Carole Bloom CCP

Following a few foolproof baking tips will make baking cookies a fun and delicious experience. If you run out of an ingredient while making cookies, you can find a substitution, or you can reduce the fat in your favorite cookie without compromising its quality. Adding icing to your cookies makes them even more fun.

Moravian molasses spice cookies have a characteristic deep brown color and full-bodied flavor that's perfect for a Christmas tea or coffee gathering. These heirloom cookies are typical of those made by descendants of the Moravians who settled in the eastern United States, particularly in North Carolina. Moravia is a historic area located in the eastern part of the Czech Republic.

Decorating your holiday cookies can be fun and easy! You can decorate holiday cutout cookie shapes using colored icing, an icing bag, and a few icing tips. Remember: Let the cookies cool completely before frosting. When loading icing in the icing bag, fold the ends outward to get icing closer to the tip. Keep continuous pressure on the icing bag while decorating.

Speculaas are crunchy, lightly browned spice cookies traditionally baked in the Netherlands and Belgium for St. Nicholas Eve. These cookies usually are baked with molds (found in a cookware shop or catalog) to imprint an image. You may recognize them as Dutch Windmill cookies. If you don’t have cookie molds, don’t worry, you can cut them into rectangles or use cookie cutters.

Ischl (pronounced “eesh uhl”) tartlets are deliciously delicate cookies named from the Austrian spa town of Bad Ischl. This recipe uses a heart-shaped cookie cutter but these cookies can be cut into your favorite shapes for a beautiful presentation and dusted with powdered sugar for a “snowy” effect. Specialty tools: 1-inch round cutter, 3-inch-diameter heart cutter, rolling pin Preparation time: 1-1/4 hours; includes chilling Baking time: 15 minutes Yield: 3-1/2 dozen 1-3/4 cup all-purpose flour, sifted 1 scant cup sugar 1-1/2 cups finely ground almonds 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1-1/4 cups (2-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened 1 cup apricot or raspberry preserves Confectioners' sugar for garnish Place the flour, sugar, almonds, and cinnamon in a food processor fitted with a steel blade.

These little gems of a cookie will melt in your mouth. They’re reminiscent of chocolate truffles, but the hazelnut balls pack more crunch. Hazelnut chocolate balls look very elegant when presented in paper candy cups, so try this recipe to impress your guests. Preparation time: 1 hour; includes chilling Baking time: 10 minutes Yield: 2-1/2 dozen 4 ounces high-quality bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted 1-1/4 cups toasted, skinned, and finely ground hazelnuts Confectioners’ sugar for garnish Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over hot water.

The look and taste of these classic molded madeleines is anything but basic and they’re sure to impress your guests. Experiment with this basic madeleine recipe by adding your favorite ingredients like toasted nuts, spices, crystallized ginger, or orange extract. You can use mini-muffin tins if you don’t have madeleine pans.

Pofer cookies not only taste delicious, but also look beautiful. Using a round fluted cookie cutter gives them an elegant appearance, because of the scalloped edges. Plus, the preserves glisten like jewels in the center of the sandwich cookie, making them hard to pass up. If you don't want to sandwich them together, they’re delicious on their own.

Sables (pronounced SAH blay) are a classic French butter cookie that originated in Normandy and are now popular throughout France. The name of these cookies means “sand,” which refers to their crumbly texture. Traditionally, the deliciously buttery shapes are round with fluted edges, but you can use any of your favorite cookie cutters.