I’m so excited for the Lawrenceville Cookie Tour this weekend, and you’ll definitely find me at Chantel’s Cheese Shop. Even though they’re not on Butler Street, it’s worth taking the detour because they incorporate cheese into their cookies. We talked about where you can buy cookies for the holidays on the podcast, but if you want to bake your own treats, here are some of my go-to cookie recipes.
Yes, the link goes to a miso almond butter cookie recipe by Bon Appétit, but I swap the almond butter for crunchy peanut butter to get more textural contrast in each bite. If you’re running short on time, you can melt the butter in the microwave. I also recommend throwing chocolate chips in the batter instead of dipping in chocolate – I promise it’s just as delicious!
I’ve shared the cookies from this Food52 recipe with the City Cast Pittsburgh crew, and it has the whole team’s stamp of approval. I prefer my cookies a little less sweet, so for this batch, I cut the brown sugar and white sugar by 25 grams each. Banging the cookie pan midway through baking is crucial to getting the right texture, so if the hectic holiday season is starting to frustrate you, it’s a great way to get some of that stress out and get tasty goodies.
I always try to stock some snickerdoodle dough in my freezer, and this recipe from ScheckEats is by far my favorite. I like to amp up the cinnamon in this recipe, so I add some to the dry ingredients. A small confession: I do not cream the butter and sugar for the full three minutes. But you do need to let the dough sit for 30 minutes before baking.
I tried this NYT recipe for the first time last year and was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it! I’m not the biggest gingerbread fan, but the coffee balanced out the spices for me. Pair it with a warm drink for the coziest winter afternoon. This year, I’ll be snacking on these while sipping an earl grey hot chocolate.
Sophia’s cat Pistachio sniffing out the Caramel Apple Cookies. (Sophia Lo / City Cast Pittsburgh)
If you’ve got any leftovers from apple picking in the fall, this is the ideal way to use them. This Bon Appétit recipe takes a bit more prep since you’re actually making the caramel from scratch with apple pulp and juice, but the gooey sweetness is worth the extra effort. Even my cat, Pistachio, was intrigued. Personally, I drink the leftover juice because when else do you have freshly squeezed (grated?) apple juice?
