What’s more awesome than a bunch of food bloggers swapping cookies? How about a bunch of food bloggers swapping cookies to raise money for kids’ cancer research? I think it’s pretty awesome. Plus, there are the cookies. 😉
I mentioned before that I wasn’t aware of the Christmas cookie gifting tradition until very recently, so when I heard about The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap I jumped right on that! Not only would I finally get to partake in the holiday cookie cheer, but I would also be contributing to an awesome organization – Cookies for Kids’ Cancer. This year our band of bloggers raised over $12k for kids’ cancer research!
Having never been a Christmas cookie baker, you can imagine that I was pretty stumped on what to make at first. I had no idea what made a Christmas cookie a Christmas cookie vs a regular cookie. I also had no idea which types of cookies would ship best. In the end I decided on a cookie I thought would survive not only the shipping process but also the shipping time – biscotti. Is biscotti a Christmas cookie? I still don’t know.
I remember the first time I had biscotti. I was a kid and wanted a cookie. Ya…no one told me biscotti were hard or that they were meant to be eaten with a hot drink. I took one bite (or attempted to) and decided that I didn’t like biscotti. Then many years later when I was old enough to drink coffee, I saw someone dunk a biscotti in their coffee. What?? World’s been holding out on me!
This Honey Lavender Biscotti is a lighter version of the usual cookie. I wanted something that would go well with any hot drink – coffee, tea, cocoa. They’re only slightly sweet with just a hint of lavender and honey. My kids were all over them. The hubs even approved, and he tends to shy away from anything flavored with flowers.
Honey Lavender Biscotti
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 30-40 biscotti
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 eggs
- 1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 Tbs lavender
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°
- Place the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl and whisk to combine.
- Beat the eggs, sugar and honey together until well combined.
- Mix in the lavender and vanilla.
- Slowly add in the flour mixture while mixing until everything is incorporated.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone baking sheet.
- Divide the dough in half and shape each loaf to about 2-3 inches wide and half an inch tall (loaves will be about 8-10 inches long).
- If baking both loaves on the same sheet, place them about 3 inches apart.
- Bake 25-30 minutes or until loaves are lightly golden and baked through.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool 10-15 minutes.
- Reduce oven temperature to 325°
- Cut loaves into 1/2 inch slices and lay on a baking sheet cut side up.
- Bake for 7 minutes, flip the slices and bake for 7 minutes more (14 minutes total).
- Transfer slices to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.
These yummies went out to the lovely ladies – Prudy of Butter Basil and Breadcrumbs, Melissa of Persnickety Plates and Doree of Top Notch Mom. Hope you enjoyed them!
And what did I receive in return? First I got an assortment of sugar cookies and shortbread from Peter of Feed Your Soul Too. Head on over there to get his recipe for shortbread with candy bars!
And just in the nick of time for this post, this pretty box of delicious ginger cookie sandwiches with Christmas ale buttercream arrived at my doorstep. So worth the wait! Visit Melanie at Melanie Makes for the recipe.
This swap was so much fun. I’ve been like a kid waiting for a letter from Santa – checking the mailbox every day in hopes of some cookie mail! And let’s not forget the best part – being a part of a group that has raised a good chunk of cash for children’s cancer research.
Special thanks to Julie @ The Little Kitchen and Lindsay @ Love & Olive Oil for organizing this amazing swap for charity. You ladies rock! #fbcookieswap
Do you send cookies for Christmas? Have you gotten any fun ones this year?
