Cookies!

These are the cookies I received from The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap. They were all so good. 

Almond Tartlettes from Simply So Good

Sticky Toffee Pudding Cookies from Southern Sweets and Eats

Oatmeal Caramel Creams from The Life Album

Homemade Milanos

I participated in The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap again. Here is the cookies from 2011 and 2012. Click here if you want to get on the email list to get notified about next year's cookie swap! I made Milano cookies this year. I am saving the amazing cookies I received for another post so check back to see which ones I got! 

Homemade Milano Cookies

by Brittany Ray

Keywords: bake dessert chocolate cookie

Ingredients

For the Cookie

• 12 tbs butter, softened
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 6 egg whites
• 2 tbs vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

For the Ganache

• (You may want to half this recipe)
• 18 oz chocolate chips
• 1 stick butter, cut into chunks
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Instructions

For the Cookie

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or Silpat.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter. Add the sugar and mix until combined.

Slowly add the egg whites on low speed, then mix in the vanilla. Add flour and mix until combined. Do not over mix.

Using a piping bag or a large plastic storage bag with a corner cut off, pipe batter onto the prepared baking sheet 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet before removing to a cooling rack.

For the Ganache

Place the chocolate, butter, and sugar in a heat safe bowl.

In a medium saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. As soon as it starts to boil pour it over the chocolate. Let sit for 1 minute, then whisk slowly until chocolate and butter are melted and the ganache is smooth. This smelled heavenly...

Cover and refrigerate until the ganache has thickened about 30 minutes.

Place ganache in a piping bag or a large plastic storage bag with a corner cut off and pipe a thin strip of ganache down the middle of the bottom of one cookie. Top with another cookie and press together lightly to fill the cookies to the edges.

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The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2012

I participated in the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap again! It was just as fun as last year! If you are interested in getting notifications about next years cookie swap click here.

The first box of cookies I received was from Melissa at Melissa Likes to Eat. She sent Chocolate Covered Cherry cookies. They were delicious. They had a fudge like chocolate on top that tasted so good!

The second package I received was from Alyssa at Karma Cucina. They were Chewy White Chocolate Cherry Pecan Oatmeal cookies. They had a great taste. I loved the white chocolate and cherries. Sweet and tangy. I also received these cookies from her last year. They were just as delicious.

The last box I received were from Megan at StylishFood. They were Cashew Choco-Nut cookies. They had white chocolate chunks, coconut and cashews in them. I really liked these. I love cashews and have never had them in a cookie.

I made mocha chocolate chip shortbread cookies to send out.

Mocha Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

by Brittany Ray

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

6038200

Ingredients (36 cookies)

• 1 tbs. mocha powder
• 1 tbs. hot water
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions

In a small bowl, dissolve the mocha powder in the hot water and set aside.

Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and powdered sugar together on medium speed until mixture is smooth.

Beat in vanilla and mocha then reduce the mixer speed to low and add flour. Mix only until it disappears into the dough.

Fold in chocolate chips with a spatula. Do not work dough much.

Put dough into a gallon zip lock bag. Leave top open, using a rolling pin roll out dough. Flip bag occasionally to even out dough.

Refrigerate dough until chilled and stiff, approximately 1 hour or more.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Cut dough out of bag. Cut dough into 1 1/2 inch squares. Place on baking sheets lined with silicone mats.

Prick each square twice with a fork.

Bake for 18 - 20 minutes. Turning cooking sheet halfway through.

Cookies will be pale. Transfer to cooling rack. Dust with powdered sugar while cookies are still hot. Let cool to room temperature before serving.

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Cookie Swap 2012

I am participating in The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap again this year since I enjoyed it so much last year and received lots of delicious cookies! I mean, who wouldn't love getting surprise boxes of homemade cookies in the mail?! I was very happy to see that Love and Olive Oil and The Little Kitchen have teamed up with Cookies for Kids' Cancer this year. So not only do you receive cookies in the mail you are donating to a great cause!

This weekend I received my cookie swap matches and began scouring the internet for new-to-me cookie recipes! I have come up with several possibilities! I may just bake them all and see what tastes best! You will have to wait until December 12th for the reveal to see what cookie(s) I chose.

Click here to see all of the amazing cookies I received last year and here to see the cookies I sent out. 

Are you participating in a cookie swap this year? Where do you search for new cookie recipes?

Summertime Swap

I received my swap box yesterday from Heather at Musings of a Day Dreamer. I love the North Carolina glass! I can’t wait to try out the Green Tea and the neon socks are super cute! Thanks so much for all of these fun things Heather!

Cinnamon Swirl Cookies

I finally get to share my cookie swap recipe with you! After hours of looking through recipes I finally settled on making Cinnamon Swirl Cookies. I am glad I did because I really like them! I ended up having to make 2 batches to get 3 dozen plus some extra for me!



Cinnamon Swirl Cookies
(Printable Version)
Adapted from Good Housekeeping
Makes about 18 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 stick light butter, softened
• 4 oz. fat free cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Instructions:

1. In an electric mixer bowl, using the paddle attachment, beat butter and cream cheese on medium speed until creamy (2 minutes).
2. Reduce speed to low and gradually add in flour.
3. Remove dough from bowl and shape into a small rectangle. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in fridge for 1 hour or freezer for 30 minutes. Just enough time until dough is firm enough to flatten with a rolling pin.
4. In a small bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon and set aside.
5. Lightly flour a flat surface for rolling dough. Flour rolling pin and roll dough our in a long rectangular shape. Make sure dough is in a even and thin sheet.
6. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over all of the dough.
7. Roll dough starting from one of the longest sides.
8. Water may be used to seal the edges and keep rolled.
9. Cut log in half and place on a small pan. Cover in plastic and place in fridge for 2 hours or freeze for 45 minutes.
10. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
11. Remove one roll of dough at a time. Cut roll into 1/4 inch wide cookies.
12. Place cookies on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.
13. Bake for 12 – 14 minutes. Cookies should be lightly browned.
14. Cool on a baking rack.
15. Repeat with remaining roll.

I mailed my cookies to:

• Mother Thyme
• Becoming Bianca
• Orlndofoodie

Click on their site to see what cookies they made! To see the cookies I received click on the "Cookies, Cookies and More Cookies" link below.

I can't wait till next year!

More Posts on The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap:

• The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2011
• Cookies, Cookies and More Cookies!

Cookies, Cookies and More Cookies!

I received all 3 boxes of cookies pretty early! Here are the ones I was really lucky to receive!

First I received Raspberry Almond Rugelach from Alyssa at Karma Cucina. These were absolutely amazing.  




I fell in love with her business cards…. so much so I ordered some of my own. I am not sure if I ordered them from the same company she did but I absolutely love the ones I had made.



Next, I received Salted Chocolate Pecan Oatmeal Cookies from Madeline at Thursday Night Baking. These were yummy! I didn’t get very many pictures because I was headed over to a friend’s apartment and took them over with me to share with everyone. They were a hit! I had to assure everyone that they were from a “friend” and not poisonous since I received them in the mail. 



Last, but not least, I received Cherry White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies from Anne at From My Sweet Heart. One of my favorite cookies is White Chocolate Cookies so these were a new creative twist on them.



Thank you all for sending me awesome cookies! Be sure to check back here for links to their recipes after December 12th. And I will be posting on Monday about the cookies I made.

I am already excited about next year’s cookie swap! If you missed out on this year’s cookie swap and you want to sign up for notifications for next year you can go here.

More Posts on The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap:

• The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2011