Chocolate Caramel Thumbprints

Lisa has been itching to make these for ages. They're out of one of our favorite cookbooks, Better Homes and Gardens: The Ultimate Cookie Book (edited by Lois White, 2007) and can also be found online. You should see our copy of the cookbook: there are purple post-it notes sticking out all over the place, marking recipes we just have to try!

These cookies are chockfull of pecans, so take this into account when sharing with others. We don't recommend omitting the nuts though, because they help to hold the cookie together.

Chocolate Caramel Thumbprints

1 egg

1/2 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

16 vanilla caramels (we used regular caramels)

3 tablespoons whipping cream

1 1/4 cups finely chopped pecans

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 teaspoon shortening

• In a large mixing bowl, beat butter for 30 seconds. Add sugar and beat well. Then add egg yolk, milk, and vanilla (make sure to put the egg white in the fridge, because you won't need to use it for about 2 hours).
• Stir together dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, and salt) in a small bowl. Add to butter mixture and beat until well combined. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350 F. The original recipe says to lightly grease a cookie sheet, but we didn't bother.
• In a small pot, melt caramels with whipping cream over low heat. Stir (milk burns quickly) until mixture is smooth. Set the pot aside.
• Slightly beat egg white. Shape the dough into 1-inch balls. Roll the balls in egg white, and then in pecans. The egg white will make the pecans stick.
• Place the balls of dough an inch or two apart (they spread!) on the cookie sheet. Use your thumb to make a dent on the top of each cookie.
• Bake at 350 F for 10 minutes or until edges are firm. If the center indents disappeared while baking, redo them with your thumb (or a spoon if the cookie is hot). Spoon melted caramel mixture into the dents. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool.
• Drizzle with melted chocolate if you want to up the decadence factor. Enjoy!

Egg and vanilla added to the batter.

Pecans!

The caramel really spreads!

Store these in the fridge to keep the cookies from sticking together.

Cinnamon Roll Cookies

These cookies have been a big hit this summer, traveling to cottage country, Ottawa valley farmland, Mom's office, and a girls' night BBQ. They can be summed up very simply: cinnamon rolls in a cookie. It's a divine melding of cinnamon and walnuts mixed into a cookie!

They're a perfect match for a quiet cup of tea or coffee (guilty pleasure breakfast?) but are equally yummy when eaten around a noisy kitchen counter with a bunch of friends.

We found the recipe on "Canadian Baker Too", a blog we visit quite often. The original recipe comes from Martha Stewart. Before making these, note that they are refrigerator cookies, so they have to sit for a while - which means you need to set aside a few hours for baking.

Cinnamon Roll Cookies

Cookie Dough

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup softened butter

1 cup white sugar

1/4 teaspoon grated orange zest

2 eggs

• Mix together butter, sugar, and orange zest on medium speed, until smooth. Beat in eggs.
• In a separate bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking soda. Add slowly to butter and sugar mixture, mixing on low speed until just combined.
• Divide dough in half. Wrap each portion in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.
• Roll dough onto well floured surface into a rectangle that's approximately 10x12 (ours was probably a bit smaller). Transfer the rolled-out dough onto a cookie sheet and refrigerate for 10 minutes.

Filling

4 tablespoons softened butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

• To toast walnuts, spread on a baking sheet and bake at 350 F for 5 minutes. You can also use a frying pan on the stove to achieve the same result.
• Use a fork or spoon to combine the filling ingredients. Crumble the mixture evenly over the rectangles of dough.
• Starting at the long edge, roll the dough rectangles into logs. Make the logs tight, because air bubbles will cause the cookies to fall apart when you slice the dough. If the dough doesn't seem sticky enough, let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes.
• Wrap the logs in parchment paper and refrigerate for at least one hour.
• Slice logs into cookies (just like you do with the Pillsbury dough) that are about 1/4 inch thick. Transfer onto cookie sheets.
• Bake in 350 F oven for about 13 minutes, or until golden brown.
• Let cool for a few minutes on pan before transferring to wire racks.

Make sure to remember the orange - it adds a little zip.

Mixing the dough.

Make sure to keep your rolling pin well-floured to avoid stickiness.

Spreading the filling evenly should make the

dough easier to roll into logs.

Roll it tightly!

Slicing the dough... try to keep them at

a uniform thickness.

Ready to bake!

Almond Macaroons... and a tale of a broken egg

See our little side-panel message where we say we are "making a mess"? This was a making a mess recipe. We also stayed true to the "getting flour everywhere" statement.

Almond Macaroons... although many people think of coconut when they picture macaroons, according to wikipedia the original macaroon was a "small sweet cake consisting largely of ground almonds". And according to our cookbook, "Cookies Galore" by Jacqueline Bellefontaine, they are traditionally made on edible rice paper. Unfortunately, we didn't have any. We went along with their suggestion of (very) liberally dusting the baking sheets with semolina flour. Stick with the rice paper, trust us.

Almond Macaroons

2/3 cup ground almonds

3/4 cup granulated sugar (superfine)

2 tablespoons semolina or ground rice

2 egg whites

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Sliced almonds (for decoration)

• Line baking sheet with rice paper (don't go the semolina flour route! It's a mess and didn't even work for us)
• Grind the almonds in a food processor. Mix in medium bowl with sugar and semolina.
• In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff (little peaks will form). Add almond extract.
• Gradually fold the egg whites into the almond mixture.
• Fold in the chocolate chips.
• Place tablespoons of batter on baking sheets, about 3 inches apart (they'll spread). Place an almond slice on each one for decoration.
• Bake in a pre-heated oven at 325 F for 15 - 20 minutes, or until golden.
• Cool and transfer to a wire rack. If you use rice paper, simply tear the rice paper between each macaroon.

Grind up the almonds... you'll notice it gets a little oily.

Sprinkling in the semolina.

Oops!!!

Clean-up.

Back on track.

Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

Drop onto the baking sheet.

Umm... they're stuck.

It took arm muscle to hold the pan down while we pried the cookies off.

A crumpled cookie.

Success!