different cookies the first time I baked cookies at all was anything but natural. I suppose you’re expecting the details of all my cartoon-worthy mishaps but mostly everything just took a lot longer than I expected. If my cookie escapades ever do make their way to feature length animation, Gilbert Gottfried can play the role of my mischievous oven.

On top of a logistical maze that would give a migraine to an army bureaucrat, my recipes called for at least a couple exotic ingredients. Mesquite flour isn’t smoked flour. I mail-ordered that. Chocolate extract isn’t nearly as easy to find as vanilla extract. Dutch process cocoa isn’t exotic but Whole Foods doesn’t carry it and neither did at least a couple other stores. The cocoa went with the extract, cocoa nibs and Scharffen-Berger dark chocolate into a “very chocolate cookie.” That recipe also called for whole wheat flour, brown sugar and cinnamon salt. After all my other efforts, I’m ashamed to admit that I wimped out on the cinnamon and went with fleur de sel.

Tahini, black sesame seeds, olives and olive oil, a quarter teaspoon of dry mustard and six other spices, remember to pay attention to what kind of molasses you buy…

Whole Foods for the olives, sugar and most other things, the internet for the mesquite flour, Coit Road farmers’ market for most spices, Shaker Square farmers’ market for the eggs and butter, Sur La Table for the Vanilla extract, Penzey’s for the chocolate extract, Mile’s Farmers Market for the Dutch process cocoa…

I vowed that I would make chocolate chip cookies this year.

And I am. In addition to Spritz (Norwegian Butter Cookies), Cottage Cheese Cookies, Brown Butter Cookies, Pistachio Cranberry Icebox Cookies, and Brazil Nut Crescents. Please keep me in your prayers.

Between shopping, mixin, baking, packaging and delivering my cookies, I was a little fatigued by the time it came for me to taste them. I hope they were good. I gave a lot of consideration to choosing each recipe so hopefully they may be of use to you in your holiday baking. Click the pictures for recipes.