Lots going on in the world right now, and I am really feeling it. As long long time friends and followers will know, I get very emotionally invested in current events — in a very unhealthy manner, I must admit. I try to now channel pain and anger into learning — try to learn the language, learn about the people, the culture, the food. This could be anything, not just the current situation in the Ukraine, but conflicts in other parts of the world, or natural disasters, or extreme economic situations. But back to now: I tried to come up with a few recipes, this being the first of which, that form every day cuisine in the Ukraine. And I tried not to be too prototypical. Like, I don’t know if they would actually make Honey Plum Linzer cookies like these, but I do know that honey and plum preserves are common. So I made these. Quite lovely in fact.
cookies
It’s a cookie in bar form! Not brownie but a blondie! In essence, you can use the exact same recipe to make cookies, but I was in the mood to make bars, so here we are. These are easy to make, flavorful and easily substitutable — in other words, don’t like dried cranberries or pistachios or white chocolate, swap out for raisins, walnuts and semi-sweet chips. Lots of options!
Florentine cookies are definitely up there in the favorites department. It’s all about the thin and crispy. And these have more of those Jammy Bits (this time raspberry) from King Arthur Baking that melt into the cookies like little blobs of melted gummibears. So delicious and really really easy to make.
It’s almost Halloween! I am not usually one of those “make all sorts of crazy treats” type of person (mainly because I don’t do a whole lot for Halloween, and you aren’t supposed to give cookies/homemade stuff to strangers). At any rate, this year, we are doing a bit of a thing for work, and I am also using these upcoming treats for giveaways, so here we go. First up, Cinnamon Red Velvet Ghoulie Eye Cookies! It’s my standard crinkle cookie recipe with chocolate, cinnamon and sugar eyeballs. I added the food coloring for extra creepiness (note that you can also buy “bloodshot” eyeball candies). These are surprisingly delicious, especially is you warm them for 10 seconds in the microwave. Nice and gooey then — and who doesn’t love gooey ghoulie eyeballs!