I woke up very early this morning and couldn’t go back to sleep. Instead of stressing (more) about all the holiday details that I have yet to complete, I thought I would get up and Do Something Productive… but my family is still asleep, so whatever Productive Thing I chose needed to be silent and that’s impossible. Our house, which I have grown to love, is extremely good at transmitting sound. My daughter went to bed after ten last night, so I want her to sleep as late as possible; my husband is just coming off a brutal call week, so I want him to sleep as late as possible. So I’m stuck doing silent things like sitting in my box-filled office and planning a complex cookie tray I neither have the time nor skill nor freezer space to complete. You may note that planning an imaginary cookie assortment is the opposite of Something Productive, but it is enjoyable.
If you also need a silent distraction this morning, or if you are wondering what to make for the Cookie Swap, perhaps you will join me in thinking about cookies.
Fancy assortments of cookies were a big part of my childhood. Several of my parents’ friends would create elaborate plates of mixed cookies and other confections and hand them around at Christmastime. I even seem to remember, some years, making cookies with my mother: gingerbread cutouts and stained glass cookies. A person in my circle makes a cookie plate every year and it sounds like a weekslong labor of love and intense labor. I’ve made small cookie plates on at least two occasions – with a handful of cookies that I made in a day or two – but I’ve never been one to make one of those works-of-art assortments.
Because I have never done a real cookie assortment, I read this fascinating blog post about how to put together a stunning arrangement. It was such an easy breezy post, it filled me with a completely false confidence in being able to do such a thing myself.
If I were to make a cookie tray, I think it might include the following:
- Basque Cheesecake Bars: My husband wanted to make a pumpkin swirl cheesecake for Thanksgiving, so I bought all the ingredients… but then we never got around to making it. These bars sound delicious, unusual, and they would make use of some of the piles of cream cheese clogging up my fridge. I think I would also swap out the graham cracker crust for gingersnap crust, since I bought gingersnaps for the cheesecake. Yes, always a good idea to make substitutions in a recipe you’ve never tried before.
- Marbled Sugar Cookies: Carla was enthusiastic about participating in the cookie making, but I know she is really mostly interested in cutting out shapes and decorating cookies. These are super pretty and I think she’d have fun with them. Also, this sugar cookie has a cream cheese base, so I can continue chipping away at my stockpile of Philadelphia’s best.
- Stained Glass Window Cookies: These are pretty and I think Carla would enjoy both smashing Jolly Ranchers into bits and creating stained glass masterpieces.
- Chocolate Snickerdoodles: These are Carla’s all-time favorite cookie, and she requested that we make some. I think they are delicious, and there’s something about the combination of chocolate and cinnamon that is unique and wonderful. Plus, they will be a nice color/flavor change-up.
- Zimtsterne: These gluten-free cinnamon star cookies are so yummy. They are made with almond meal and have a wonderful nutty flavor. My only issue with them is that I can never get the glaze to stay completely white.
- Peppermint Sugar Cookies: I think these are so cute! I might dip them in peppermint sanding sugar to add a little extra minty oomph.
- Swirled Cookies: These are so vibrantly colorful, I want to make them immediately.
- Cranberry Lemon Bars: I have been wanting to make these, and I think the lemon and cranberry will add a welcome burst of tartness to the cookie plate.
- Chai Sugar Cookies with Eggnog Glaze: Yes, this cookie plate is already pretty heavy on the sugar cookies, but I think incorporating these chai cookies would add a fun new flavor to the mix. Plus, I have made these before and they are delicious.
- Cream Cheese Stuffed Red Velvet Cookies: Oh yes, another cookie that will make use of all the cream cheese I have on hand! Plus, these just sound fun and different.
Now that all that pesky planning is done, the only thing that’s left to do is whip up all these cookies! I even already have the plates. (I got mine at the dollar store, but aren’t these cute?!)
What would you include on your own imaginary cookie plate?
Your imaginary cookie plate is AMAZING! My cookie knowledge does not span that far so all I can think of is classics like Spritz, pinwheels, sugar cookies, molasses, etc.
It’s so funny that you mention Spritz, because I find them SO DIFFICULT to make! I know they are so traditional, but I am scared of them LOL.
PEPPERMINT SUGAR COOKIES. I am going to have to bookmark that one because I just made the dough for both my regular sugar cookies and for gingerbread. I am going to make gingerbread people tomorrow and Mark will be here to help decorate. This is a weird tradition and the boys always make cookies that are absolutely insane and that no one wants to eat because they are so coated in frosting. It’s fun though.
Don’t they sound fun?!?! I always love seeing the photos of your decorated gingerbread cookies. They are hilarious.
Well thanks to this post I just spent a good chunk of my morning thinking about cookies! I’ve had my eye on the stained glass cookies for years, and a few years ago I made something that was the same concept though not the same recipe as the marbled sugar cookies – oh man I did not execute it well and ended up with very funny looking cookies.
The more I think about it, the more I know that I need to stick to a simple cookie tray for our big family Christmas party and leave it at that. I think I’m going with:
CHRISTMAS CRACK. Yes, I want to eat some of that very much indeed.
First off, I am so happy to hear that you have come to love your new home!!
My mom made so many cookies plus candies like caramels, heath candy, chewy chocolate Carmel-like things, Anis candy, and peanut brittle. And she had 5 kids and worked full time. I guess she didn’t sleep? I don’t really know how she did it. She has really simplified and makes a few cookies people love (kiss cookies and gingerbread or ginger snaps and sometimes sugar cookies) plus peanut brittle and heath candy.
Being GF and an abstainer, I barely bake. No one wants GF baked goods and I don’t need to eat like an entire batch of sugar cookies. I am doing a sugar cookie decorating party with the family on our block but I am trying to decide if I make my tried and true ATK recipe which can only ne used for round sugar cookies or if I should try a recipe from a GF blogger that she posted this week. The boys won’t care if they are decorating trees and bells and angels or a round cookie and the family coming over has a 2.5 yo so he sure won’t care either. So I will probably stick with what I know will work! And then in Jan or Feb when we need a weekend activity, I will give this new recipe a whirl.
This post is bringing up such fond memories of time gone by. For 20+ years of my time with my husband, the family would converge upon his parents’ house for baking day. Everyone would bring a recipe, and we would jockey for the oven, and make 8 or 10 different kinds of cookies, and then make plates to bring as gifts. After all of the baking and sugar, someone would go to KFC and get fried chicken. The only time of year that we ate KFC, so it was a fun treat. Now half of the family has moved away, half of the family is pre-diabetic, and so it seems kind of pointless. So I will not try to recreate these joyous times, but instead remember them fondly.
I love a good jam in a cookie, so I would add a thumbprint cookie or something like it. I am going to have 2 contributions to your cookie exchange, one old post and one new one. Neither will have beautiful pictures, but they’re both delicious!
You had me at Gluten Free. These all look amazing. My mom was always known for her chocolate chip cookies and honestly so am I, so I don’t venture much from those. Growing up our neighbors made sugar cookies that were frosted but looked more like they were painted. I remember having to ask permission to eat one, because it seemed so odd to eat actual art. The mom is a very talented artist.
all that to say, I usually make sugar cookies and we frost them , I use the same recipe as our artist friend (still in touch with her, she’s almost 90). Mine do not look like hers, but they taste amazing.
I don’t really make Cookie Plate cookies, but I make a ton of things that usually make a good display. I keep adding recipes every year and not really subtracting any, so it’s getting a little unwieldy, but I like to give a good amount away and then my sister’s family is usually here, so there are a lot of people, BUT my mom also bakes a lot. Much like my Christmas playlist, I have a really good assortment already and yet I can’t stop myself from looking for New Fun Things to add.
My list for the last couple years has been: white-chocolate dipped lemon shortbread, Chai shortbread, toffee shortbread, chocolate-dipped shortbread with candy-cane pieces, salted butter shortbread with chocolate chunks: chewy gingerbread cookies with lemon glaze, gingerbread scones, gingerbread cookie bars with white chocolate chips, classic gingerbread; brown sugar cookies for decorating, salted toffee pretzel bark, skor brownies, eggnog scones, cream wafers.
Usually I’ve already made inroads, but this year I’ve only made a couple of batches of the gingerbread with lemon glaze and bark for a Christmas party. I need to start today – excuse me while I assess how much room-temperature butter I need, thank-you for the reminder!
Oh, and I did make the stained glass cookies with Eve one year – it was fun smashing the candies, and the cookies were very pretty but didn’t keep well, and GOD, the stickiness!
I’d like to try all those cookies except possibly the Jolly Rancher ones. I don’t like the candy and am afraid they would be too crunchy for my ancient teeth. I only do frosted and decorated sugar cookies and Russian teacakes. My older daughter does lots more stuff including Rugelach. She lived in New York for six years and got addicted to them. They’re not as easy to find in my area!
We were just talking about things we might make this year:
Almond butter chocolate chip cookies (North)
Buckeyes (candy, not cookies, but it could go on a cookie plate) (Beth)
Chocolate peppermint cookies (North)
Gingerbread cookies (me and the kids)
Pinwheels (North)
Pizelles (Beth)
I’m not sure we’ll do them all and if we do we’ll probably deliver some to friends because that would be a lot of sweets to have around.
I hve done all my Christmas baking as all our Christmas get-togethers are early this year. I made shortbread, pumpkin pecan bars, Nicole’s peppermint bars and a couple more. I did make those cranberry lemon bars (you shared the link in a previous post I think). They are really tasty BUT the instructions don’t say to cool the cranberry layer before adding the lemon topping. It isn’t that pourable so they aren’t as pretty – definitely not 2 distinct layers. But they taste great (I used GF flour as my sister has Celiac, and they turned out perfect)
These are such great suggestions! I’m not eating chocolate right now since it’s been identified as one of my main migraine triggers, but I still have a sweet tooth. Thank you for sharing these ideas! And Basque cheesecake bars—yes, please!
Sign me up for ANYTHING cheesecake.
I make buckeyes (though we always just call them PB balls).
I make Christmas crack – Belle’s request.
I make ginger cookies. That’s about it for “cookie” type things. I always make cherry cheesecake and that is really the only baked good that MUST BE PRESENT AT CHRISTMAS.
This year, I want to make some shortbread cutouts, and I have a bar recipe I love and haven’t made since last Christmas, so I might cook that up for a potluck we’re attending next weekend.
I feel very Meh about cookie plates. Things go stale. Sometimes I don’t love the cookies that come. I used to bake and give things to people but now I give everyone a specialty chocolate bar that I would have given home baking to. It’s easier and it gives them more flexibility (they can set it aside until after the holidays and have something special to eat in the dark, cold winter months).
Here’s what’s planned (so far)for my Christmas plates this year. Chocolate chip, peanut butter (I’m excited I got a cookie stamp for them this year), ginger snaps (all these have already been prepped and are hanging out in the freezer). Still to be made Spritz cookies, peanut butter fudge, and almond bark. On the fence as to whether I’ll add a couple more to the rotation.
OOH! Well, I did some baking yesterday! I’m posting about it tomorrow. But I read the blog post you linked to about making a stunning arrangement, and now I feel inferior. Oh well! I’m sure no one expects beautiful aesthetics from me by now.
I only had time right now to skim this post but I am SO looking forward to reading about cookies, and maybe making some and blogging them. Thank you! – Common Household Mom
Mhmh these all sound really yummy and I would have one from each. So yes I take a plate. Ha!
I finally baked some cookies last night. My favorite Nougat Buttons and the not so sweet Chai Cookies and San’s Vanillekipferl.