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almond, baking, chocolate, chocolate chip cookies, Christmas, cookies, holiday, New Year, recipe
Happy New Year! I want to thank all of you who have taken the time to stop by my blog during the past year and I wish you much happiness and good health in 2015.
As we transition into the New Year, I can’t help but talk about one of my favorite holiday traditions: baking cookies! I usually bake up two or three different cookie recipes to give as gifts to friends, family, and colleagues.
When I was younger, my mom didn’t really do a lot of cookie baking during the holidays, though we would get out a tube of sugar cookie dough from time to time to bake and decorate (badly). Mom usually baked pies for Christmas Day or a pound cake or banana bread.
The cookie baking is something I got into kind of organically about 10 years ago or so. And, of course, the process has evolved and grown as I’ve expanded the list of folks I give or send cookies to as gifts.
The cookie that started it all is an old favorite that I started making for special occasions at work (potlucks, birthdays, etc.)—Amaretto Chocolate Chip Cookie, or the almond chocolate chip cookie, for simplicity’s sake. I’ve even had people request that I make this cookie, and while I’d like to take credit for the recipe, that distinction belongs to Giada De Laurentiis. I decided to try this cookie after seeing her make it on her Food Network show. It’s pretty much the perfect cookie. The recipe is hard to mess up, and I’ve made these cookies so many times, I could probably do it in my sleep.
I included the almond chocolate chip cookie in my holiday repertoire this year because I wanted to make things as easy on myself as possible. When baking in bulk, I’ve found it’s just better to go with the tried and true. Also on the menu were espresso brownie bites (another longtime favorite) and, for the new recipe this year, cherry pistachio slice-and-bake cookies, which also became cranberry pistachio slice-and-bake cookies when I ran out of dried cherries.
I’ve included the almond chocolate chip cookie recipe below. Giada featured it as a cookie to use in ice cream sandwiches, which I’ve never done. It certainly would be a fun thing to do for a party or family get-together.
The espresso brownie recipe is another Giada recipe from her show that I’ve used many times. It includes a glaze, which I don’t use because it tends to be messy, especially if you’re taking them somewhere to share or shipping. For my holiday baking, I doubled the recipe twice over and baked them in lined, well-greased cookie sheets, and then I cut them into bite-sized pieces.
I chose the cherry/cranberry pistachio cookie recipe for its holiday flavors and colors. Also, slice-and-bake cookies are so easy to make in large quantities. The recipe is from SELF magazine, so it’s even good for you, relatively speaking. The dough needs to be made a day or two ahead of time so it can be frozen, which makes the slicing part so much easier.
All of this baking can be quite a production and requires organizing the ingredients and baking equipment, creating a baking schedule, calculating how many cookies per batch, and so on. It usually takes me two or three days to get them all baked. Then comes the packaging and shipping! But I really do enjoy all of it, and I certainly hope I can spread a little of that enjoyment to the cookie recipients as well.
Amaretto Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
3/4 tsp pure almond extract
1 (12-oz) bag semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup whole almonds, toasted and chopped (sliced work fine as well)
3 pints vanilla ice cream, softened slightly
1/3 cup amaretto liqueur
Line heavy, large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Finely chops the oats in a food processor (I usually skip this step and mix the oats in as is for a more rustic texture). Mix in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars in a large bowl until fluffy. Scrape down sides of mixing bowl. Beat in the eggs and almond extract. Add the flour mixture in 3 parts and stir just until blended. Stir in the chocolate chips and chopped almonds.
For each cookie, drop 1 rounded tablespoonful (or teaspoon, if you want smaller cookies) of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart (do not flatten dough). Bake until the cookies are golden (cookies will flatten slightly), about 13 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 5 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely. The cookies can be prepared a day or two ahead and keep well when stored in airtight containers.
For the ice cream sandwiches, place the ice cream in a large bowl. Mix in the amaretto. Cover the ice cream mixture and freeze until firm, at least 3 hours. Arrange 12 cookies, flat side up, on a baking sheet. Top each with a scoop of ice cream, then another cookie, flat side down, pressing slightly to adhere. Cover and freeze the sandwiches until they are firm, at least 3 hours. Sandwiches can be made up to 4 days ahead. Wrap each with plastic wrap and keep frozen.
Photos by Judy L. Marchman