Cookie (Treat) Advent Update

Here's an update on out Christmas Cookie (now Treat) Advent. We've actually kept it up every day, but added more variety so that we don't get bored. A few days, the treats disappeared too quickly for pictures, so we're planning on making those again to get some good shots! We literally have crumbs left of one of the cookies, which while delicious, don't look that appetizing. Some others aren't worth mentioning (I'm looking at you coconut caramels). All of the following were a success!

Alpine Mint Brownies

These are the best mint brownies I've ever had. Hands down. And my lucky couple friends we shared them with agree! I usually don't like fudgy brownies because they often end up gooey in the middle or over-baked., but I now understand why they're called fudgy brownies. These were actually the texture of fudge! They converted me. We followed the recipe, except I'm not a fan of normal McCormick mint extract, so we used 1/8 teaspoon peppermint oil instead. 

Cottage Cheese Pufflets

These were quite delicious! The cottage cheese in the dough threw me off, but mostly it just made the dough really flaky. When you picture these, think of super flaky handheld pies. We filled them with homemade currant jam. 

Finnish Pulla

Kyle made this today. We love it so much that there's only a third left. Make it sometime. Plan to not eat much else that day.

French Butter Cookies

These are like those Christmas cookies that come in a tin, but so much better! They're pretty easy, too. We altered the recipe just a little. We left out the salt and used a really good quality Amish salted cultured butter instead. They had a wonderful slight tang. 

Brown Butter Ginger Cookies

This picture doesn't do the cookies justice, but these were amazing. These were the only two left! They were supposed to have frosting and be sandwiched together, but we loved them as was too much to mess with it. 

Alfajores

These were really good, but way too much work for me to make them again. If I did, I'd use a purchased dulce de leche. 

Gooey Butter Cookies

These are Kyle's favorites. They taste exactly like their name. I don't love them as much because I prefer a firmer cookie, but if you're in the gooey cookie camp, you'll love these!

Jam Thumbprints

These were good thumbprint cookies, but not particularly amazing. 

Gingerbread!

This was our first time making real gingerbread houses. We had our friends the Messerly's over for some decorating fun! Some of the reviews of the recipe above said it wasn't very flavorful. We doubled the cinnamon and cardamom in the recipe and would have doubled the ginger, except we ran out. It tasted pretty good, and was also really sturdy for construction. We made some royal icing for building and decorating, and some brown butter icing for delicious eating!