Eats
Greatest Chips: The MDK Cookie Swap
Recently, with Kay in Nashville for a hot minute, we celebrated the first-ever Team MDK cookie swap. Well, the first official—we are a team of hearty appetites, who’ve been casually swapping sweets and savories for years. Chris has been known to do a bit of light roasting in the kitchen at MDK World Headquarters, and Ann fires up the crockpot for Li’l Smokies ’n’ grape jelly when there’s a grand occasion. Yarn mongering is hungry work!
Success! Everything was delicious, and when we’re on to something good, we want to share. So today we proudly present: the recipes of the Great MDK Cookie Swap. You may already know some of these bangers, but then again, you may find a new treat for your own holiday exchanges. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: It’s possible we are just posting these recipes here so that we can find them later ourselves. They’re so good, who can blame us!
Disclaimer: No gluten-free, nut-free, or dairy-free options, after thorough polling of participants. Feel free to shout out some good allergen-avoidin’ recipes in the comments!
Reindeer Tracks (Ashe)
1 log of Toll House chocolate chip cookie dough
1/4 cup cranberries or preferred dry fruit
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
Make balls with cookie dough and roll in the other ingredients. Bake according to log directions.
Ginger Burst Cookies (Emily)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 brown sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1/4 molasses
2 1/4 cup flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 ground clove
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3/4 cup crystalized ginger, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
Sugar for rolling
In a large bowl, combine sugars, butter, egg, and molasses. Beat with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add flour, baking soda, spices, salt and crystallized ginger. Mix well. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour for easier handling.Preheat oven to 350. Shape dough into 1 inch balls, roll in sugar. Place on cookie sheet and bake 9-12 minutes.
Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies (Ashley)
Follow this recipe from the Vanilla Bean blog, but use mini semi-sweet chocolate chips; they’re cuter.
Melissa Clark’s Rosemary Shortbread (Ann)
Follow this recipe from the Alexandra’s Kitchen blog.
Salted Peanut Butter Potato Chip Cookies (Chris)
Yield: 26-28 cookies
1.75 cups (335g) packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
.5 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbs (16g) toasted milk powder (I used this guide)
1.75 cups (450g) smooth peanut butter
Sea salt kettle chips, crushed
Coarse kosher or sea salt
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line rimmed baking sheet(s) with parchment or silpat.
In a medium bowl, combine sugar and eggs until smooth. Add the vanilla and milk powder, followed by peanut butter. Mix until smooth and fully incorporated.
Chill bowl of dough in freezer for 15 minutes, giving dough a stir halfway through.
Scoop chilled dough with a #40 scoop (or 1 2/3 tablespoons). Drop into crushed chips, gently pushing them into the surface of the dough.
Place coated dough balls on prepared baking sheet, and return these to freezer for another 15 minutes.
Just before baking top each cookie with a pinch of salt, then bake 14-15 minutes, turning halfway through.
Allow to cool on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. Texture is best when cookie has fully cooled.
Cheese Cookies Wafers (Hannah)
Hannah’s family favorite nibble with tipples. We’ve shared this one in our Tidbits flyer in the past, so there’s a Hannah Jones DoodleTM!
1 stick butter, softened
8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated (I used Tillamook + extra smidge of Cracker Barrel Extra Sharp White Cheddar)
1/2-1 tsp red pepper flakes
1-2 tsp garlic salt (Jane’s Crazy Salt or seasoned salt works well, too)
1 c self-rising flour
1 1/2 c Rice Krispies
Optional: A few dashes of Smoked Paprika or savory spice
Preheat oven to 350.
Mix flour and spices together. Set aside.
Measure out Rice Krispies. Set aside.
Mix softened butter and cheese together with your hands (important!) until smooth. Add the flour mixture and mix well. The dough should be loose and crumbly.
Add Rice Krispies and mix lightly to combine with cheese mixture.
Roll into small balls and flatten with the tines of a fork (the uglier the better).
Bake 12-15 minutes until just lightly browned around the edges. Remove and cool on a rack.
Salty-Sweet Peanut Butter Sandies (DG)
Follow this recipe by Julia Moskin from the New York Times (gift link).
Salted Espresso Choc Chip Cookies (DG Again)
Follow this recipe from Broken Oven Baking Co.
Salted Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies (Kay)
Follow this recipe by Julia Moskin from the New York Times (gift link).
Berry Chantilly Cake (Natasha)
For all bakers who work smarter, not harder. (It was delicious.)
Apparently, we like salt. And no, we’re not feeling the slightest bit puffy or thirsty, we’re strong for it!
What’s your favorite cookie-swap cookie? Share it in the comments and we will bookmark it for next year.
This looks such fun, thanks for sharing your recipes.
I would love the know the pattern name of Kay’s sweater.
Wishing you all at MDK peace, joy and plenty of delicious feasting.
Also thanks for all your hard work making MDK my first stop on the internet.
I think I gained 5 pounds reading this post! Emily’s Ginger Burst recipe is very similar to one I’ve known and loved all my life.
Merry Christmas to all at MDK! Thanks for bringing SO MUCH JOY this year. I love the daily posts.
So much fun! I actually just gathered all the ingredients for Hannah’s Cheese Wafers. They’re a big hit with my family too!
As to the cookie swap recipes, I love a good chocolate gooey bar. The Ranch Kitchen has a good recipe. I’m usually feeling pretty extra when it comes to cookies so I ad pecans on top. So good!
The Cheese Wafers are calling my name but the first thing I noticed was Kay’s sweater. Awesome!
Everything about my Bawi Sweater is in this post: https://www.moderndailyknitting.com/community/spring-knit-cleaning/
I’m strongly for anything with crystallized ginger in it! But how about MDK’s own shortbread recipe (is it Ashley’s?)
500 gm flour
125 gm white sugar
455 gm butter
Pulse in a food processor until it’s like sand, press into a parchment lined 13”x9” pan, bake 1 hour at 300F. Score while hot, let cool in pan. Best. Cookie. Ever.
Sorry for the metric/imperial mashup, it’s how things are around here….
Fun! Thank you for the recipes. I am on the bus to work with butter cookies from Weekend Knitting by Melanie Falick in my tote! We will have a cookie exchange at our holiday party.
Random thought here. I love the MDK Society picture. It’s total fun. How can I get a print. Oh it would be fabulous on an official Society bag!!! A Baggu perhaps! One never has enough of those. Happy eating.
Love Option No. 1! After decades of from scratch cookie baking, it’s time to take a little rest. Formerly, I used the classic Tollhouse chocolate chips wrapper/Joy of Cooking chocolate chip recipe (aren’t they the same?) with walnuts and/or pecans in a larger size cookie (which somehow seemed to taste better according to some guest chewers). It always worked for us! So never strayed. (Interested to know if others have noticed the same about size re taste, or is it something else.)
Holidays present a interesting problem for my family gatherings, because we have members who are VEGAN, and a few who need to be GLUTEN-FREE, not to mention the plain vegetarians, or those on a low sugar or a low fat diet.
One baking staple in my December kitchen is Biscotti. I make hundreds of them. Many different batches to suit all dietary needs. Many different versions by varying the add-ins or the icing. You may have heard that biscotti is difficult to make, but they really are easy — no need to pull out the mixer, or roll out dough. One favorite recipe that is both gluten-free and vegan, and invites countless variations is the Almond Flour Biscotti by The Conscious Plant Kitchen. https://www.theconsciousplantkitchen.com/almond-flour-biscotti/
Be sure to read the introduction about the ingredients if you want to know what to substitute for any of the ingredients.
Oh, and THANK YOU to the MDK Team for going back to the old daily email format!! I know it’s more work for you, but having to make fewer clicks is SO appreciated by this busy baker.
I know a lot of people like the old daily email tradition but I have to say that in just a few days of the new email and going to the main page of MDK, I discovered a lot of material that I really had not been aware of. I have followed Ann and Kay since the early days of their letters and they never cease to amaze me!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.
Totally intrigued by the browned milk powder…wondering how my buttermilk powder, if browned, would work in my waffle recipe…only one way to find out! Yes, local Maine maple syrup on hand. But one question for Salted Peanut Butter Potato Chip Cookies (Chris)…truly no flour????? I really need to try that recipe!
That coating of potato chips has me intrigued as well as the no flour. I think I might just have to whip some of these up this season.
No flour! It’s technically gluten free.
Go on and toast that buttermilk powder!
THANKS! Kids (grown ups) home on Tuesday…baking in my immediate future!
I plan to make my brother’s annual shipment of chocolate chip cookies today. It’s a shame he is a Toll House purist, the Tahini ones look so good!
Make them for you! They are not just an alt version of chocolate chip cookies, they have a sandy-like texture.
Happy Holidays!!!!
Dorie Greenspan’s Hermits!!! Or any good New England Hermit recipe!!! Preferably one that suggests icing! Oh and Marshmallow Drops!! So easy!!!
Now where is some almost bulky yarn and a nice bulky cardi pattern….Ho Ho Ho on we go!!!
My family’s new favorite is in the NYTimes Cookie Roundup: Cheesecake Filled Ginger Molasses Cookies. Fabulous. Am making another batch today and sorry but not giving any to neighbors this time!
The cookie recipes are fun! Those cheese wafers are an interesting variant of a recipe my family has made for years.
But, Kay’s sweater – tell us more!
I would love to tell you more! Everything about my dearly beloved Bawi Sweater is in this post: https://www.moderndailyknitting.com/community/spring-knit-cleaning/
Wow, Wow, Wow Thank you for these Lucious recipes. I will be trying some very soon. This is a fun, thoughtful , Gift. You Ladies always come up with great ideas. Kudos to all who contributed.
Happy Holidays.
J
Absolutely lovely! Thank you so much for sharing all these wonderful recipes. One of my favorite to make is Alton Brown’s sugar plums. Nicely sweet and filled with fiber! Oh, it’s the other kind of fiber. Happy holidays!
FABULOUS! THANK YOU
Thank you for the recipes…what fun! I just picked up some more crystalized ginger the other day, so the Ginger Burst Cookies are calling to me. Happy Holidays to the entire MDK community!
To make recipes GF just use a flour such as King Arthur Measure for Measure GF flour to replace the flour in a recipe. This works for cookies, cakes, etc although not yeast risen products. Several companies make a flour that includes xanthan gum which allows substitution in any recipe and makes the results GF!
Can’t wait to try! Hannah’s cheese wafers sound really fun.
So fun! I just went to a cookie swap with friends on Tuesday. I took Cherry Walnut Bars which are yummy and festive. Happy Holidays!
Thanks for the recipes! Always up for new cookie ideas.
Holiday wishes for everyone and the best of new years.
Brown butter spoon cookies, from Gourmet magazine and available on epicurious are my favorites, but I always have a rectangle of David Lebovitz’ pain d’amande dough in my freezer, ready to slice and bake.
Thank you for new recipes, i’m ready to bake!
I’m definitely bookmarking this! We are doing a recipe exchange at work this year for the first time. I’m making cranberry white chocolate chip pecan oatmeal cookies from a recipe a friend gave me. My aunt’s carrot cookies are always a winner, as are the monster cookies I make from an Amish cookbook. (Peanut butter oatmeal with add-ins, makes enough to fill a 30 lb lard can if anyone knows what that looks like. I don’t but it fills my largest mixing bowl to the brim.)