012812 Lime Hearts (Flowers)

I didn't have a flower cookie cutter so I improvised and use my heart cutter....just as pretty. This is a surprisingly, wonderful egg-less cookie! It's bursting with lime flavor and has a nice crispy, crunch. Next time, I would roll dough between two pieces of parchment paper - no flour needed but I wouldn't use the counter top. Very delicate cookie and goes great with tea!

012212 Fortune Cookies

In honor of Chinese New Years, I attempted this Fortune Cookie recipe. It's a recipe that I feared when I took on this journey with Martha - it looked so complicated to assemble. But, with the help of my daughter, the adventure turned out to be so enjoyable that we decided to make Fortune Cookies every Chinese New Year! We made personal fortunes for family, friends and co-workers before any baking began. We learned that only 3 cookies can be baked at a time given the "seconds" you're given to fold the cookie (with fortune)with thumbs and fingers before the cookie hardens. I would fold a cookie and my daughter would hold it in place for 10-15secs. The batter was quite easy to make, and a cinch to spread into a 3-4" circle. To my surprise, my Gold-touch pan left a beautiful pattern on the cookie;one of my friends remarked that it looked like a tiger's print. The trick was remembering which fortune was in which cookie....

012012Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

The raw cookie dough for this recipe is Excellent!! I used sour cherries instead of raisins - what an awesome combination with the handful of chocolate chips I also threw in. I took these cookies to a volleyball tournament and they were the perfect "sugar" snack in between matches! I substituted the wheat germ with additional flour. Next time, and there will be a next time, I'll reduce the amount of cinnamon (not a fan of cinnamon in oatmeal based cookies). Very delicious recipe! Soft and chewy cookies....yummmm!

011412Buttered Rum Meltaways

These cookies were very easy to assemble;they sliced easily without falling apart. Strong nutmeg/cinnamon flavor that works very well with the buttery cookie. Recipe yields the predicted 4 dozen. A recipe easy to make in a pinch that can be stored in the freezer for up to a month.

010812Coconut Cookies with Curd

The recipe called for a passion fruit curd but had mentioned that any curd would suffice. I recently picked up a jar of Cabernet Sauvignon curd from Carmel and thought it would work nicely with the cookies. The key to cutting out these cookies is to make sure the dough is adequately chilled and firm- otherwise you'll end up using more flour to prevent the dough from sticking to the rolling pin/mat. The additional flour will prevent the cookies from rising and having a soft, puffy finish. I thought the cab curd was "ok" but my husband thought it worked very well with the cookies. The cookies were a bit on the sweet side....I would cut back on the coconut. Not sure I would make this recipe again....bit time consuming for a very sweet cookie.