Friends Food Family

Cardamom Raisin Snickerdoodles

This past month I have been involved in the Food Blogger Love Cookie Exchange.  #fblcookieexchange

I happened to be looking for some holiday cookie ideas on Pinterest and landed on Sarah's website, Fantastical Sharing of Recipes. Since I was going through a job transition and was trying to get back into food blogging, I thought this was a great idea. Plus, who doesn't love baking cookies. As part of the cookie exchange, I was asked to make a donation to either Climates Animal Rescue or No Kid Hungry, which I happily did. Then, I would be sent three names and would be responsible to send each a dozen cookies. Finally, I am to write about the exchange with the cookie recipe and Sarah will put together a list with all the recipes. (Link is at the bottom of the story.)

I decided that I wanted to make some new varieties of cookies this holiday season so the hunt for a new recipe was on. I went through many of my cookbooks to see if I could find cookies that were unique but not too challenging. I have learned from many years of making cookies, sometimes the simplest of cookies are the ones everyone enjoys. So, I found three I was going to try: 1. Chocolate Biscotti with Dried Cherries and Pistachios 2. Butterfinger Chocolate Chip Cookies and 3. Cardamom Raisin Snickerdoodles. 

Fast forward - I made all three types of cookies. I figured once I tasted them, and had my husband and mother-in-law taste them, I would pick a winner. Into the box and out in the mail they would go. Issue - I liked the Chocolate Biscotti, Jeff liked the Cardamom Raisin Snickerdoodles and Althea LOVE, LOVE, LOVED the Butterfinger Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Now that I didn't know which cookies to send and a box that was just too big, I had to make some decisions. So, I packed all three types in the box and sent them off with a tasting of our favorite Andria's Chocolate Chip Cookies.

My cookie recipients were:

1. Kaylin of Keep It Simple Sweetie
2. Sarah of Sarah Cooks the Books
3. Linda of The Orange Bee

 In the meantime, I received

1. Bittersweet Chocolate Espresso Chip Shortbread Cookies from Faye of Live Bake Love (Espresso and chocolate! YUM!)
2. Almond Biscotti from Pavani of Cook's Hideout (Perfect with a cup of coffee, delicate crunch!)
3. Opa's Gingerbread from Kate of Kate's Recipe Box (Reminded me of the amazing gingerbread we ate in Germany)

These cookies were all amazing. It was so nice to sample them through the week as I normally had biscotti for breakfast with coffee, gingerbread as a mid-afternoon snack with hot chocolate and shortbread for dessert with a little red wine. I guess this is what cookie heaven is like.

If you are interested in any of the recipes, follow the link to the all the amazing recipes: Food Blogger Love Cookie Exchange Recipe.

So, just a little bit about the Cardamom Raisin Snickerdoodles. They are amazing, light and buttery with a holiday spice flavor. I love adding cardamom to recipes with apples and oranges so this was perfect. The uniqueness to this recipe is it has the feel of cinnamon and nutmeg, yet none are included. It's definitely a different flavor, pleasing and festive. I am going to add this to my cookie list this year. I'm actually going to try to add a bit of orange rind the next time I make them. I thing it would balance the flavor of the cardamom with the raisins. 

Give them a try and tell me what you think. It could be the best cookie you make this season.

Thank you Sarah for putting this together. It's a lot of work but I am truly grateful!

Cardamom Raisin Snickerdoodles 

(Adapted from Food 52 - Baking)

Ingredients:

3 cups of flour

1 cup of white sugar 

1/2 cup of brown sugar

2 teaspoons of cream of tartar

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt

1 teaspoon of ground cardamom

1 cup of butter, melted and cooled

3 eggs, slightly beaten

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 cup of raisins

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, add the flour, sugars, tartar, baking soda, salt and cardamom. Mix until blended. Put aside.
3. In a small bowl, whisk eggs into the melted butter. Once blended, add vanilla and mix until blended.
4. Using a spatula, mix the egg and butter mixture into the large bowl of dry ingredients.
5. As the mixture begins to come together, add the raisins. Stir until the dough comes together.
6. In a small bowl, add 1/4 cup of white sugar and 1 teaspoon of cardamom. Mix together. You will be using this mixture to roll the cookies before you bake them.
7. Start making cookie balls approximately 1-1/2 inches in size and roll in the sugar and cardamom mixture. Place on cookie sheet.
8. Bake 6-8 minutes or until slightly golden and the tops look dry.
9. Remove from oven and place on cookie rack.
10. Cool and enjoy!

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

 

 

Butterfinger Chocolate Chip Cookies

Every holiday season, I have a set group of cookies that I make every year. I especially love my traditional cookies because they disappear the fastest. My belief is to create a solid list of traditional cookies and then throw in a few sugary surprises.

My perfect cookie tray dozen is:

1. A chocolate chip cookie - Andria's Chocolate Chip Cookies - bittersweet chocolate and Heath Bar bits make them perfect!
2. An oatmeal cookie - Nannie's Oatmeal Cookies - brown sugar oatmeal cookie with chocolate chips and raisins.
3. A macadamia nut cookie - White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies - men love these, more than women!
4. A gingersnap cookie - Dipped Gingersnaps - a great twist on a traditional cookie.
5. A chocolate cookie - Chocolate Snowcap Cookies - soft and fudgy with nonpareils.
6. A jelly filled cookie - Jelly Filled Thumbprints - brown sugar shortbread cookie with a fruity jam.
7. A peanut butter cookie - Peanut Butter Blossoms - who doesn't love these!
8. A shortbread cookie - Danielle B's Special Thumbprints - mini chocolate chips and a Hershey kiss.
9. An easy bar cookie - 7 Layer Bars - This is as good as a candy bar.
10. A soft cookie - Angie's Ricotta Cookies - tastes like a little moist cake with lemon icing.
11. A biscotti - Dried Cherry Pistachio Biscotti - perfect with a cup of coffee.
12. A new addition - Mocha Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Cookie - a new cookie that people go crazy for!

I like this choice of cookies because they all get eaten. There is nothing worse than arriving with a platter of cookies, only to be leaving and seeing many of them still on the plate. Believe me, that used to happen. I would spend hours on specialty cookies only to find all the traditional cookies would be eaten. The specialty cookies would be sitting very pretty on the plate and later, they would be in the trash. 

This year, I was looking for some new cookies to add to my list and decided to try these Butterfinger Chocolate Chip Cookies. I bought a bag of Butterfinger Bits and thought the taste would be good. I love crushed candy bars in cookies. It gives them a unique flavor. That's why I add Heath Bar Bits to my chocolate chip cookies. 

The original recipe didn't have mini chocolate chips but I love a bit more chocolate with my cookie. I figured the mini chips wouldn't overwhelm the flavor of the candy. The recipe was easy and the cookies were delicious. They were crunchy on the outside and slightly chewy with flavors of peanut butter and chocolate. My mother-in-law, who lives next door, is my official taste tester. She's not a big candy bar fan but all she talked about was how much she liked the cookies.

I just bought another bag of Butterfinger Bits so I'm off to make another batch. I'm going to add them to my perfect dozen list and let's see how well these cookies do this season.

Happy Holidays! 

Butterfinger Chocolate Chip Cookies

(Adapted from Nestle recipe)

Ingredients:

1 cup of butter

1-1/2 cups of white sugar

2 eggs

3-1/2 cups of flour

1-1/2 teaspoons for baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt

1 bag of Butterfinger Bits or 8 Butterfinger candy bars, break into chunks

1 cup of mini chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Using the paddle attachment on an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium high, until light and creamy (2 minutes).
3. Add eggs and beat until blended, about 1 minute.
4. On low speed, add flour, salt and baking soda.
5. Before the mixture comes together, add the Butterfinger pieces and the chocolate chips.
6. Mix until combined. 
7. Using a well-rounded teaspoon, drop dough onto cookie sheet.
8. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until slightly golden and the tops look dry.
9. Cool on cookie rack. 

Makes 48-60 cookies.