Baking up the night - cookie gift boxes for the office

Earlier this week, I completed my annual baking-night where I embarked to bake up some fresh treats to present to my employees and other key folks at the office in lieu of holiday cards or other trinkets. Last year, I took on a rather complicated set of recipes that kept me in the kitchen well past 1am 2 nights in a row in order to crank out those goodies. While I see the sacrifice as part of the sweat equity that puts more meaning into the gifts, I only have so much energy and can't do late night activities that require dexterity and concentration as well as I used to think I could (I'm sure I can just more clearly see what an idiot I am at 1am).

This year, I only had one night to get it all done, so I dispensed with anything that needed overnight chilling or would require fillings and multiple components. This meant skipping the awesome cookie recipes from my quasi mother-in-law (like date-nut pinwheels) due to their labor intensity and my tendency to screw the recipes up along the way.

I prepared last weekend by doing most of my grocery shopping, ensuring I had enough flour (I only use Gold Medal Unbleached all-purpose, since their profits pay my mortgage) and sugar on hand and getting my gift box materials together. I skipped the overpriced stuff at Container Store, and found perfectly good stuff at Litin Paper in North Minneapolis for cheap (gift boxes, bows, labels, etc). J found me some cello bags at Target and that was just what I needed to save me from a frustrating night of wrapping things in Saran Wrap. Completion time this year from turning on the oven to packing the last box - 6 hours (8pm - 2am). At least it was all done in one night. This year's box had 4 items - links to the recipes follow:

Spiced Ginger Cookies

Chocolate-Hazelnut Gooey Butter Cakes

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies (J the BF ate 6 of these in the first hour they came out of the oven)

Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

All boxes were well received by the lucky 12 who got one this year. I hope the 12th person sees hers. She may have left for the holidays by the time I put it on her desk. Otherwise, she will have a nasty surprise awaiting her in January.

Happy holidays.

A great read on the Chocolate Chip Cookie

The NYT has done a great article on J the BF's favorite food subject - the chocolate chip cookie. They start with the original Toll House to expounding on some of the more interesting variations to emerge from today's baking experts. Check it!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/dining/09chip.html?ex=1373342400&en=e65af79d36135b2d&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

The ticket to voter turnout - cute French guys with Cookies

I was checking out Dorie Greenspan's "In the Kitchen and on the Road with Dorie" blog looking for baking tips and instead found a picture of a hottie with a tin of cookies. Turns out he was providing cookies to kids at a municipal polling location in Paris to keep them happy as their parents waited to vote. I'm willing to learn a few things from the French . . .

BTW, Dorie's blog is actually very good if you are into baking. Her post on Gingerbread Baby Cakes looks divine!

Homemade in a Hurry - Cake Mix Cookies

Call me Southern and old fashion, but I never like to show up at someone's home for a party without a hostess gift of some-sort. Usually I stick with a nice bottle of wine, but around the holidays, homemade treats seem more appropriate - but don't fit well with my rush/rush always late lifestyle unless I work ahead.

For a potluck dinner party, I had prepared some smokey mac & cheese the day before and was heating it in the oven before leaving for the event. I got the whim to whip up some warm, fresh baked cookies to bring as a hostess gift - could I do it in 20 minutes with no cookie mix in the house? No problem . . .

Found this recipe for Easy Cake Mix Cookies and I happened to have a box of yellow cake mix in my cabinet that I was never going to use. Threw that in a bowl with some flour, eggs, and oil and I had a batter. Chocolate chips? I thought I had some, but someone must have pilfered them in a chocolate fit, so I substituted a box of chocolate covered cashews that had been re-gifted to me from a work colleague. I made half a dozen monster-size cookies (instead of the dozens of puny ones called for by the recipe from this batter. I slide the cookie sheet into the oven next to the heating mac&cheese. They end up a little bit like muffin tops - very tasty. 20 minutes from start to finish - I never need to go gift-less again!