By: Deanna Linder

I don’t know what it is but something about cookies just make me feel good. A long while back, Danya wrote in a post that she wanted to be the kind of mother that is remembered for always having homemade cookies in the cookie jar at home. I wasn’t yet a mother then, but I knew I wanted to be that kind of mother as well.

When I got down to deciding which cookies I would want to share with our readers I gave myself a challenge: one cookie which I love and make all the time (snickerdoodle), one cookie which I’ve never made but looks delicious (nutella cookies), one cookie that I love but looks too hard to make (elephant ears/palmiers).

I came to the shoot with a ton of cookies. We shot them, ate some and I was left with so many that I didn’t know what to do with them, so I started handing them out to friends (yes, this is one of perks of being a friend of mine). A few days later, a friend and I went with our sons to Gymboree. When she dropped us off at home, my friends son (2½) starting mumbling something I couldn’t quite decipher. He said it again and again, until we realized what he was saying….”Deanna’s cookies”. The kid remembered the cookies I had given them earlier that week. Lucky for him, I’m now the kind of mother who always has homemade cookies in the cookie jar.

Snickerdoodles

Wikipedia doesn’t even give a proper version of where these cookies come from. They are soft, even days after baking and are made with cinnamon and sugar- need I say more. Cream of tarter can be found in the baking section of most supermarkets or specialty food shops.

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen:

Ingredients for 3 dozen cookies:

2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
8 ounces/ 225 grams butter, at room temperature
1 ¾ cups sugar

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Preparation:
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F/200ºC. Line baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.

2. Sift together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

3. Using an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the butter and 1½ cups of sugar and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs and mix on medium speed until combined. Lower mixer speed and add the dry ingredients until combined. Cover dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour before baking.

4. Once the dough has chilled combine the remaining ¼ cup of sugar and ground cinnamon in a small bowl.  Use a tablespoon to scoop out the dough and then form balls with your hands. Roll the balls in the cinnamon and sugar and place two-inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.

5. Bake for about 10 minutes, rotating the baking sheets after five minutes. Allow cookies to cool before serving.

Nutella Cookies

This is a recipe I adapted from “What Katie Ate” (yes, we love her) the 2010 Christmas edition.  Right away they didn’t come out as good as I expected but the next day they were deliciously soft. So try to hold back on these and eat them the following day- GOOD luck!

Ingredients for 3 dozen cookies:

2½ cups all-purpose flour

1½ teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

8 ounces/ 225 grams butter, at room temperature

1 cup Nutella

1 cup sugar

1 cup dark brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F/180ºC. Line baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
3. Using an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the butter, nutella and both sugars on medium speed for 2 minutes, until creamy.  Add the eggs, one by one, and mix until combined. Add the chocolate chips (if using them).
4. Lower mixer speed and add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Cover dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour before baking.
5. Use a tablespoon to scoop out the dough and then form balls with your hands. Place two-inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
6. Bake for about 10 minutes, rotating the baking sheets after five minutes. Allow cookies to cool before serving.

Elephant Ears also known as “Palmiers”

This is my brother’s favorite cookie. They always seemed to be so elegant, and it wasn’t until I made them that I realized how easy they were to make.  Mine didn’t come out so nice- that’s what happens when you are on your 8^th batch of cookies at midnight.

Ingredients for 3 dozen cookies:

½ cup sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 sheet frozen puff pastry (made with butter, NOT margarine), thawed

Preparation:

1. In a small bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle a clean work surface with about 1 Tbs. of the cinnamon-sugar. Open the sheet of pastry atop the sugar and roll it out into a rectangle about 9 by 11 inches and 1/8 inch thick.
2. Cut the pastry lengthwise into 3 uniform strips each about 3 inches wide. Sprinkle each strip evenly with 1 Tbs. of the cinnamon-sugar. Gently fold both ends of 1 pastry strip inward so they meet in the center. Then bring both sides in to meet at the center, like closing a book; do not compress. Roll the outside in more cardamom-sugar to coat. Repeat with the 2 remaining pastry strips. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat an oven to 350°F/180ºF. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
4. Using a sharp knife, cut the pastry strips crosswise into ½-inch thick slices. Arrange the slices on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart.
5. Bake until the bottoms caramelize, about 20 minutes. Turn the cookies over and bake until the tops are deeply caramelized, about 5 minutes more. Allow to cool to room temperature before serving.