This weekend begins the fall foliage trek for many leaf peepers. They will pay a pretty penny,traveling by the busload to New England to marvel at what nature can do. Since I live in New England, I can enjoy the riotous display of color for free!
But, besides the foliage, Columbus Day is also upon us, when we honor the great Genovese explorer for discovering America. I know it is a touchy subject with many who think Columbus was less of a hero and more of a tyrant. I will leave that for the historians to debate.
In my household, Columbus Day marks the beginning of the holiday baking season. In other words, it is time to bake Christmas cookies!
My mother always started baking on Columbus Day, and it has rubbed off on me. Starting now and continuing well into December, I will be filling my freezer with all kinds of Christmas cookies from dainty pizzelle to sturdy biscotti.
I usually make one or two kinds each week so by the time December arrives, my freezer is chocked full of cookies that we will enjoy and also give away to neighbors and friends. It's a nice touch to give something homemade. Besides, while others who procrastinate will be scrambling to bake cookies into the wee hours of Christmas Eve, those who start now can just sit back and let December be the most wonderful time of the year.
I have just a few cookie recipes where I freeze the dough befor baking. Can you freeze cookies after baking? And if so, do they taste just as good as fresh baked?
Posted by: Dawn Darretta | November 01, 2009 at 08:28 PM
Dawn, there are a lot of cookies you can freeze after baking from filled to bar to biscotti. I wrap them in Press N'Seal and then put them in tins or plastic bags and they freeze beautifully and taste just like they were just made.
Posted by: mary Ann Esposito | November 04, 2009 at 09:24 PM
Will you tell me what cookies keep the best and which ones to bake first? I don't have much room in my freezer and will keep them cool in the basemenmt in cans
Posted by: Roselyn Simchick | November 07, 2009 at 11:41 AM
When I was a child we had a neighbor from Bari and she used to make a fried cookied dipped in red wine glaze. The cookie reminds me of pizelle but the dough was thicker. Are you familiar with this cookie and do you have a recipe?C
Posted by: Connie Thom | November 07, 2009 at 07:23 PM
The best cookie keepers are things like biscotti, crisp molasses cookies, gingerbread cookies. Soft cookies or filled cookies are best made and frozen to keep them fresh. Cut out sugar cookies can be made a week ahead and stored in tins in a cool place like a garage or enclosed porch area.
Posted by: mary Ann Esposito | November 14, 2009 at 10:43 PM
Connie, we are not familiar with this particular cookie but we do have a rosette shaped one that is drizzled in honey from Puglia that may be similiar. You can find it on the web site under cookies
Posted by: mary Ann Esposito | November 14, 2009 at 10:46 PM
Roselyn, I usually bake my biscotti first. I have had them up to a month in a tin. Not sure if it's because there is no butter in the recipe. It is the type of biscotti that needs to be dunked, otherwise you'd have a hard time taking a bite out of one! They remind me so much of the boxes of cookies my grandfather would send every Christmas & Easter from Messina, Sicily. Other than the torrone, almost every cookie had to be dunked. Yum! Oh, if you wanted to dip them in chocolate, don't do that so far in advance as the chocolate can get a little white looking.
Posted by: Dawn Darretta | November 15, 2009 at 11:21 AM
I live in philadelphia, pa and there is a bakery that makes a cooke called quorsemali. I am looking for the receipe but had no luck. I would love to make these cookies. They are a chocolate bar with nuts and fruit. Can you help
Posted by: patricia deromedi | November 05, 2010 at 09:29 AM