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CINNAMON ALMOND BISCOTTI

Preheat over to 350F.Lightly grease a baking sheet that's at least 16 inches long.

To prepare the dough
Beat the butter and sugar in a medium bowl until smooth. Beat in the baking powder, cinnamon, salt and almond extract. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping the bowl. Add the flour, oats to the batter. Stir in the chocolate chips and toasted almonds.

To shape the dough
Scrape half the dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Wet your fingers and pat the dough into a smooth log about 12 inches long, 2 inches wide and 1 inch thick. Repeat with the other half of the dough. Make the logs as smooth and even possible: this will yield the most uniform cookies. Spritz the top of each log with water, and sprinkle heavily with cinnamon sugar.

To bake the biscotti
Bake the logs for 25 mins, and remove from the oven. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 F. After 10 minutes, spritz the logs lightly with water. Let them rest for 10 minutes, then use a serrated knife to cut them into crosswise slices, ¾ inch thick. This will yield biscotti. The logs have a tendency to crumble, particularly at the edges. Use the serrated knife to carefully cut them as slowly and gently as necessary. Starting at the far edge, rather tan on top of the log, seems to be most effective.

Arrange the slices, upright, on the baking sheet.. return the baking sheet to the oven, and bake until the biscotti are golden brown, 20 minutes. Remove them from the oven and let cool right on the pan.

PUMPKIN SUGAR COOKIE

¾ c. butter (1 ½ sticks)
1 c. sugar
½ c. canned pumpkin
½ t. vanilla
1 t. cinnamon
½ t. nutmeg
½ t. allspice
3 c. flour
1 t. baking powder
½ t. salt

Preheat oven to 375º. Cream butter and sugar with mixer until light and fluffy. Add pumpkin, vanilla and spices. Mix in dry ingredients until a stiff dough forms. Chill for at least one hour. Roll out and cut with your favorite shapes. Bake for 7 – 8 minutes. Makes 2 dozen large cookies. We decorated with a simple frosting: 2 cups powdered sugar, enough milk just to get it wet (1-3 teaspoons) and red, blue and green food coloring. Tip - put the colored frosting in a ziplock type bag and snip off one of the corners to pipe out frosting easily.

Washington School Inn SIGNATURE COOKIE!

1 c. whole-wheat flour (King Arthur brand White Whole Wheat is our favorite)
1 c. whole oats
½ c. whole oats, grind for 30 seconds in blender or food processor
½ t. baking soda
½ t. baking powder
½ t. salt
½ c. butter
1 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
1 c. chocolate chips
1 c. chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350º. Mix together all dry ingredients in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla. Add dry ingredients a bit at a time until fully incorporated. Mix in chocolate chips and pecans. Bake for 10 minutes rotating pan halfway through. (Cookies will look a bit undercooked.) Makes 4 dozen 2” cookies. Recipe doubles well.

LAVENDER COOKIES

½ c. unsalted butter
½ c. granulated sugar
1 ½ c. all-purpose flour
2 T. fresh or 1 T. dried lavender flowers (source: Essence de Provence)
2 T. sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 400 ° .

Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Stir in flour and lavender and mix until a soft ball is formed. Cover and chill for 15 minutes. Roll dough to ¼” thickness on a lightly floured surface. Stamp out cookies using a 2 ½ ” cutter of any shape. Makes 2-3 dozen cookies.

Place on heavy baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes, until edges are lightly golden. Sprinkle with sugar and let stand for five minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

TRIPLE FUDGE BROWNIES (Jean's absolute favorite brownie)

5 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
8 T. (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into quarters
3 T. cocoa powder
3 large eggs
1¼ c. (8.75 oz) sugar
2 t. vanilla extract
1/2 t. salt
1 c. (about 5 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 8-inch-square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Fold two 16-inch pieces of foil lengthwise to measure 7 inches wide. Fit one sheet in bottom of greased pan, pushing it into corners and up sides of pan (overhang will help in removal of baked brownies). Fit second sheet in pan in same manner, perpendicular to first sheet. Spray foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In medium heatproof bowl set over pan of almost-simmering water, melt chocolates and butter, stirring occasionally until mixture is smooth. Whisk in cocoa until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.

Whisk together eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt in medium bowl until combined, about 15 seconds. Whisk warm chocolate mixture into egg mixture; then stir in flour until just combined. Pour mixture into prepared pan, spread into corners, and level surface with rubber spatula; bake until slightly puffed and toothpick inserted in center comes out with small amount of sticky crumbs clinging to it, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool on wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours, then remove brownies from pan using foil handles. Cut into 1-inch squares and serve. (Do not cut brownies until ready to serve; brownies can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated up to 5 days or frozen up to 2 months.)

based on recipe from Americastestkitchen.com

GINGERSNAPS

¾ c. butter
½ c. sugar
½ c. brown sugar
¼ c. molasses
1 egg
2 c. flour
1 t. cinnamon
½ t. cloves
½ tsp. ginger
½ tsp. salt

Cream butter and sugars. Add molasses and egg and mix well. Add dry ingredients. Chill for 1 hour. Make into small balls and roll in additional sugar. Bake at 375 ° for 9 minutes.