Cookie

A very moist, fudgy brownie.

(Klejner) Every year research editor Karen Hallal serves these spiced diamond-shaped cookies for dessert on Christmas Eve. They are fried like doughnuts and coated with powdered sugar. The recipe for klejner, popular all over Scandinavia, was given to Karen by her Danish mother.

If you want crisp cookies, serve these on the same day they're made; they soften even when stored in an airtight container.

The egg makes these a little less delicate (and less likely to break) than traditional lace cookies. Arrange them in a decorative box or tin lined with festive tissue paper, then secure the package with a fancy bow.

This is the first published recipe for Girl Scout cookies. It was printed in July, 1922.

These cookies are a tradition during Lent (Quaresima) in Florence, Italy. They are easy, low in fat, and fun to make with children. If you are not a strict observer of Lent, you might use the egg yolks left over from this recipe to make schiacciata alla fiorentina, a festive flat bread popular with Florentines in the earlier season of Carnevale.

Similar in texture to lemon bars, these have a shortbread cookie base and a delightful tropical fruit filling.

These "cakes" are really festive cookies.

Each filling makes enough for one batch of cookies. Whichever filling you choose, be sure to prepare it a day ahead.

A bowl of fresh fruit and some mixed nuts would be very nice go-withs here.

Malouines At the restaurant, these cookies are about the size of a dime. We found them much easier to work with, however, if we made them a little bigger.

These cookies are best enjoyed the same day they are made.

These would make nice presents, too.