Here's a great cookie for you matcha fans out there. Sorry, but I'm not among you. But then, we women of a certain age often prefer the classics. But I digress....

This is a great way to include some natural green to your cookie dough - and to include that grassy tea flavor as well! Our matcha cut-out cookies are topped with melted white chocolate and some sprinkles, because, hey, it's the holiday season. White chocolate provides a nice sweetness and smooth texture to balance the earthier flavor of the tea.

The recipe is adapted slightly from one by blogger Stephanie of The Buttery Whisk. Hers calls for culinary grade matcha, but we used organic matcha tea because that's what was available readily. Ours turned out a lighter green, but the cookies are still a celebration color! We also cut the recipe in half, because most of us don't need that many matcha-flavored cookies. :)

We made our cookies mini-size using our own mini stamping cutters without the stamping part, and the wreaths were made from two small, scallop-edged cookie cutters. This recipe produced about 3 dozen 2-inch cutouts.

Note: The dough is a bit sticky, so you will need to flour the rolling surface and keep the dough chilled to get good cut-outs. We found it best to work with about 1/3 of the dough at a time, keeping the other sections in the fridge until ready to use.
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• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 + 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 Tablespoon matcha powder (culinary grade)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temp)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1-1/2 teaspoons whole milk
• 1/4 cup flour (for rolling out the dough)

• Sift or whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and matcha powder. Set aside.
• Beat butter and sugar together at medium-high speed  in your stand mixer fitted with SideSwipe or a flat paddle until light and fluffy.
• Add egg and milk and beat to combine.
• Put mixer on low speed, gradually add flour, and beat until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl.
• Divide the dough in three pieces, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (you can make the dough the night before, but take it out 5 minutes before rolling).
• Preheat oven to 375°F & line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Sprinkle your rolling surface with flour and remove 1 wrapped pack of dough from the refrigerator at a time.
• Roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thick. Move the dough around and check underneath frequently to make sure it is not sticking. If dough has warmed during rolling, place the dough in the fridge to chill for 15 minutes.
• Using a mini Christmas tree cookie cutter, cut out as many cookies as you can, then knead the dough a couple times and roll it out again. Cut out more cookies before taking the other dough out to roll. If the dough is too sticky, chill again for 10-15 minutes.
• Place the cookies 1 inch apart on your prepared baking sheet and bake for 7-8 minutes. The cookies are done when your light touch does not leave a print. You don't want to cook these until the edges are golden - that's overbaked with these.
• Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 2 mins before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Frost or embellish with melted white chocolate and/or sprinkles and enjoy!

We tried out several ways of piping with melted white chocolate, but found this gadget to be our favorite. You can melt the chocolate in the microwave right in the silicone bulb and attach any kind of standard, metal tip that you like. (don't microwave that!). We used our smallest round tip for our cookies.

You can purchase our favorite bulb piping gadget at home stores and on Amazon. If you purchase one on Amazon, we will receive a small referral fee.

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These tender little pastries were made by both my grandmothers, both of whom were immigrants of Czech heritage. I don't know anyone who tries these who doesn't want to have another. They are traditional for holidays, especially Christmas.

Kolacky (also kolachke) are made from a simple cream cheese and butter dough which is rolled, cut into squares, and filled with jams, nuts or cheese. You must sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving for authenticity. My grandmas always made apricot, cheese and prune (yuck) versions. We used raspberry-lime, peach with honeycomb, and lemon curd fillings with great results. Those are the flavors pictured in this post.

The dough requires chilling plus several other steps, so this is not a quickie recipe. But it's pretty, tasty and looks great on your holiday treats table.

Kolacky are best fresh, but will keep for up to a week in a tightly sealed container. They also freeze well for up to a month or so. Do not store with other cookies, as they will pick up the other flavors. In fact, we recommend you store each kind of cookie you bake in a separate container. Otherwise, they all taste a bit like all the other cookies, and none has a great flavor.

Feeling fancy? Create a little bit of France in your own kitchen with these lovely, easy pastries. Small sponge cakes baked in special shell-shaped baking tins, madeleines will really dress us your holiday buffet or brunch table. (Or your desk on your coffee break.)

Are you wondering who Madeleine was? Nobody knows, but this cake appeared in western Europe in the late 1700s and is popular today, in various incarnations, in France, Spain, Britain and Poland.

We used toasted and finely chopped hazelnuts, but you can substitute almonds, pecans or even macademia nuts and achieve a tasty result. Be sure not to overbake - the delicate genoise sponge cakes dry out quickly!

Properly baked, the cakes will have a small "belly" on the non-shaped side. If you overfill the tins and the cakes spill over the tops of the pan, you can trim the edges with a pair of clean scissors.

This recipe makes about 24 standard size madeleines.

• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup finely chopped or ground nuts + additional 1/4 cup for garnishing
• 3 ounces chocolate for melting for dipping and/or drizzling

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray two madeleine pans with cooking spray and place on parchment lined baking sheets. (You can reuse one pan after letting it cool and respraying.)
2. Combine eggs and sugar in your mixer, fitted with SideSwipe, and mix on medium speed until foamy.
3. Add the flour and baking soda. Mix on low until combined.
4. Add melted butter and vanilla. Mix on low until combined.
5. Mix or fold in the chopped nuts.
6. Spoon or pipe the batter into the molds, filling the cavities about 3/4 of the way. 
7. Smack the pan on the counter once or twice to force any air bubbles to the top. (We forgot to do this - see in our photos that there are little holes. We decided they were cute.)
8. Bake on cookie sheet 8-10 minutes, rotating halfway through for even cooking and browning. Mads are done when the center puffs up a bit and the edges are just beginning to turn a golden brown.
9. Allow mads to cool in the pans for a few minutes. Remove to a rack to cool completely. 
10. Drizzle or dip with melted chocolate* and chopped nuts if desired. (*Melt chocolate over a double boiler or in the microwave in a small, deep bowl. Use 50 percent power for 1 minute, then in 20 second intervals until melted).
11. Mads are best served the same day, To keep them moist, store for up to 3 days in a sealed container. Allow any chocolate decoration to dry before putting away.

There are a number of shapes, materials and sizes for madeleine pans. We used a traditional size and shape pan with a non-stick coating. You may also keep an eye out at second-hand shops, as it's frequently a rarely used baking pan and takes up space. If you're interested in the pan we used, you can click on the image below and be transferred to Amazon.
​ If you order this pan after transferring, we will receive a small referral fee.

Way back when I was a kid, animal crackers that came in a little circus box were only for special occasions. The taste of the actual cookie was a little bland, but we all loved the little box and playing with the lions, zebras, elephants and giraffes. Kids today have a lot more choices and, it seems, a lot more dietary restrictions.

Enter the new animal cracker/cookie. Because it's homemade, you can adjust the recipe to suit your tastes and diet. This recipe easily can be made gluten-free and it doesn't contain any refined sugar. Plus it's much tastier than the original circus crackers!

Our recipe, adapted from one by King Arthur Flour, uses almond flour instead of oat flour. We use the same style of spring-loaded cookie cutters (available in our store), but you can use any miniature size cookie cutter or just cut our little squares of dough and prick them with a knife to put a pattern on them.
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• 3/4 cup (12 tablespoons) soft butter
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon Princess Cake and Cookie Flavor*, or flavor of your choice
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (unbleached is best)
• 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons oat flour or finely ground rolled oats or almond flour
• small spring-loaded animal cookie cutters*
• small paring knife

1. Beat together the butter, sugar, honey, salt, baking soda, and flavor until well combined.
2. Add the flour and oat flour, mixing to combine.
3. Divide the dough in half, flattening each half slightly to make a disk, then wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
4. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease several baking sheets, or line them with parchment.
5. Take one piece of dough out of the refrigerator, and turn it out onto a lightly "floured" surface (use almond or oat flour for GF). Roll the dough 1/4" thick. Test using the cutters on the dough. TIP**
6. Dip animal cookie cutters in flour, tap them, then use them to cut the dough. Coat with flour each time you use the cutter. For best results, press cookie cutter into dough, lift and trim away excess dough from outer edge of cutter with paring knife. Transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheets, using plunger at the end to emboss and release the cookie onto the pan. 
7. Bake the cookies for 6 to 9 minutes, or until just beginning to become golden around the edges. For best results, bake shapes with thin parts (like giraffe) separately, as the thin pieces burn easily and should be baked for less time.
8. Remove the cookies from the oven, and let them cool on the baking sheet for several minutes, or until set. They are still quite flexible when warm, so handle with care!
9. Transfer the cookies on parchment to a rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough.
10. Yield: about 5 dozen cookies.

**TIPS

• Test the cutters on a bit of dough to see how they work and if the dough is stiff enough. If they stick and/or fall apart, sprinkle flour on your dough and reroll. The cutters work better on dough that is a little bit stiffer.
• Freezing the cookies on the baking sheet for 15 minutes will help them retain their shape and imprint. This will help with wheat flour doughs.
• For the most authentic animal cracker flavor, use Princess Cake and Cookie Flavor — it makes a difference.