Who doesn’t love a good cookie exchange? You make one type of cookie, and magically walk away with an awesome assortment of baked goodies! The annual V2Works Cookie Extravaganza Bonanza was a big hit this year, bringing out the inner baking masters in us all. Sure, there may have been one minor kitchen disaster involving defrosting butter in a hot oven, forgetting about it, and discovering a giant pool of rapidly browning butter pouring from the wrapper onto the oven floor… but that’s beside the point. When all was said and done, we arrived with a beautiful assortment of cookies to taste and trade. Give these recipes a try in your own kitchen, just don’t forget about the butter.

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Chocolate Cherry Almond Biscotti

(via Paprika Red)

  • 1 1/4 sticks of butter (10 TB)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 TB vanilla
  • 2–3 drops almond extract (optional)
  • 1/4 tsp ground cardamom seed (optional)
  • 3 1/4 cups flour
  • 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup toasted almond slivers (or other nut such as hazelnut pieces)
  • 1/2 cup dried tart cherries, chopped
  • 1/2 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips, or chunks from a bar
  • 2 TB coarse/raw sugar

Makes about two dozen biscotti.

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. With a whisk, mix together flour, salt and baking powder in a medium sized bowl. Set aside.
  3. Melt butter in a large bowl in the microwave on medium heat. When melted, mix in sugar, vanilla, extracts and spices. Add eggs one at a time and whisk until thoroughly blended. Gradually stir in the flour mixture. When blended, mix in remaining ingredients with a wooden spoon (nuts, cherries and chocolate chips).
  4. Separate dough into halves. On a large cookie sheet, shape two long, flat rectangles the length of the sheet. Don’t worry about greasing the pan or flouring your hands, the dough won’t stick. Sprinkle with coarse sugar and bake for about 25 minutes or until light to medium golden brown.
  5. Remove cookies from the oven and let cool one hour. When cooled, cut 1/2 inch thick pieces. They are fully cooked at this stage, and you can enjoy them as a sugar cookie if you like. For traditional crispy biscotti, arrange slices cut side down on the cookie sheet and bake for another 15–20 minutes at 325 degrees. After 15–20 minutes, turn off the oven and let the cookies cool inside for another hour or two.

Sparkling Chewy Molasses Cookies

(via Not Martha )

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled, or 10 ounces)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/4 cup molasses, blackstrap works well here
  • about 1/2 cup chunky sanding sugar

Makes three dozen small cookies, or two dozen medium cookies.

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a medium sized mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
  3. Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until combined. Beat in the egg, and then the molasses until just combined. Put mixer on low and slowly add the flour mixture just until dough forms.
  4. Spoon 1 tablespoon of dough at a time, roll into a ball between your palms, then roll in sanding sugar to cover all sides.
    Place on cookie sheets spaced three inches apart (cookies will spread while baking).
  5. Bake one sheet at a time until edges of cookies are just firming up, 10 to 15 minutes.
    If you freeze the balls you can bake them by taking them out of the freezer and putting them right in the oven. It’ll take about 15 minutes at 350. The cookies will spread a little less, and crack a bit.
  6. Allow to cool on baking sheet for a moment then transfer cookies to racks to cool down.
  7. Will keep for four days in an airtight container.

No-Bake Chocolate Oat Cookies

  • 2 cups white sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 3 cups quick cooking oats
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Makes about 18 cookies.

  1. Mix together sugar, butter, and milk in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil for one minute, stirring constantly.
  2. Remove from heat and mix in cocoa, quick oats and vanilla extract. Drop by spoonfuls on waxed paper and refrigerate to set.

Almond Roca

  • 5 oz. of your favorite chocolate (a bar works fine)
  • 1 cup of finely crushed almonds
  • 2 cups of butter (salted)
  • 2 cups of granulated sugar

Makes about 1 1/2 to 2 pounds.

Use a standard size cookie sheet and grate the chocolate until the whole sheet is thinly covered. It helps to start with the chocolate cold. Next, crush the almonds under a glass and sprinkle on top of the chocolate until it is all covered. In a large saucepan, melt the butter over med-high heat, then add the sugar. Continue to cook while stirring constantly with a silicone spatula, for approximately 1/2 hour making sure none is burning on the bottom. You want to cook it until the mixture is the color of mahogany, being careful to not not overcook. You can also test it by putting some on the cooktop and checking to see that it breaks easily. When done, quickly poor onto the cookie sheet over the chocolate and almonds. Let cool at least 4 hours at room temperature until hardened completely, then break into pieces.

Almond Butterscotch Cookies

  • 1 1/2 cups (6 oz.) almond flour
  • 1/4 cup butter, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 cup butterscotch chips (can use chocolate chips or nuts.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix butter and sugar together until smooth, add egg. Next, add your almond flour, vanilla, and baking soda and mix. Add the chips last.

Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Bake for 12–15 minutes. Makes about 12 cookies.

Traditional Italian Pizelles

  • 6 large eggs
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 oz. whiskey
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 tsp anise extract
  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • Powdered sugar – for dusting

Makes about 2 dozen pizelles.

  1. In a bowl combine flour and baking powder.
  2. Combine remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat with a mixer
  3. Add flour mixture to mixing bowl and beat to make a thick smooth batter.
  4. Pre heat pizzelle iron. Spoon a rounded tablespoon of batter to center of grid on the iron.
  5. Cook for 1 to 1 ½ minutes and no more steam is coming from the pizzelle iron. Use a fork to gently help remove cookie from the cooking surface. They will be soft. Place on wire cooling rack and dust with powdered sugar.
  6. Store refrigerated in an air tight container.

Note: spooning slightly above center allows for batter to better centered.

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