Which recipe did you use? People have trouble with the Smitten Kitchen/Alison Roman one.
I just saw someone on Nextdoor SF selling homemade cookies for $25-$30 per DOZEN! They didn’t even look that great to me.
I made 120 cookies for my nail lady and told her just to swap for 2 pedicures.
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I think that I made one of the variations.. good reminder of that recipe.
I am keeping @MidwesternerTT 's good advice to manage expectations in mind: this cold drags on, and as a glorious gift of middle age, my lower back is in agony every time I cough! I made my list, which is the same as the last few years:
Peppermint Bark
Pretzel Toffee Bark
Whipped Shortbread
Austrian Raspberry Shortbread
7-layer Cookies
English Toffee bars
Spiced Pecans
Salted Caramels
Panallets ( spanish pine nuts cookie)
Dorie’s Spiced Hermits ( made ginger). Have made about half, but I make multiple batches of many of them, so will see how I do!!
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Info about Zuni Christmas cookies. I don’t know the price. I’ll bet very expensive, very delicious:
Zuni Christmas cookies refer to the popular holiday cookie boxes sold by San Francisco’s famous Zuni Café, featuring artisanal varieties like Pecan Mexican Wedding Cookies, Chocolate Crinkles, Lavender Shortbread, and Raspberry Thumbprints, available for pre-order and local pickup around the holidays.
They’re known for high-quality, handcrafted treats that reflect seasonal flavors and traditions, distinct from generic “Zuni” style cookies, though recipes for similar types (like Mexican Wedding Cookies) are common.
What They Are:
- Limited Edition: Zuni Café offers these special boxes for a short period during the holiday season.
- Assorted Flavors: Each year brings different, gourmet selections, but consistently includes unique options like
Meyer Lemon-Lavender, Pistachio-Rose, and Huckleberry Jam Cookies, notes Zuni Café on Instagram,.
- Handmade Quality: The cookies are made by the pastry kitchen at Zuni Café and are sold in curated boxes, often three dozen per box, say Zuni Café on Instagram and Zuni Café on Instagram.
How to Get Them (Typically):
- Watch for Announcements: Zuni Café announces holiday pre-orders on their Instagram page.
- Pre-Order Online: Purchase your box online for designated pickup dates.
- Pick-Up in SF: Collect your order in person from Zuni Café in San Francisco.
Popular Varieties You Might Find:
- [Pecan Mexican Wedding Cookies]
- [Triple Chocolate Cherry Chunk Cookies]
- [Iced Meyer Lemon–Lavender Cookies]
- [Raspberry–Rhubarb Almond Thumbprints]
- [Pistachio–Rose Shortbread Cookies]
- [Chocolate Crinkle Cookies]
- [Almond Dame Blanche with Huckleberry Jam]
- [Gingersnap Cookies]
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Tender Shortbread Cookies in Baking with Dorie by Dorie Greenspan. Such a good basic recipe with sucess both times i made them.
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@rstuart - the hermits!! I love that pretzel toffee bark - is that from gig originally?
Do you mind sharing the caramel nut and English toffee bar recipes? Thanks!
Do you slice and bake or bake in muffin tins?
I found the toffee pretzel bark off some blog about 10 years ago.. I love how easy it is!
Will type out the english toffee bar recipe later for sure 
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Sounds perfect! Is this it? Do you keep it in the fridge? I notice there is no mention of tempering the chocolate.
Sliced 1/2 inch and baked
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Half batch (testing!) of a recipe I’d wanted to try last year - fig and orange sables. I thought I had some home-candied orange peel in the fridge, but it turned out to be grapefruit peel, so I also added a bit of orange oil and will accept that this test batch might be a bit bitter (which I personally won’t mind.) I made these with rather pricey mission figs from the natural foods store, so I hope I like them.
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@shrinkrap - nope this is the recipe - I make it every year and it is the BEST. Store at room temp
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That’s it!! So easy.. although I am lazy and don’t bother with the white chocolate..
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I’m going to three cookie swaps this year! I had to explain to my college students what a cookie swap was - so funny. First two cookie swaps are this week, third is next week so not sure what I’m making -
on the menu:
- Maple pecan cookies from Sally’s baking 101 - 11 minutes, half with pecans, 280g of flour, ¼ t of salt https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/maple-brown-sugar-cookies/
- Chocolate earthquake cookies from Sofra - 11 min, 30g https://newengland.com/food/desserts/earthquake-chocolate-crinkle-cookies/
- Brown butter salted caramel snickerdoodles (rest dough overnight, 25 g per cookie, bake 9-10 minutes) https://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/brown-butter-salted-caramel-snickerdoodles/
- Salted brown butter RK treats https://smittenkitchen.com/2009/11/salted-brown-butter-crispy-treats/
Last day of classes: brown butter rice crispy treats, brown butter salted caramel snickerdoodles
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Lucky students!!
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Fig and orange (grapefruit) sables. These are a B+ a couple hours after baking, so I’m excited to taste them tomorrow. I don’t bake with figs a lot, so this taste feels fun and mildly exotic to me.
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If you like the fig/orange combo you might like these. I make them every Christmas.
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