Hello friends! First of all – happy Juneteenth! Honestly I was unaware of this holiday before this year, which is just another example of the whitewashed history I was taught in school growing up, but I’m glad I know of it now. For those of you who, like me, weren’t sure what it’s all about, it’s the day that the last slaves in Galveston, Texas were finally told that the civil war had ended and they were freed, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation. If you want more information, this is a great place to start!
Today we’re continuing the cookie series with my favorite, most customizable, fancy without being complex recipe: slice and bake cookies. I know, it sounds boring, but stick with me, I promise they’re not.
I made these cookies first for Christmas last year. Every year I give most people in my life some kind of bakedgood for Christmas, and I wanted something that would be delicious, look nice, and could be made in advance for a ton of cookies. I adapted the base recipe for these cookies from SmittenKitchen, and then added flavorings to create two totally different cookies: orange poppy seed and ginger spiced. Both were a hit! I made a massive batch of the dough, then split it in half and added the appropriate additions for each cookie. Then, I formed each into a log – a round one for the orange poppy seed, and a squared off rectangle shape for the ginger spiced cookies. The ginger spiced got wrapped up and went into the freezer as is, while the orange poppy seed cookies got a coating of red sanding sugar sprinkles before going to the freezer.
Once I needed the cookies, it was quick to pop them out of the freezer, slice off however many I needed, and bake them up! At this point the orange poppy seed cookies were done, but I went the extra step of drizzling the ginger spiced cookies with dark chocolate once they were cooled. They were perfect!
Below is the recipe for the two versions I made last year, but definitely get creative with it! For the fourth of July you could do a citrus flavor (lemon, orange, lime, etc) and coat the outside in red, white, and blue sprinkles! I really want to try making a really concentrated fruit paste, basically jam that has been cooked in the oven until it’s super thick, and adding that in place of the molasses to see if a chocolate covered strawberry cookie version would work. So many options, and they keep well in the freezer for 3 months, so you can try them all!
Also, the perfect use for those leftover egg whites: little meringue cookies! I added a stripe to mine, as you can see below, and they were a hit
Slice and Bake Cookies – makes 24 cookies
Ingredients
Base Cookie
- 2 cups (280g) flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 2/3 C (80g) powdered sugar
- 2 egg yolks, room temp
- 1 tsp vanilla
Flavor additions
For orange poppy seed cookies, add:
- zest of 1 orange
- ~1tsp orange extract, or to taste
- 3 Tbsp poppy seeds
- red sugar sprinkles, for coating
For ginger spiced cookies, add:
- 2 Tbsp molasses
- 3/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 C dark chocolate, for topping
- 2 tsp coconut oil, for topping
How to do it
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside
- In a stand mixer, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy
- Add eggs and vanilla extract. Mix well
- Add flour mixture and mix until just combined
- Add in any flavorings – this would be the orange zest, orange extract, and poppy seeds for the orange cookies or the molasses and all spices for the ginger spice cookies
- Refrigerate dough for 15-20 minutes
- Remove dough from fridge and shape into a log. I shaped the orange poppy seed cookies into a round log 1-1.5 inches in diameter, like a big snake, and make the ginger spice cookies a rectangular log, as seen in the pictures above
- If adding sprinkles to the outside of the cookies, do that now
- Wrap the logs in plastic and freeze until ready to use
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350*. Slice desired number of 1/3 inch slices off of the logs and bake for 10-12 minutes until cookies are set but not brown
- If adding a chocolate drizzle, once cookies are completely cool melt chocolate with coconut oil in a small bowl. Use a spoon to drizzle chocolate over the cookies and let set in the refrigerator
- Store in an airtight container and enjoy!