2024 Christmas Cookies - anyone else started yet?

[pepperhead212]

I'm a little late this year, probably because of being outside longer this year. But I've got everything set up, all the ingredients in place, I lightly toasted the sesame seeds, and some of the nuts I'll be using, and wrote up the list of recipes I'll be making. I'll be starting tonight!

Early today, I went to lidl, to get some things for my pantry; they have some sales on sugars, and other things for baking, and even though I didn't need any more, I would have used most of what I had. And I had eggs? on the list, and was pleasantly surprised that they were down to $2.15/lb, so I definitely got those! They have been almost $4 at Aldi (you don't want to know what the supermarkets area!) and I have figured I was going to have to bite the bullet, and buy some for the cookies.

And if anyone has a lidl they shop from, here's something I recently got there - their brand of unsweetened cocoa, Dutch processed, which I only know from the ingredients stating that it is "processed with cocoa". And today, I refilled the cocoa container with a lb of Guittard Rouge Dutch cocoa (always a favorite), and opened this 12 oz lidl box, to compare, and it looks, and smells promising! Darker than the Guitard, and, though the smell of the Guttard is better, it is darker, and still has a great smell! I'll be making some of those cocoa cookies with both, to compare them. Here are those two cocoas - I put a pinch of the lidl in with the Guittard, showing the darkness:
Refilling the cocoa container, the light colored cocoa is the Guittard Dutch, and the dark one the new one I got at lidl. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Maybe I'll start with those tonight! I also bought 4 lbs of oranges, for zesting a few, to add to chocolate!

I'll list what I'm making a little later - I won't be making quite as many, but still a lot!

[pepperhead212]

Here are the ones I have on my list to make, the first list the "icebox cookies" - the ones I make into logs, and store in the freezer.

Cocoa Sables
Wienerstube
Chocolate Coconut Nut
Tennessee Icebox, reg and brown butter
Oatmeal IB, and Barley IB, reg, and brown butter
Sesame IB
French Vanilla Sables

And these are the ones I make in the mixer, making softer dough, before chilling:

Snickerdoodles
CC Oatmeal Snickerdoodles, which I will also try the rolled barley in, instead of oats
Star Anise Snickerdoodles
Cream Cheese Snickerdoodles

Oh, and how silly of me - I almost left out the Habanero Gingersnaps! Probably the most asked for cookie every year!

[applestar]

You could put little canning jars around the kitchen to bottle the lovely cookie baking smells from your house for bonus gifts.

[pepperhead212]

And not just the cookie smells! Bread baking, and countless other things, smell so good, that's almost the best part of them!

[imafan26]

Yum. Actually, I have all the ingredients I need, but no occasion. I have 7
Christmas potlucks. I am planning to go to 4 of them. There will be a lot of dessert. I am not making Christmas cookies this year.

[pepperhead212]

Today I browned 1½ lbs of the butter, and did what I always do, to make it so I can use it just like I use regular butter in a cookie recipe - I add milk to the butter, to bring the weight back up to 24 oz, and whisk it, until almost cooled, then pour it into some containers, in 4 or 8 oz amounts, then chill it. I'm thinking of using some of the buttermilk I have, to add that 20% back into the browned butter, to see if it might add some of that "cured" flavor, like in European butter. I'll only try it on one stick, just to see.

I got 6 logs of cookies made today - 3 of the cocoa based recipes, using the two cocoas, to see how they compare. You can see how dark those ones made with the lidl cocoa are!
6 of the cocoa based cookies, 3 types, testing the two cocoas, in otherwise identical recipes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[imafan26]

I neves thought of saving browned butter. What a great idea. It is useful for so many recipes.

[pepperhead212]

The browned butter makes those recipes using some light brown sugar with it almost like butterscotch!

[applestar]

I might make some fudge this year. I started with something simple and tried one of those two ingredient peanut butter fudge recipe.

Well it didn’t set firm so this first one is a failure, but it does taste good so I’ll probably use it in something … if there are any left after everybody else discovers it….

[pepperhead212]

6 more recipes in the freezer today (I don't know where any more could be fit in!). I made one of those oatmeal icebox cookies, and two of the same recipe, but using rolled barley, and browned butter. The other 3 those French Vanilla Sables - a recipe I've been using for several years, in place of shortbread, as the proportions are almost the same. Something I changed, to use an idea from the best Scottish shortbread recipe I always used, was the sugar to powdered sugar, and used tapioca starch in place of some of the flour. This made the texture of the shortbread even finer, so I assume this will be the same.
3 French vanilla sable recipes, and an oatmeal, and 2 barley icebox logs, made with browned butter. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I made the last 5 recipes today I had on my list - the 3 types of snickerdoodles, which are always the messiest, since they are made in the mixer. I was apprehensive about using that mixer - the first time I used it for several recipes in a row, after I did that "tune-up" on it a few weeks ago, and it didn't slow down at all, and didn't heat up much, after the 5 recipes in quick succession. The star anise one I saved for last, so I didn't have to clean the mixer, in between batches. Baking soon...
5 recipes of snickerdoodles, 2 CC oatmeal, 2 cream cheese, and one star anise. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I baked 11 of those cookie logs today - I saved the 6 chocolate and 3 habanero gingersnaps for tomorrow, and the 5 snickerdoodles for Saturday.
Some of the first of 11 recipes of cookies baked, 12-19. I have to put some away in the tins, before baking the last two recipes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The last of those two recipes, the barley icebox cookies, that are almost like toffee, once cooled. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[applestar]

It’s a regular bakery/workshop! Homemade wood-framed wire cooling/drying trays I presume? (I think I remember them in action before )

So wish this thing had “Smell-a-vision”

[pepperhead212]

It's amazing how fast 3 of those cooling trays fills up! when I used to bake a lot (more), I had a knock down tray rack that held 12 of them, but I only use 3 now, so I just set them on what I can.

I wish I could share that smell! Maybe AI will figure out how to do that, someday. And the smell of those last two are still here - that smell of butterscotch, with a faint cinnamon smell with it.

[pepperhead212]

Today I baked those 6 cocoa based cookies, 3 kinds, using the 2 different cocoas, to compare. The Wienerstube are on another cooling tray. The lidl cocoa is the darker one, but I'll wait a couple of days to sample.
The chocolate sables, with orange zest, on left, and a little expresso powder, on right. The dark user the cocoa from lidl. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

All of the 3 recipes of habanero gingersnaps, baked in 2 batches. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[applestar]

It totally makes sense that different brands of cocoa would taste different. I’m curious how they taste, and am looking forward to your review

[imafan26]

I don't make cookies much anymore. But, I only made a couple of refrigerator cookies. I think I should make more because I could freeze them in advance and slice and bake them when I need them. I used to make cookies from scratch and cook them up right away, which is why I hardly did Christmas cookies. It would be years before I would do them again because they were so much work.

[pepperhead212]

Today, I finished the cookies, all the snickerdoodles, which I had to roll into balls, flatten slightly, and toss in the cinnamon sugar mix, before lining up on the sheets. The cream cheese snickerdoodles were the stickiest, as usual, even though I added a little more flour, than usual. The oatmeal version was hard, as usual, and I didn't have to wash my hands, except when I had to remove the sheets from the oven. And I don't know why those star anise snickerdoodles flattened - it wasn't sticky at all, and I weighed the flour, which normally, if anything, adds a little more.
The single recipe of the Star Anise snickerdoodles, which, for some reason, flattened, when baked. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The 2 batches of Cream Cheese snickerdoodles. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The 2 batches of CC Oatmeal Snickerdoodles. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[applestar]

Beautiful! You really have the process down to a system

Where do you keep them all? Are they portioned and packed into gifts? Are they stored so you can pull the ones you want and assemble into giveaway packages as needed?

How much of these are you eating yourself?Yum!

[pepperhead212]

apple, I have all those cookies in tins, on my dining room table, and one of the benches. Almost all are given away as gifts, and at least half will go over to my friend's place that we're going to have our Christmas dinner on Christmas eve - that will save me from eating most of them!

I've actually only eaten about 6 of all those things, so far. A few that broke apart, or irregular shaped. I was looking at those snickerdoodles, and thought maybe I should have screwed some up, on purpose, so there would be some I'd have to eat! The only ones I went to get 2 of, one each night after making them, were those barley icebox cookies, which, like I said, was like a toffee, with those barley flakes and walnuts in them.

The only things I have no willpower with, are some good brownies, and those chocolate chip coconut macaroons, with the layer of chocolate spread on the bottom. I only make things like that to take places - so they aren't sitting in the next room, calling me...

[imafan26]

I haven't made any cookies, but I have collected 3 cookie presents from my mom and the neighbors.

[applestar]

I had some free time today for once, so yes, I baked cookies for Christmas!

• Based on French Coconut Sable recipe. I bought European cultured butter for this.

But instead of creaming, I melted the butter with some dark chocolate chips, and then beat into the raw egg yolk and sugar mixture to “cook” the yolk (and to save the egg white for the brushed on wash topping). As a kind of bonus, this alteration in the recipe achieved custard-like texture (which tends to work well for cake batter, so I thought it might provide added benefit).

Also subbed almond flour+ extra sugar for sweetened coconuts in the dough since I didn’t have any, and Kaluah instead of vanilla extract. Used flour mixture of artisanal all purpose, gluten free, and whole wheat. Then used macadamia nuts and a small portion of pepitos roughly ground up in a coffee grinder for the topping (instead of unsweetened coconut).

Very light and not too sweet. I already ate 3….

• Based on “Polka dot Cookies” recipe from back of (gum green) peppermint chips bag, I reversed the recipe and melted the peppermint chips with the butter and folded dark chocolate chips and walnuts in the dough to make “Mint Chocolate Chip” cookies. Artisanal and gluten-free flours in this one, and added some baking powder in addition to baking soda in the recipe because I wanted to contrast with the sable cookies and have them be soft and puffy.

…And it really reminds me of the ice cream flavor, once you get over the initial “what IS this” reaction due to the brain expecting the normal chocolate chip cookie taste. Probably will enhance the experience when served with milk.