Turtle Brownies

Carmel and nuts
and everything nice
makes this fudgy treat
something neat

overall rating:4.53
ease to make: 4.5
clean up: 3 (don't forget about the caramel mixture in the pan!)

how could anyone not like these? if you are a nut and chocolate lover there's no way you could say no. there's an easy brownie on the bottom... let it cool... make your own caramel sauce (which i have never done before....it takes a while but definitely worth it!) and stick it in the fridge. it only makes 16 bars but i guarantee you won't have any to worry about afterwards!

Candy-Stripe Cookie Sticks

cute looking stick
lacking in taste
hope the calories
don't go to your waist

overall rating: 3.88

ease to make: -5
clean up: 2

OH MY GOSH.
is this really a recipe that you're going to ever want to make again?
i wanted to pull my hair out
i wanted to burn the cookie book
i got so angry i shut the oven off, with cookies baking in it and went to bed
i have vowed, never, ever again.

here is how the recipe goes:
1) make batter (still happy)
2) take out some batter and dye it red (still happy, as long as you don't spill the dye in the grout lines of your counter like me, getting grumpy)
3) make (i can't believe i actually did this) a 3x6" stencil for your cookies
4) put batter in rectangle stencil, spreading out evenly as you can. THEN make diagonal striped lines with the red dough
5) bake for 6-7 min, pull out of oven, burn fingers on hot dough and roll into cylinders

it was *so awesome,* please note my sourpuss attitude.

and to top it off they were boring cookies! for all that effort, if yo'ure going to make them (exclusively for the color, like i did) stuff a little nutella in the middle as a little flavor is needed.
this is messing up again...and again... and again...
think how many minutes wasted...(you only make 2-3 cookies at a time)

Almond Spice Wafers

crisp and crunchy
with a hint of nut
makes your holiday plate
simply great

overall rating: 4.4

ease to make: 4.5
clean up: 5!

having guests that want some spice in their cookie? make these. the best part about them? the recipe makes a million of them and.... ta da! they're easy! you only have to plan ahead for freezer time. you're supposed to make these in miniature loaf pans. i went to walmart for some cheap ones and it seems like every grandma in denver was making the exact same thing because they were out of the good, sturdy ones. i made do with foil and it came out all wrinkly on the bottom, like this. this is fine until you go to make the actual cookie and then they look like a 3rd grader made them. the downfall to these? almost cutting your fingers off when having to use an extremely sharp knife. (i only know from experience!)

Pfeffernussen

molasses
covered in
powdered sugar
yum!

overall rating: 4.58

ease to make: 4
clean up: 3. powdered sugar everywhere!

if you had to make cookies for a party in a pinch these would be it. forget the fact that it requires things like ground ginger, cloves, allspice..... if you have these in your kitchen they're the easiest to make! they are the perfect size and most people can't keep their hands off of them.

Fatal Kitchen Accident (hopefully the only one)

my favorite small spatula was put on permanent disability leave today so i decided to suck it up and let it go forever. *tear*

tonight there is a little work white elephant exchange party. i thought i'd make a quick batch of cookies and have all day to do other things. uhm, no. look at these. sadly my mom's most awesome-est recipe (that should be in martha's book) somehow failed and i'm stuck with a bunch of giant poop pies. there is no way that i can bring myself to serve these, esp being martha stewart jr this year.
off to the store for the little weenies back up plan .........

Iced Oatmeal Applesauce Cookies

applesauce and raisins,
with frosting on top!
how could you go wrong
with this little drop?

rating: 3.75

ease to make: 3, i hate frosting
clean up: 4

i realize that this is not a Christmas cookie but i had applesauce in my fridge so i made them anyway. i think martha messed up on her frosting directions. it has a great maple taste but the way it is written it ends up being a glaze instead of an icing. did you see!? i figured out how to make the icing more attractive! in case you don't own a frosting kit thingie you can stuff frosting in a ziplock bag and just a corner off to the desired gauge you like. it works wonderful (isn't "green") but if you can easily dispose of frosting by all means i believe you are allowed. the only complaint is they are too big. i concur. make them smaller than the recipe says

you probably thought i had stopped making cookies. i did. after finals i decided it was time for a break from everything, including, gasp (!) cookie making. it really has been wonderful having no real responsibility but i have BIG plans for the neighbor cookie platters this year so you better get your oven mitts on and get ready!!

Chewy Molasses Cookies

chewy or not
the hint of gingerbread
will make you the most popular
guest at the party

overall rating: 4.85

ease to make: 4.5
clean up: 4.5

just a typical cookie except you have a refrigeration step in here. once the dough starts thawing out you get "madam sticky hand trying to roll dough into nice ball." but it's not too bad. this makes a lotta cookies....hope you have some friends. if anyone out there knows why mine were NOT soft please tell me. normally i condone cheating but i had to stick them in a container with bread for a few hours in order to justify the name.

Hazlenut Cookies

a uniquely shaped cookie
to match its taste
make copies of the recipe
to give away

overall rating: 3.96
ease to make: 4
clean up: 5

well, these are supposed to be triangle shaped, but i think the more p.c. 3-D term is pyramidal square. the only thing you may not have at your house to make these is an entire 6 oz bag of hazlenuts. otherwise, the batter is very unique as it has an egg white beginning. with only a little flour and sugar, it's easy to see why they're in the light and delicate section. the only downfall is that the dough is refrigerated between prep and baking. so when you leave it out while other cookies are in the oven it doesn't work as well when coming back to make pyramidal squares out of the rest!

Cookie Taster of the Week: Beth & Kiki the cat

Beth is my old college roommate who just moved from 3 years of NYC to Belt, MT. (Check out her blog, ROOMMATE!) fun fact: Beth is the least boring person you will ever meet and is the girl to hate since she always dresses cute! :) Kiki is William's (my cat) old gf.
Chewy molasses cookies: 5

Even though they're not chocolate, they're good enough to eat a whole bunch of them at once. Would be good to have if you are stuck inside watching movies all weekend!

Hazelnut cookies: 4

Hazelnut flavor is a little overpowering, but would be good dunked in hot cocoa - the sweet balance would be good for these salty cookies.

Whole Wheat Date bars: 3.5

They were ok, I just don't like dates very much... I like the dough, though. I would serve them with afternoon tea. :)

Whole Wheat Date Bars

the thing to eat
when you feel guilty
about everything you engulfed
over Thanksgiving break
(even has fiber!)

overall rating: 3.83

ease to make: 1
clean up: 2

so either you like these of your don't....which means i don't ever have to make this cookie again because i would be real disappointed if someone didn't like them. has anyone ever tried making something with dates? oh my gosh. here's how this recipe goes in a nutshell: make dough and refrigerate in rectangle things. boil dates in applejuice and then simmer until almost all the juice is gone. then puree this in a blender and after you have rolled the dough into the thinnest sheet possible cut in half and put date puree in the inside.

here's what i did:
make dough and refrigerate. boil dates in pan and sautee. turn off heat. become sidetracked. come back to pan to realize that the dates have super glued themselves to the bottom of a "stickless" pan. work on super man arms in order to pry them off with a spatula. put in blender. watch dates twirl around, and around, and around in a giant blob instead of chopping up. swtich to a mini food processer....which works only slighly better. get frustrated and decide to start in the morning. stick food processor in fridge. come back in the morning and realize dates are impossible to work with. try microwaving, which makes a runny super glue mixture...etc. so i ended up having only enough date stuff to make 1 rectangle's worth, not 2. so if anoyne wants to make the date portion of this you may have the other rectangle and knock yourself out, but as for me, i'm finished!

Mocha Shortbread Wedges

chopped up expresso beans
mixed with coco
makes this little wedge
a slice of heaven

overall rating: 4.8

ease to make: 5
clean up: 5

i think a coffee lover could live on these. my neighbor would like this with ice cream and chocolate drizzled on top. although this only made 8 slices its well worth the effort. the only downfall....lining the stupid pan with parchment paper. i still have a difficult time with this.

Cookie Taster of the Week: Kim & Phillip

Kim and Phillip are some of my great friends who just recently moved to Germany. Ironically I have worked with them both at different jobs while in college.

Fun fact: Kim has the most contagious laugh in the world and will laugh at anything, even when you get in trouble from the owner of the bookstore while throwing a football in the back shipping room. here is clara with her cookies!

(since i'm still deciding how to do the reviews, i'm just going to put on here what they thought of each of them)
Brownie - P=4, K=4.5 They were really good, sweet with just a hint of saltiness. These were the only ones that didn't make the trip well. They were hard, so if they were fresh and soft they would have definately gotten 5s.

Sticks - P=4.7, K=5 These were our favorites!! We were so surprised that they were so soft. Phillip says if it had been completely covered in chocolate he would have given it a 5!

Carmel cookie - P=4, K=4.8 My second favorite. Couldn't get them apart, so we ate them as big globs. Still good, and still really soft.

Coconut white - P=3, K=3.5 Important to say that neither of us really like cocount, so these were at a disadvantage from the start.

Coconut brown - P=3.5, K=4 These were definately better than the white ones. Phillip thought they reminded him of no-bake cookies. Still mostly coconut though.