A

Our first entry for the cookie-swap comes all the way from Spain. Zorra of 1x umruehren, bitte usually makes her cookies a bit later in the year but for us she managed to whip up a delicious looking (if oddly shaped) batch of Chräbeli. Thanks, for starting us off, Zorra!


Cath from A Blithe Palate joins us next with three different kinds of cookies: Maple Lace Cookies, Gingerbread Snowflakes and Stained Glass Flowers, all of which look absolutely gorgeous!


Dagmar (and her cat) from A Cat in the Kitchen in Sweden tried two new recipes for the occasion and loves them both already. Please go and drool over her recipes for Swedish Gingerbread Bisquits (Pepparkakor) and Sunflower Seed Cookies…I promise you won’t regret it!


Paige of Chef-Girl.net from Alberta, Canada has brought us a recipe that her mom has been making for as long as she can remember. Her 1983 Family Circle recipe for Gingered Shortbread really does sound delicious...and with only 4 ingredients they sure look simple, too!


Jen from A Culinary Journey/Coquinaria in Vancouver, Canada loved the idea of the cookie swap so much that she started her own blog just to join in! Her Gianduia Sandwich Cookies, Fleur-de-Sel Caramel Cookies, Moravian Christmas Wafers and White Chocolate Cherry Shortbread all look and sound amazing…let’s hope she keeps up with her new blog!


Next up, Julie from A Finger in Every Pie joins us from New York with her scrumptious and very holiday-esque Linzer Biscotti Cookies. Ahhh, I can remember when Julie didn’t even have a blog last year…and look where she is now! My baby has all grown up. Thanks for joining in again this year Julie!


Although on an interesting A Veggie Venture in St. Louis, Missouri, Alanna stuns us with her sweet potato cookies! Yes, you read correctly, her Secret Ingredient Cookies with Pecans are made with 12 ounces sweet potato. Alanna doesn’t mention how they taste however…Alanna? Any insight?


Greg from Anapestic in Olney, Maryland goes off on a bit of an odd literary tangent. If you can meander your way through it, at the end I promise you will be rewarded. His Orange Almond Shortbread Thumbprints with Ganache (lots of ganache) look really delicious – especially if you are fortunate enough to like the combination of fruit and chocolate. Thanks so much, Greg!


Next up, Anne of the aptly named Anne’s Food in Stockholm, Sweden brings us a delightfully named confection. Her Twice as Good Macaroons look and sound like the perfect holiday treats.

B

Our first “B” blog is Babe in the City by Babe_KL in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. These Crunchy Jumbo Snickers Cookies sound like the perfect sugar rush. Cookies mixed with chocolate bars are never a bad thing in my books.


While Stella of Baby Rambutan might not have had the time to bake a batch of cookies for this year’s swap she has given us the recipe to the cookies she bakes every year for the holidays. Her Gingerbread Babies, Spumoni Cookies and Cashew Petites look pretty good, don’t they?


Emily of Baking Beast is up next with her Browned Butter Crisps are crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside – how can you go wrong with that glorious texture combination?


In addition to baking some fabulous holiday cookies, Nic of Baking Sheet from Los Angeles coined the perfect name for this cookie swap: “Is My Sugar High Burning?” (thanks, Nic!). Her Seasonal Shortbreads look and sound absolutely scrumptious – some with peppermint chunks and others with chocolate covered espresso beans. Talk about a sugar high on fire!


Sam of Becks & Posh in San Francisco recently discovered how easy it is to make Florintines…and shows us all how easy and delicious they are with her Spiced Sesame Orange Florentines with Cashew Nuts & Fleur de Sel (what a name!).


Even though his blog, Big City Barbeques might not seem the likeliest place to locate a cookie recipe, Adam from Toronto, Canada joined in on the Cookie Swap for his first time this year. He shares with us his most original recipe for GOOBERS Peanut Butter Cookies…and you’ll just have to go and read his entry if you want to know exactly what business GOOBERS have being in cookies.


Jocelyn of Brownie Points from Eugene, Oregon joins us with two of her favourite holiday cookie recipes. The first, from her childhood are her mother’s Ribbon Layer Cookies, which are absolutely beautiful. The second is one that her grown-up palate appreciates greatly; Chocolate Rum Balls. Jocelyn, as usual you have outdone yourself with these sweets…thank you so much!

C

Zsofi from Brussels writes in her blog, Chili & Vanilia that she isn’t much of a cookie person…and then goes on to give us a taste of what kind of cookies non-cookie people like. These Cinnamon and Walnut Linzer Cookies with Orange Curd look pretty darned delicious…for a non-cookie person Zsofi sure does know how to put together some sweet treats.


Petra at Chili und Ciabatta in Germany wows us with a very German treat: cookies made from Pumpernickel rounds, or Pumpernickel Cookies (Pumpernickelkugeln). Apparently the ground bread crumbs give them a nice chewy texture…I for one think they look really delicious!


Clivia of Clivia’s Cuisine in Sweden is inspired by cookies called Cousins. They have apricots and almonds in them and they look quite scrumptious. She did include one slightly burned cookie in her photo as a warning to us all: apricots apparently burn easily!


Rachel of Coconut & Lime from Baltimore, Maryland has whipped up a batch of Jam Dotted Shortbread Cookies for this year’s swap. Those wouldn’t last too long around my house.


Although admittedly partial to “all things chocolate”, Paige of Come to the Table in Maryland has whipped up a very interesting batch of bars for the swap. Her Meringue Jam Squares are surely going to be a big hit this holiday season…nothing says Christmas like red and white desserts!


Lisa of Comfort Food in San Diego received rave reviews from her husband on her perfect holiday cookies. She baked up what looks like quite a large batch of Almond Snowball Cookies. I really loved that she added colour to the confectioner’s sugar as well – gives these cookies even more of a “festive touch”!


Next up, Jillian of Cookies in Heaven in La Crescenta, California loves her “tart little nuggets”. Apparently her Coconut Cranberry Cookies are on the delicate side and you are to handle with care but eat with abandon. My favourite type of indulgences!


Amy from San Francisco writes in her blog, Cooking with Amy about the woes of too much baking on Thanksgiving weekend. She then goes on to wow us with her recipe for Cranberry Nut Blondies, which in addition to taking little time, can be made with just ½ teaspoon and ½ cup measuring devices!


Sarah of Cooking with the Headhunter managed to work two double shifts over the weekend with only 8 hours in between to bake her scrumptious Schiklosch (a Yugoslavian cookie) and some really delectable looking Coconut Macaroons. I’m impressed!


Jay from Charlotte, North Carolina, is obviously Culinarily Obsessed. She shares with us her recipe for her Blue Ribbon Chocolate Chip Cookies and as well a great looking recipe for Surprise Cookies (I think marshmallows should be incorporated into more cookie recipes). Thanks so much, Jay!

D

Our first “D” blog comes to us from London England. Somer, in her blog Daily Offerings offers us up two really great sounding and scrumptious looking recipes. The first one aptly named To-Die-Fors sound like chocolates rather than cookies, but that is a-okay with me…and her second recipe for Salty Peanut Biscuits are also to-die-for…trust me, I’ve made them!


Dilek of Dilek’ce in Switzerland decided that since there were two hosts of this SHF/IMBB Cookie Swap that two recipes were in order. First up were Haselnussmakronen, which are traditional Christmas cookies with hazelnuts and cinnamon and secondly were Zarte Orangenplätzchen, or Very Orange Cookies. Both of them look delicious!


Judy of Divina Cucina in Italy was the very first person to send in her email linking to her cookie entry – a bit eager, no? But I do have to say that her Ricciarelli (Sienese Almond Cookies) look fantastic. How can you resist a moist almond meal-based cookie warm from the oven, rolled in confectioner’s sugar? You can’t!


Eric of Do You Know the Muffin Man from Mississauga, Ontario is a software developer by day and superhero baker by night! He made one of my favourite cookies for his first recipe: Armadillos (chocolate, butterscotch and nuts!) and had similar troubles with his Peppermint Shortbread Wheels that I had recently with a layered shortbread. I’ll bet that even with the “flaws” they were delicious.

E

Heather of Eating for One in Kansas had to come up with a new recipe once she discovered that she didn’t have any maple extract in the house. What she ended up with were some delicious looking Chocolate Pecan Thumbprints with a chocolate/peanut butter frosting…a girl after my heart with that flavour combination.


Erin of the aptly named blog, Erin’s Kitchen baked up her tried-and-true recipe: Cranberry Orange Drop Cookies. They look and sound very festive and delicious with the big chunks of dried cranberries.

F

Jen of Fallen Souffle in Morrisville, North Carolina is riding out a cookie addiction these days. She has perfected the quintessential fall cookie – Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies – and can’t wait for you to try them out!


Cassandra in Singapore has given us a new twist on an old classic in her blog, Flying to the Moon. She has recreated biscotti and made it into her own Nutty Chocolate Chippers. What a great cookie to serve with coffee on a long, cold winter evening.


Fanny of Food Beam shares with us her recipe for “the perfect cookies” They’re both chewy and tasty, which in my books as well is a great combination in a cookie. Her Chewy Toffee and Milk Chocolate Chip Bites both look and sound as perfect as she claims.


Robyn of Food Chronicles shares with us two variations on one simple butter cookie recipe. The base is the same for both but the results are quite different in taste and in texture, I’m sure. Go and see her recipes for both Little Gems and Log Jams – you won’t regret it!


Claudia from Germany graced us all with two pretty exciting “firsts” for her blog, Fool for Food. This was her first time joining in on an Internet “event” and it was her first blog entry written in English. Along with these firsts she manages to impress us with some really delicious looking Cinnamon Balls. I especially love the wee marzipan Santa she has posed with one of them in her photo…how cute!


Rachel in Los Angeles, who has a Fresh Approach [to] Cooking may not have made “Red Carpet Ready” cookies, but her Rosemary Shortbread can grace my table any day. These slightly savoury cookies would be delicious any time with just about any accompaniment. And Rosemary represents faithfulness, love and remembrance – what could be wrong with cookies that embody all that?


Tanvi’s favourite thing to make and give as gifts just so happens to be cookies…particularly shortbread. So can you guess what kind of cookie she pulled From The Pantry? Shortbread with a rather decadent twist, I think: Chocolate-Bottomed Shortbread. Oh, wow, do those look good.

G

I agree with Augustus Gloop of Grab your Fork in Sydney, Australia: When you find a good cookie recipe, life is good. And I think that these Malted Milk Cookies with Chunks of Dark Chocolate with Malteser Smashings are definitely cookies that will make your life good - if not great!

H

Mel of Hecticium in Birmingham, England made two Christmas necessities in one for her submission to the cookie swap – cookies AND Christmas tree decorations! She made a really pretty-looking batch of Gingerbread Christmas Trees with Sugar Windows, which I’ll bet are just as delicious as they are decorative.

I

Alberto of Il Forno and IMBB fame and my co-conspirator in this Cookie Extravaganza really outdid himself with confections. He did 3 separate entries; two “amuse-bouches” that lead up to his mouth-watering finalé. I don’t know which I like the most; the Sicilian Almond Pastries, the Impanatigghi, or his gorgeous Baci di Picciotta…all of them are gorgeous, but I think his Baci sound irresistable!

J

June of June’s Blog from Jakarta, Indonesia doesn’t celebrate Christmas but still bakes as gifts for friends this time of year. I’m sure her Jan Hagel and Date and Nuts Cookies are very well received!


Swee San of Just Heavenly from Malaysia made two different kinds of cookies; Martha Stewart’s Green Tea Shortbread and a chocolate cookie that looks a great deal like chocolate covered pretzels…they both look yummy!

K

Katja of Kaffebohne from Germany made one of her old “stand-by” recipes – she thinks they’re not very special but I think her Biscotti di Prato sound really quite delicious.


Up next is Linda of Kayak Soup in Vancouver, Canada. She has made two really quite delicious-sounding batches of holiday cookies: Melting Cookies and White Chocolate, Dried Cranberry and Pecan Cookies. The last ones she made in ¼ cup sized cookies…I can feel my stomach stretching just for these!


Ulrike of Küchenlatein in Germany has shared three really fabulous looking and delicious sounding cookie recipes for this holiday’s indulgences. The first are Chestnut Cookies, then we move onto Apricot Frangipane Swirls, and thirdly we are graced with a recipe for Braune Kuchen. YUM!


And last but certainly not least is the final entry for the first half of the Cookie Swap round-up:


J of Kuidaore from Singapore managed to bake up a trio of cookies, all of which look absolutely fantastic…I’m drooling! Her gorgeous confections are: Sablés Diamant Vanille with Yuzu Curd, Hazelnut Sandwich Cookies and Chocolate Shortbread Cookies with Truffle Cream Filling.



I’m stuffed full of sugary scrumptious cookies. Make sure you read Alberto’s continuation of this round-up on Friday and then email us with your top three choices for best cookie recipe of 2005! Thank you to everyone who participated - it has been an absolute whirlwind of cookies! Good luck!

**I have included photos from everyone's sites because who wants a list of cookies they can't eat with their eyes first? If you have an issue with my using your photo, please tell me and I will remove it from this page.**

Comments:      Filed under:   Sugar High Fridays