Who needs another rugelach recipe?

I thought I didn’t.

I did.

We wanted to make rugelach for Dose Market and so I researched recipes looking for the best one. Maybe there was some technique out there that would push mine over the top—I didn’t find much. Then, one lazy Sunday afternoon, I was watching an old episode of Baking with Julia. It featured Nancy Silverton. She wasn’t making rugelach, but I loved what she was wearing. She looked like a french baker from the 1930’s via Berkeley in the 1970s. I was thinking to myself that I had never thought of Nancy Silverton as a style icon, but that (at least in the late 90’s, I haven’t seen her recently) she was pretty rad. While thinking about that, I picked up my copy of the Baking With Julia book and opened it to this recipe.

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I am so pleased to have Amelia Morris from Bon Appétempt as my first guest for this round of the 12 Days of Cookies.

Since the first time I clicked over to her blog, I knew she was something special. Amelia is a talented writer, recipe curator, performer (!!!) and cook. But more important than any of that, she makes me laugh—something that is often missing from food sites. She has created one of the most enjoyable, refreshing blogs out there and I look forward to every post. I’m so inspired by Amelia and Bon Appétempt. She reminds us that we need to make sure we have fun with these little corners of the internet that we rule. The ability to do anything we want with our sites should not be taken for granted. So let’s make some Evergreen Shortbread! read more+++

I first saw this recipe over on The Kitchn, where Faith Durand claimed it was her favorite cookie. I tend to like the recipes that Faith recommends, so I took this cookie seriously. She didn’t let me down, they are great. The Fig Newton-lovers of the world will be very pleased with these grown-up versions of those iconic treats.

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Once again, I am pleased to bring you 12 Days of Cookies!! Over the next 12 days I (along with some very special guests) will be bringing you a collection of cookie recipes to share with your friends, family or self. I am super excited to be tackling this project, even if it means putting myself at risk for Cookie Exhaustion.

The cookie celebration unofficially kicked off yesterday at Dose Market, where my friend Sandra and I sold some delicious cookies to market-goers. Dose is a monthly market that brings together local food and fashion vendors to pedal their wares in a beautiful, light-filled space in downtown Chicago. I’m a huge fan of the market and was thrilled to participate this time. It was a bit of a preview of the fun that is about to come your way.

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Bad biscotti are really bad. In order for me to be interested in a dried-out cookie, it needs to be very special. This biscotti recipe from Claudia Fleming fits the bill. Please don’t substitute here, the genius is in the details. These are complicated, buttery and perfect with a cup of black tea. Having a jar full of these on the counter is immensely satisfying because I know that I have a snack (with that cup of tea) or a dessert (with a scoop of vanilla ice cream). I also know that they’ll keep well. No rush. Savor the flavor.

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It amazes me how some recipes slip through the cracks. This is one of my all-time favorite cookie recipes, and somehow I never shared it here. This lead me to realize that there are still several more of my all-time favorites that have never made it onto the site. I plan to remedy that in the coming weeks. But these cookies! These cookies are really something. read more+++

I’ve always liked Gwyneth Paltrow, as much as I could like anyone I don’t know. I admire her work as an actor and I find it both charming and courageous that she also sings, dances, speaks Spanish, writes about food, raises kids, practices yoga, etc., etc. She seems like someone I’d want to be friends with. She demonstrates a good sense of humor, seems curious about the world and engaged in her life—honestly, she seems kind of awesome.

But maybe that is beside the point.

This week she published My Father’s Daughter, her first cookbook. read more+++

Oh, Québec, I miss you.

It has been a while since our last trip to Montreal, and I am pretty eager to return. Those of you that are lucky enough to visit Québec in the winter (yes, lucky!) should take the opportunity to visit a sugar shack. Across Québec maple syrup is celebrated at “sugaring off” (giggle) celebrations held in the forests where maple sap is collected. You travel to a rural area where you sit down for a feast (usually in some sort of log cabin structure) featuring maple syrup—soups, meats, desserts, all flavored with the sweet nectar of the surrounding sugar bush. There is song and dance and a very merry time. It is a wonderful way to spend the day. Then you can walk around and check out the systems for gathering syrup and even watch them boiling it down. If you are lucky, someone will be making maple candy in the snow. We went a couple of years ago with Bryan’s grandparents (two of my favorite people) and had a blast.

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So, I got a little obsessed over some cookies. They weren’t just any cookies, they were Dorie Greenspan’s brilliant new “Jammers”, which she debuted at the latest incarnation of her (and her son Josh’s) CookieBar. I first saw them when Bon Appétit hosted a contest where readers could vote on their favorite Cookiebar cookie and have the recipe revealed, but the Jammers lost (although, I would like to point out to my friends at Bon Appétit that this was not a fair contest since the vote was split between the dark and light Jammers. I mean, come on!). I was disappointed, but blamed myself for not exercising my democratic rights.

Luckily, Dorie has been very open in talking about the recipe and explained that the cookie was a shortbread base (more specifically, her sablé recipe from Baking: From My Home to Yours), Sarabeth’s preserves and a streusel topping. All of that was baked in a ring mold (a ring mold! ah, the brilliance of this woman!), which gave the cookies delightfully browned edges and made each one a special treat—somewhere between a jam tart and a substantial cookie.

I knew they had to be mine.

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Yes, I am posting a pink recipe for Valentine’s Day, which is sure to elicit both groans and smiles. It is one of the holidays (like New Year’s Eve?) that is both loved and hated. All I know: pink custards are cute!
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