It’s been awfully quiet here at Dessert By Candy because I’ve been buried in cookies for the last few days filling out bake sale orders. Thanks to everyone’s generosity and appetite for cookies, the final tally for the fundraiser has topped $1110. You already know that I’m grateful for the outpouring of support so let’s move on to the more important stuff. What do you get for your $20 donation?
First off, I have to inform you that there is such thing as Cookie Emergency and I’m here to address this serious issue. Each bag of cookie assortment contains your emergency ration with two of each kind in case you’re stuck in this dire situation with a friend. The cookies are sealed individually in poly bags to ensure freshness because even in an emergency, a stale cookie is a sad sight to behold. In fact, feedback from testers indicated this kit was able to withstand a whole night of pouring rain without affecting the precious rations inside! Not that I suggest you try…but a pair of scissors would be good idea if you want to enjoy the cookies without a fight.
I curate eight carefully selected recipes from extensive testing over the last year. I hope you’ll enjoy these classic and not-so-classic tastes as much as I did.
BAKED Bars
A crunchy graham coconut base is topped with dark chocolate, white chocolate, toasted walnuts, butterscotch chips, and condensed milk baked to golden perfection. This bake sale classic is also known as Hello Dolly Bar and 7 Layer Bar. The recipe comes from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking
Ingredients: graham cracker, coconut, butter, walnut, dark chocolate chips, white chocolate, butterscotch chips, condensed milk
Brewer’s Blondies
I love malt and especially malted milk balls. This bar cookie captures that deep flavour and pairs it with delectable chocolate and walnuts in a soft chewy blondie. Although brownies is a typical crowd pleaser, I think you’ll understand my affection for blondies once you try this version. The recipe comes from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking
Ingredients: unbleached flour, butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, malted milk powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, dark chocolate chips, malted milk balls, walnuts, eggs, vanilla.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Earlier this year, I went through a whole week of baking chocolate chip cookies to find a favourite recipe and I found it in Baked: New Frontiers in Baking
Ingredients: unbleached flour, butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking soda, salt, dark chocolate chips, eggs, vanilla.
Peanut Butter Cookies with Milk Chocolate Chunks
The combination of peanut butter and milk chocolate is one that I never get tired of. These chewy cookies with crispy edges are packed with the taste of peanut butter. I just love the little chunks of milk chocolate poking through the surface! These are not the tender shortbread-y peanut butter cookies you may be familiar with but I assure you they are even better. Recipe can be found in Baked: New Frontiers in Baking
Ingredients: unbleached flour, butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, milk chocolate, eggs, vanilla.
Oatmeal Cherry Nut Cookies
No classic cookie assortment is complete without a version of oatmeal cookie. The name here is rather low key and doesn’t prepare you for the burst of flavour you’re about to experience. There was tartness from sour cherries, crunchy toasted walnuts, and best of all, a hint of cardamom. That’s right, it’s the elusive cardamom instead of the more predictable cinnamon! You guessed it right, recipe can be found in Baked: New Frontiers in Baking.
Ingredients: unbleached flour, oats, butter, sugar, baking soda, salt, dried sour cherry, walnut, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg.
Chewy Sugar Cookies
I fell in love with these simple sugar cookies the first time I tasted one. The chewy texture from melted butter tempts me to take bite after bite while the richness from cream cheese intrigues. The recipe comes from America’s Test Kitchen Feed and you can read what I did with these cookies previously. I kept them unadorned for the cookie assortment but that shouldn’t stop you from using them to make cookie sandwiches! May I suggest a dab of Nutella? If you want to get fancy, lemon curd would be divine.
Ingredients: unbleached flour, butter, sugar, cream cheese, vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla, baking powder, salt
Ginger Molasses Cookies
You may call this gingerbread cookie but since it’s not the holiday season yet, I think ginger molasses cookie sounds more appropriate. In either cases, this big soft cookie is a sophisticated blend of subtle sweet spices including cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. The recipe comes from Joanne Chang’s Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery + Cafe
Ingredients: unbleached flour, butter, molasses, brown sugar, eggs, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves.
Lemon Cornmeal Cookies
The bright citrus taste of lemon always makes me think of sunshine which leads to a visual association of golden yellow. Adding coarse cornmeal to this cookie not only beautifully recreates the golden hue but also adds a delicious crunch to the cookie. I adapted the recipe from Lime Cornmeal Cookies in Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery + Cafe
Ingredients: unbleached flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, butter, lemon zest, eggs, vanilla.
There you have it, the assortment of cookies in all its glory. I absolutely adore the simple and effective packaging. The label that little brother designed and printed completes the look. My house smells like the sweetest place on earth for the last few days but I cannot wait to get all these cookies out of my kitchen and into your hands! I would love to hear from you what you think of the cookies especially if you have any favourites.
