Carrot Cake Cookies

I decided to tackle this recipe, Carrot Cake Cookies (page 202), after our weekly market bag came back FULL of carrots. These cookies are essentially two tiny carrot cakes sandwiching cream cheese frosting. The recipe online is a smaller-yield version of the one in the cookbook, which made about 3 dozen cookies (before they were sandwiches).

These cookies were very easy to prepare, with no unusual ingredients. I just grated the carrots in the food processor, so they weren't as finely grated as Martha suggested, but they worked just fine. As per usual, I also omitted the raisins since raisins are not popular in our house. While the cookie dough was chilling, I whipped up the frosting in no time flat.

These cookies are decadent ... very filling, and super delicious. A wonderful treat.

Almond Horns

In the absence of any delicious snack foods in our house, I know it's time to break out a new batch of cookies. This recipe is Almond Horns (p. 107), a delicious butter cookie so named for it's curved shape, and also sometimes referred to as "almond crescents".

These cookies were quite simple to make. The recipe did call for whole almonds to be toasted and processed, but you could easily use pre-sliced almonds (that's what I had on hand) and I did not toast them, to no ill effect.

The dough definitely needs to be chilled prior to handling; it is rather sticky. Once it is refrigerated, however, it is manageable. I only baked the cookies for 17 minutes as opposed to the recommend 20, and they came out crisp and golden.

The powdered sugar was a bit of a mess, and despite numerous cleanings and wipe-downs, left our floor feeling tacky, but hopefully that will dissipate with a good mopping.

These cookies were absolutely marvelous and only lasted two days. I couldn't keep my hands off them. I left a tell-tale powdered sugar trail wherever I took them though, so no denying who ate them!

(Not-So) Giant Chocolate Sugar Cookies

My daughters are having a playdate tomorrow and I decided to make these Giant Chocolate Sugar Cookies (p. 163) for their snack. When I made the last cookie recipe, my husband complained about how few cookies the recipe yielded, and this recipe promised only EIGHT. He was aghast.

So, instead of using a 2-1/2 inch ice cream scoop to drop the cookie batter onto the baking sheet, I used my standard 1 inch scoop. I baked them at 350 degrees instead of 375, and for 14 minutes instead of 18. The cookies were not-so-giant in size, but I got 24 of them instead of 8! They were chocolately and soft and delicious.

Biscuit Sandwich Cookies

Time to make more cookies! This I chose the Biscuit Sandwich Cookie (p. 299) recipe because I was looking for a something a little bit different. These cookies were very easy to make, and didn't generate a huge mess because you mix them in the food processor as opposed to the mixer. The food processor is much easier to handle.

When the dough came out of the food processor, it was quite soft and sticky. Martha's suggestion of rolling out the dough between two sheets of parchment paper was very helpful. However, the dough was still quite soft and sticky after it was rolled out, so I put it in the freezer for about 15 minutes before I cut out the shapes, and it was much easier to handle and maintain the cookies' shapes.

It is important to make sure the cookies are evenly rolled out to a consistent thickness; otherwise, some will burn, or get browner on the edges.

I used melted milk chocolate for the filling, but you could easily use Nutella or another kind of dessert spread. The cookies themselves are not terribly sweet, but with the chocolate, they are just sweet enough, and crispy and delicious! My husband did complain about the low yield of this recipe (~1 1/2 dozen) ... but that keeps us from overindulging.

The picture below is my mom and daughter enjoying a Biscuit Sandwich Cookie for dessert!

Kosher for Passover Chocolate Chip Cookies and Chocolate Chunk Coconut Macaroons

It's Passover time! Which means lots of dietary restrictions. If you are interested in what the actual rules are, click here for information about general laws regarding eating kosher, and here for specific restrictions for Passover. Basically, because the Jews had to flee Egypt quickly, they had no time for their bread to rise and had to eat matzah, an unleavened bread similar to a cracker. So, when making baked goods, matzah meal has to be substituted for flour to keep the items kosher for Passover.

Martha has one specifically marked "Kosher for Passover" recipe in her cookies cookbook, Kosher for Passover Chocolate Chip Cookies.

These cookies call for matzah meal as well as matzah farfel instead of flour. Because kashrut requires that dairy and meat not be eaten together at the same meal, and meat is typically served at most seders, this recipe is also dairy-free, using vegetable oil instead of butter and dairy-free chocolate chips. Matzah meal is by no means a perfect substitute for flour, and kosher for passover desserts have a deservedly bad reputation. Unfortunately, although these cookies are edible and not horrendous, they certainly not amazing either. They are crisp and crunchy, and the walnuts give them a nice flavor ... but I will definitely not be making these during the rest of the year.

The cookie most people associate with Passover are macaroons, typically the ones prepared by Manischewitz. Martha has a coconut macaroon recipe in her cookbook, so I decided to try it out, since nothing in the recipe is trafe for passover.
The recipe I chose has several variations, for simple plain coconut macaroons, chocolate chunk or chocolate macaroons. They were incredibly simple to make with very few ingredients, just coconut, a little sugar, egg whites, vanilla and a dash of salt. On the website, it appears that this recipe has been removed, and replaced by this one, which also calls for condensed milk. In any case, these were very simple and very good, kind of like a Mounds Bar.