I’ve been thinking about what I want to put into my xmas cookie boxes this year.  Certain cookies are standards – the gingersnaps, the cocoa nib shortbread – but everything else is up in the air.  I’m definitely going to swap out the world peace cookies (the chocolate chocolate chip shortbread) for the Alice Medrich chocolate wafers, and perhaps I’ll dip them in chocolate if I can get the hang of tempering chocolate.  A lemon shortbread cookie might be nice, and perhaps brownies of some kind.  Typically I don’t make anything soft, because the shortbreads stay good for so much longer.  The maple spiced pecans went over pretty well, I think, but they’re expensive and somewhat hard to make, so I’ll probably look for a better recipe this year.  Chocolate-covered graham crackers or potato chips might be fun, too.

The following recipe probably won’t make it into the boxes this year – they’re a vanilla shortbread cookie.  I’m looking for a recipe where I can roll the cookies out and use my plethora of cookie cutters, and this fit the bill.  Unfortunately, I’m coming to the conclusion that I just don’t like vanilla all that much (I already omit it in basically anything that calls for it, unless it’s a vanilla ice cream).  This recipe uses the whole bean, a thrift of ingredient that is quite satisfying, and they’re nice and crisp (the first batch that you roll out will be the most tender; the re-rolled scraps will get successively less tender).  These would stand up well to being mailed to someone, although you have to wrap them well as they are quite buttery.  They do spread even if you freeze them a bit before baking, so I would recommend using cookie cutters without too much definition in the pointy way (ie, stars). (more…)