Fun food from basic ingredients

Cookie swap brings out creativity in bakers.
By J.M. HIRSCH
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CONCORD, N.H. -- The cookie swap party pressure is mounting.
The weekend before Christmas my wife and I are hosting our second annual holiday cookie swap party. The drinks and savory items already have been sorted out. But since the cookies are the stars, they require a bit more thought.
For those unfamiliar, the basic gist is that guests bake and bring several dozen cookies -- enough for all to indulge while partying, as well as for everyone to bring home a variety box at the end.
Of course, this can trigger the competitive streak in some.
Last year my wife took a cookie decorating class in which she learned to create gorgeously decorated specimens. For the party she baked up pairs of mittens laced together with ribbon and glazed with a fondant-style frosting dotted with edible silver balls.
Kind of hard to top that.
Our guests' cookies ran the gamut, from a massive chocolate chip cookie decorated to resemble a pizza (even delivered in a pizza box) to deep, rich chocolate-cherry bombs that had everyone asking for the recipe.
Me? I wanted to surprise everyone with cookies they had never heard of. I thought I'd be creative and use recipes from some antique cookbooks I'd picked up at a yard sale. Some were more than 100 years old.
It was a nice thought. But have you ever tried cooking from such recipes? Not exactly modern kitchen-friendly. How do you measure an egg-sized piece of butter? How much milk is "enough"? And I just didn't find "cook in a warm oven" all that helpful.
But I gave it a shot. The first was a powdered sugar-ground almond cookie. They were supposed to be light and puffy, almost meringue-like. Mine not only completely flattened, they also all ran together as they cooked.
The only way to save them was to use a cookie cutter and cut rounds out of the baked, now baking sheet-sized cookie.
The second batch was a sheet bishop's bread, a doughy confection that is cut into squares and dusted with powdered sugar. Not bad, but -- and I only realized this after they were baked -- not really a cookie.
Just like mom's
So this year I have decided to skip fancy and go back to my roots. I will make my childhood favorite, the cookie my Mom made every Christmas -- oatmeal-raisin chocolate chip cookies.
I love these cookies because they are sweet without being overwhelming, they are chewy and they are packed with chocolate chips, raisins and oatmeal.
When I was testing Mom's old recipe, I also decided to tinker. Since my wife hates raisins, I tried a batch with dried cranberries instead. Delicious (and perhaps even a bit more festive). Try this variation with white chocolate chips, too.
For vegans, these cookies can be made with powdered egg substitutes (usually made from some combination of starches).
For my second batch (my wife and I always try to make two each to round out the party offerings), I reached back to when I was about 2 and Mom made me stained glass cookies in the shape of Sesame Street characters.
OATMEAL-RAISIN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup shortening
11/2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon lemon juice
11/2 cups rolled or instant oats
1 cup raisins
1 cup chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a baking sheet, or line it with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and ground cloves. Set aside.
Using a standing mixer or a hand mixer and a medium bowl, beat the shortening and brown sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs and beat until well mixed. With the mixer on, add the milk and lemon juice. Add the oats, raisins and chocolate chips and mix well.
Drop teaspoon-sized balls of cookie dough on the prepared baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches all around. Bake 12 to 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool the cookies 1 minute on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely. Makes 3 dozen cookies.
STAINED GLASS TREES
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted (plus more for work surface)
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
7 ounces (about 30) assorted clear colored hard candies, colors separated and finely chopped
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside.
With an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and mix until smooth, about 1 minute. Reduce mixer speed to low and add flour mixture, mixing until combined. Stir in the vanilla.
Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate until cold, about 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 325 degrees with racks in upper and lower thirds.
Roll out the chilled dough on a well-floured surface to about 1/4 inch thick. Cut out shapes using a 5-inch tree-shaped cookie cutter.
Use a spatula to transfer the trees to baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Using the tip of a paring knife, make a triangular cutout in the center of each cookie for candy filling. Re-roll dough scraps and cut additional cookies.
Sprinkle candy in a single layer in the cutout of each cookie, avoiding the edges. Refrigerate until dough is firm, about 15 minutes.
Bake the cookies until the candy has melted and completely filled the cutout and cookie edges are just starting to turn pale golden brown, 11 to 12 minutes. Do not let the cookies brown, or the candy centers may become bubbly.
Set the baking sheets on wire racks and let the cookies cool completely. Use a metal spatula to remove the cookies from parchment paper. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 5 days.
Makes about 3 dozen.
XRecipe from Martha Stewart Living.
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