110913 Lebkuchen

These German Christmas cookies are terrific for the season!! It's best to make this recipe during the holidays as it'll be easier to find all the ingredients. Very nice aroma in the kitchen and the cookies are so very soft, flavorful and just the right amount of sweetness! Pretty easy to make since you throw everything in the food processor! Too bad the recipe only yields ~2doz. I plan on making this recipe again before the year's up.

090113 Chocolate Mint Snadwiches

Plan on using a good amount of powdered sugar when rolling out the dough - it gets very sticky. These cookies are way too sweet, even without the glaze! And, I don't really care for the chocolate cookie (a bit dry). Probably won't repeat the recipe again and too bad I forgot to take a picture for the blog :(. Good thing it wasn't a favorite!!

080413 Coconut-Cream Cheese (Pinwheels)

These cookies are sweet enough without the jelly. The recipe is a bit time consuming...not quite worth the effort. I thought the folding the ends to the middle was just as good as making pinwheels. My cream cheese filling was a little chunky but not too bad. Be generous with the flour when rolling out the dough.

071413 Biscuit Sandwich Cookies

These cookies are fabulous with Nutella!! The thin, buttery cookies add just the right texture and flavor to the sweet, chocolatey nutella spread. The egg-cream wash brushed on the cookies prior to baking make for a nice "gloss" finish...quite delicate!

063013 ALmond Spice Cookies

Though this recipe is easy to put together, it was a bit tricky to slice the frozen dough very thin....need a sharp knife. The taste wasn't too bad and seemed to improve the second day (?). Not sure I would repeat this recipe. Some people found them quite enjoyable at work...

060113 Biscochitos

I didn't have a 4" fleur-de-lis cutter but had a super cute birdie cookie cutter that was perfect! This recipe left a very nice anise and orange aroma in the kitchen. The baking time was longer than the recommended 14 minutes (more like 20min). The orange flavor really comes through leaving a very subtle anise taste....all very pleasant!

052713 Homemade Graham Crackers

This recipe tastes just like the graham crackers from the store but much better!! Softer and more robust flavor than Honeymaid graham crackers. These are excellent with peanut butter or nutella!! The recipe is easy and worth the effort!

051213 Sweet Cardamom Cookies

The cookies leave a pleasant aroma in the kitchen!!And, a very interesting cardamom flavor...with a nice pistachio finish. The recipe is relatively easy to make/assemble. I probably made the crackers a little thicker than recommended....more like a cookie than a cracker.

051213 Wholemeal Almond Cookies

Surprisingly tasty with marscapone cheese and some jam. The recipe doesn't yield many biscuits. The cookie dough is rather fragile to roll out so you need to be careful and not handle the dough too much. Simple tasting and a bit too much work for biscuits...nor sure I would make again.

042713 Chocolate Pistachio Cookies

This recipe was very challenging...almost as difficult as the Sarah Bernhardt cookies. The chocolate filling did not solidify, even after chilling. Not sure if this was due to the quality of the chocolate..? The pistachio cookie wasn't bad but was a bit chewy. As I was sandwiching the cookies, the filling wouldn't take hold and, therefore, I wasn't able to apply the final chocolate glaze. I was very disappointed with the recipe and results.

042113 Chocolate Cookie Cutouts

Very easy recipe and simple tasting....almost a little too bland. I used royal icing to perk it up, but doubt I would make this again. Too plain...borders boring.

041613 Coconut Biscuits

Though this recipe was super easy to make, it was awful!! It left an odd aroma in the kitchen......I'm not sure why?? The first bite isn't bad but after about three chews, you want to spit it out! Blah!!This is probably the worst tasting recipe in her cookie book.

040713 Ginger Cheesecake Bars

I used ginger snap cookies from Trader Joes - very strong ginger flavor in the cookie crust!! I sprinkled some cookie crumbs on top, too. Very easy recipe to assemble. However, I'm not a big fan of ginger and these ginger snaps area bit overwhelming for me. The cheesecake was pretty common and simple. Maybe next time I'll use ginger snap cookies that are a bit more mild.

033113 Prune Rugelach

This was the first time I made any rugelach recipes.....and it was wonderful!! Quite a bit of work, but the cookies are well worth the effort!! You have to plan ahead for these cookies since the prunes have to soak in the brandy overnight, along with chilling the cream cheese dough. Lots of small bowls to be assembled with the various sprinklings - it was fun to make and the cookies are very yummy!! I'll have to make these again when my sisters are in town!!

033113 Umbrella Sugar Cookies

As you can see, I used bunny cut-outs instead of umbrellas - more fitting since today is Easter. The recipe has a nice lemon zing and the royal icing adds a bit of sweetness -actually, a little too much sweetness. Next time, I'll cut back on the icing. Very easy to assemble...a nice sugar cookie recipe.

032313 Icebox Spirals and Bulls-Eyes

This recipe is a bit too simple and plain tasting. Somewhat involved since you have 2 doughs to work with....I only made the bulls-eyes since I halved the recipe (good thing). Make sure that the dough is rolled out to 1/2" thick otherwise the dough starts to tear if it's too thin. Probably won't repeat...

030213 Whole-Wheat Date Bars

These are very delicious date bars...reminds me of the fig bar recipe. The whole-wheat adds a nice crunch! The recipe is a bit involved but worth the effort. Multiple dough chilling and you have to take out the food processor for the date filling - serious clean-up time.

022413 Peppermint Meringue Sandwiches with Chocolate Filling

This recipe was a bit more involved than I expected. I added a tad of cream of tartar to help stiffen the meringue. The ganache was a bit runny - maybe I needed to use better quality chocolate (?). So, I improvised and concocted an apricot filling since the ganache just wasn't staying put. Not bad. I skipped the red food coloring, too. Probably won't be repeating this cookie recipe....

021713 Chocolate-Ginger (Leaves and Acorns)

I used a heart cookie cutter since I didn't have any leaves or acorn cut-outs. Easy to assemble and dough is pliable. However, I'm not a fan of ginger or molasses - so this recipe won't be revisited. The cookies taste like a chocolate ginger snap...interesting.

021013 Cassis Crisps

This recipe was a pleasant surprise!! I used Chambord raspberry liqueur in place of the black-currant liqueur......and the cookies were excellent!! There's a subtle hint of raspberry with every bite and the cookies are just a tad on the soft side...very nice! I will be making these again in the near future...not too sweet and perfect with tea/coffee.

020913 Chocolate Malt Sandwiches

Pretty easy to assemble once the not-so-common ingredients are gathered. I had to make a run to the store for Creme fraiche, half-half, cream cheese .....I actually had malted milk powder. The cookies puff up in the oven and then flatten out. The filling is a bit on the sweet side....making it a must to have a glass of milk or cup of coffee with the decadent cookie.

012613 Fig Bars

Oooohhh! These are excellent!! A bit involved to assemble but well worth it! I used Calimyrna figs from TJs. My cousins Lori & Erin helped me out in the kitchen. Quite a bit of refrigeration stages but I suggest making the fig filling while the dough is chilling. The fig filling is delicious and fills the kitchen with a wonderful aroma! I made this recipe 2 weeks in a row and plan to make it again....

011913 Pistachio Tuiles

Though easy to make, you need to work fast with these cookies once they're removed from the oven. On my first 2 pans, I didn't flatten the dough enough - cookies were a bit thick. When I did spread the dough before baking, I still didn't get that lacy look. I may over processed the nuts to where it thickened the batter too much. Not too fond of the flavor; overall, I'm not a fan of tuile/french lace cookies. To me, they're too sweet, sticky and tricky to form.

011213 Springerle

I traveled far to make these cookies. I found the springerle rolling pin in Solvang during the Christmas holiday. I was so excited to make this recipe - it's quite different in that you have to let it set for 24hours before baking them at a low temp for another 1hr. To my dismay, these cookies came out terrible....in taste & texture. They were as hard as rock and the anise flavor didn't appeal to me. They did turn white but my picture impressions were not very deep. I would attempt the recipe again if it didn't call for large quantities of ingredients (I halved the recipe, too). Very not happy on how these turned out....invested quite a bit of time.

010613 Mini Black-and-White Cookies

Easy to make recipe - I used buttermilk powder w/ water. Next time, I would use <1T of dough to make cookies (mine came out a bit too big). The dough was a bit runny and I ended up scooping the dough onto the cookie sheet. Lastly, these were somewhat hard to frost- messy trying to decorate with 2 colors of frosting (I"m sure it'll come easier with practice).

123012 Truffle Brownies

Very decadent cookie....need a tall glass of milk with this recipe. The ganache was a bit runny, even after refrigeration. The brownie is very easy to make....just a bit to sweet to enjoy w/o something to wash it down with. You can tell by the picture that it was a bit messy to enjoy. Not sure I would repeat this recipe....