Figgy Yule Cookies

photo by Heather Hanson

Now bring us some figgy pudding! In cookie form of course! To wrap up the holiday cookie pairings with Boom Island Brewing, I adapted this cookie to feature their holiday release, Yule. Yule is a Belgian Strong Ale, brewed with a different fruit addition each year. This year's fruit was black currant. Instead of featuring a currant studded treat, I opted for a classic Christmas dessert in cookie form. The figs are simmered in Yule for an extra kick and in is mixed into the icing in lieu of brandy.

Have a very Merry Christmas!

Recipe adpated from Food 52

Yields about 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients
For the cookies

• 8-10 large dried Turkish figs, diced
• 1 cup Yule
• 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ¾ cup unsalted butter (1 ½ sticks) softened
• ¾ cup powdered sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbsp orange zest

For the icing

• ¾ cup powdered sugar
• 1 Tbsp Yule
• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract

Preparation

• In a small saucepan, simmer the figs and Yule until the figs are soft, about 15 minutes. Strain figs and set aside.
• Mix together the flour, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Set aside
• Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg until well combined.
• Slowly add the flour mixture, mixing until just combined. Fold in the strained figs and orange zest.
• Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerate for 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare baking sheets by lining in parchment paper.
• On a well floured surface, roll out the dough about 1/8” thick. Cut into 2” rounds. Arrange on baking sheets about 1” apart.
• Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown along the edges. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
• In a small saucepan over medium low heat, whisk together the powdered sugar, Yule, butter and vanilla extract. Simmer, stirring frequently, until smooth and well combined.
• Drizzle icing onto cooled cookies
• ENJOY!

Witbier Cookies

photo by Heather Hanson Photography LLC

If witbier were a cookie, this would be it. These are sure to add a bit of citrus-y joy to your holiday! 

The thing that surprised em the most when I tackled this recipe was the beer reduction. I've made reductions with stouts, porters and sours before. Bute never a wheat beer. And never reduced down so far. The resulting syrup was malty and sweet with just a hint of the orange and cardamom used in the beer. I'm tempted to reduce another batch to play around with. Ice cream toppings, a salmon glaze, or perhaps a dash in a cocktail or two?

 Recipe adapted from Food Republic 

Yields about 4 dozen cookies 

Ingredients 

for the cookies

• 2 – 12 oz bottles of Witbier
• 5 Tbsp honey
• ¾ cup unsalted butter (1 ½ sticks), softened
• 1 ¼ cup powdered sugar
• 1 egg
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp orange zest
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp baking soda

for the glaze

• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp orange zest
• 1 Tbsp orange juice
• 1 Tbsp heavy cream
• 1 cup powdered sugar

  Preparation

• Combine the beer and honey in a medium-sized heavy-bottomed saucepan. Over medium heat, bring the beer to a gentle boil, skimming foam as needed. Cook until reduced to 1/3 cup (this may take up to an hour). Allow to cool slightly.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare baking sheets by lining with parchment paper.
• Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy and well combine. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract. Add the coriander, orange zest and beer reduction, mixing until just combined.
• Combine the flour and baking soda. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the butter mixture.
• Drop batter by heaping Tbsp onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
• For the icing, whisk together the vanilla, zest, orange juice, cream and powdered sugar. Spoon a dollop onto each cookie and spread icing to the edges. Allow to set 15-20 minutes before serving.
• ENJOY!

Framboise Lemon Bars

 

Photo by Heather Hanson Weddings

Lemon and raspberries may seem like more of a summer treat, but these bars will add a refreshing palette cleanser among all of those other holiday sweets. Lemon Bars marry well with any number of beers, but for the raspberry kick, Framboise seemed the most appropriate. This sour style of fruit beer is readily available at most liquor stores. Lindemans is by far the best known, but I'm sure you can find any number of local or other export varieties on the shelves! These bars were made with Boom Island's Framboise, which is only available from their taproom. And sadly, very limited quantities remain.

The recipe is my own

Yields 24-28 bars

Ingredients
For the crust

• 2/3 cup powdered sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• ¼ cup Framboise

For the filling

• 4 eggs
• ¼ cup flour
• juice and zest of 2 lemons
• ¼ cup pureed raspberries
• ½ cup Framboise
• 1 ¼ cup granulated sugar
• pinch of salt
• powdered sugar for garnish
• raspberries for garnish

Preparation

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
• Whisk together the powdered sugar, flour, and salt. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles course crumbs. Stir in the Framboise until just combined.
• Press crust into an ungreased 9” x 13” baking dish. A pint glass works wonderfully to roll the surface into a smooth, even layer.
• Bake the crust for 25-30 minutes, or until just beginning to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature.
• Whisk together the eggs, flour, lemon juice, zest, raspberries, Framboise, sugar and salt. Pour the mixture on top of the cooled crust.
• Bake lemon bars for 20-25 minutes for until the filling is set and just slightly jiggles in the center. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly. Refrigerate for at least two hours., preferably overnight
• Before serving, cut chilled bars into 24-28 pieces. Dust generously with powdered sugar. Top each bar with a fresh raspberry.
• ENJOY!

Chocolate Lace Sandwich Cookies (Brussels)

Photo by Heather Hanson 

 

Beligan beers and chocolate are a favorite pairing of ours, especially a dubbel. When I came across this recipe, I was sure I had a treat on my hands. Do the cookies look familiar? They do bear a striking resemblance to a popular brand-name cookie named after the capital of Belgium. It seemed only fitting to pair them with a Belgian style beer!

These cookies are one of the more challenging ones I've made to date. The first batch turned out perfectly: an even golden brown, beautiful lacing, wonderfully crisp. Only they had melded into one large cookie. The second batch, I had halved the recipe, but forgot to halve the flour, resulting in a very different, albeit tasty, cookie. The third batch I rolled instead of dropped and as a result the cookies didn't spread as thin as they should have. The fourth batch burned. Once they start to caramalized, they brown quickly! The fifth batch finally yielded something close to the desired result, but nothing nearly as pretty as the ones at Two Peas. But they tasted wonderful.

So what did I learn?

3/4 tsp is really 3/4 tsp. Any larger you risk one giant cookie as they meld together.

Space them FAR apart. I ended up making 10 per sheet to give the cookies ample room to spread.

Drop the dough, don't roll it. Rolling compressed the batter and the cookies did not spread evenly thin. The edges burn before the center was done as a result.

Mix the sugars and butter well before adding the dry ingredients. The dough comes together very fast anyway, so not point in rushing by trying to throw everything into the same bowl as once. You'll achieve that wonderful brittle like texture if you dirty that extra bowl.

Parchment paper or silpats are a must.

Watch the cookies closely during the last 4-5 minutes of baking. Once they spread, they caramelize fast. Be prepared to yank them out the oven the moment they look uniformly golden.

And over course, enjoy! Even the accidents were incredibly tasty!
 

Recipe adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod

Yields 20 sandwich cookies

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 2 Tbsp heavy cream
• 2 Tbsp light corn syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup granulated sugar

• ½ cup flour
• ½ cup old-fashioned oats
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp baking powdered
• pinch of salt
• 2 oz dark chocolate, melted

Preparation

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F
• Line several baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
• Whisk together the butter, cream, corn syrup, and vanilla extract. Beat in the sugar until smooth.
• In a separate bowl, combine the flour, oats, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Slowly mix the flour mixture into the butter mixture until just combine.
• Drop dough by the scant teaspoon onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving at least 3 inches between cookies. They will spread a lot as they bake. 10-12 cookies per sheet is ideal.
• Bake for 8-10 minutes, checking after the 6 minute mark. Remove them when they are a deep amber on the edges and golden brown in the center. The cookies will begin to brown very quickly once they spread.
• Allow to cool slightly on the baking sheets and then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. They will crisp up as they cool.
• Pair up cookies of similar size and shape. Spread one cookie with a thin layer of melted chocolate. Top with the second cookie, gently pressing together. Repeat with remaining pairs.

Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

This marks my first attempt at biscotti. Why until now? I have no idea. I was pleasantly surprised at how easily it came together. The recipe reminded me a lot of an Irish soda bread, sliced and baked a second time. This particular fruit and nut combo I chose to pair with the citrus-y Belgian-style beer pictured. Though they work equally well with coffee or tea. A chocolate hazelnut version may be in the near future.

 These cookies would be a treat on Christmas morning with a steaming cup of coffee. Bright red cranberries and a hint of green from the pistachios keep them dressed up for the season.

Adapted from Kristen Jenkins’ recipe for Donna Hay Magazine

Yields about 80 cookies

Ingredients

• 2 c all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ tsp baking soda
• ¾ c sugar
• 3 eggs, slightly beaten
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp orange zest
• 1 c dried cranberries
• 1 c shelled, unsalted pistachios

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 325 F
• In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and sugar. Add the eggs, vanilla and zest, beating until just combined. Fold in the cranberries and pistachios.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth.
• Divide the dough into two pieces. Roll each portion into a log, about 10 inches long. Flatten slightly. Transfer both loaves to a parchment baking sheet.  Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until firm.
• Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Once cool, cut each loaf into ¼ inch slices using a serrated knife. Arrange slices on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake 8-0 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool completely on the baking sheets.

Viennese Pecan Crescents

Christmas cookie season is upon us! I am working again with Boom Island Brewing Company to pair up these festive treats with each of their beers. But even if you aren't a beer person, these cookies are sure to please. Buttery shortbread, rich pecans and a healthy dusting of powdered sugar...what's not to love!  The shaping of these cookies is a tad tedious, but worth the extra time. And after these cookies are baked, they freeze beautiful so you can happily enjoy them throughout the holiday season.

Recipe adapted from Gale Gand

Yields about 5 dozen cookies

Ingredients

• 1 c unsalted butter, softened
• ¾ c sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 ½ c all-purpose flour
• 1 c finely ground pecans
• powdered sugar for coating

Directions

• Cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla and beat until fluffy. Gradually add the flour and nuts and mix until just combined. The dough with be very crumbly.
• Shape the dough into tiny crescents using about 2 tsp of dough for each cookie. Place on an ungreased sheet pan in rows, leaving 1 inch in between. Chill the cookies for at least one hour.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Bake about 12 to 15 minutes, or until the edges begin to brown.
• Allow cookies to cool slightly and then dredge in powdered sugar to coat.

Speculaas (Belgian Spice Cookies)

Prettig sinterklaasfeest! Happy St. Nicholas Day! Enjoy the fest with these traditional Belgian spice cookies!

Recipe adapted from NPR

yields about 3 dozen small cookies

Ingredients

• 1 c unsalted butter, softened
• ¾ c sugar
• ¾ c brown sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 3 c all purpose flour
• ½ c almond meal*
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp ground allspice
• ¼ tsp salt

* almond meal or almond flour is readily available at most grocery store. To make your own, pulse about ⅔ cup sliced or slivered almonds with 1 Tbsp flour in a blender or food processor until finely ground.


Directions

• Cream together the butter and sugars until fluffy and well combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until just combined.
• In a second bowl, whisk together the flour, almond meal, baking soda, spices and salt.
• Gradually beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture until just combined. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead slightly.
• Divide dough into 2 portions. Roll into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 350 F
• On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out ¼ inch thick. Cut using cookie cutters. Arrange on a lightly greased cookie sheet, spacing the cookies at least an inch apart. Alternatively, press the dough into a cookie mold to shape.
• 10 to 15 minutes, or until cookies are browned and slightly crisp.

Spent Grain Cookies with Pecans and Coconut

SO much grain! I had requested a pail of spent grain from a local brewery after their next brew day. My husband came home with a Rahr grain bag nearly half full. Sadly, there is only so much I can do with limited time and oven rack space. Some has been frozen for future wet grain recipes. Some was been dried to be ground into spent grain flour. The immediate use of wet grain called for dog biscuits. And cookies for us.

These cookies are reminiscent of classic oatmeal cookies. They have a pleasant amount of spice, a lot of tooth from the grain and a soft and chewy center.

adapted from Brooklyn Brew Shop

yields abut 2 1/2 dozen cookies

The Ingredients:
5 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temp
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 cups wet spent grain
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup flaked coconut

The Process:
Preheat the oven to 350

Lightly grease 2-3 baking sheets and set aside.

Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, or with an electric mixer on medium speed, cream together the butter and brown sugar. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, salt, baking soda and spices.

On low speed and gradually add the dry ingredients, mixing only until a little flour remains. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the spent grain, pecans and coconut.

Spoon the dough by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between each cookie.

Bake 20-25 minutes, rotating halfway through, or until the outside edges are just set and light golden brown, and the middles are puffed.

Gently transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool

Coconut Brown Sugar Ale Cookies

Desserts have been few and far between as of late, haven't they?  I've had many an ice cream recipe bouncing around in my head, but not the time to concoct them.  Cookies, though... I always have everything I need on hand for cookies.

I encountered this recipe last Thursday during a Craft Beer and Bites event at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.  Little soft sugar cookies were served to be paired with many of the brown ales and stouts provided.  They had all the best flavors of an oagtmeal raisin cookie, only without the oatmeal and raisins.  They were wonderfully soft, lightly spiced and so buttery.

Eager I whisked the recipe home, but discovered the only brown ale I had was coconut brown.  We used a bottle of our home brewed beer, though Kona Brewing Company makes a wonderful coconut brown ale: Koko Brown

cookie base recipe courtesy of the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

yields 3 dozen

The Ingredients:
12 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), room temperature
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup coconut brown ale
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup bread flour
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 flaked unsweetened coconut, coarsely chopped

The Process:
In a large bowl, combine the butter and brown sugar and mix until well combined.  Add the yolk and vanilla; beat until light and fluffy.  Add the beer and mix until combined.

In a separate bowl, mix together both flours along with the baking soda, baking powder, salt, cornstarch and cinnamon.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until just combined.

Pour the coconut into shallow bowl.  Using a heaping tablespoon of dough, form a ball and roll into the coconut, coating completely.  Place the balls on an ungreased baking sheet, spacing cookies about 2 inches apart.  Place cookies in the fridge to chill for at least 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the cookies are puffed and golden around the edges.  They will deflate slightly as they cool.  Allow to cool slightly on the baking sheet.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Irish Cream Sandwich Cookies

Happy St Patrick's Day!  With all of the heavy corned beef and root vegetables dished up today, alongside dark stouts, and generous pours of whiskey, I was in need of something with a touch of sweet to cut through all of the richness. The now ubiquitous Guinness cupcakes would be far, far too heavy...and given their currently popularity these last years, the chance of someone bringing over a dozen or so was very, very high.

When Meghan posted these Bailey's sugar cookie sandwiches, I was pretty sure I had found the perfect dessert option.  Lightly, slightly sweet, gone in a few bites and still kissed with booze.

Adapted from Meghan's  recipe at Buttercream Blondie 

yields three dozen 2-1/2 inch sandwich cookies and three dozen mini shamrock cutouts.


The Ingredients:
for the cookies
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup Baileys Irish Cream

for the filling:
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
6 Tbsp Irish Cream
1-2 tsp instant espresso powder

optional:
gel frosting
green sprinkles

The Process:
for the cookies:
In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the egg and egg yolk and mix until smooth. Mix in vanilla extract.


Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder together in a second bowl.  Add the flour to the butter, alternating with the Irish cream.  Mix until just combined. 

Gather the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap.  Chill for at least one hour, or overnight.

Roll out the dough and cut out 72 two and a half-inch circles.  Gather and re-roll dough as necessary.  Set aside half of the cookies.  In the remaining half, cut a small shamrock out to of the center, using an 1 1/2" shamrock cutter.  Reserve the shamrocks.

Arrange the cookies on several baking sheets, spacing them at least one inch apart.  Chill for at least 30 minutes before baking to help the cookies keep their shape.

Preheat the oven to 350.  Bake the solid circle for 12-13 minutes, rotating the baking sheets 180 degrees about halfway through baking.  Start checking them after 10 minutes.  Bake the cut-outs and shamrocks for 7-10 minutes, turning 180 degrees halfway through baking.  The cookies are done once they have puffed slightly and the edges turn a light gold.

Remove cookies to a cooling rack.

Allow to cool completely before assembling.

for the filling:
Cream together the butter and sugar, adding the a little sugar at a time to avoid a powdered sugar cloud. Dissolve the instant coffee into the Bailey's and whisk into the filling along with the vanilla extract.

Assemble the cookies:
Once the cookies are completely cool, pipe the gel icing around the shamrock cut-out and sprinkle with green sanding sugar.  Match up each circle to a shamrock cut-out as close in size as possible.  Spread about 1 tsp of filling onto the circle and gently press the cut-out on top.  For the shamrocks, spread with a scant amount of filling and sprinkle with sanding sugar.

Chill until ready to serve.

The Review:
This is a cookie that is greater than the sum of it's parts.  The sugar cookie is, well a sugar cookie.  Sort of sweet, but not really that exciting by itself.  Even with the Bailey's.  For one reason or another, this cookie dough was more of a challenge than other's that I've tried.  But I also abhor rolling out sugar cookies and pie crusts.  It's a wonder I keep making them sometimes...

The filling on the other hand...I could have eaten that up with a spoon.  The filling softened the cookies ever so slightly as the evening progressed...these are a cookie that better with age.  And they were quite a hit with everyone who came over.

The perfect end to a salty Irish-American dinner...

Cranberry Crumble Bars

Need a brief reprieve from all that sugar.  Icing laden sugar cookies, candy studded gignerbread and sugar dusted snikcerdoodles seem to dominate many a holiday table.  Very the smell of the confections is enough to send you into a sugar coma! 

These bars offer a slight break from the holiday hyperglycemia.  They are rich and buttery, slightly sweet and topped with a wonderfully tart cranberry layer. 

adapted from Smitten Kitchen via The Baker Chick.

Yields 24 bars

The Ingredients:
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cold unsalted butter (2 sticks or 8 ounces)
1 egg
1/4 tsp salt
Zest of one orange
2 Tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice
4 cups fresh cranberries
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2/3 cup white sugar
4 tsp cornstarch

The Process:
Preheat the oven to 375. Generously grease a 9×13 inch pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar,  flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and orange zest. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg.  The  dough will be very crumbly. Press half of dough into the prepared pan.

In another bowl, stir together the 2/3 cup sugar, cornstarch and orange juice and cinnamon. Gently fold in the cranberries. Sprinkle the cranberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the cranberries.

Bake in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

The Review:
I brought these along with me to a friend's family gathering on Christmas Eve.  Everyone who tried the bars absolutely loved them!  The bars come together very quickly and were consumed almost as fast.  The crust and topping is  very basic and almost short bread like.  The crumbliness of it frustrated me at first, but these were far less stressful to make than the endless rolling and cutting of sugar cookies.

I imagine the simple buttery flavor of the dough would lend itself well to other fruit combinations.  Smitten Kitchen recipe original recipe used blueberries.  I imagine a raspberry,  bourbon peach, cardamom plum or lingonberry apple would be equally divine!

Hermits

The holiday season begs for cookies to be made.  Tins packed to over flowing and exchanged between friends.  Colored frosting spattering counters and faces of happy kids.  Recipes swapped between co-workers.  I have one cookie tradition: ginger snaps.  It is time to add a new cookie to the repertoire.  Enter the hermit.

Given the Grinch-like spirit that seems to have descended upon me this holiday spirit, a cookie named hermit seemed appropriate.

Adapted from the recipe in my battle worn BHG Cookbook

yields 36 cookies



The Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 egg
2 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup currants
1/2 cup walnuts

The Process:
Preheat the oven to 375. 

Grease a cookie sheet and set it aside.

In a large mixing bowl beat butter until smooth.  Add brown sugar, baking soda and spices.  Beat until combined, occasionally scraping down sides of the bowl with a spatula.  Beat in the egg, milk and vanilla.  Add the flour, a little at a time, beating after each addition until well combined.  Stir in currants and walnuts.

Drop by rounded teaspoons onto the prepared cookie sheet, spacing the cookies about 2 inches apart.  Bake in preheated oven for ten minutes or until the edges are lightly browned.  Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool.

The review:
The combination of spice fruit and chewiness makes these mounded cookies very reimenscent of traditional oatmeal raisin.  Yet they leave something to be desired.  They aren't overly sweet.  The spice sings of warm Christmas kitchen, yet these cookies failed to inspire much Christmas spirit.  Perhaps hermit is a more fitting name than I originally realized.  Or perhaps these poor spice cookies were over shadowed by the gingersnaps served alongside.

Overall...they are sort of "meh"