Our finest goodies ever
Photography by Yvonne Duivenvoorden
Cookies, bars and squares say holiday occasions. Check them off: the neighbourhood open house, potluck at work, brunch treats, afternoon pickup, gifts for friends and easy snacks, not to forget the sneaky forays into cookie tins stashed in the freezer. To get ready for these occasions (noble and nefarious), we present a dozen of the finest recipes ever. They all store well, are easy to make (even for the novice baker) and are utterly delicious.
Cookie smarts
• The best baking sheets are shiny and rimless with slightly curved edges to make picking up easier.
• To prepare baking sheets, line with parchment paper, nonstick foil or reusable silicone baking mat, or grease lightly and evenly. Occasionally, baking sheets do not need to be greased and this is noted in recipes.
• For bars and squares, choose shiny metal cake pans with sides at 90-degree angle.
• Eggs are always large and vanilla is pure vanilla extract unless otherwise noted.
• Butter is regular salted, but if you prefer unsalted butter, add a pinch of salt to any butter mixture.
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Recipes
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Easy Almond Cookies
A mini ice-cream scoop is a quick way to form these nutty balls, a favourite recipe of Shanta Solanki of Woodbridge, Ont. -
Whipped Shortbread Toonies
Just a little mouthful of tender shortbread satisfies and impresses by pure simplicity. -
Walnut White Chocolate Snowball Cookies
Here is a tempting selection from our December 2004 story, "Our Finest Ever: All the cookie recipes you'll need this holiday." Snowy white cookies, double-rolled in icing sugar, melt in your mouth and, if you don't watch out, will deliciously dust your holiday outfit. -
Sparkling Eggnog Sugar Cookies
Sparkling sugar granules heighten the appeal of a cookie that you can cut into any shape you like. -
Lemon Lime Refrigerator Cookies
Stash a few logs of dough away for when you're tempted to fill the kitchen with cookie aromas. It's practical to cut the rolls short enough that you can bake a tiny batch in a toaster oven. -
Mocha Pecan Nanaimo Bars
Pecans are but one option for this take on Canada's national treat. Finely chopped walnut halves or toasted skinned hazelnuts are equally delicious. -
Really Good Rum Balls
There are rum ball recipes galore, but none better than this one. -
Raspberry Almond Bars
The intense almond flavour comes from almond paste (not almond icing). -
Rocky Peanut Squares
These no-bake squares verge on candy, so it's no wonder they are so popular. -
Apricot Squares
Although not fancy, these are really delicious. For a restaurant presentation, arrange squares on plates, dust with icing sugar and add a scoop of ice cream. -
Cherry Coconut Squares
No-bake recipes take the chore out of making squares. -
Sugarless Almond Slice-and-Bake Cookies
This is an all-purpose cookie that you can use for any occasion.
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