The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap

At first, I was really worried.  “But Mom,” I fretfully whined into the phone, “I’m not a baker.  I mean, I’ve blatantly bashed my baking skills on my own blog.  How can I possibly come up with something good enough to send to other food bloggers?  What if I get the name of someone who bakes for a living?!”  My self-consciousness about my skills in the sugared arts and the newness of my blog in the foodie community were getting to me.

“Just don’t over think it, honey,” my mother replied matter-of-factly.  I pictured her waving her hand flippantly, dismissing my anxiety instantly.   “I think it sounds really fun, and I’ll help you find a recipe!”  She could always be counted on for support. 

She was right, it did sound really cool: An entire community of food bloggers, from all over the country, coming together, OFF of the interwebs, sharing recipes and making food for each other.  In fact, I’d had a post-it note hanging off of the bottom of my computer screen at work reminding myself of the sign-up deadline, ever since I’d first caught wind of it.  Taunting me every day, tempting me to just sign up already.  Until one day, I did!  I thought, “Screw it. If I’m the chick that makes a classic chocolate chip cookie, I’m fine with it.  Nothing wrong with chocolate chip cookies.”

As it turned out, my mother came through and sent me a recipe right away by Giada de Laurentiis for her Lemon Ricotta Cookies.  The key to these:  they were straightforward, simple, very few ingredients.  But I wasn’t sure about them.  Were they special enough?  Would they stand up to the confections my fellow food bloggers with actual baking talent were bound to produce?  After an extensive and exhaustive search, and even a cookie-making experiment in which I desperately (and selfishly) tried to make Nutella a major ingredient in a cookie recipe, I found nothing else that interested me more, or that I felt more comfortable approaching, making and sending to other people.  People who I’d never met.  People who, ideally, had to consume, and hopefully enjoy my cookie.

And truly, the Lemon Ricotta Cookies proved to be fabulously easy.  There was one desperate moment, as I was spooning the recommended amount of batter onto the cookie sheet when I realized that there was NO WAY I was going to get 44 cookies out of this recipe, as it had indicated I would.  Not. Even. Close.  I started to do the math in my head, and realized that I might not even get the 36 I needed for the cookie swap!  I started cutting back slightly on the size of each dollop of batter, and felt better.  Until I realized in a classic shocked “O” face, Oh Shit Moment, that ya know, I’VE NEVER MADE THESE BEFORE.  I’ve never made them, and so, I’d probably want to taste one or two to make sure they’re even fit to send to other human beings.  So, I panicked again, and cut back on dollop size, again, and managed to eke out 38 cookies. WHEW.

These light and fluffy cookies are topped off with a lemon glaze made with powdered sugar and lemon juice.  As I finished glazing the last one, I stumbled into the living room, collapsed into the couch, and took a deep breath.  I was done, I couldn’t believe it, and I got through the whole thing without a single burnt cookie or mis-step in the recipe!  Perhaps my baking skills weren’t as completely horrendous as I thought they were.  I tasted one, and then two, and they were delightfully lemony and sweet, without being bitey or overly sugary.  I hoped desperately that the three ladies I had to send these to would think the same. 

Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze

Cookies:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 lemon, zested

Glaze:

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 lemon, zested

Preheat the oven to 3755F.

Cookies:  In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In the large bowl combine the butter and the sugar. Using an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Beat to combine. Stir in the dry ingredients.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Spoon the dough (about 2 tablespoons for each cookie) onto the baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes, until slightly golden at the edges. Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 20 minutes.

Glaze:  Combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Spoon about 1/2-teaspoon onto each cookie and use the back of the spoon to gently spread. Let the glaze harden for about 2 hours. Pack the cookies into a decorative container.

As I sat, covered head to toe in powdered sugar and flour, eating leftover glaze straight out of the bowl with a very large spoon, watching the Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting, I already felt like this had been a heart-warming experience.  I couldn’t WAIT to send out the cookies, to share them with other people!  And so it was with great joy that I packaged my little lemon darlings up and sent them off to new homes.  My cookies were sent to Sweet Keira in San Francisco (she is one of those people that just has raw, baking talent! Her creations are just beautiful!), La Aquacate in Nashville (we actually ended up making the SAME recipe, can you believe it!), and New York City Eats, from Missouri.  No, just kidding, she’s obviously from NYC (her blog is a fab combo of local NYC food events, and her own cooking).  

The following week I received two packages of cookies, both of which thrilled me beyond words.  In fact, thrilled me beyond normal functionality because each time I tore into the packages, and immediately started eating cookies and completely forgot to take pictures of them!  The third package is still at FedEx, but the baker of these cookies contacted me and I am so excited to pick them up—the Authentic Suburban Gourmet, Lisa, has said that her package contains Chocolate Dipped Gingerbread Biscotti…OMG.  Thank you to Corkscrews & Curls (real name: Elizabeth Bennet, I kid you not! How cool!) for the delightful little shortbread cookies with lemon and sage, they pair perfectly with hot tea, as was suggested, and also with Hot Whiskeys as I discovered (tee hee!).  I have been rationing these, as I will be very sad when they are all gone.  And muchas gracias to Kelly’s Kitchen for sharing her grandmother’s nuthorn recipe with me! The not-too-sweet cinnamon-y goodness inside of the dense buttery dough made a perfect dessert! 

This was such a fruitful experience.  And I don’t just mean because I got cookies in the mail (which was awesome by the way, the electric company should take notes.  Mail is just so much cooler when there’s cookies in it!).  It really was neat to think about all the cookies making their way from home to home, a little bit of love in every box.  The world is such a chaotic and divided place today, it warms my heart to think that in our own way, each of us swappers was a part of something purely GOOD.  I feel more connected to the food blogging community, and more confident that I belong in it.  I feel like we each perpetuated the love we have for food, and am thrilled with the momentum I have seen this create.

Happy Holidays and Buon Appetito!

If you are interested in learning more about The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap, co-created by Julie of The Little Kitchen, and Lindsay of Love & Olive Oil, click HERE.

To follow along with all the buzz on Twitter, Pinterest or Instagram, use/follow #fbcookieswap

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