Christmas Cookies

Baking cookies is one of my favorite holiday traditions.  There's nothing better than a little Christmas music, some kitchen-dancing, and seasonal cookies to 'rouse up my holiday spirit.  Maybe it's the fragrant dough, or licking the sweet icing off my fingers, or the childhood memories in the kitchen.  (Like the time when the dough was so stiff, we broke several wooden spoons trying to mix it.)  Or just maybe it's the "oohs" and "aahs" of friends and family when you present them with your sweet creations.  Whatever it is, it was happening this past Sunday.  It was the absolute perfect day for cookie baking.  Outside, it was a typical cold and snowy winter day, while inside we were warm- rolling, cutting, and baking this year's batch. 

I scoured many baking sites in search of a do-able cookie recipe.  As I have mentioned, I have limited equipment and even limited supplies.  Having no electric mixer is a big hindrance and I had to find a recipe that could pass with old-fashioned elbow grease.  I finally selected one from my favorite baking blog site Joy the Baker..... Chocolate Peppermint Sandwich Cookies!

Our final creation has similar taste and texture to an Oreo, but with a much more superior cream filling (pure white chocolate).  I'm lucky they tasted so good, and here's why...

Michael started out reading me the recipe from the computer.  As I was measuring the dry ingredients into my largest bowl (which happens to be a salad serving bowl), we realized not all the ingredients were going to fit.  I carefully switched them over into my pasta pot, trying to salvage as much as possible.  Michael then called out the last dry ingredient- 1.5 teaspoons of salt.  I filled up the 1 tablespoon with salt and said "Wow, that seems like a lot of salt.  Well, it does bring out the sweetness of the sugar" as I dumped it in to the pot.  Of course as soon as I did, Michael yelled "Was that a teaspoon or tablespoon?"  I frantically dug out the excess salt hoping that I didn't also remove the baking soda.  Michael tried to ease the situation by saying "Ah, it's okay.  It's not really an exact science."  No, actually, baking is an exact science.   Ideally, I would have tossed it and started over, but I didn't have enough cocoa powder for that.  I just crossed my fingers and hoped for the best...

 

In the end, they turned out way better than expected and received rave reviews from Michael's co-workers. 

I close this post with some reflection...  Most of the afternoon cooking projects I select have two things in common: they always take twice the amount of time I expect and hubby starts helping and then eventually takes over. :)