March 27: Speculaas

Speculaas come to us all the way from Holand. Traditionally made and served before Christmas to celebrate the Feast of St. Nicholas, this spicy cookie is served in both thin and crispy moulded forms, or soft and chewy rounds.



I made the chewy version because I don't own any cookie moulds, nor could I find any at the kitchen supply stores close to home. The chewy ones are much easier and less time-consuming, so you can mix your dough, roll balls, bake and enjoy all within less than an hour.



I'd used up all my sliced almonds on the Alfajores the night before, so I simply flattened the balls with a measuring cup dipped in granulated sugar. The result is a tasty cookie with a little sparkle.



Final Grade: B+. Speculaas are yummy, but they didn't blow my mind. I've baked and tasted a lot of European spice cookies in the past month, and still have a place in my heart for the Basler Läckerli.

You can find the recipe for Speculaas on my Recipes Page. To purchase your own Speculaas for a good cause, sponsor me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge! Make your donation, then email me your order!

March 26: Alfajores

I discovered the recipe for this cookie while searching for international cookie recipes for March of the Cookies. I didn't need to see the recipe to know that they made the cut; reading "These almond cookies are sandwiched with creamy layers of dulce de leche" cinched it.

Probably the best sandwich cookie I've ever tasted.

Once I made up and baked these cookies, however, I realized that it wasn't just the dulce de leche (literally "milk candy") that made them great. The dough contains lemon rind, vanilla extract and almond extract, as well as ground almonds. My baking instructor once said that you have to think about your flavour pairings and not use competing flavours, then used vanilla and lemon as an example of a bad match. As much respect as I have for Vita, this Alfajores recipe proves her wrong. This is truly one of the most tasty cookies I've ever had.

This cookie is already delicious, then you add the dulce de leche...and BOOM: magic.

You can, of course, buy dulce de leche, but I have found that jarred versions contain things like corn syrup, potassium sorbate (a preservative), and artificial flavours. Why eat that extra garbage when you can make your own? There are two ways to make dulce de leche, I chose to cook a can of sweetened condensed milk in a water bath and the result was excellent. I cooked it until it was a very thick spread, which was perfect for sandwiching the biscuits together.

You can take the awesomeness one step further by coating these in chocolate.

I could say so much more about these delicious cookies, but I will finish my saying, they're probably my favourite cookie I've made this month.

Final Grade: A+. You can find the recipe for Alfajores on my Recipes Page. To purchase your own Alfajores for a good cause, sponsor me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge! Make your donation, then email me your order!

March 25: Rugelach

Rugelach is a cookie that you have to taste to believe. I'd never heard of Rugelach before making it in my baking class, and I knew when assembling the ingredients that it would be delicious. First of all, the dough has cream cheese in it, so you know it's going to be tasty. Second of all...well, that's it actually. Cream cheese.

Little rolls of cream cheesy apricot goodness.

I work near Yonge & Eglinton, which is close to Toronto's Jewish community. As a result, us foodies are blessed with a plethora of Jewish bakeries and delis...all of which serve amazing goodies like Rugelach.


However, Rugelach tends to be a bit on the expensive side because...

• ...it's rather labour-intensive. After making the dough, you divide it into several pieces, and roll each piece into an 8" round. Spread the round with your filling, cut into 8 pie-slices, roll them up, egg wash and sprinkle with almonds. Repeat the process for each piece of dough. Woah!
  
• ...each round you roll only yields 8 cookies. This process would go much faster if if you could make up the whole dough at once, or if each piece yielded more, however you would not be able to get the small rolls called for by the recipe.
  
• it contains an expensive ingredient. Cream cheese is pretty pricey, compared to the rest of the ingredients used.
  

In the bakeries I've been to, Rugelach is sold by the pound. I would guess that this is because seeing the cost of each individual piece would scare people from buying them. However, given how labour intensive they are, I can see why people would pay a premium to enjoy them without the work. That said, when you enjoy baking, these are fun to make!

So yummy, so worth it.

Final Grade: A. I used a simple apricot filling, but next time I make Rugelach I'll use a recipe that has cinnamon in it; cinnamon pairs well with the tang of cream cheese (that's why Cinnabon's frosting is so darned good!).

You can find the recipe for Rugelach on my Recipes Page. To purchase your own Rugelach for a good cause, sponsor me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge! Make your donation, then email me your order!

March 24: Parmesan Rosemary Cookies

Another savoury cookie!

At first I tried this recipe, but it was gross.

Instead, try this recipe. It is better!

See?

I'm already sold out out of these, but please consider sponsoring me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge! I have other cookies for sale, so make your donation, then email me your order!

March 23: Rumballs

Rumballs are traditionally a Christmas cookie, but when your treats contain liquor...well, they're suitable for any time in my books!

Rumballs are a no-bake assembled cookie, in that they are made up of pre-baked ingredients and held together with a binding agent like corn syrup or sweetened condensed milk. Oh, and don't forget the rum.

There is no definitive Rumball recipe; there are unlimited combinations of nuts, toppings, cookies and binding agents.

Rolled in icing sugar!

Whenever I make a recipe for the first time, I fall back on Joy of Baking. I wasn't disappointed! I swapped out the pecans for hazelnuts, and the results were like boozy little Ferrero Rochers (I can't help it; anything with hazelnuts will remind me of them!).

Chocolatey nutty rummy balls of goodness!

They were certainly messy to roll, but much like making mud pies as a kid, messy can sometimes be fun.

You can find the recipe for Rumballs on my Recipes Page. To purchase your own Rumballs for a good cause, sponsor me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge! Make your donation, then email me your order!

March 22: Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies

My friend Joanna gave me this recipe and I was very excited to try it. I'm sure it's clear by now that I prefer my cookies chewy, and this recipe marries that with my love of gingerbread.

You know those Chewy Ginger Cookies from Starbucks? These are them.

After making the dough, simply pinch off walnut-sized (or bigger!) pieces, and roll them into balls. Roll the balls in granulated sugar, flatten slightly, and bake!

Rolling these in sugar before baking give the cookies a nice sparkly look!

It's tempting to roll a ball, roll it in the sugar then place it on the baking sheet and start again, however your fingers get covered in sugar, which you then roll into your next ball of dough. This adds a) too much sugar to your dough, and b) prevents the sugar from sticking properly to the outside of the ball. Instead, I recommend that you roll all the balls first, and then roll them all in sugar. Then place them all on the baking sheet; there's no need to flatten them, just bake as is.

These were so good that upon tasting one, a coworker bought my entire supply.

Final Grade: A+. Thanks Joanna!

You can find the recipe for Chewy Ginger Molasses cookies on my Recipes Page. I'm already sold out out of these, but please consider sponsoring me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge! I have other cookies for sale, so make your donation, then email me your order!

March 21: Pumpkin Currant Cookies

Me and pumpkin? We're friends. I love it, and it loves me. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin loaf, roasted pumpkin, pumpkin pie ice cream, all permutations of pumpkin are impeccably palatable!

As such, when I saw a recipe for Pumpkin Currant cookies, I knew right away that I HAD to try it.

They were really tasty, and even my manfella--who isn't a fan of pumpkin (this may be the reason we break up)--really liked them.

Orange pumpkin-y goodness!

These cookies are really moist, and the currants provide tasty little bursts of sweetness.

My only complaint is that these cookies are almost too soft; the combination of pumpkin--which already retains its moisture in baked goods--and the use of cake flour made these cookies more like little muffin tops. That in itself isn't a bad thing, but nothing about these screams "cookie". I think next time I make these I would use all-purpose flour instead of the called-for cake flour to give them more structure.

You can SEE how moist these are. The moisture makes these cookies delicate, but delicious.

Flavour Grade: A+. These cookies are really yummy! The combination of pumpkin and spices with currants is an absolute winner.

Texture Grade: C. Somehow...they're not cookies. This recipe as is would be best used with a muffin top pan, or substitute all-purpose flour to achieve something closer to a cookie.

FINAL GRADE: B.
You can find the recipe for Pumpkin Currant cookies on my Recipes Page.

If you'd like to order some of your own Pumpkin Currant cookies, please sponsor me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge! Simply make your donation, then email me your order!