I’ve been sharing cookie recipes all year long, thanks to Food Network Magazine’s Calendar of Cookies. While those have been great, most of them were very seasonal specific so they aren’t exactly cookies you would bake up in November or December. With Thanksgiving less than two weeks away I’m going full holiday on you all from now until the rest of the year.

I love cookies around the holidays. That goes for both baking them and eating them. I (usually) find cookie baking to be relaxing and it’s hard to beat a few hours of baking in the kitchen with Christmas music playing while surrounded by Christmas decorations. Our kitchen is completely open into our living room so I get a great view during the holidays! I also love eating cookies, which I don’t need to explain; you all know about the deliciousness of cookies.

Last year I realized that I don’t have that many holiday cookie recipes on Lemon & Mocha so I decided to change that by planning 12 Days of Cookies during 2019! For my next twelve posts, I’ll be sharing exclusively cookie recipes worthy to be at your holiday celebrations. From chocolatey to citrusy, soft to crunchy, simple to more complex, there’s literally a cookie recipe for everyone on your list and I can’t wait to share them with you all!

We’re kicking it off with something in that citrusy, chewy and simple category: Orange Pistachio Macaroons. These are your classic coconut macaroons infused with fresh orange zest and crunchy pistachio nuts. As with most cookies, it’s hard to eat just one.

I didn’t chocolate-dip these since I have plenty of other chocolate-packed cookies I’ll be sharing, but if you were to dip the bottoms of these in dark chocolate it would probably be incredible since dark chocolate and orange pair really well together.

While you’re waiting for the rest of my holiday cookie posts to slowly go up one by one, below are a few recipes that I already have on my blog to get you started. Happy baking!

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

Soft Gingersnap Cookies

Chocolate Cherry Crinkle Cookies

Game Day Cookies

Nutella Stuffed Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Orange Pistachio Macaroons

 

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Yield: about 30 cookies

Ingredients

• ⅓ cup shelled unsalted pistachios
• 3 large egg whites
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
• ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• 1 14-ounce package sweetened shredded coconut (about 3 cups)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F, making sure oven racks are in the upper and lower thirds positions. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Using a knife or food processor, finely chop the pistachios. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites, sugar, orange zest, vanilla and salt until the mixture is frothy. Stir in the pistachios. Stir in the shredded coconut until combined. Spoon heaping tablespoons of the coconut mixture onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake the macaroons for 25-30 minutes, or until golden, switching the pans halfway through cooking. Let the macaroons cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheets set on wire cooling racks, then move the macaroons to the wire cooling racks to cool completely.

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 Recipe adapted from April 2017 issue of Food Network Magazine.

Some of the links above are affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission for my referral. This does not affect the retail cost of the item. Thank you for supporting Lemon & Mocha!

Lauren Uncategorized 2 Comments

Happy October! I know it’s been October since Tuesday and I’ve already posted since then, but now that I’m sharing a pumpkin recipe with you all it feels more official. I’m super unique and love pumpkin recipes in the fall. Especially baked goods because the smell that fills up the kitchen is amazing.

Food Network Magazine stayed true to the season and made their October cookies these Pumpkin Spice Latte Whoopie Pies. I’ve made whoopie pies in the past, but they turned out a little dense so I was curious to see how their pumpkin spice version would stack up.

First of all, I love that the cookies for these whoopie pies are so cute and little! Especially because once you sandwich two together with some filling it ends up being quite a lot so they really are the perfect size.

Second, they are moist, definitely not dense and packed with pumpkin spice goodness! I ate one on its own while it was still warm and it was so good. Kind of like a little pumpkin cake in a cookie shape.

The filling is a coffee buttercream, which is a delicious combination with the pumpkin flavoring. Don’t forget the fun fall sprinkles to roll them in!

Pumpkin Spice Latte Whoopie Pies

 

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Yield: 15-16 2" whoopie pies

Ingredients

for the cookies

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 cup pure pumpkin puree

for the filling

• 2 tablespoons milk
• 2 teaspoons instant coffee granules
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1½ sticks), at room temperature
• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• Fall sprinkles or nonpareils, for decorating

Directions

for the cookies

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F, making sure to position oven racks in the upper and lower thirds positions. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in the large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, or until pale and fluffy. Add the egg, beat until combined. Add the pumpkin puree and beat on low speed until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the flour mixture and beat on low until just combined.
4. Scoop 1½ tablespoon mounds of batter onto the prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Use damp fingers to shape them into rounds. Alternatively, use a piping bag fitted with a ½-inch round tip to pipe 1½-inch rounds of batter. Bake for 14-16 minutes, switching the pans halfway through baking. They are done when they’re golden and the tops spring back with lightly pressed. Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet set on a wire cooling rack then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Let the baking sheets cool slightly then repeat with the remaining batter.

for the filling

1. Combine the milk and instant coffee in a small bowl until the coffee dissolves.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter, confectioners’ sugar and salt on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat for 3 minutes, or until smooth. Add the milk mixture then beat on medium-low until smooth, about 1 minute, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Refrigerate for 20 minutes, or until slightly firm.
3. When the cookies are cool and the filling is slightly firm, sandwich about 1 tablespoon of filling between 2 cookies. Roll the edges in sprinkles. If the filling is too soft, refrigerate the whoopie pies for 30 minutes, but let sit at room temperature before serving.

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 Recipe adapted from January/February 2019 issue of Food Network Magazine.

Some of the links above are affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission for my referral. This does not affect the retail cost of the item. Thank you for supporting Lemon & Mocha!

Lauren Uncategorized 2 Comments

Can you believe we’re already nine months into the Food Network Magazine’s Calendar of Cookies? Food Network Magazine definitely likes the September baked treat to be peanut butter and jelly themed, as seen with last year’s Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins, and I am not mad about it at all. In fact I’m thrilled about it because I love a classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Also, I was a huge fan of the Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins so I couldn’t wait to try their cookie rendition.

I did deviate a bit from the original recipe, but I think you will thank me for it because I seriously shortened the prep and fussiness time while still staying true to the exact flavors of the recipe. So, today for you I have Peanut Butter and Jelly Thumbprint Cookies. The original recipe involved rolling the dough out into rectangles and baking little sandwich cookies with the jam in between, but I figured thumbprint cookies are a true classic for a reason.

They are simple to make, it’s okay if they don’t look perfect and, most importantly, they are easy to eat. I didn’t change anything about the peanut butter dough from the recipe and I’m so glad because it makes the most perfect crumbly peanut butter cookies that are the ultimate vessel for that dollop of jelly.

They also taste delicious on their own, which I know both by sneaking one or two right from the oven and because I froze a bunch of these cookies without the jam and was too lazy to fill them before munching away on them. Similar to the Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins recipe, there’s a little whole wheat flour mixed into the dough so the cookies really give you that peanut butter and jelly sandwich nostalgia.

You can use any jelly you prefer to fill these Peanut Butter and Jelly Thumbprint Cookies. The original recipe calls for grape, but I’ve used raspberry, triple berry and apricot so far and they’ve all been delicious. Side note: apparently we have a lot of jelly flavors in our fridge! If you are a peanut butter and jelly fan I know you will love these cookies! Okay, only three more months of Food Network Magazine monthly cookies left! Stay tuned!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Thumbprint Cookies

 

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Yield: 30 cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup whole wheat flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick), room temperature
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1½ cups smooth peanut butter (not natural)
• ⅔ cup raspberry, strawberry or other jelly of choice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder and salt.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer beat the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the egg and beat until combined. Add the peanut butter and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture then beat on low until just combined.
4. Use a medium cookie scoop to scoop out 30 balls of cookie dough between the 2 prepared baking sheets. Use your thumb or the handle of a wooden spoon to press a small indent into each cookie ball. Bake for 12-13 minutes. The edges of the cookie should be browned. Let side on the pan for 3 minutes then use the handle of the wooden spoon to re-make the indents in the center of each cookie. Transfer the cookies to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Once cooled, add 1 teaspoon of jelly into each indent.

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 Recipe adapted from January/February 2019 issue of Food Network Magazine.

Some of the links above are affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission for my referral. This does not affect the retail cost of the item. Thank you for supporting Lemon & Mocha!

Lauren Uncategorized 2 Comments

There is no time for stories today because we need to start talking about these Plum Pie Cookies now! These are the August Cookies from the Food Network Magazine Calendar of Cookies and they hit a home run with this recipe. Even though they are called cookies, the pie part of the name is much more accurate. Essentially small hand pies, these Plum Pie Cookies are flaky, buttery, tart and dangerously delicious.

The cookies are made from a pie crust that has more sugar than normal, which I think Food Network did to try to take them from a pie to cookie category. The perfectly jammy inside is made from tossing some fresh plums with sugar, cinnamon and a little flour. Plums can be a little sweet and a little tart; a winning combination for these cookies.

I don’t know if I mentioned it previously or not, but even though Matt is a fan of lots of different types of dessert, his absolute favorite is pie. Specifically cherry pie. However, I kid you not that might have changed with the baking of these Plum Pie Cookies as Matt announced that if these are the pie dessert I choose to make for the rest of eternity he would be ecstatic. Cherry pie recipe search over – Plum Pie Cookies have been crowned the ultimate dessert.

Matt is slowly turning me into more of a pie person and I was also quite smitten with these Plum Pie Cookies. I say that so modestly, while the real truth is I ate three the first day I made them and none from this batch made it out of the house or to the freezer. Oops. I’m perfectly fine with these cookies being in the regular dessert rotation, at least during plum season, because although there’s a fair amount of steps the recipe wasn’t complicated.

If you’ve worked with pie dough before then you know what to expect; if you haven’t the one thing I would want you to know about pie dough is that it is easier to roll, cut and pick up when it is cold. The original Food Network recipe skipped a lot of nuances when it comes to chilling the dough in a way that keeps the process from getting frustrating so I added in a lot more detail in the recipe below to take you through how I went about making the cookies. When you make these Plum Pie Cookies don’t forget to let me know what you think in the comments!

Plum Pie Cookies

 

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Yield: 18 cookies

Ingredients

• 2½ cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
• 1 cup granulated sugar, divided
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten, plus 1 beaten egg for brushing
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 small plums
• Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling

Directions

1. In a food processor, pulse 2½ cups of the flour, ½ cup of the sugar and the salt until combined. Add the butter cubes and pulse until the flour mixture looks crumbly. Add 1 beaten egg and pulse until the dough comes together. Divide the dough into 2 balls. Work each dough ball into a disk and place each disk on a separate piece of wax or parchment paper. Place another piece of wax paper on top of each and then roll out each into an 11-inch to 12-inch round, about ⅛-inch thick. Place both round sheets in the fridge and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
2. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Take the first round sheet out of the fridge. Use a circle cookie cutter or biscuit cutter to cut out 2½-inch rounds as close together as possible. Place the rounds on one of the baking sheets and return to the fridge. Put the scraps aside. Take the second round sheet out of the fridge and repeat the cutting out process. After returning the second baking sheet to the fridge, take all the scraps and shape into a disk before placing on a piece of wax or parchment paper. Place another piece of wax paper on top then roll into an 11-inch to 12-inch round, about ⅛-inch thick. Place in the fridge.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the remaining ½ cup sugar, the remaining tablespoon of flour and the cinnamon. Halve, pit and thinly slice the plums. I cut each plum in half then cut each half into 10 thin slices. Then cut each slice in half crosswise. Toss the plum slices in with the cinnamon-sugar mixture to coat.
4. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Take one of the baking sheets out of the fridge. Arrange it so you have 9 rounds on the baking sheet. Lightly brush the edges of each of the 9 rounds with the remaining beaten egg. Place 4 plum pieces in the middle of each round then top with a second round of dough (taking more from the second baking sheet in the fridge if you need them). Press the edges to seal them crimp the edges with a fork. Cut 4 small vents on the top of each cookie. Put the baking sheet in the freezer while you work on the second batch.
5. Take the second baking sheet out of the fridge. Arrange it so you have 9 rounds on the baking sheet. Repeat the steps with the beaten egg and the plums. Top with the rounds you have then take the remaining large round sheet of dough made from the scraps out of the fridge and cut out the remaining rounds. After sealing, crimping and cutting vents remove the first baking sheet from the freezer and replace with this second one.
6. Lightly brush the cookies with some beaten egg and then sprinkle with the turbinado sugar. Bake for 22-24 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown. Let them cool completely on the pan set on a wire cooling rack. Take the second baking sheet from the freezer and repeat.

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 Recipe from January/February 2019 issue of Food Network Magazine.

Some of the links above are affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission for my referral. This does not affect the retail cost of the item. Thank you for supporting Lemon & Mocha!

Lauren Uncategorized 2 Comments

I have a confession that you may or may not have noticed. I skipped the May Food Network Magazine cookies. The May cookies are strawberry french macarons and at first I was intimidated, but excited. French macarons have been on my kitchen bucket list for years now. I bought all the ingredients to make them, read through the recipe (which was my ultimate mistake – always fully read through a recipe before committing to it!)… and just couldn’t get psyched up to make them.

The Food Network Magazine recipe did a few things differently from other recipes I’ve read and I’ll be honest, sometimes the magazine recipes can be really hit or miss. When it came down to it, if I was finally going to make french macarons, something I’ve been excited about for years, but have never gotten around to, should I really be using a Food Network Magazine recipe with no reviews instead of my trusted cookbook or blogger sources? So, I put everything aside, ate a bunch of strawberries, and decided to move right along to the June cookies.

These Lemonade Pinwheel Cookies are definitely not to be skipped! They are chewy and bursting with lemon flavor. A couple weekends ago we had an awesome long family weekend with Matt’s parents and brother, Nick, in the Catskills. Nick is a lemon and lime fan so I brought some of these cookies along. They were a definite hit; my mother-in-law, Theresa, even ate some, which is a big deal since she is not usually a dessert person!

The way you get the pinwheel effect is by laying two sheets of cookie dough on top of one another, rolling them up, then slicing and baking the cookies. The lighter dough is a sugar cookie dough with lemon extract. The yellow layer is that same lemon sugar cookie dough, but with lemon juice, lemon zest and lemon gelatin powder amping up the lemon flavor. There’s also a little yellow gel food coloring.

If you like lemon then I promise you will love these cookies! Make sure you read the recipe thoroughly well in advance because there’s two separate chilling steps so you most likely will want to give yourself at least two days to make them. Enjoy!

Lemonade Pinwheel Cookies

 

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Yield: 24 cookies

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1½ sticks), room temperature
• ⅔ cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon pure lemon extract
• ¼ cup lemon gelatin powder (from one 3-ounce box), divided
• Lemon zest from 2 lemons
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon yellow gel food coloring
• 2 tablespoons yellow sanding sugar, divided
• 1 tablespoon coarse white sugar

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. In a large bowl with a hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed for 3 minutes, or until fluffy. Add the egg, beat, then add the vanilla and lemon extracts and beat, scraping down the sides as needed. Add the flour mixture on a reduced low speed until just combined.
2. Place half the dough on a large sheet of plastic wrap, flattening the dough into a disk as you wrap it. To the remaining dough, add 2 tablespoons of the gelatin powder, the lemon zest, lemon juice and the gel food coloring. Beat until just combined then wrap that half of the dough in plastic wrap, also shaping into a disk. Refrigerate both disks of dough until firm for at least 2 hours or overnight.
3. Remove the plain colored dough from the fridge and roll it out into a 10-inch by 11-inch rectangle on a lightly floured. I found it easier to move the dough if I rolled it out on a floured piece of wax paper or plastic wrap. Put aside. Remove the yellow dough from the fridge and repeat the rolling process. Place the yellow dough rectangle on top of the plain colored dough rectangle. Trim the edges then sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the yellow sanding sugar over top. Starting with the long end, tightly roll up the dough to form a log. Wrap the log in plastic wrap then refrigerate until firm for at least 3 hours or overnight.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F with the oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. In a small bowl, combine the remaining 2 tablespoons of gelatin powder, 1 tablespoon yellow sanding sugar and the coarse white sugar. Remove the dough log from the fridge and roll it in the sugar mixture, pressing to help stick. Use a sharp knife to cut the log into ⅜-inch thick slices. Arrange the cookies on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the cookies are set around the edges, switching the pans halfway though. Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes on the pan then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Notes

Make sure your dough sheets are equal sizes and wrap the dough together tightly when you roll it. The ends of my dough log were all uneven and not very tightly wrapped so I got about 14 or so perfect looking cookies and the rest of my cookies were kind of odd shaped because they were closer to the ends of the dough log.

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 Recipe from January/February 2019 issue of Food Network Magazine.

Some of the links above are affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission for my referral. This does not affect the retail cost of the item. Thank you for supporting Lemon & Mocha!

Lauren Uncategorized 2 Comments