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mmunhall@comcast.net
Everyone has their favorite food that they look forward to at Thanksgiving; the turkey, stuffing, yams, cranberry sauce, etc… for one of my son’s, it is pie…apple specifically. His birthday, during apple season ironically, we celebrate with birthday pie vs. cake. And another of my sons, who is not big into desserts in general, loves pumpkin pie.
Growing up, there were the array of pies for the holiday, apple, pumpkin, squash, custard, minced meat and chocolate cream. How my mother managed to bake all of those pies (and some, like apple, she made multiple) is beyond me. The quantity and variety of pies came from the varied favorites of her children. And so, for the love of my sons and their love of pie, I do manage to bake one on a regular basis and of course that much more during the fall being apple and pumpkin season. Yet this week, just as my mom had, I will be baking multiple pies to keep the family love of pie part of our holiday tradition. I have shared my mom’s apple pie recipe in the dessert section as it was one of our family favorites.
In trying to decide what recipe(s) to share to kick off my blog, I have opted to start with a couple of my favorite cookie recipes. As we near the Thanksgiving holiday, there are so many recipes to share. Yet before the turkey and all of the trimmings, the pies and cocktails…I need to start my Christmas cookies! That said, I am sharing my two most popular cookie recipes that freeze beautifully and can allow me to get a jump on holiday baking.
As the Fall temps continue to decline, it is nice to fire up the oven to warm the kitchen and have my three sons eagerly awaiting the cookies to be ready to sample. I have no shortage to testers…from the batter, to the frosting to the finished product. A small plate of each cookie are left out while the others are swiftly tucked into the freezer; out of sight, out of mind.
Both of these cookie recipes are a cake-like cookie, and can be eaten straight from the freezer. The orange cookie recipe does make a good size batch; ~5-7 dozen. Yet the Chocolate-Marshmallow, I typically need to double; once you try them, you will understand and know that you need more…as they truly are a crowd favorite.
Tip: If you do bake and do not have a stand mixer; I highly recommend one. And if you do have one, I would also recommend purchasing a second bowl. Doing multiple batches and/or prepping frosting while cookies are baking, will save you time.
