Powder Puffs [Olive Oil Polvorones]

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Feliz día de Andalucía! I’m in Amsterdam today (taking advantage of the long weekend) instead of Andalucía, but to celebrate I will leave you with this recipe for a traditional Spanish treat!

20130227-020200.jpgThese sweet, crumbly cookies, known as polvorones or galletas fritas, are traditionally made with lard, but this recipe uses olive oil (so you can feel kind of healthy while you eat them?)! I didn’t have anise extract, so I used some vanilla, and I didn’t have a rolling pin so I used beer bottle. This is how things go in my Huelva kitchen.

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Although a few of my galletas were just a bit too crumbly, these were a lot easier to make than I originally thought they might be, and it’s another item crossed off my Spanish Cooking Bucket List!

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The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap! [Double Chocolate Espresso Cookies]

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The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap came on my radar last winter when cookie recipes from their inaugural swap started popping up all over the food blogosphere. I thought it was such a cool idea and put my name down right away to be notified when they started organizing for this year’s event. Well, when I got the email in the fall from organizers extraordinaire Lindsay and Julie that registration was starting I was super excited…and then I realized I was living in Spain. (Which is also super exciting, I’m not complaining!) Because they didn’t get enough participants in Spain to organize a swap here, my fantastic mum agreed to be my cookie chef and my fantastic twin agreed to photograph the process. And so my cookie swap dreams were made possible by my wonderful family! I really am one lucky gal.
And their awesomeness continues: the cookies that I will be receiving they are kindly putting in the freezer until I am home for Christmas (soon!), so I look forward to sharing those with them and thanking my fellow cookie swappers.

20121212-182511.jpgAside from this swap being a grand idea from a purely cookie-loving point of view, it also helped a great cause, Cookies for Kids Cancer. Participating in the swap introduced me to some more wonderful Canadian food blogs, too — there are so many talented people out there. A good cause, cookies, food blogs, snail mail, the holidays….thanks mum & TShap for letting me participate by proxy and thank you Lindsay & Julie for organizing this lovely event, I’m already looking forward to next year!

20121212-181958.jpgThese cookies are melt-in-your-mouth chocolate dreams. My mum has been making these for as long as I can remember; this is her recipe that she adapted from one of Martha Stewart’s magazines back in the day. These are sophisticated little cookies and I remember being pleased as punch when I made them for the first time a few Christmases ago — I left a festive dusting of cocoa powder all over the kitchen when I threw everything into the stand mixer a little too enthusiastically, but that was pretty much my only misstep and they turned out beautifully. (What I am trying to tell you is that it is hard to mess these cookies up.) They are a staple at our home during the holidays (and often year round…), and I hope you enjoy them, too!

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Double Chocolate Espresso Cookies

Ginger Spice Cookies

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I’m away from Huelva in Madrid this weekend, but my roommate texted yesterday saying that we finally got a new stove and oven in our apartment. Hallelujah!! I haven’t baked at all since I came to Spain (one whole month without an oven! Does that count as roughing it?), and so I’m pretty excited that we can start making some warm comforting food as even Huelva is starting to get a little cool. Cookies definitely need to happen soon.

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I made these just before I left for Spain, to go with our pumpkin spice lattes. Along with pumpkin flavoured anything, around this time of year I love ginger and spices in desserts. These soft cookies feature flavourful flecks of crystallized ginger and are a perfect taste of fall with some hot apple cider and sharp cheddar.

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(XO)llent Sugar Cookies

Valentine’s Day is coming right up (as in tomorrow!), and I love it.  No, I don’t like the overly corny marketing and yes, if you love someone you should show it all year ’round. But despite all the reasons so many people love to hate it, I’m a fan. I mean really, no matter your relationship status, there’s always someone you can send a little special love to. Family, friends, the puppy…all good candidates for getting a shoutout on the day of love. 

Sugar cookies should be simple; the appeal lies in the old-fashioned sweet buttery goodness.  This recipe (which is really an awesome master recipe for about 14 variations — I went with regular and toasted coconut this time) is great for beginner bakers and experienced cookie monsters alike.  These cookies freeze really well, so you can start making your holiday cookies wayyyy in advance! (One day I will be that organized.)

 Another reason why I love Valentine’s Day might lie in my weird penchant for conversation hearts. I know, they don’t even taste that great, but I bet if they were home made they would be delicious! Check out this recipe for the little treats, sounds awesome! http://bravetart.com/recipes/ConversationHeartsGF

You could ice these sugar cookies with some colourful royal icing to make your own conversation hearts; all the fun of a conversation heart in a cookie! Yum.
Want to show someone a little love? Say it with sugar…

the BEST gingerbread

There is so much I love about the holiday season but a house smelling like gingerbread is definitely at the top of my list. I go a little gingerbread crazy: loafs, muffins, cakes, and of course, cookies…it’s a recipe for holiday cheer.

My mum has been using this gingerbread cookie recipe for the past decade or so, and it never fails.  We’ve used it for straightforward cookies, (very yummy) tree ornaments and gingerbread houses. Festive, and oh-so-delicious! See the recipe here: http://katiesplate.wordpress.com/2011/12/18/gingerbread-recip/ Enjoy!

The loveliest (and yummiest!) ornaments on the tree.


Roll the dough on a piece of parchment dusted with flour.These cookies don't spread when they bake, so you can fit lots of them onto the baking sheet.

This recipe is easy to halve or double (or triple!) so you can make lots and they freeze well for a month or two! (Possibly longer, but they never last more than that in my house…)

The perfect treat to go with a hot holiday drink.