From Scratch

My mother’s been on my mind a lot this week, with Mother’s Day just ahead. Some of my earliest and fondest memories are of making cookies with her, especially when she’d dig out the cookie press to make these spritz cookies. Like millions of American families, we always had spritz cookies at Christmas, but my […]

Snickerdoodles are a beloved American cookie. Unless, of course, they’re really English or German or Dutch in origin. Are they from New England or Pennsylvania Dutch country? The answers depend upon which source you consult.
What’s not in dispute is how delicious they are or how easy to make. They are, at heart, a buttery sugar […]

When this landed in my inbox last week from Nestle, I knew I had to make it for Valentine’s Day, but my dilemma was how to make it in advance, to share here, and show the layers without cutting into it. The solution was to make it in a springform pan instead of a square […]

Decorating cutout cookies can be as simple as sprinkling sugar on them before they head into the oven or as involved as designs far more elaborate than I’ve done here. When going beyond a minimal approach, we need royal icing, the familiar cement for making gingerbread houses.
But it doesn’t have to be a tooth-chipping mortar. We control […]

It’s not often I run across a rolled cookie dough that doesn’t need an hour or more in the refrigerator before using it, so when I saw this recipe I tried it. I nearly threw it away; it’s from the card a gingerbread cutter was on and I assumed the recipe was for gingerbread.
They bake up […]

Remember when Bill Clinton was running for his first term and Hillary, already controversial, said, “I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas…”? It was enough of a gaffe that, once in the White House, she released a cookie recipe and is said to have really made them. With her own two […]

When I was a girl I used to wince when my mother dug out the Christmas cookie cutters. It was just a matter of hours until I’d be stuck with helping to decorate them. I hated it, sitting there with a butter knife and carefully coating them with creamy frostings tinted holiday colors that served as a […]

Whenever I make gingerbread cookies for the holidays, I wonder why I don’t make them more often. They’re really a delicious cookie, especially for those of us without a serious sweet tooth. We associate them with Christmas, of course, but with different cookie cutters they can be used for any holiday or none at all. […]

These delectable cookies, with a rich, flaky dough of cream cheese and butter, are probably the most popular Jewish cookie in America, loved by Gentiles too. The name means “little twists” in Yiddish and they’re year-round favorites but are traditional at Hanukkah. It’s early this year; the first candle will be lit the evening of […]

Fudgy or cakey? That’s always the question of preference about this quintessential American treat, the brownie. Of course, some people are happy with them either way.
These are fudgy and couldn’t be faster or easier. They’re also thin, baked in an oblong pan instead of the usual square, which is ideal because they’re rich. A small […]

I have to be in the mood to make and decorate cutout cookies and when I am, I often turn to this recipe, which has a hint of a grownup flavor. Like all rolled cookies, these are sugary but the addition of a small amount of spice — the sort I associate with autumn — […]

When chilly weather arrives, as it has in The Little Snowball, my thoughts turn to hot tea or coffee and the flavors of autumn. Tea and shortbread are linked in my mind, so when I found a recipe for cinnamon shortbread bars in my inbox I moved it to the top of the “to try” list. […]

I’ve only met one person who doesn’t like cheesecake, a teenager whose idea of a good meal is a can of Spaghetti Os, so he doesn’t count. Therefore, I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t like cheesecake.
There’s little not to like, but it’s certainly proof that fat gives food flavor. Cheesecake is loaded with fat, and even though leftovers […]

I believe I’ve been away from Washington, DC too long. Until last Wednesday, I’d never even heard of salted oatmeal cookies, let alone had one, and they seem to be quite the thing in Washington. It’s not that they contain salt like nearly every other cookie, rather they are salted on top the way we […]

I’ve been asked to provide something for a bake sale and I’ve finally learned that, in New Hampshire at least, that does not mean profiteroles, even if they are made from scratch. My profiterole misfire served only to reinforce my local identity as a flatlander, albeit a well-meaning  one.
Bar cookies always sell well and I […]