Everyone Loves Shortbread!

I am sure that you all haveheard of shortbread before. Shortbread is one of my favorite cookie types. Nothing is better than several shortbread cookies with a warm cup of hot chocolate or tea. And the basic recipe is pretty easy to make. However, I found a company that is doing interesting things with shortbread.

Most of the time when I think of shortbread, I think of a very simple cookie. Nothing interesting or different. No frills, just a plain cookie. And I'm sure that I'm not the only person who has that same thought. But the people who make Willa's Shortbread had a very different feeling about shortbread. They have set out to make it something beyond interesting.

I was at a festival with a friend when I saw their booth. There were quite a few choices: Chocolate Chip and Tennessee Whiskey, just to name two. After trying a few samples, I bought of box of Wildflower Honey and the Spicy Cheese. Because the last thing I would put with shortbread is spicy cheese.

Both of these flavors were very good. Wildflower Honey has a subtle flavor that is not overly sweet, which I liked. And the cookies are very aromatic. I liked smelling cookies almost as much as I liked eating them. Spicy Cheese plays with the idea of being a cookie. While it is shortbread. It is a cheese straw recipe that is salty and savory, similar to a cracker. They were good as well.

I am glad that I found out about these shortbread cookies. I will definitely be buying more. Since I like my cookies sweet,  I will probably try Chocolate Chip or Praline next. But who knows, I might find something else that catches my eye. I definitely recommend these cookies.

Kitchen Adventures! - Peanut Butter and Molasses cookies

There are a few foods I admit to have constant cravings for. One of those foods are cookies. I can't tell you what it is about cookies that makes me want to curl up with a glass of milk and forget the rest of the world exists, but that is just the way it is. There are few foods that can make me as happy as a than a couple of freshly baked cookies from the oven.

I can't remember the first time I baked cookies. I'm pretty sure it had to be with my mom. Most of my budding culinary knowledge started with her. I do remember the first batch I made by myself, however. Every Christmas, we make molasses crinkles, because those are my dad's favorite. I was so excited to have my dad eat crinkles I had made by myself. Unfortunately, things didn't go that great. The cookies came out so hard you could have broke a tooth on them. I was pretty upset and disappointed by the whole thing. Dad thought it was funny. He picked up a cookie and bopped me on the forehead with it.

Peanut Butter and Molasses cookies

Anyway, let's fast forward to last summer, when I was in need of a late night cookie fix. It was too late to head out to the store, so my sister told me bake some myself. Surprisingly, she had everything you could ever need to make a cookie in her kitchen. My initial intention was to make a peanut butter cookie (because that is the way to my heart), however I stumbled on a recipe for peanut butter molasses cookies and decided to try that instead. Guys, I think I found the gateway to heaven.

This cookie combines the best of both a peanut butter cookie and a molasses crinkle. And, to top it all off, it is a soft cookie! Makes them even better. When warm, it feels like biting into a cloud of pillowy soft, spiced sweetness. The recipe made 2 dozen and I wanted to eat every last one myself. In fact, I made them as Christmas gifts this past December. That's how impressed I was with how these cookies came out.

A new cookie will be added to the holiday list. (Though it has been requested that I make them more often) I am pretty sure my dad won't mind. Especially now that he knows his teeth will still be in one piece after eating them. Do you guys have a favorite cookie? Any baking traditions around the holidays?