The last item which Erika shared with us is a cookie filled with dulce de leche called Alfajor.  Erika made this cookies for his son’s school party and it was a hit.  Many parents asked for the recipe.  Dulce De Leche is a caramel like spread that can be made by simmering sweetened condensed milk in the can for hours.  But, we are very lucky that we can find them in jars in Real Canadian Superstore for about $3.

The Dulce De Leche Cookies (Alfajor) is very delicate and they just melt in your mouth with the caramel sweetness lingering in the mouth.  I enjoyed the cookies very much as I have sweet tooth.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 cup of corn starch (or more)
• 225 gm unsalted butter
• 6 tablespoons confectioners sugar
• Dulce de leche (manjarbalnco) for filings

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For the dessert, Minoo made some Crisp Seedy Oatmeal Cookies in the Gilmore Park Church Community Kitchen.

This Crisp Seedy Oatmeal Cookie will satisfy anyone.  It has a variety of seeds like sunflower seed and water melon seeds.  The original recipe has pumpkin seeds instead of the water melon seeds. This cookie is great for snack or lunch box.  This recipe yields 42 cookies.

The puffed rice cereal in the cookies make them a bit chewier than my preference.  I would leave out the puffed rice cereal in these cookies as I find that the baked rice cereal kind of sticks between my teeth.

Ingredients

• 1 cup (250ml) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup (250ml) packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla
• 2 cups (500ml) quick-cooking (not instant) rolled oats
• 1 1/2 cups (375ml) puffed rice cereal (such as Rice Krispies)
• 1/2 cup (125ml) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (125ml)  whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup (50ml) unsalted sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup (50ml) water melon seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon (2ml) baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon (2ml) baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon (1ml) salt

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Minoo shared two recipes in the South Arm Community Kitchen. One of the recipe is Oatmeal Cookies. For once, I thought I already have this recipe in chowtimes and I…

Charlene also demonstrated some Holiday Cutout Cookies in the Peach Mennonite Church Community Kitchen. This is a fun session as everyone can participate in rolling out the dough, cutting out the cookies, and decorate the cookies.

Above are some samples of the decorated Holiday Cutout Cookies.

Ingredients:

For cookies:

• refer Raspberry Diamonds

For Icing:

• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2-3 tablespoons water

For decoration:

• food coloring
• sprinkles

Tool:

• cookies cutters

Click on Read More for the instructions.

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After the Gilmore Park Church Community Kitchen Christmas Potluck, a few of us went to Peace Mennonite Church Community Kitchen for a cookie making session. This cookies making session is sponsored by Family Services and demonstrated by Charlene.

We made 2 types of cookies, one filled with raspberry jam and the other one is just holiday cutout cookies decorated with icings. The dough for both the cookies are the same except that for the holiday cutout cookies, the dough has to be refrigerated for a firmer texture.

Ingredients

For cookies:

• 2 1/2 cups (11 1/4 oz) all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (8oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• zest of 1 lemon, grated
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

For filing:

• 1/2 cup raspberry jam

For glaze:

• 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• drop of almond extract (optional)

Click on Read More for the instructions.

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Jean made this very easy but delicious Whipped Shortbread Cookies. It is always a challenge using a different oven from your home. The Gilmore Park Church has a gas oven which takes a long time to heat up. Usually, we will turn the thermometer up by 50F to achieve the same result as the electric oven.

However, this Whipped Shortbread Cookie is very delicate. You really have to watch the cookies as they burn easily. We burnt the batch we made in the kitchen due to the unfamiliarity with the oven.

This batch of Whipped Shortbread Cookies were made by Jean the day before. They are so buttery and they just melt in your mouth. Great for holiday cookies exchange.

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, at room temperature, softened
• 1/2 cup icing sugar
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• dash of salt
• 1 teaspoon of almond extract

Click on the link below for the instructions.

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Minoo also made this scrumptious Oatmeal, Raisin and Chocolate Chip Cookies in the South Arm Community Kitchen. It is about time to switch on the oven to do some baking as the weather is getting colder. I love the aroma from baking sweet treats.

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup butter or margarine
• 2 cups brown sugar, packed
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 2 cups chocolate chips
• 1 cup raisins

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