The Twelve Cookies of Christmas: Sweet Sorghum Spice Cookies

 

The Twelve Cookies of Christmas: Sweet Sorghum Spice Cookies

This was another great, easy cookie to make. I have picked a good batch of recipes this year! I found the recipe from this website, which has a lot of recipes I want to try! I have sorghum on hand, but note, it is a regional item and if you are outside the Southern United States, you may not be able to find it at grocery store. I had to special order it online. The recipe says that you can substitute molasses, but it really will alter the flavor. Sorghum syrup is sort of a cross between molasses and honey. It's subtler than both, so the spices in this really come through strongly. Molasses will make it taste more like a traditional molasses cookie.

Here we have the dry ingredients. It's not fully mixed yet, but the spices don't show up in the picture well when I mix it. This has a good amount of spices in it!

Here is the bottle of sorghum syrup and what it looks like in the bowl with the butter. It does resemble molasses, but it smells and tastes different.

Fully mixed. It's grainy, but don't worry, it's fine when it's all combined.

At this step, you chill it. Definitely don't skip this step.

Post chilling. I divided these into the two dozen but only made six to try. The last molasses-type cookie I made and froze for this project didn't thaw very well, so I thought I would freeze the dough before baking it and thaw and bake as desired. I think that'll hold the texture of the cookie better.

Rolled into balls and rolled in the sugar. Ready to bake!

If they're all connected, it only counts as one cookie, right?! These took longer than the recipe calls for by about 4-5 minutes. Keep an eye on them.

They're delicate when you take them off the baking sheet, but they hold up well once they cool off. As you can see, they do resemble a molasses cookie, though maybe a bit lighter in color.

You can see the nice fluffy texture inside the cookie.

These are really tasty! The spices come through very strongly, and are perfect for this time of year. Santa would be very happy to have these show up on his plate of cookies on Christmas Eve! Good luck tracking down sorghum syrup, and Happy Baking!

The Twelve Cookies of Christmas: Orange Cranberry Walnut Biscotti

 

The Twelve Cookies of Christmas: Orange Cranberry Walnut Biscotti

This is a recipe I've had in my recipe collection forever, but have not ever tried it yet. I tracked down the original source: Gourmet Magazine, 1998. That makes this recipe 23 years old, and I've never tried it! It's sad, because this was really not hard to make, and really delicious. I could have been enjoying this for so much more of my life!!

Because I tracked down the source of the recipe, I will be sharing it here, instead of writing it out.

It says peel and all, but trust me, you don't want the pith of an orange in this. That would make the entire thing bitter and disgusting. Zest the peel and then peel the orange segments from the rest. It's a little more work, but so worth it in the end.

There's nothing better than this smell right here.

All of this can be done by hand, no need for a mixer. Here is the sugar/egg mixture after the orange has been mixed in.

The dough does get thick, but it's ok.

Adding the cranberries and walnuts will likely have to be done by hand, unless you have incredible upper body strength, which I do not. Especially post-Covid! Just make sure you use clean hands and/or wear gloves.

These roll out really easily and will fit onto one sheet pan.

Here were are, after the first baking step. They puff up and crack on top, but that's normal.

You will need a second sheet pan for the second baking after you slice them. Now, this recipe says it makes 6 dozen, but based on the 1/2" thickness for slicing, I only got half that. You can slice them thinner, but they will probably crumble more, and get way harder. Biscotti are supposed to be hard, but I like them to be not tooth-breakingly tough.

I baked it for the 12 minutes, then flipped them over and switched positions of sheet pans in the oven and baked them for the last three minutes.

This is the final product. They taste so good! They are crispy on the outside, but soft in the middle still. If you wanted, you could melt some white chocolate and drizzle them over the cookies, but I'm just going to keep them as is.

Biscotti can be done to your liking. Want them harder? Cut them thinner and bake them longer. Want them softer? Cut them thicker and bake them for less time. 

Orange, cranberry, and walnut are a fantastic flavor combination for the holidays. You could do these for Thanksgiving or Christmas and they'd fit in just fine in either setting. Definitely give these a try!

Happy Baking!

The Twelve Cookies of Christmas: Pecan Spice Cookies

 

The Twelve Cookies of Christmas: Pecan Spice Cookies

Taken from this recipe. Today's recipe was super simple, but really tasty. This is a great recipe if you don't have a lot of time or energy.

The ingredients, assembled. I don't have the salt in this picture, but it should be there too. It's a pretty small list of ingredients, which is always nice.

Shortening mixes so much more easily then butter! It's always soft, unlike butter. I don't really use it a lot, though, but it does have its place in the world of baking. And it's transfat-free now, which is important.

The dry ingredients, blended.

The dry and wet ingredients, mixed. It's much drier than I anticipated. I thought it would roll really easily like the molasses cookies last week, but that was not the case.

This is as mixed as I could get it. It's pretty crumbly, so don't worry if yours is too.

You can't really roll these into balls, like the recipe says, but you can sort of squeeze them into balls. The pecans on top don't really stick into the dough well, because it's so dry and precarious, but just sort of set them in as best as you can.

Mine needed the full 12 minutes, and this was the final result. They did not make nearly as much as it says it should, but I couldn't have made them any smaller. These end up being the perfect size, about three or four bites.

Here's the interior texture, close up...

The cookies smell really strongly of clove, but the clove flavor isn't overpowering. It will leave your home smelling like the holidays! These are definitely a great, really simple Christmas cookie. They are also super sweet. You only need a couple before you're done. I'm going to try freezing these, like I've been doing with all the others. I want to eat these again at Christmas!

Happy Baking!

The Twelve Cookies of Christmas: Orange Spice Molasses Cookies

 

The Twelve Cookies of Christmas: Orange Spice Molasses Cookies

These cookies are amazing! They might be my new favorite molasses cookies. There are a couple steps to prep the ingredients, but if you have a coffee grinder you use for spices or grinding non-coffee items, this will help with both of the steps. Once that is over, the recipe is super easy. Since there is a source, I'm going to post the link to it, rather than write it out.

Orange Spice Molasses Cookies

Here we have the prepped specialty items for this recipe. Above on the left is the sugar with the orange zest ground into it. It's such a neat color! And on the right is the ground oats. On the plate is the rest of the zest for the dough. I didn't realize going into it that I needed several Tablespoons of zest and only had one orange to zest. I split it between the two parts, but I would definitely do the zest of two oranges in the future.

Creaming the butter and sugars without a mixer really is easy and good exercise. I am once again reminded that I wouldn't have been able to do this prior to my QVar inhaler getting me past my covid problems.

Here it is mixed with the zest.

And with all the wet ingredients mixed in.

Here is post oatmeal. For some reason I don't have any shots of it after adding the flour.

But here is the first iteration of the cookies. I made 40 portions and then worked on evening them out. I was not sure about not chilling them first, but I followed the recipe and it did just fine!

Rolling them in the orange sugar. The orange sugar makes more than you'll need, so you can either keep it for a second batch or possibly even cut the sugar and zest in half and not waste the ingredients.

Post sugaring.

A full tray ready for the oven! You can see that the sugar is a bit powdery, because it's been ground up with the zest. I like it this way so you don't get whole grains of sugar when you bite into them.

Here is the final product. It gets the nice cracks that a molasses cookie should have. Mine ended up needing 14 minutes, not 10. Sacrifice one to be the tester. Cut it in half and keep an eye on it after the 10 minute mark to see how they're baking on the inside. 

The texture is amazing! I will be freezing them to take to Thanksgiving Part Two with my family, and sharing some with my parents and coworkers this week!

This recipe was well worth the extra prep steps. Orange put it right into wintertime, and my sister pointed out that it tastes like a mini gingerbread cookie. They have all the typical gingerbread spices, so that makes sense.

These just feel festive and extra special, perfect for this time of year! Santa will enjoy these, for sure!

Happy Baking!