Minnesota - Crescents

Minnesota - Hot cookies coming through!

Minnesota - Ready to count

Nashville - Thumbprints

Nashville - Rolling the Thumbprints

Happy Cookie Baking Day from Minnesota!

Ovens on at 10:15.

Nashville - Macaroons

Happy Cookie Baking Day from Nashville!

New Cookie Alert!

Dad has asked that we add a new cookie to the roster. And since we're using his ovens, I am happy to oblige! He spied this new treat, Double Chocolate Cherry Espresso Drops, in the Star Tribune. This recipe took top honors in the paper's annual Cookie Contest. I will be making the dough - just two batches, in case they're not super-delicious. I look forward to tasting these yummy cookies, do you?

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE-CHERRY ESPRESSO DROPS

• 1 tbsp. instant espresso powder

• 1 tbsp. boiling water

• 1 c. flour

• 3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

• 1 tsp. baking soda

• 1/4 tsp. salt

• 1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

• 2/3 c. granulated sugar

• 1/4 c. packed dark brown sugar

• 1 egg

• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

• 1/2 c. chopped dried cherries

• 3/4 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

• White almond bark for decoration, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, mix instant espresso powder and water and reserve. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt and reserve. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and granulated sugar until creamy, about 2 minutes.

Add dark brown sugar and beat an additional 30 seconds. Add egg and beat until thoroughly incorporated. Add vanilla extract and reserved espresso mixture and beat until thoroughly incorporated.

Reduce speed to low, add flour mixture and mix until just incorporated. Stir in cherries and chocolate chips.

Using a 1-inch scoop, drop cookie dough on prepared baking sheets, spacing dough 2 inches apart. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes; because cookie is very dark, it's difficult to tell if they are overbaked. Watch center of cookies; when they lose their gooey quality, they are done.

Remove from oven and cool on baking sheets for 10 minutes before transferring cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. In a microwave oven, or using a double boiler over gently simmering water, melt almond bark and lightly drizzle over cookies, optional.

Makes about 2 dozen.

13 days to 2008 Cookie Baking Day

Cookie Baking Day 2008 is fast approaching. Hurray! Here's a list of the cookies we will be baking:

Crescents (5 batches)
Sugar Cookies (2 batches)
Cream Wafers (3 batches)
Peanut Butter Blossoms (3 batches)
Thumb Prints (8 batches)
Snoballs (2 batches)
Gingersnaps (2 batches)
Macaroons (2 batches)
Refrigerator Cookies (2 batches)
Mint Chocolate Krinkles (2 batches)

Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies with Maple Cinnamon Glaze

I nominate these for new cookie recipe of the year at Cookie Baking Day 2008. The recipe is here:
http://neverbashfulwithbutter.blogspot.com/2007/12/experiments-in-deliciousness-bacon.html

Happy Cookie Baking Day!

Your Cookie Baking Day crew

Thanks to everybody who showed up and helped out today: Grandma, Grandpa, Laura, Don, Maureen, Sandra, Tom, Janie, Ashley, Joey, Dave, Laurie, Jessica, Jenni, Mark, Tim, Alex, Emily, Steve, Ann, and Grace.

Thanks also to everybody who couldn't be here but wished they could.

They also serve who only sleep and wait:

Turning off the oven:

Taking the last batch out of the other oven:

Your blogmaster:

It's a new Cookie Baking Day record!

The official Cookie Count is 1,913. That's a new record!

Gingerbread - before and after

Spitzbuben

Mint Chocolate Krinkles

Refrigerator Cookies - before and after

The Official Puppy of Cookie Baking Day 2007

Little JJ - the official puppy of Cookie Baking Day 2007.

The official Cookie Count is now 1,766.

Thumbprints - before, during, and after

Some Thumprints have nuts. Some don't.

The first Thumbprint without nuts hit the cooling table at 2:18 pm. The first one with nuts hit the table at 2:31 pm. We didn't count them until they were decorated.

The official Cookie Count is now 1,595. This breaks last year's record of 1,594, and there's lots more to come.

.