Nothing says comfort and kindness quite like the scent of a fresh batch in the oven. A box of cookies from the store will do in a pinch, but everyone knows the homemade kind is best. With the cookie-filled winter holiday season fast-approaching, Food & Travel Editor and cookie connoisseur Janet K. Keeler’s essential cookbook COOKIELICIOUS: 150 Fabulous Recipes to Bake and Share (Seaside Publishing; October 2010; Paperback/$19.95; ISBN: 978-0942084344), with a foreword by seasoned food writer John Mariani, will fill your home and heart with the magic of cookies.
Janet K. Keeler has assembled a collection of 150 cookie recipes from the St. Petersburg Times archives. These tried and true favorites came to Janet through handwritten notes and emails from readers, with a few of her own recipes sprinkled in for good measure. “I have tasted every single one of the book’s recipes and can personally vouch for their wow factor,” says Janet. Her diligent collecting and testing of recipes is sure to inspire your holiday baking this year.
Whether you prefer cookies with dried fruit or chocolate cookies, cookies with candy or cookies with nuts, COOKIELICIOUS has a recipe for you. With easy-to-find ingredients and commonplace cooking tools, these recipes are geared towards home cooks. If you like to bake in advance (especially useful during the holiday season) each recipe includes a note on whether or not a cookie can be frozen and how to best store. Tempting photographs accompany each recipe. The book is divided into easy-to-navigate sections according to cravings and occasions:
- Anytime Cookies
- Sharing Cookies
- Chocolate Cookies
- Kids Cookies
- Holiday Cookies
Use COOKIELICIOUS as a guide and inspiration throughout this holiday season, and many more to come. Recipes like Oatmeal Bourbon Cookies, Candy Cane Gingersnaps, and Joyful Almond Blondies are sure to win a place in your cookie repertoire. Nothing can bring people together quite like a big plate of warm cookies.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Janet K. Keeler is the award-winning food and travel editor at the St. Petersburg Times in St. Petersburg, Florida. She recently won a 2009 Green Eyeshade award for Travel Writing. Her work has been recognized by the Association of Food Journalists, the Society of American Travel Writers, the Society of Newspaper Design, the Society of Professional Journalists and the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors. Her story, The Crock-Pot That Saved Dinner Time, appears in the collection of Best Food Writing 2001, an anthology of work by American writers. She learned much about competitive cooking as a judge of the Pillsbury Bake-Off in 2004. She has been a working newspaper journalist since 1980, holding a variety of editing positions and covering several beats, including education and government. Janet and her husband, Scott, a Times photographer, have one son. Their St. Petersburg kitchen is the testing ground and photo studio for much of her work.
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Oatmeal Bourbon Cookies
When you’re looking for a cookie with a nippy zip, consider these bourbon-spiked treats. A cake mix gives you a running start on measuring.
Makes 4 dozen
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup water
1 package yellow cake mix
3 tablespoons bourbon
3 cups quick oats, uncooked
1 cup nuts, chopped
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream butter and sugar in mixer; add egg, water and 1/2 package of dry cake mix, blending thoroughly. Stir in remaining cake mix, bourbon, oats and nuts. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake exactly 10 minutes. Do not overbake. Cool slightly and remove from baking sheet.
These cookies will appear "not quite done" when you take them out of the oven, but they will continue cooking on baking sheet.
Freezeworthy: Yes, but cool completely first.
Sharon W. Thompson
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Candy Cane Gingersnaps
Ground, fresh and crystallized ginger provides these snaps with a triple-power punch. The crushed candy cane sprinkling on top makes them especially suited for Christmas.
Makes about 3 dozen
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup dark molasses
1 egg
1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
3 ounces crystallized ginger, chopped coarsely
3 ounces peppermint candy canes
Granulated sugar for sprinkling
In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, allspice and cloves; mix well. In a large mixing bowl, combine butter, sugar, molasses, egg and fresh ginger; mix well. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until well combined; stir in crystallized ginger. Wrap and place dough in refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
Place candy canes in a heavy plastic bag and break into small pieces, using either a mallet or rolling pin. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Portion out chilled dough by heaping tablespoons, forming into balls if you wish, and place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten each cookie slightly. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle each cookie with a few pieces of broken candy cane and granulated sugar. Cool.
Freezeworthy: Yes, but cool completely first.
April LeRoy
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Joyful Almond Blondies
Many popular candies are now made in pieces and they lend themselves to baking. Who wouldn't want their favorite candy in a cookie? The chocolate, almond and coconut mixture of Almond Joy blends quite well into this easy blondies recipe.
Makes about 20 to 25 squares
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup Almond Joy pieces candy
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix melted butter to brown sugar in medium mixing bowl and beat until smooth. Beat in egg and then vanilla. Add salt, baking powder and flour, mix until incorporated. Fold in Almond Joy candy pieces.
Pour mixture into a greased 8- by 8-inch pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until blondies are set in the middle.
Freezeworthy: Not recommended.
Janet K. Keeler, Food Editor, St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times
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Recipes from COOKIELICIOUS: 150 Fabulous Recipes to Bake and Share
by Janet K. Keeler
Seaside Publishing; October 2010; Paperback/$19.95
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