holiday favorites: anything-goes crackers, edible cocoa, and eine auge

Belated thanks to a few great bloggers for contributing to my holiday spread:

Crackers from Aimee at Simple Bites.

Hot Cocoa Cookies, inspired by Stephanie at Macaroni and Cheesecake.

Drei (well, Eins) Augen, via Molly at Remedial Eating.

True to form, I didn’t follow any of these recipes to a T, but I came close, which says a lot. All three will become holiday staples at our house; the crackers may well become a year-round fixture. I would like to have a loaf or two in the freezer ready to slice and crisp at any given time. As it stands, Aimee’s recipe is a crowd-pleaser, and it aims to please even more by being easily adaptable. I made just a couple of changes to accommodate allergies, and everyone enjoyed the result.

Hot Chocolate Surprise Cookies originated with Martha Stewart, but I tweaked them just a bit to be more biscotti-like–good for dunking (in your beverage of choice or in the malty frosting, which I served on the side). I also decided to call them Hot Cocoa Cookies because it’s more alliterative and I’m geeky that way. I was so thrilled to find these at Macaroni and Cheesecake, because I thought I was going to have to make something up entirely when my three-year-old asked for hot chocolate cookies. It was such fun to make his little dream come true!

The jam component attracted me to Remedial Eating’s Drei Augen. The rest of us enjoy the sweet stuff, but my little boy would happily sit down to a bowlful. My young muse also inspired a departure from the traditional elegance of Molly’s fluted linzers, which look like they might be nibbled on by white-gloved ladies between sips of tea. Our cookies came in the form of whimsical animal profiles, and featured only eins auge because I thought three might be a little disturbing. I also played with the preparation, opting to forgo the food processor and pound my almonds to smithereens. At one point I was so into it that I began jumping into each bang of the mallet, crazy tribal dance style. I was obviously home alone.

Dear Reader,

Please note that I do not typically indulge my child’s every sugary whim, and that while a couple dozen cookies were made with Gander in mind, only a few actually made it into his belly.

Signed,

Overly Self-conscious Mama