After two years of passing in the annual Republic of Dog's Holiday Bake-Off, I decided to get off my duff this year and participate. And let me tell you, I think I did an awesome job. Jennifer, our reigning cookie queen, has her review of my entry up. I thought I'd take a moment to explain my entry a bit more.
I decided to bring out the big guns, so I looked to two trusted internet spots: Orangette and Epicurious. (I also consulted Everybody Likes Sandwiches, but ultimately went with a family recipe.) I made a trio of cookies, as you can see above, an oatmeal, a butter cookie and a chocolate cookie. I wanted three different flavors that wouldn't totally clash and I think I succeeded in that.
I used Orangette's Pistachio-Apricot Oatmeal Cookie recipe, mainly because I am currently obsessed with pistachios, and boy am I happy with this recipe. The cookies are crisp and chewy, with a nice (but surprising) flavor. For some reason to me it tastes like there is a little bit of coconut in there, but there's not. I'm definitely going to make these cookies again. And if I wasn't so full on random sweets from work I'd do so right now.
I originally had my eyes on one cardamom cookie via Epicurious, but decided on another that looked easier to make. (I've been obsessed with cardamom since I made ELS's chai-spiced apple bread - check out the recipe, it's super easy and SO good.) I ultimately used (and tweaked) the Cardamom Butter Square recipe. As you can see, I didn't square the cookies, mainly because when I tried they looked lumpy and weird, so I thought I'd go boring and safe and balled the cookies. I doubled the cardamom and cinnamon and used freshly grated nutmeg and ground cloves instead of allspice. I think I would put slightly less cardamom next time, but they are a nice buttery cookie with more than a hint of sass.
I changed my final cookie based on a suggestion from my sister. She loves our mother's recipe (which she got from her grandmother). See my mom's old recipe card for the cookies above. I'm certain it's older than me. My sister actually found the recipe on the internet too, which completely bummed my mother out. (Silly Mom, doesn't she know everything ends up on the internet?) The cookie isn't too heavy, and it's the mocha frosting that does it for me. The leftover cookies didn't make it through the night.
I put all my cookies in a tin that I decorated with stickers and sent them out with some polaroids. I think I may have the bake-off in the bag!
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