Here’s a good one to put on your baking list for the Holidays – Chocolate Citrus Biscotti.  Perfect to bake and dunk in your warm beverage of choice while you do the rest of your work in the kitchen, and lovely to package and give away as gifts.

The recipe is from Giada De Laurentiis and is the Cookie Carnival pick for October.  It differs from the traditional biscotti with the addition of cornmeal, which gives it even more crunch than usual.  Lemon and orange zest are added to the mix also, in just the right amounts.  Chocolate and cocoa make them even prettier and even tastier.

Fun, festive, addictively crunchy and just right for the Holidays, click here for the recipe so you can bake up a batch.

]]> http://shortbreadsouth.com/2009/11/03/dunk-and-gift-chocolate-citrus-biscotti/feed/ 4 http://shortbreadsouth.com/2009/06/30/strawberry-shortcake-cookie-fusion-cookie-carnival/ http://shortbreadsouth.com/2009/06/30/strawberry-shortcake-cookie-fusion-cookie-carnival/#comments Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:39:13 +0000 shortbreadsouth http://shortbreadsouth.com/?p=608

Craving some strawberry shortcake, but not in the mood to spend too much time in the kitchen?  Well, here’s your answer – the ultimate fusion of strawberries, cream, and biscuits – Martha Stewart’s Strawberry-Shortcake Cookies.  Like a scone in cookie form, these are sweet and tender with a crunchy sugared top.

This month’s Cookie Carnival selection will make your life a little easier, especially if someone in your household’s favorite dessert is strawberry shortcake.  You can even top it with a little whipped cream if you have it.  These are best the day they are made, but still good the next.  After that, if there are any left, 5 minutes in the oven at 350 will crisp them up again nicely.

No, these aren’t oatmeal creme pies!  But they look like them, don’t they?

Kate at the clean plate club has a baking group called The Cookie Carnival.  She will be posting around the end of every month a round-up of all the bloggers that make a chosen cookie recipe.

I’ll tell you, I’m all for celebrating the cookie!  I probably make cookies more than any other dessert, just because they are fun, family friendly, and freezer friendly.  So this week I’m going to have my own Cookie Carnival and post cookie recipes all week.

This month’s Cookie Carnival choice was Inside-Out Carrot Cake Cookies.  Everyone loves carrot cake at my house, so I knew these wouldn’t last long, and they didn’t.  They were all eaten by the next day, and they were asking for more!

I did have a problem with the cookies sticking to my silicone mat, which has never happened before.  That meant a few never got made into sandwiches since they broke.  The recipe says it makes about 13 cookies, but I probably got 10 sandwiches when it was all over, and they are big, too.  The cookies stay very soft and when sandwiched together with the cream cheese and honey filling, they’re delicious.

It’s a cookie celebration!

INSIDE-OUT CARROT CAKE COOKIES
Gourmet | April 2004

makes about 13 cookies

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup coarsely grated carrots (2 medium)
• 1 scant cup walnuts (3 ounces), chopped
• 1/2 cup raisins (2 1/2 ounces) (omitted)
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1/4 cup honey

DIRECTIONS

1. Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 375°F. Butter 2 baking
   sheets.
2. Whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
3. Beat together butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium
   speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in carrots, nuts, and raisins at low speed,
   then add flour mixture and beat until just combined.
4. Drop 1 1/2 tablespoons batter per cookie 2 inches apart on baking sheets and bake,
   switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are lightly browned and
   springy to the touch, 12 to 16 minutes total. Cool cookies on sheets on racks 1 minute,
   then transfer cookies to racks to cool completely.
5. While cookies are baking, blend cream cheese and honey in a food processor until smooth.
   Sandwich flat sides of cookies together with a generous tablespoon of cream cheese filling
   in between.
6. Sandwich flat sides of cookies together with a generous tablespoon of cream cheese filling
   in between.