Trying something new

Recently, I have been playing around with different flavor combinations for cookies. Last month, I made Almond Joy cookies. I took my earthy chocolate chip cookie recipe and adapted it for adding toasted almond pieces and shredded coconut. They are really good and I don't think there is anything to change as far as the recipe is concerned. For once, I am really happy with the first attempt of an original recipe.

After making the almond joy cookies a couple of times, I wanted something new. I found dried cherries while shopping at Costco and instantly thought about combining white and dark chocolate chips with the dried cherries. I wanted the dough to be more of a sugar cookie dough, not the brown sugar dough that the earthy cookies are made with. I decided to try substituting equal parts white granulated sugar for the brown sugar in the dough recipe. It worked pretty well and the cookies were good, but really sweet. I was already thinking of ways to change them when Alison suggested adding some nuts for a crunch in the cookie. I really liked the idea and will definitely add some toasted almonds to the batter the next time I make those. (Which, knowing me, will probably be really soon.)

Friday, my mom and I made lemon bars with homemade lemon curd. I had made the lemon curd before, but had never made lemon bars, even from a box. They are so good and tart. Very refreshing on a hot summer day.

While we were making the lemon bars, I took dried pineapple and rehydrated it using banana liqueur. I allowed it to sit until yesterday afternoon. They were a main ingredient in Pina Colada Cookies. I took the same sugar cookie base from the Black & White Chocolate Cherry Chip Cookies and replaced most of the vanilla extract with white rum, used coconut milk instead of regular milk, added shredded coconut, the rehydrated pineapple, and some toasted almonds pieces. I really like toasted almonds in cookies if you didn't already figure that out. I like the flavor in these cookies, but I was not happy with how thin the cookies came out. The batter spread a lot while baking. I'm not sure what's causing it, but you can bet that I will find out. Bring on lots of experiments.