These cookies are plenty rich, but the spices give them a nice edge. Be careful not to overbake them - it's hard to tell when the bottoms are browning. They should be soft to a gentle touch when they're finished.
Despite my constant whining about winter, I fully recognize that the season Below Zero does have at least a few minor benefits... when the season finally begins to wane, you have the opportunity to eat fresh maple syrup.
This recipe comes from Ricki of Diet, Dessert and Dogs and was the winner of Root Source Challenge: Maple Syrup.
If you want to increase the lavender flavor in this recipe, let the lavender sit in the powdered sugar for a day or two before making this recipe. You can either make free-form rounds, or use springform pans to shape your shortbread.
Read more about this recipe at VeganYumYum.
The little surprise of gooey chocolate in the center make these a rich treat for any occasion. They are best served warm, maybe over a scoop of vanilla ice cream or with a tall glass of milk.
My mother-in-law is famous for her holiday rum balls, which she makes precisely because there’s no baking required. Around Thanksgiving, she rolls them together and packs them into the back of the fridge or freezer, and by Christmas, the rum has mellowed a bit and the cocoa flavor comes out stronger.
Read more about this recipe at hogwash.
These are bars for those who like to pick the top crust off a good apple crisp. Be sure to use fresh, tart apples. All-purpose flour can be used in lieu of white whole wheat.
Read more about this recipe at hogwash.
These are traditional cookies for the Jewish holiday Purim. They're meant to look like little tricorn hats representing Haman, one of the villains in the story. They're traditionally filled with prune and poppyseed preserves, but are great with apricot, strawberry or any other seedless jams or pie fillings.
These colossal cookies are packed with milk, semi-sweet and white chocolate flavor. If you want a more modest cookie, drop 2 tablespoon amounts on the baking sheet, and cut down your baking time.
This recipe is just one of 101 Easy Peasy Cookie Recipes.
Madeleines are easy to whip up and the tropical sweetness of the persimmons is a good match for the light, spongy cookie.
Read more about this recipe at Cook & Eat.
Freshly ground anise seed pumps up the pastis flavor without making these cookies too boozy. They would be great with fresh fruit or vanilla ice cream -- or both!
This recipe was featured in Root Source: Pastis. Congratulations to Cooking 4 The Week for winnng the Root Source Challenge.
These bars can be baked ahead, cut and frozen in plastics bags and kept up to 2 months in the freezer. They even taste great right out of the freezer!
Read more about this recipe in Lunch Lessons: Changing the Way We Feed Our Children, by Ann Cooper and Lisa M. Holmes.
The bars themselves are really simple -- just a quick shortbread that gets cooked off before the jam goes on, and then cooked again with a grated shortbread topping. The resulting cookies are rich like shortbread, but lighter and more moist.
Read more about this recipe at Cook & Eat.
