Wordless Wednesday #93: Cookie Day!

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Twelve Cookies of Christmas #12: Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookies

Well, we've come to the end, the last cookie of my Twelve Cookies of Christmas. And I bring you an especially festive cookie for the holidays. I first made these three years ago, when I saw them in my December 2009 issue of Bon Appetit, and decided to bring them back this year.

One of my favourite flavour combinations is chocolate peppermint. For some reason, chocolate peppermint particularly makes me think of the holidays and winter, perhaps because of that refreshing burst you get from the mint, like a cool breath in your mouth. With the addition of candy canes, it makes these cookies especially festive.

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Twelve Cookies of Christmas #11: Candied Cardamom-Coconut Cashews

These candied cashews are the second non-cookie item on my holiday baking list this year. I already had a confection added to the line-up (see Peppermint Marshmallows), so I wanted to have some spiced or candied nuts to mix things up a little.

At first I wanted to do some spiced pecans, but quickly changed my mind when I came across a recipe for Candied Cardamom-Coconut Cashews. The coconut and cardamom gives these candied cashews an exotic, tropical twist, and smell absolutely incredible.


What's so great about these is that they are so easy to make and keep very well, so you can make them well in advance during the holiday madness when life gets busy.

I got the recipe from the amazing Alice Medrich and her most recent cookbook Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts.

Follow along with my Twelve Cookies of Christmas.

Twelve Cookies of Christmas #10: Pierre Hermé's Sablé Viennois with Stirling Creamery Churn84

Don't let the name Pierre Hermé intimate you. These sablés are surprisingly very easy to make, despite coming from the famed French pastry chef. And these have instantly become my favourite cookie this holiday season.

I recently found out that Stirling Creamery will be making their “European-style” unsalted butter Churn84 available to consumers (it was previously only available through Foodservice). Curious about their higher fat content butter, the folks at Stirling Creamery were nice enough to send me a few samples for me to test out.

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Twelve Cookies of Christmas #9: Salted Orange Toffee Slices

I instantly fell in love with these cookies when I first tasted them last year. A good friend of mine had gifted me with a box of her homemade cookies, which included these Salted Orange Toffee Slices. Along with the cookies, she also gave me a copy of Anna Olson’s cookbook, Back to Baking, where she got the recipe. Orange is one of my favourite flavours, and I’m a sucker for anything salty-sweet. So when it came time to put together this year’s holiday baking list, including these cookies was a no-brainer for me.

These are the easiest cookies to make. The dough comes together in mere minutes, and because it is an icebox cookie, you can prep the dough in advance and bake them a few days later, or even freeze the dough for some other time.

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