Or too chocolately, but that’s a different story. I like to mix up a cookie tray, providing at least one non-chocolate cookie for every type that contains chocolate and a good assortment of crunchy-chewy-cakey-crisp types.
Of course I like all kinds of cookies, but those of you who agree with the header above might particularly want to check out these sesame cookies, which are extremely easy to make if you just follow my advice.
Important advice 1: Do not double this recipe.
Benne Wafers
6 Tbsp butter, room temp
3/4 C brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 C plus 2 Tbsp flour
1/4 C toasted sesame seeds
1/8 tsp baking soda
Now, are your sesame seeds toasted? No? Then toast them first. Heat a dry skillet over medium heat, add the sesame seeds, and stir or shake the sesame seeds for five minutes or seven minutes or ten minutes or until they look nicely golden-brown and smell good. Pour them into a shallow bowl to cool.
Beat together the butter and sugar. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, sesame seeds, and baking soda. Stir that into the creamed mixture. You will have a batter rather than a dough.
Important advice 2: do not drop by 1/4 tsp onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Instead get out a decorating bag — I use disposable bags — and a big round tip. Or snip the corner off a plastic ziplock bag.
Pipe the cookies onto the parchment-lined baking sheets. For heaven’s sake, use parchment paper. You will totally regret it if you don’t. (Ask me how I know.) (I was a much less experienced baker then.)
Make the cookies about, oh, the diameter of a quarter. Space them fairly widely apart, maybe an inch and a half. Piping will take next to no time and using a spoon will take the next thing to forever, so follow my advice about this.
Bake the cookies at 325 degrees for 8-12 minutes, until brown around the edges and set in the middle. Check after five minutes and rotate the cookie sheets if necessary.
Important advice 3: Cool the cookies practically completely on the parchment paper. They will lift or even slide right off when cool. Just leave them alone until they’re ready to come off.
This recipe will make about 100 little wafer-type cookies. That’s why I said not to double it even though it doesn’t look like you’re using a lot of ingredients. But hey, if you want 200 cookies, go right ahead and double the recipe.
These aren’t super-fancy, but as I say, they’re very easy and will look nice scattered amid the other cookies on a plate.
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This time of year, our old, old family standby are these:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/132195/super-duper-chocolate-cookies/
Yep, sometimes I make those too, Pete. But I make A LOT of different kinds of cookies and candies every year, so I can’t call out any particular one as “the standby.”
Or, wait, I can. The only kind that we make every. single. year. in a quadruple batch is Dad’s favorite iced sugar cookies. I make the dough and cut out and bake the cookies, my brother and Dad ice them.
I never eat those, though. They’re too sweet for me after being iced.
This particular sugar cookie recipe came from the Big Bird Busy Book in the 1970s. It’s Cookie Monster’s recipe for sugar cookies and my family isn’t the only one that still uses this recipe, judging from this.
Well, if we’re sharing cookie recipes, here’s one I used to make a bunch:
http://noblepig.com/2008/12/italian-cookies/
I would sub the flavoring depending on my mood, and mostly leave off the icing (be warned that without the icing they are a tad dry). They were great every time.
Gotta try these wafers! Sound perfect for a quick fix.