Chocolate Mint Oreo Cookies

For my family's Christmas presents, I made choosing a bit easy. Anthony and Kati (Oatmeal Scotchies) and Dad (peanut butter chocolate chip cookies) were essentially the same as before. I decided to make Helen the Pinipig cookies that I made a few years ago since Mom had heard her say they "taste like home" (and she's returning to the Philippines soon). Since I didn't know what non-food gifts to get Mom and Nonni, I decided to make them coconut macaroons (I had a lot of egg whites) and split the recipe between the two of them.

Kevin seems to be the one whose gift changes every year. One thing that doesn't seem to change, though, is that lately I've been more likely to choose a chocolate mint recipe (or chocolate peanut butter - both combos seem to be his favorites). Including this year: after the success of last year's Mint Chip Brookies, I decided to stick with finding a chocolate mint recipe. At first I tried to find the mint Oreo bars that I made for Father's Day in 2020 (the year I wasn't doing blog posts) but since I couldn't remember what they looked like, I wasn't successful. I eventually landed on the Chocolate Mint Oreo Cookies recipe from Two Peas and Their Pod.

Peppermint Bark Meringue Cookies

I've never really had a job where everyone gave Christmas gifts to everyone else (granted, I've only had about 3 jobs that lasted to Christmas and beyond. But still: giving something to everyone was never a thing). So when my co-workers at SHAG started handing out gifts last year, I was a bit unprepared. I decided to change that this year.

Since I had leftover egg whites from my pinwheels, I started to look for meringue recipes (meringues are easier and quicker to make than macarons). At first I wasn't sure what to focus on. Then I had an idea: one of my favorite flavors of the Christmas/holiday season is peppermint, specifically peppermint bark. So I decided to make peppermint bark meringues. I started to specifically look for peppermint bark meringue recipes but I didn't like what I found. Eventually, I realized I'd have to make my own so I switched to searching for chocolate meringue recipes with the goal of dipping them in white chocolate and crushed candy canes. Eventually, I settled on a recipe from Beyond the Chicken Coop.

Mint Chip Brookies

It really didn't take me long to at least decide on the flavor of Kevin's Christmas present. Kevin, our cousin Stefan, and I were talking at Thanksgiving and the topic eventually landed on my baking. One thing that Kevin gushed about was the Thin Mint Gooey Cake Bars I made YEARS ago (I'm still kinda surprised he didn't talk about the bars with mint Oreos that I made a couple years ago for Father's Day, considering within a week he asked me to make him [and Helen?] a second batch that he paid me to do). So I decided to search for a mint recipe. Eventually I decided on Mint Brookies from Crazy for Crust - like when I made Kati's peanut butter brookies a couple years ago, this recipe allowed me to use a box mix for the brownie layer so I would be able to make it semi-quick during the week.

I thought they baked great until I went to cut them: the brownie layer was a bit gooey, especially in the middle. But apparently they were a hit with Kevin because he brought a bunch to Auntie Vicki and Uncle Rob's house on Christmas Day. Stefan even commented that the gooiness of the brownies made them better.

Ube Sugar Cookies

When I worked at the passport office I had a few co-workers who were either from the Philippines or of Filipino heritage. One day while in the break room a couple of those co-workers were eating a bread that had a purple swirl in it. I asked them what the purple was. They told me it was ube, a purple yam that's really sweet. Which I found out when I tried a piece of the bread: it tasted more like berries. I've been a fan ever since (although ironically, I've only had it one other time in a cupcake). I didn't bake with it for Helen at first in part because I wasn't sure where to find the ingredients. So this year I decided would be the year that I made her an ube treat for Christmas.

During my search, I discovered that there's more than one way to add ube to a recipe. After trying the bread at work, I looked for ube bread recipes and they all said that the swirl is ube halaya (a.k.a. ube jam). But while looking for cookie recipes, the ingredients were different: powdered ube and ube extract/flavoring. According to the food blogs I looked at, both ingredients can be found at Asian grocery stores - like Seafood City, which is conveniently located at Southcenter Mall but I 'd always figured was strictly a seafood store based on the name. Turns out, they have a lot more than seafood. Like powdered ube and ube flavoring:

I had already picked out a recipe from The Little Epicurean that was exactly what I wanted to make for Helen. But also a bit different as many of the "ube cookie" search results were for ube crinkles (since I love chocolate crinkles I plan on making those for myself later 😋). She loved them and could really taste the ube flavor (which I was briefly worried about after a contestant on Food Network's Christmas Cookie Challenge made ube cookies with both powder and extract and the judges couldn't taste the ube flavor. He ended up going home).

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

I had something different planned for Kevin. However, I can't remember what it was because about a week after Thanksgiving he sent me a picture of a recipe for some chocolate-covered peanut butter "cookies" and said I should make them sometime. I figured (and got confirmation) that he wanted these to be his Christmas present. They didn't seem too hard to make: about 4 ingredients for the main "cookie" and melted chocolate for dipping. So I switched gears. It didn't take me long to make them either (well, kinda - more on that in the notes). He loved them - as did everyone else who tried them. 

Also, I found out where he got the recipe: apparently the company he works for has a family business as one of their clients (or something along those lines) and they brought these in one day as a thank you with the recipe attached.

Puto Seco (Philippine Butter Cookies)

Over the summer Kevin and Helen got married. It was a much smaller celebration than originally planned (because 2020) but how can you go wrong with a backyard wedding in mid-July?

So of course for her Christmas present I wanted to make Helen something Filipino again. I did an internet search like last year and tried to not focus on just recipes from blogs by people of Filipino heritage. Which is how I landed on a recipe for butter cookies on All Recipes (a user-submitted recipe site). Helen seemed to like them (and know what they were, which was my fear - just because it's Filipino doesn't mean she's familiar with it).

Linzer Cookies

2020 was the weirdest year ever. For one thing, I had a lot more time to bake but ironically no one to bake for. You would think that would mean I wouldn't feel as stressed out when baking Christmas presents this year. But nope - I had three fewer recipes to find. Which was nice because as of Thanksgiving I was unemployed so I was able to focus on my job search. And also wash the bowls in the dishwasher instead of by hand 😆

For Nonni, I knew one flavor I didn't want to search for: coconut. Looking at my blog posts from previous years, I discovered that I'd made her a coconut-flavored present for the past THREE YEARS! Time to change things up. So I stuck with a flavor combo I've made her before: almond and raspberry. While searching magazine recipes, I came across one for linzer cookies. I've always wanted to make them so I figured why not now? I got the impression that she agreed.

Chocolate-Dipped Orange Cookies

As I stated before, Anthony likes those chocolate oranges. So I decided to use this as inspiration for his present this year. I also decided that this would be one of the recipes from my physical copies since orange and chocolate are both popular ingredients. I finally settled on one from one of the Taste of Home mini magazines that you can get at the cash register.

Grandma's Coconut Chews

For the third year in a row (apparently), I decided to stick with coconut as the main ingredient in Nonni's gift. I also, once again, tried to find something that was heart-friendly and at least looked like it would go well with a morning cup of coffee. After a search through Pinterest I finally settled on the coconut chews from Barefeet in the Kitchen (the grandma referenced is the blogger's grandma).

Pinipig Cookies

For the last several years I've been wanting to make Helen a Filipino dessert (specifically a cookie) recipe for Christmas since she grew up in the Philippines. However, the rare time I searched I didn't find any that I would be confident in making. This year was a little different: Kevin and Helen got engaged in September. Which is why I decided I would for sure make a Filipino cookie for her present this year.

The search results were interesting though - cookies that were more what I think of as American (e.g. chocolate chip cookies) but were mainly from bloggers of Filipino descent/origin. A bit confusing. While there were some that sounded like Filipino cookies, I was still a bit unsure for some reason. So I decided to ask my co-worker who's Filipino (I have several co-workers who are). She gave me a recipe for Pinipig cookies by a Boston chef of Filipino heritage, posted to BostonChefs.com.

Chocolate-Brownie Biscotti

Confession: Kevin's recipe was a backup. I didn't know what to make for Kevin at first. My indecisiveness kicked in, as always. I did, however, pick out a recipe for Helen (his fiancé[!!]) as a backup in case I couldn't find a Filipino cookie recipe. When I did find a recipe, I decided to use the other recipe as Kevin's gift. I found it in one of the grocery store magazines I used to constantly buy. This one was from Good Housekeeping and specific to the holidays.

Coconut Brookies

I almost didn't do anything for Barba John and Auntie Paldina. At one point in December I got an email from Nonni saying the three of them had decided that they wouldn't get Christmas presents for the others' grandkids. In other words, for example, I wouldn't be getting gifts from John and Paldina. Understandable. I still felt I should make them something at least this year, to kind of even things out from the past. So I searched for a chocolate coconut dessert for Barba John. I eventually settled on Coconut Brookies from Crazy for Crust.

Oatmeal Scotchies

Choosing and Christmas presents this year was a bit easier: my mom asked me to not bake her something because she was still working on the cookies I'd made her for Mother's Day. And eventually I decided that instead of the frustrating process of making candy for the 5 cousins (I have a neat tool that allows me to melt the candy in the same container that I distribute it out of - except it's hard to get it out into the molds) I would make one batch of M&M cookies and divide it up amongst them.

I still had 7 recipes to choose (8 to make - Dad's is always easy to pick). I added to the ease by choosing Lemon Coconut Squares for Auntie Paldina (I first made them for Mom for Mother's Day 2015). And at one point in the last year, Mom mentioned to me that Kati loved Oatmeal Scotchies (oatmeal butterscotch cookies). At first I was just going to find a good Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookie recipe then substitute butterscotch chips. But I couldn't find one. However, when I looked in the Nestlé Best-Loved Recipes dessert book I have for Dad's cookie, I noticed there's actually a recipe called Oatmeal Scotchies. Did not know this. Don't think I've ever noticed it in all the times I've flipped through that book.

Chocolate Coconut Cream Truffles

As I said in Barba John's recipe post, I got the main flavors for Barba John and Auntie Paldina mixed up. I really shouldn't have though - Barba John is Nonni's brother and while I know siblings don't always share favorite flavors (Anthony's love of dark chocolate and my distaste for it is just one example), there's still the possibility of that when they grow up together (my brothers and I all love peanut butter). I still mixed things up, though, and focused on the coconut recipes I've saved for Mom and Nonni when searching for Auntie Paldina's present. I finally settled on chocolate-covered coconut truffles from Sugar Apron, thinking they'd be easy. Right?

Coconut Jam Squares

Nonni's present was a bit hard to pick out. She had heart surgery back in August so I wanted to make something that was heart-healthy. Mom told me to try and be low on butter and salt. I also wanted to find something that would taste good with coffee and could maybe pass as breakfast because Nonni always texts me a few days after getting a gift from me saying that she's enjoying her present with her morning coffee. After lots of looking I found a recipe for squares with coconut and raspberry jam in my 500 Best Cookies, Bars, & Squares cookbook.

Andes Creme de Menthe Cookies

A while back I made Kevin some gooey cake bars with Thin Mints. Another ingredient in these bars is Andes Crème de Menthe pieces. Since I made the bars for Kevin twice for his birthday (not to mention the homemade Thin Mints I made him), I figured he'd like mint cookies. While searching through my clipped recipes (mainly from Good Housekeeping, People Country and various packages), I kept coming back to Crème de Menthe Cookies from the pieces bag so I stuck with those. The recipe is also available on the parent company's recipes website.

Chocolate-Coated Lemon Almond Biscotti

I'm still kinda on "dark chocolate" for Anthony. And "lemon." Two flavors that I discovered go together when I first successfully made macarons. So I decided to do both for Anthony's present. I realized that (almost) every year so far I've made biscotti for someone. And for whatever reason, I decided that this year was gonna be Anthony's year to receive biscotti. I pretty quickly found a recipe that fit the bill, combining both the original recipe and a suggested variation, in Crazy About Cookies, one of my many baking cookbooks.

Peanut Butter Brownies

Helen's present was another recipe I decided to make during the week. Since last year's Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge was successful, I decided to do the chocolate-peanut butter combo again this year. After doing lemon brownies for Anthony a couple years ago for his birthday, I decided to see if peanut butter brownies were a thing (also, brownies and bar cookies are easy to do in just a couple hours). Turns out, they are! The recipe I found in Taste of Home Best-Loved Cookies & Candies 2012 special issue even has chocolate chips in it, which I was gonna put in anyway.

Fudge Cookies

A year ago, right after Christmas, Nonni texted a suggestion to me: add her brother and sister-in-law (my great-aunt and great-uncle) to my list of people to make Christmas gifts for since they usually give me something. She had a point so I got some flavor ideas: coconut for Barba John and chocolate for Auntie Paldina. Since it was so simple, I figured I'd remember it, even when looking at my flavor ideas list when choosing recipes.

Except I got the two mixed up and chose a chocolatey cookie for Barba John and a coconut treat for Auntie Paldina. Oops! Apparently this didn't matter: when I asked Chiara and Matteo for more flavor ideas for their grandparents, they said that both liked chocolate and coconut. So I decided to stick with the recipes I originally chose for them. For Barba John, I chose a fudgy cookie recipe from Just a Pinch (Auntie Paldina makes fudge for almost everyone for Christmas so I kinda always associate anything fudge-related with both of them).

Peanut Butter Brookies

I love and hate the holiday season. Love because Christmas music and movies are awesome and there's all kinds of treats. Hate because I bake treats for almost a dozen people (not to mention make candy for 5 cousins) so it can get a bit overwhelming. I technically only have one main day - Saturday - to take my time to bake since Sundays I have to leave mid-afternoon for dance class and the rest of the week I work. So I sometimes pick a few recipes that are quick to make.

Like for Kati's present. I also kinda wanted to make something that's been a trend for a few years - brookies (a brownie-cookie hybrid). There are a few different ways to make them. The one I chose is layered - one layer of cookie dough and one layer of brownie batter. The recipe I found on Jen's Favorite Cookies allows a box mix for the brownie layer (and honestly, why not? Box mix brownies are THE BEST of all mix choices). And they bake at the same time. Bonus - the cookie layer has peanut butter in it.