As I write this guide, it is early December, also known as “official cookie season.” There is no wrong way to make holiday cookies, and every style of cookie should be on the table (literally and figuratively). However, the joy of baking the best cookies isn’t reserved for the holidays. Every gathering is made a little better by a giant platter of cookies, and nothing satisfies a crowd like the classic dessert. Plus, making cookies from scratch is fun. So whether you’re baking non-stop for the holiday season, or preparing for a summer barbecue, this guide on how to make cookies will help you come up with ideas and tricks to perfect your cookies. Plus I include some of my favorite recipes.
Want to know to really take your cookies up a notch? Make your own homemade vanilla.
These Coconut Oatmeal Rum Raisin Cookies are a family favorite and a no-brainer for my upcoming book Zoë Bakes Cookies (coming out in 2024)! In season 3 episode 9 of Zoë Bakes I enlist two of my best taste testers, my sons Henri and Charlie, to taste test some recipes for the book.
My next cookbook, Zoë Bakes Cookies, will feature about 100 recipes and I test my recipes over and over until they’re perfect. Enlisting my sons, Henri and Charlie, to be taste testers and incorporating their feedback makes my books even better. In season 3 episode 9 of Zoë Bakes on Magnolia Network Henri and Charlie join me in the kitchen to test a few of my cookie recipes and variations. You must tune in to see how it goes! In this episode I also visit a beautiful hazelnut farm and gather local nuts to try in my recipe. To learn more about Minnesota hazelnuts, visit the Organic Compound.
This post is originally from 2011 and it is hilarious for me to read it, since my boys are now 17 and 19 years old and no longer have little fingers, because they’re 6 feet tall. The only thing that remains the same 7 years later; they still love these Blueberry Bars!
2011: Yesterday was the official end of summer in my house. Back to school for both boys, and I spent the day wishing they were home again. “Seriously?” You may ask. I spent the past several weeks anticipating the beginning of school with a certain glee, which may have bordered on unhealthy. I couldn’t wait to have peace and quiet in my house, for hours at a time. I looked forward to doing my work without interruption, sans little fingers dipping into the bowl. But, when it came to the actual day, I missed them and couldn’t wait for them to get off the bus.* Instead of pathetically staring out the window waiting, I decided to bake them some Blueberry Bars. Every MN kid loves bars.
For those of you from the coasts, I am referring to a layered dessert baked in a pan resembling a brownie/cookie/pie, but can be made with fruit, caramel, chocolate or anything else your pantry contains. Then they are cut into neat bars. I was first introduced to this concept when I moved to Minneapolis in 1993. Bars are generally served on a buffet table with lots of crock pots filled with “hot dish.” Every family has their own recipe, usually a tightly held secret, mostly kept from the neighbors.
To watch me make these bars and for tips on easy lattice and stable fillings, watch my instagram video. Recipe below.
A good, healthy morning breakfast can make all the difference in your day, but sometimes you’re rushing out the door and you need something quick to grab. For me and my family, these Breakfast Cookies are the answer, because what’s more portable than a cookie?
These krumkake are the pressed cookies I made on the Nordic Treats episode of Zoë Bakes on Magnolia Network! In this episode I pay tribute to my Nordic heritage by preparing Swedish cream and krumkake, and visiting a ladies’ church group for a lesson in making the traditional Norwegian flatbread, lefse. I also make sour cherry streusel bars, because if you go to a gathering in Minnesota, you must bring something to share! For those asking, here is a link to the krumkake iron we used in the show!
