Well, La Di Da.

Fancy cookie time!

After my impulse buy of lavender from the spice aisle at Meijer, I was determined to make a lemon and lavender something. Would it be pound cake? Biscotti? Then I stumbled across the recipe for these cookies.

I wasn't sure if I was worthy of them. Their simplicity ultimately is responsible for their almost obnoxious sophistication. Would I have to get dressed up to eat them, I thought. The answer is no, in case you were wondering the same thing. A cup of tea doesn't hurt though.



Now, you may be like me and may never have tried lavender anything before. Or maybe it's old news and I've been living in a cave the past 20 years. Either way, don't be afraid of it. These cookies are delightful, mild, lemony and addictive. Take my advice and portion yourself out two cookies because one's just plain not enough and three, well you might feel guilty and these aren't the cookies you want to use up that emotion on.

Lemon & Lavender Cookies
Adapted from When Harry Met Salad

¾ c. sugar
2 T. grated lemon zest + 2 T. juice from 1-2 lemons
2 t. dried lavender (optional, but then they’d just be lemon cookies)
1¾ c. flour
¼ t. baking powder
¼ t. salt
12 T. (1½ sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½” cubes
1 egg yolk
½ t. vanilla extract

1) In a food processor (Click here for instructions on how to make the cookies by hand or with a stand mixer), process the sugar, lemon zest and lavender until the sugar looks damp and the zest and lavender are fully incorporated, about 30 seconds. Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt, then add to the sugar mixture; pulse to combine, about 10 1-second pulses.

2) Scatter the butter pieces over and pulse until the mixture resembles fine cornmeal, about 15 1-second pulses. In a measuring cup, beat together the lemon juice, egg yolk and vanilla. With the machine running, add the juice mixture in a slow stream (should take about 10 seconds) and continue processing until the dough forms into a ball, 10 to 15 seconds longer.

4) Turn the dough and any dry bits onto a clean work surface and gently gather into a ball. Working quickly, roll the dough into a cylinder about 12″ long and 1½” in diameter. Center the dough on a piece of parchment or plastic wrap and wrap tightly, twisting the ends together to seal. Chill the dough until firm and cold, about 45 minutes in the freezer or 2 hours in the refrigerator.

5) Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

6) Remove the dough log from its wrapper and use a sharp knife to slice the dough into 3/8″ thick rounds. Place the rounds on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them 1″ apart. Bake until the centers of the cookies just begin to color and the edges are golden brown, about 10-12 minutes (the recipe actually says 14-16 minutes, but 10 minutes was plenty for me and my wonky oven), rotating the baking sheet halfway through the baking time. Cool on sheets about 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sounds good right?

Almost any oatmeal cookie sounds good to me. Especially Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies. My favorite cookies in the whole world are Potbelly's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies. I might be willing to give my right arm for the recipe. You'd have to catch me on the right day (or wrong day - which is it?) I sent these to work with Jeff when I made them, and apparently they went over well. There was some positive feedback. Personally, I found the flavors really interesting. Nothing about the cookies really shouted "peanut butter!!" or "nutmeg!!" or even "cinnamon!!!" All the flavors just merge and played well together, and make you go "hmmmm" and then "mmmmmm.". Make these this weekend for your kids, or your sig other, or yourself. Everyone will be glad you did.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
As seen on Two Peas and Their Pod. Originally from Dorie Greenspan.

3 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup (packed) light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chunks, or 1 1/2 cups store-bought chocolate chips or chunks

Getting Ready: Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Whisk together the oats, flour, baking soda, spices and salt. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition, then beat in the vanilla.
Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the dry ingredients, beating only until blended. Mix in the chips.

If you have the time, cover and chill the dough for about 2 hours or for up to one day. (Chilling the dough will give you more evenly shaped cookies.) If the dough is not chilled, drop rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto the baking sheets. If the dough is chilled, scoop up rounded tablespoons, roll the balls between your palms and place them 2 inches apart on the sheets. Press the chilled balls gently with the heel of your hand until they are about 1/2 inch thick.

Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back after 7 minutes. The cookies should be golden and just firm around the edges. Lift the cookies onto cooling racks with a wide metal spatula - they'll firm as they cool.

Makes a TON of cookies.

Almond & Lemon Biscotti

When paying for my Starbucks coffee long ago, I made a uncharacteristic impulse buy at the counter. A little cellophane wrapped biscotti cookie with some irresistable flavor combination said to me, "if you buy me, you will look super sophisticated." So I snatched it up, unwrapped it, took a bite, and promptly threw it in the trash. Little did my little sophisticated ass know, biscotti's are meant to be dunked. Dunked in coffee, dunked in tea, dunked in hot cocoa, dunked in wine (oh yes!).. whatever the beverage of your choice, the little biscotti's would like a drink, too. Many years passed before biscotti's crossed my mind again. It's possible that you, too, haven't thought of biscotti's for years, before now. But my friends, I am here to introduce you to the perfect afternoon snack.

This biscotti business started for me when Jeff and I gave up coffee for tea. I was initially resistant to this change and continued to brew myself a half pot of coffee every morning and drink the whole thing within hours. Then my stomach started hurting, so I jumped on board with Jeff and went tea full time. The thing about tea is...there's just not much of a buzz. After months of drinking just tea, I still feel in a fog every morning and by the afternoon I'm hurting. So like a proper English Lady, I have myself a spot of tea everyday around 3:30 PM. It's my afternoon ritual. I put Marlo down for a nap, and she cries herself to sleep just in time for my tea to cool down enough for sipping. But something was missing. I was always a bit hungry (ok a lot hungry, I am nursing after all). The English enjoy crumpets with their tea, but what on Earth is a crumpet - right? Then I saw Giada making these lovely sounding biscotti's, and thought they were just what was missing in my life.

You would think they were hard to make, but trust me - they couldn't be easier. You just need a lot of time, but not hands-on time. They just spend about an hour total in the oven, so you can't just whip them up quickly some afternoon - but almost. Another good thing is there aren't many ingredients and the ingredients are far from exotic. You should know by now that I appreciate this. Giada's original recipe calls for the cookies to be dipped in chocolate, but to me, that didn't sound tea-friendly. So instead, I made a lemon glaze to drizzle over them. Remember - dunk. I'm not gonna lie, even these cookies are gross "undunked" so brew up some tea and enjoy the experience!

Almond & Lemon Biscotti

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup corn meal
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp. almond extract (optional)
grated lemon zest from 2-3 lemons
3/4 cup whole almonds coarsely chopped
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 1/2 cup confectioners sugar

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt.

In another large bowl, beat the sugar and eggs with an electric mixture until pale yellow, about 3 minutes. Mix in the lemon zest, almond extract and then the flour, and beat until just blended. (The dough will be sticky). Stir in the almonds. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.

Divide the dough evenly into 2 equal mounds and place on the prepared baking sheet. With moist hands, space the dough evenly apart and form into 2 (9 by-3-inch) logs. Bake for 35 minutes until lightly browned. Cool for 5 minutes. Using a serrated knife, cut the logs crosswise into 3/4-inch-thick diagonal slices. Arrange the biscotti cut side down on the same baking sheet. Bake until the cookies are pale golden, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely.

To make the glaze, whisk together the lemon juice and confectioners sugar. Drizzle over cookies and let dry before storing cookies in an airtight container.

Biscotti will keep for at least a week.

Spicy Oatmeal Crisps

I like my food spicy. Desserts do not escape this preference. My all time favorite cookie recipe calls for a 1/4 of a tsp. of cayenne peppers and makes the back of your throat burn. So, when I saw the name of these cookies, I thought they'd be right up my alley. Well, they were certainly tasty, not short in the flavor department at all, but they definitely could have been a little spicier in my opinion - especially if you're going to call them spicy. Nevertheless, I obviously recommend them since I'm posting them here. Keep in mind these are crunchy cookies, so don't bother making them if you like your cookies soft and chewy. Also, make sure you leave plenty of room between the cookies on the cookie sheet when dropping the dough because they spread quite a bit. And be sure to leave them in the oven long enough. I took about half the batch out about a minute or two too soon and ended up with cookies that fell apart while trying to scrape them off the pan. One thing I liked about this recipe is it doesn't make much batter so you don't end up with 30 cookies which means you won't eat 30 cookies. It made about 18 cookies for me. Try it and don't be afraid of the black pepper.

Spicy Oatmeal Crisps

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon grated whole nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (optional)
1 cup packed brown sugar
5 tablespoons butter or stick margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup regular oats (I'd recommend a rounded 1/2 cup)
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 7 ingredients (flour through pepper) in a medium bowl. Beat sugar, butter, and vanilla in a large bowl with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg; beat well. Stir in flour mixture and oats.

Drop by level tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 12-14 minutes or until crisp. Cool on pan 2 to 3 minutes or until firm. Remove cookies from pan; cool on wire racks.


Source: Cooking Light