Slice & Bake Cookies, Two Ways (for the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap!)

Remember how great it was to get mail when you were a kid? You know, back in the days before responsibility set in, and whatever you got in the mail was actually fun, rather than a bill? Well, thanks to the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap, I had a reason (well, THREE reasons actually) to look forward to checking the mail box again each day after work.

I received three boxes of goodies from across the country! Christmas came early for me! 🙂

My first box came from Rachel at the Pescetarian and the Pig. She went above and beyond, sending not one, but TWO kinds of cookies (peppermint hot chocolate and molasses gingerbread pumpkin thumbprint cookies!), a cute potholder, a fun pig-shaped spatula AND a jar of Trader Joe’s pumpkin butter. We loved it all! (And I’m especially thrilled with the pumpkin butter, since I’d have to drive 2 hours to the nearest Trader Joe’s to get my own for the thumbprint cookies.) Andy grew up with molasses cookies at Christmas, and he said that he liked these better, so it was definitely a winner here! (And if you’re into cute animals – and who isn’t? – you should check out her blog so you can see pictures and videos of Cupcake, her pot-bellied pig!)

My second box was from Ariel at Princess Pea. She mailed us hot cocoa cookies, which were super yummy as well! They tasted like a mug of hot cocoa – complete with marshmallows! And her box was so pretty. 🙂 Yay!

My third box came from Jennifer at Licious. She made us peppermint bark cookies, and sent them with a fun little igloo card, which is super timely because the snow started coming down this weekend! Peppermint and chocolate is one of my favorite combinations, so these were a hit as well!

I suppose now you’re wondering what I mailed to my recipients – and who they are! Let me introduce you to my new food friends, and then we can talk about cookies. 🙂 I mailed boxes to:

Elyse at The Cultural Dish
Jessa at Heed the Feed
Leslie at My Kitchen is Open (and since I’m a dog person, I have to say, she has the CUTEST black lab ever. Ah! Love the puppy. Anyway…)

For the cookies, I adapted one of the Christmas cookies my family has been making for years. What I love about these is that they can be incredibly quick and easy, something we all need at this time of year. My family normally just rolls the dough logs in sprinkles, slices them and bakes them. For the cookie swap, I upped the ante and made things a little fancier. 🙂 I divided the dough in half, adding almond extract to one half and chocolate and peppermint to the other half. Then, each cookie was dipped in melted chocolate and sprinkled with Christmas sprinkles (snowflakes for the almond cookies and candy canes for the mint ones). The chocolate coating kept them from being too crispy, and I’m hoping they held up to the abuses of the U.S. Postal Service. 🙂

This was my first time participating in a food blogger event, and I’m sure that it won’t be my last! I had a great time preparing the cookies, and I hope everyone who received them enjoyed them as well!

Slice & Bake Cookies, Two Ways

Almond Cookies
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons almond extract
2 eggs
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Melted semi-sweet chocolate chips, for dipping

In the bowl of stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and extracts.

In a large bowl, stir together the dry ingredients. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and mix until just combined.

Divide the dough into four equal batches and roll/shape into logs about 2 inches in diameter. Wrap logs in waxed paper and chill in the refrigerator until firm, at least two hours. (I usually chill mine overnight.) 

To bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 375. Unwrap the logs and slice into cookies about 1 3/8″ thick. (If you want to skip the chocolate dipping part, simply roll the logs in some sprinkles before baking. Presto! Instant Christmas festiveness.) Place cookies about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake until just lightly browned, about 7-9 minutes. Remove from cookie sheets and cool on a wire rack.

When cookies have cooled, dip in melted chocolate and place on wire rack. Decorate with sprinkles as desired. When chocolate has hardened, store cookies in an air-tight container.

Chocolate Mint Cookies
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons mint extract
2 eggs
3  cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dark cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s Special Dark.) 
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted

Melted semi-sweet chocolate chips, for dipping

In the bowl of stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and extracts.

In a large bowl, stir together the dry ingredients. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and mix until just combined. Stir in the melted chocolate.

Divide the dough into four equal batches and roll/shape into logs about 2 inches in diameter. Wrap logs in waxed paper and chill in the refrigerator until firm, at least two hours. (I usually chill mine overnight.) 

To bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 375. Unwrap the logs and slice into cookies about 1 3/8″ thick. Place cookies about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake until just lightly browned, about 7-9 minutes. Remove from cookie sheets and cool on a wire rack.

When cookies have cooled, dip in melted chocolate and place on wire rack. Decorate with sprinkles as desired. When chocolate has hardened, store cookies in an air-tight container.

Adapted from The New Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, circa 1960-something