Long time readers here will remember that December can’t happen without sufficient cookies. Ten kinds. This year, plus panforte and fudge. Which makes quite a pile on the sideboard:
What kinds?
Starting from the top, and going around clockwise, and ending in the center
1. Mexican Wedding Cakes – a pecan shortbread type. Very yummy.
2. Raspberry Thumbprints – Still looking for a good jam thumbprint cookie whose dough retains it shape better. And I suppose I’d be better off with jam instead of preserves, which don’t melt as evenly.
3. Mint Cocoa Swirls – Mint baking pieces were a gift from Needlework Pal Kathryn to Younger Daughter, who produced these. Slice and bake is an underrated cookie type. Will have to explore this more deeply in the future.
4. Oysters – a hazelnut spritz with dark chocolate ganache filling (my own invention).
5. Thin Ginger-Spice – this one (with a handful of finely minced preserved ginger for extra oomph) is rolled out with a peculiar gizmo to impart the design instead of using cookie cutters. I am told that cookies formed this way are called Spekulatius in Germany – Thanks Rainer!
6. Buffalo Bourbon Balls – I usually use rum in these but we were out, so I reverted to the original recipe and used bourbon.
7. Peanut Butter Sunburst – Instead of the traditional fork marking, we use a cookie stamp.
8. Earthquakes – a brownie bite style Chocolate Crinkle cookie, rich and very chocolaty. Nicknamed for the obvious fault lines.
9. Chocolate Chip – the traditional Toll House recipe, with nuts.
10. Lemon Cut-Outs – a standard sugar cookie, with extra lemon juice and zest in the cookie, plus a confectioners sugar icing made with lemon juice instead of the recommended royal icing.
The fudge declines to make an appearance, being still under sentence of refrigeration prior to being chunked into pieces. And yes, those are the two panfortes on the sideboard, marinating in Armagnac. I’ll top those with melted chocolate prior to consumption.
String-Or-Nothing 
I am starting to think I need to be adopted….. I haven’t even made cookies yet and everyone is making them around me and I don’t have time to even, lol. One of my coworkers made some thumbprint cookies and hers retained their shape well. I will see if I can find her recipe and pass along the source for you to see if you like hers better.
PS You can send me whichever cookies you like less *grin*
Yum! You got fancier than I did – lots of cookies here, but mostly of the drop persuasion :^)
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