Have you heard of National Cookie Day?  This is a happy day in the UrbnSpice kitchen. It could be National Cookie Day any day of the year, as far as my family is concerned.  Growing up, baking was something that happened frequently. My Mom would typically bake on Saturday morning – I was always a little shadow beside her in the kitchen, tucking myself into the crook of her elbow as she mixed, rolled and scooped dough. It is little wonder I became a pastry chef. Making cookies still gives me that warm, fuzzy feeling of baking with my Mom. Just as my Mom did, I welcomed my little ones into the kitchen.  Sharing this experience with my own daughters was such a joy to me. I see the same thing happening all over again with my grandchildren and their Momma – my heart just melts.

National Cookie Day – A Cookie Story

So, let’s talk about cookies. What do you think of when you hear the word cookie? Do you have food memories of sandy textured shortbread, or melty chocolate chip, or crispy meringues?  Everyone has their own opinion when it comes to their cookie favourite. Most folks are unable to bake on a whim, however. I can offer a few suggestions, tips and techniques that will make any day a cookie baking day for you and your family.

There are many ways to have cookies on hand for occasions when you just have to have a freshly baked cookie. I have dough in my freezer just for occasions like this – slice and bake varieties have endless possibilities, like this cookie dough shown below. The dough is separated into three different varieties: chocolate, strawberry and vanilla bean. It is just a matter of cutting strips to make Neapolitan or twisting the colours together into a cylinder, or just mushing them all together and come up with something different and interesting with every piece of dough.  But don’t stop there.

Making a chocolate chip cookie dough ahead of time, for instance, use a scoop to portion all of the dough, roll them into balls, flatten just slightly, and place the nuggets close together on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Then, freeze the dough nuggets until firm, and label and store them in a zipper type plastic bag in the freezer until you are ready to bake them.

I worked at a private golf club where we would freeze the nuggets of dough, called “Toonie cookies”  for the menu. They were baked to order – hot and fresh to the customer’s table in 8 minutes. Before the busy Christmas season, we would stock up our cookie nugget inventory, literally making pails and pails of cookie nuggets.

Icebox cookies are also great make-ahead options. The flavour possibilities are endless and they are quick to mix together, roll into a cylinder to make a tiger cookie, wrap, label and freeze.  When you are ready to bake them, remove them from the freezer. They will be easy to slice from the frozen state into 1/4 inch slices and place them onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Bake and enjoy.

For a baby or bridal shower, you may want to try just working with two coloured doughs to make a variety of very pretty, delicate, and tiny cookies. They are just as pretty as the checkerboard version, if not prettier, in my opinion. Take a look at the collection of pink cookies below that I made for a baby’s christening. These cookies were by far one of the most pleasant baking requests that I have ever had in my career.

I have to admit that our favourites are not typically the fancy cookies or those that take time to make and bake, but the rustic, homemade, old-fashioned cookies like oatmeal, peanut butter and particularly, chocolate chip and my Mom’s Hermit Cookies.  Shown in the photograph below is my husband’s favourite:  Urb’n’Spice’s Ultimate Chocolate Chip Pecan – cookies ‘to die for’ according to him.  And they are delicious, indeed.  Roasting the pecans first make all the difference.   There are many tips and techniques that are part of the baking fun.  You can learn more baking tips and techniques from this post.

You Might Also Like these UrbnSpice Cookie Recipes:

Baking Testing Day and a Kitchen Disaster

My Dee’s Old Fashioned Oatmeal Coconut Cookies – some of the best cookies that I have ever tasted!

Vanilla Bean Poppers  – These award-winning tiny, delicate cookies that are worthy of gift giving any time of the year.

Italian Almond Macaroons – a gluten-free meringue type cookie that is fun to make with kids

Urbnspice’s Chocolate Cookies, Brownies and Squares – Volume Two of the series, “Chocolate Desserts Made Easy and Delicious”

So, what is your favourite cookie?  I can’t wait to hear your stories.

Have fun with cookies today – promise me that you will have at least one cookie today!

Happy Cookie Baking, everyone!

Denise Pare-Watson

The UrbnSpice Chef

National Cookie Day

You can find me on social media (see links below) – just be sure to tag @urbnspice and #urbnspice so I am sure to see it. Enjoy! 

Denise Paré-Watson

The Urbnspice Chef

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