Tag Archives: Holiday Cookies

Coconut Lemon Shortbread Snowflakes

Coconut Lemon Shortbread Snowflakes

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Shortbread cookies are a timeless holiday classic, and this version adds a fresh twist. Packed with lemon zest and coconut, these delicate cookies will shatter your expectations—literally and figuratively. Lemon and coconut might not scream “holiday,” but they’re the perfect palate refresher after all the rich gingerbread and eggnog.

Rich, buttery, and melt-in-your-mouth, these cookies are tender—and yes, a bit fragile. I love using my set of snowflake cookie cutters to create a mix of sizes. After all, no two snowflakes are alike!

Keys to Success for Coconut Lemon Shortbread Cookies

  • Splurge on quality butter: Shortbread is all about the butter. I made mine with Kerrygold while in the U.S.—my favorite! If you’re in Canada like me, look for “European” or “European-style” butter, which has a higher butterfat content (82–86%) compared to typical butter at 81%. It makes all the difference.
  • Don’t over mix the dough: Stop mixing before it forms a ball. Dump it out and finish bringing it together by hand. Roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper while it’s still soft, then chill the sheets before cutting out shapes. Rolling pin guides are a game-changer for even thickness.
  • Don’t skimp on the coconut sugar sprinkle: This adds both flavour and texture.
  • Chill cut-out cookies before baking: This helps them hold their shape beautifully in the oven.
    Cool completely before moving: These cookies are delicate, so let them set fully before transferring from the baking sheet.

I hope these Coconut Lemon Shortbread Cookies bring a little extra joy to your holiday baking. They’re a refreshing twist on a classic and always a hit at the table. If you give them a try, I’d love to hear how they turn out! Share your creations and let me know what you’re baking this season—I’m always inspired by your festive treats.”

Coconut Lemon Shortbread Snowflakes

Lemon Coconut Shortbread Snowflakes

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Servings 12 large (5 inch) cookies
Calories 325 kcal

Ingredients
  

For cookies

  • 110 grams granulated sugar
  • 225 grams unsalted butter, removed from fridge 30 minutes befroe making dough
  • 50 grams desiccated, unsweetened coconut
  • 200 grams all-purpose flour
  • 100 grams cornstarch
  • 1/4 teaspoon Diamond Crystal Kosher salt or 1/8 teaspoon Morton's kosher salt
  • 2 Tablespoons lemon zest

For sprinkling on top of cookies

  • 60 grams granulated sugar
  • 28 grams desiccated unsweetened coconut

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 325° F and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, for about 3-4 minutes. Add the coconut, flour, cornstarch, salt and lemon zest and continue mixing just until dough begins to come together. Dump dough onto the counter and finish mixing by hand.
  • Divide dough in half and roll out each piece of the dough, between 2 sheets of parchment paper to a ¼ inch thick thickness. Chill dough for about 30 minutes.
  • After chilling, peel off top parchment sheet and gently lay it back in place.  Flip the dough over; peel off and discard second parchment layer.
  • Cut the dough, using cookie cutters of your choice. I used a few different sizes of snowflake cutters, ranging from. 5 inches to 2 inches. Transfer shapes to prepared baking sheets, using a wide metal spatula, spacing them 1 inch apart. Chill snowflakes in freezer for about 10 minutes to firm them up again. Set scraps aside. 
  • While cookies are chilling, place sugar and coconut for the topping, in a spice grinder or food processor, and pulse a few times to coarsely grind.
  • Sprinkle cookies liberally with sugar-coconut topping and bake for 6 minutes. Switch position of trays and bake for a further 7-8 minutes, until the cookies are lightly golden brown. Carefully lift one of the cookies with a spatula to check the bottom of the cookie. It should be lightly browned. Bake for a few more minutes, if it is still pale.
  • These are fragile cookies so you must let them cool completely on the baking sheet, set on a rack. Store in an airtight container. They will keep for about a week at room temperature, or can be frozen for 2 months.
  • Gather the scraps; repeat rolling, cutting and baking.

Nutrition

Calories: 325kcalCarbohydrates: 36gProtein: 2gFat: 20gSaturated Fat: 13gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 40mgSodium: 54mgPotassium: 60mgFiber: 2gSugar: 15gVitamin A: 469IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 10mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Raspberry Glazed Brown Sugar Snowflake Cookies

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There are some very skilled cookie decorators out there creating stunning piped holiday sugar cookies. I’m looking at you @arloscookies, @nm_meiyee, and @constellationinstallation. No matter how hard I practice, I will never reach those heights and I’m ok with that. I am in awe of their talent and love to look at their gorgeous creations.

While I love the look of intricately piped sugar cookies, I find the taste of royal icing too cloying. These raspberry glazed snowflake sugar cookies are the perfect solution for beautiful and delicious sugar cookies. Watch how they come together.

The dough is made with brown sugar, which creates a chewy cookie. All the decorations are done with a wooden cookie stamp from @fancyfoodtools. This is the one I bought.

Not all wooden cookie stamps are created equal. Make sure you buy one that has deep enough grooves, so that when you bake the cookies, and they rise, the design will still be as sharp after baking. Roll the cookies in granulated sugar before stamping. The sugar ensures that the cookies will not stick to the stamp.

The glaze for these cookies is made with icing sugar, lemon juice and freeze dried raspberries. There is no artificial food colouring in them. The freeze dried raspberries must be ground up in a food processor or spice grinder. I like to put the ground berries through a fine mesh sieve, to strain out the seeds.

You want the glaze to be quite thin for dipping.

Once dipped, the glaze will take about an hour to set.

Click here to print recipe for Raspberry Glazed Brown Sugar Snowflake Cookies.

Holiday Cookies 2023

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This year’s holiday roundup is probably my prettiest and most delicious ever. I made all my favourites for gifting. Cookies are my love language and I love to share them. I enjoy the entire process of gifting, from baking to sourcing packaging, and designing and choosing the fonts for the labels.

Here are the links to all the recipes:

These adorable gingerbread cookie boxes are from karentology I preordered them in August as soon as I saw them.

I like to package each kind of cookie in a separate bag. These flat bottom cello bags are perfect for keeping cookies fresh.

I invested in a bag sealer many years ago. It just makes your cookies look so professional.

I label each kind of cookie. I really like these Avery kraft brown labels. They let the cookie be the star. Avery labels have a great free online design program that is simple to use.

Caramel Stuffed Ginger Crinkle Cookies

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I first learned about Ginger Crinkle Cookies from my friend Lanie. She baked me a big batch and brought them to my cottage many years ago. I was instantly smitten. Crispy at the edges and chewy in the center, intensely flavoured with ginger and cinnamon. Typically, I have always though of ginger cookies as a winter Christmas type of cookie, but surprisingly, she found the recipe in the “Kosher Palette” cookbook. They make an excellent summer cookie too, especially when you sandwich some salted caramel ice cream between two of them!

Over the years I have tinkered with the recipe and had the idea to stuff the center of them with some chewy caramel. It took a while to get the right caramel for the stuffing. I first tried Kraft caramels but they hardened after baking and cooking and didn’t give me the chewy center. I made my own caramel, which was outstanding, but way too much work. Then I tried Werther’s Original Chewy Caramels. They stay chewy even after the cookies cool. I also put them through the freezer test and once thawed, the caramel stays chewy.

Check out this video to see how they come together.

Here are a few tips to ensure success:

  • Use a cookie scoop to ensure consistent size and even baking. I use this one. It has a one ounce (2 Tablespoon) capacity.
  • Spray your measuring cup with a bit of non-stick cooking spray before measuring and pouring the molasses. It will glide right out. You can do this for measuring anything sticky, like peanut butter or honey.
  • Roll the scoped cookies in coarse sanding sugar. The texture of the coarse sugar is what gives the cookies their characteristic crinkle top. If you’re in Canada, Bulk Barn carries it.
  • The Werther’s caramels are rectangular shaped. Before stuffing the cookies, twist them so they are more circular in shape. This will prevent oozing.
  • I like to top each cookie with additional caramel to give a visual cue as to what type of cookie you will be eating. After a bit of experimenting, I found that about 1/3 of a caramel, placed on top, halfway through the baking time, yielded the best results. A sharp scissors was best for cutting the caramels.
  • As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, use a round cookie cutter, larger than the cookies, to give a little “scoot” to even out the shape and have picture perfect round cookies. I learned this trick from Erin over at cloudykitchen.

Click here to print recipe for Caramel Stuffed Ginger Crinkle Cookies.

Cookie Box

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Today is International Cookie Day. I can think of no better way to celebrate than with a cookie box. It’s hard to choose my favourite cookie. It’s like asking a parent to choose a favourite child. It all depends on the day and mood.

Some of the cookies in this box are over the top decadent indulgences. The Raspberry Sandwich Cookies ,the Coffee Chocolate Hazelnut Sandwich Cookies and the Toblerone Shortbread fall into this category.

Some of the cookies have a quieter more humble flavour, like the Lemon Coconut Cookies and the Chewy Brown Sugar Cookies.

As in nature, no two of my snowflake cookies are exactly the same. I went with a pink and gold colour theme this year. Very glam. Even though we’re still mostly staying home, my cookies are dressed up and ready to party.

I make Chewy Gingerbread and Brown Sugar Snowflakes every year. This year I also added some reindeer to my collection. They are undeniably adorable and so much fun to decorate.

However you’re celebrating International Cookie day at your house, I hope it’s filled with lots of sweetness, butter and sugar.

Raspberry Sandwich Cookies

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These are one of the most beautiful cookies I have ever baked. But physical beauty aside, they are also very delicious. Sometimes beautifully decorated cookies end up disappointing in taste. Too sweet and lacking in flavour complexity.

If you’re looking for fast holiday cookies, these are not for you. These take time, but you will be rewarded with intensely flavoured and beautiful cookies. These cookies were inspired by a recipe from the November/December Holiday issue of Chatelaine magazine. In the original recipe, the top of the sandwich cookies were dipped in melted white chocolate, dyed pink with food colouring. They were filled with raspberry jam. When my husband tasted them he said that they were good, but they needed more raspberry flavour.

I needed to figure out how to boost the raspberry flavour. Sandwiching more jam in the middle would not work. It would just ooze out. Adding a border of buttercream would act as a dam, holding in more jam.

I made a batch of Swiss meringue buttercream and flavoured and coloured it with freeze-dried raspberries, ground up into a powder. Freeze dried fruits are a great way to flavour buttercream. I used about 3/4 cup of freeze dried raspberries to the buttercream. If I added 3/4 cup fresh berries to the buttercream, it would be way too wet.

The second way I boosted the raspberry flavour was to mix some freeze dried raspberry powder into the melted white chocolate, for dipping the top of the sandwich cookies into. Natural food colouring with flavour!

Start with a vanilla sugar cookie dough. I like to roll the dough out between two sheets of parchment paper as soon as I make it, rather than chilling first and then rolling. I find it very difficult to roll cold dough. After rolling the dough, chill for at least an hour.

Once the dough has chilled, cut out your shapes. A fluted square cutter is very pretty for these.

Dip half the baked cookies into the raspberry white chocolate and pipe the other half with a border of raspberry buttercream. I used a small French star tip to pipe the buttercream. Fill in the centre of the buttercream with jam. Top each sandwich cookie with a chocolate dipped lid.

Store cookies in an airtight container in the fridge. They should be fine for 4-5 days. Let come to room temperature before serving. You could also freeze them for several weeks. A little box of these gems would make a beautiful holiday gift.

Click here to print recipe for Raspberry-Sandwich-CookiesDownload

Triple Chocolate Chunk Caramel Cookies

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Sometimes you need a simple little cookie, like these or these. And then there are times that require something outrageous and over the top, like these Triple Chocolate Chunk and Caramel Cookies.

These cookies call for three kinds of chocolate, bittersweet, milk and blonde (caramelized white chocolate). This is not a sponsored post, but I highly recommend using Valrhona chocolate. I used Dark Bittersweet 70% Guanaja, Milk 40% Jivara and Blonde (White) 32% Dulcey. I order my chocolate online from The Vanilla Food Company. The quality is outstanding and it really does make a difference what kind of chocolate you use in these cookies. Supermarket chocolate chips just won’t give you the same results.

For the caramels, I just used vanilla caramels from Bulk Barn. Werther’s chewy caramels or Kraft caramels would also work well here. In the video I made, you see me mixing the caramels right into the dough. DO NOT DO THAT! The caramel oozes out of the cookies and makes a huge mess. Trust me. I made over 8 dozen of these cookies, figuring out the best way to do it.

To prevent the ooze, set the caramels aside. Scoop your cookie dough, and while the dough is in the scoop, stuff one whole caramel into the centre of the scoop. The surrounding dough insulates it. I also found it best to freeze the scooped dough for at least 2 hours before baking. That also helped to prevent the caramel from escaping.

For picture-perfect cookies, hold back about 3 Tablespoons of each of the three kinds of chocolate, coarsely chop them and top the cookies with these bits of chocolate about halfway through the baking time. This will give you pretty pools of melted chocolate on top of your cookies. You can also cut a few extra caramels into quarters and top the half baked cookies with one or two additional pieces if you like.

These cookies also use three types of sugar, white, brown and turbinado (raw sugar). The addition of the turbinado adds a bit of crunch to the cookies. I learned about this from Ashley, on her blog, Not Without Salt.

These cookies would make an excellent addition to a cookie box for holiday giving, or just stash them away in your freezer for those days that call for extravagance. I won’t judge.

Click here to print the recipe for Triple-Chocolate-Chunk-Caramel-CookiesDownload

Pistachio and Sour Cherry Linzer Cookies

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Martha just told me that it’s National Bake Cookies Day! There’s actually a special day for that? In my kitchen, everyday is bake cookies day. My Instagram feed is flooded with cookies this month.

Today’s cookie is a Linzer cookie. I have long been an admirer of these pretty jam filled treats, but until this week, I have never baked them. The talented food photographer Bea Lubas frequently bakes and shoots Linzer cookies and her work is so inspiring.

While they may look like just another pretty jam filled sugar cookie, the addition of ground nuts to the dough turns them into a cookie so tender that it just about melts in your mouth. The dough for a traditional Linzer cookie is made with ground almonds. Since I happened to have a surplus of pistachios on hand, from a greedy shopping spree in Sicily, I used those instead. 

The classic filling for linzer cookies is raspberry jam, but I went with sour cherry. The sweet-tart flavour is a perfect complement to the rich tender crumb of the pistachio cookies.

Here are a few tips for success when baking these cookies:

The dough is quite sticky. Make sure to roll it between 2 sheets of parchment and dust with flour. 

Chill the dough well before cutting out shapes. The cookies will keep their nice crisp edges and won’t spread too much if they hit the oven cold.

Dust the tops with icing sugar before covering the sandwiches. That way you won’t hide the pretty jam filling.

If you want to make these ahead, bake the cookies and freeze. Thaw, fill and dust with icing sugar the day you plan to serve them. 

Click here to print recipe for Pistachio-and-Sour-Cherry-Linzer-Cookies-1Download

Chocolate Dipped Mint Sandwich Cookies

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If you were at the Trader Joe’s on Pico Boulevard, in Santa Monica California, just before Thanksgiving, and heard a woman squealing, I apologize. That was me discovering that the Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Covered Peppermint Joe Joe Cookies had finally arrived. They only make a short appearance at holiday time, and then they’re gone. I buy several boxes and hoard them in the freezer. No need to hide them from my husband, as he hates mint, but if my daughter finds them, I’m in trouble.

This year I decided to see if I could recreate them myself. I started with Martha’s chocolate cookie wafer recipe. I rolled the dough quite thin using cocoa powder, so it wouldn’t stick, instead of flour so that the dough maintained it’s gorgeous deep chocolate hue., I chilled it, cut out circles and baked it for only about 7 minutes, so that they would be done but still have a bit of chew in the centre when cooled.

Next, onto the filling. I made a simple American buttercream, flavoured it with mint extract and added just a whisper of pink food colouring.

Next, time for the chocolate bath. I decided to take the extra step and temper the dipping chocolate. 

Tempered chocolate has a nice shiny finish and won’t melt in your hand at room temperature. But, it’s totally optional. They will still taste very delicious if you decide to skip this step. I got to pull out my special chocolate dipping fork, from when my girlfriend Marla and I used to make hundreds of truffles every December. I always feel like such a professional when I pull out these seldom used tools.

While the chocolate is still wet, let it rain crushed peppermint candies.

In a statistically significant tasting of two subjects, the verdict on these cookies, was a split decision. I loved them even more than the Trader Joe’s version because the chocolate wafers were a bit chewy in the centre. My daughter preferred the crisper TJ’s cookies. 

Click here to print recipe for Chocolate Dipped Mint Sandwich Cookies

I’m bringing these cookies to a Virtual Cookie Party, hosted by the charming Cosette.

Virtual parties are perfect for introverts like me! Check out what all the other virtual guests are bringing.

Cosette’s Kitchen Tahini Pinwheel Cookies

Kathryn Pauline’s Sesame Blossom Cookies

Candice Walker’s Dark Chocolate Gelt with Matcha Mousse

Tawnie Graham’s (Krolls_Korner) White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies 

¡Hola! Jalapeño Peppermint Mocha Milk Fudge 

Rylee Foer (About to Sprout) Spiced Honey Cardamom Cookies with Orange Glaze 

Gina Fontana (Healthy Little Vittles) Cookie Dough Stuffed Dates

Christine Ma (Cherry on My Sundae) Southern Butter Pecan Skillet Cookie

Alexa Blay’s (Key To My Lime) Gluten Free Vegan Sugar Cookies for Cutouts

Tamara Giebel (The Herbalist & The Carnivore) Chocolate Espresso Dipped Hazelnut Lace Cookies

Ashley Cuoco’s (ashcuoco) Stamped Citrus Shortbread

Mike Johnson’s (MikeBakesNYC) Chocolate Peppermint Macarons

Elizabeth Waterson (ConfessionsOfABakingQueen) Viennese Whirls

Erin Kowal’s (Down to a Simmer) Date Drop Cookies

Lily Morello (lilybubbletea) Holiday Fuel Cookies

Kathleen Culver, The Floured Table Triple Ginger Molasses Cookies

Taylor Carson (Crust and Confections PNW) Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies

Kimberlee Ho (kickassbaker) White Chocolate Peppermint Ice Cream SandwichesCindy Feingold (saltandserenity) Chocolate Dipped Mint sandwich Cookies

Tamara, Tina, Tara (ThreeTeasKitchen)  https://threeteaskitchen.com/lawzena/ 

Jean Choi’s (whatgreatgrandmaate) Cranberry Pistachio Paleo Chocolate Cookies

Tristin Rieken’s (onearmedmama) Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies

Kathryn (wornslapout) Rocky Road Chocolate Bark 

Taylor (allpurposeflourchild) Mulling Spice and Orange Marmalade Thumbprint Cookies

Dana (olivemeetscoconut) Cranberry Orange Halaweh CookiesKendellKreations Pecan Butter Balls

Smoked Almond and Toffee Shortbread

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Sometimes when we’re travelling, my husband and I play this game, where we say what we would decree if we were king of the world. His proclamations usually involve cleaning up garbage at the side of the road, fixing derelict homes, zapping slow drivers off the road and shortening the length of red lights in Florida.

My wishes are a bit less lofty. I would create an ordinance that required all dentist offices to provide a pedicure while you are having your teeth cleaned. Multi-tasking at its finest. I would also command that all meals end with a cookie. I always crave a little something sweet at the end of dinner. Just a little bite, nothing too big. Cookies really are the perfect dessert. I think more restaurants should offer a cookie plate for dessert.

It’s December, so I have happily jumped onto the cookie train, and I intend to keep on rolling until you beg me to stop, or, I gain my annual holiday 5 pounds, whichever comes first.

These are a simple slice and bake cookie, studded with Skor bits and smoked almonds. For fun, I shaped them into a square log, but round cookies are good too. A tip for when you are slicing the logs; give the log a 90 degree turn after each slice, so that one side of the log does not get too squished.

I treated my cookies to a little dip in melted milk chocolate. The mellow flavour of milk chocolate is perfect with the caramel notes of the toffee and the salty smoky almonds.

While the chocolate is still wet, sprinkle on some extra crushed smoked almonds for extra crunch.

Click here to print recipe for Smoked Almond and Toffee Shortbread CookiesDownload



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