Christmas Present(s)

Last week, we offered up some of our favorite holiday cookie and candy recipes from Christmases past. Admittedly, several of these are annual traditions, without which our Christmas Eve table and foodie gift packages to the neighbors would not be complete (especially our Buckeyes, Rosemary-Almond Butter Toffee, and Rum Balls). Of course, we did try a couple of new things we want to share with you. Thus, we give you Christmas Present(s), with photos and links to the recipes we used, along with notes on how we adapted them. Enjoy!

Brownie Thins

We used this recipe from Epicurious, replacing the pistachios with walnuts

(and leaving a few plain for Amy's dad who doesn't like nuts). Crisp thin brownie wafers!

Geoffrey Zakarian's Vanilla Crescents

We are going on a cruise this summer and Geoffrey Zakarian has a restaurant on the cruise. We are so excited because he is one of our favorite Food Network Chefs. So of course we had to make these cookies. We used almond flour instead of hazelnut flour. Delicately crumbly, light and pretty.

Cookie Press Shortbreads

We used this recipe in our new electric cookie press and had fun decorating our little trees, poinsettias and wreaths. Sooo easy! 

Chocolate "Amaretti" Cookies

First we thought, why buy Italian cookies when you can make them? Then we realized we had no Amaretto. And no almonds. No big deal - we used 2/3 cup almond flour and Biscotti flavored liqueur instead and they came out fantastic. A great cookie for the adults!

Grapefruit Sparklers

Epicurious was our source for this recipe as well. However, a school fund-raiser left us with 10 lbs. of grapefruit, so we used grapefruit zest and grapefruit juice to give these a zingy twist. Of all the cookies listed here, these were our favorites!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM A COUPLE IN THE KITCHEN!!!