After I have recovered from Thanksgiving turkey-stuffing, sweet potato casserole, and pumpkin pie extravaganza, I crank up the Christmas music, which I play until New Year’s Day (yes, I am that obnoxious person who LOVES Christmas music). I watch The Holiday, in place of Santa Claus (the kids are all grown up now), and eagerly await…
COOKIE WEEK
Yep, a week’s worth of holiday cookies created by NYTcooking culinary stars like Melissa Clark, Sue Li, Yewande Komolafe, Claire Saffitz, Sue Li, Sohla El-Waylly, and my two favorites, Vaughn Vreeland and Eric Kim. I scan the cookies and decide which ones I have to try. Top of the list is usually Eric’s holiday cookie. For a guy who did not start as a baker, he has a knack for creating the perfect cookie every year. My favorites include:
Eric’s Grocery Store Cookie – The supermarket, sprinkle-laden, tooth-achingly sweet Lofthouse Cookie revamped. Imagine a tender, buttery, not-too-sweet cookie slathered with a buttercream frosting flavored with freeze-dried berries and sprinkles. The LOFTIER version of that supermarket cookie.
Gochujang Caramel Cookies – A crisp-edged, chewy-center sugar cookie swirled with sweet & spicy Gochujang (a Korean chili paste). So damn good.
Matcha Latte Cookie – Make a matcha latte, snap your fingers like Mary Poppins, and turn it into a cookie; that’s this delightful bite. The milk-based frosting is icing on the proverbial cookie, amazing.
And this year, he does it again with his
Lemon-Tumeric Crinkle Cookies
Are you scratching your head? Thinking what? The combination of lemon and turmeric works so well. Eric describes it as “it tastes kinda like Fruit Loops,” and I would agree. The turmeric adds a floral twist to the lemon and a vibrant rosy orange hue to the cookie. Simply gorgeous. Visually dramatic with the rosy orange cookie peeking out from under the coat of powdered sugar,
Let’s Get to the Good Part: The Cookie
Ok, this is a cakey cookie. After letting the cookies cool on a rack, I took my first bite…yep, cakey cookie. In full transparency…not my favorite kind of cookie, give me a good shortbread and I am a happy camper. I brought the cookies to a holiday party, which were GOBBLED up. The cookie’s festive color and nuanced flavor proved to be a hit.
Meanwhile, a few days later, I grabbed one of the cookies to go with a cup of tea and said to the hubs, “This cookie is better today than the first day”. The cookies were less cakey, moister, and still very flavorful. The texture was much more to my liking. So, note to self. Make these cookies and squirrel away a couple to munch on a few days later. Genius.
Pro Tip for Eric’s Cookies
Make these cookies by hand. I’ve learned that my KitchenAid stand mixer can be a detriment. It’s much too easy to overbeat cookies and cakes when using one. At the same time, hand-whisking for one minute, isn’t all that easy, lol. SOLUTION: If you don’t want to mix by hand, get a hand mixer! I did, it’s a Christmas present from my kids and hubby (although they don’t know yet, shhh). Make sure to bring the cream cheese to room temp, much easier to beat by hand.
Turmeric
If you aren’t familiar with turmeric, it is a spice in the ginger family. It is widely used and can be found at most grocery stores, in particular, Indian and Middle Eastern stores. Bonus, we are looking at a win-win; turmeric is an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. It may help with arthritis and other joint disorders, colitis, allergies, and infections. So this is guilt-free cookie consumption if you ask me.
Word of warning, the downside of turmeric’s brilliant color is that it stains. Avoid getting it on your clothes or counters!
If you have NYTCooking, a video of Eric making these cookies is on their site on YouTube.
Instead of butter, the cookie is made with cream cheese and olive oil. I love the use of olive oil in baked goods, which is saying a lot, I am a BUTTERvangelist, lol. I made the dough and refrigerated it overnight. It was still fairly soft and easy to scoop. Use a #40 or #50 scoop to portion out the dough. Roll dough balls in powdered sugar; use a generous coat of sugar on each one. During the bake, start checking the cookies at 12 minutes, especially if using a #50 scoop. Allow cookies to cool on a rack, store in an airtight container with wax paper in between each layer.
If you are looking for something different but delicious, include these Lemon-Turmeric Crinkle Cookies on your holiday cookie list.
Lemon-Turmeric Crinkle Cookie
Ingredients
Creamed Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ¾ cup granulated sugar 150 grams
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest from about 2 lemons
- 4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon coarse kosher salt or fine salt
Dry Ingredient
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour 192 grams
Coating
- ¾ cup powdered sugar 92 grams
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together oil and turmeric until combined. Let sit for about 30 seconds to let turmeric dissolve. Add sugar, lemon zest, cream cheese, egg and vanilla. Vigorously whisk to combine and aerate the mixture, about 1 minute.
- Whisk in baking soda and salt. Add flour, then switch to a rubber spatula and stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate dough until hard enough to scoop, about 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment. Using a 1½-tablespoon cookie scoop (or two spoons) and working one at a time, scoop out 1½-inch/29-gram rounds and coat them in powdered sugar. Place them a couple of inches apart on the baking sheets and bake until crinkled and no longer wet-looking on top, 15 to 17 minutes. Let cool completely on the pan before eating.
Notes
I prefer weights when baking but without a scale, I would use the scoop and sweep method. Don't pack down your flour.
How long can these be stored for? Should these be the fridge? Can’t wait to try them!!
I found this for Lemon Crinkle Cookies and figure it should be about the same although 5 days seems long. Chocolate Crinkles start to get dry by then. I think 3 days, 4 at most.
“Place cooled cookies in airtight container and keep at room temperature for up to 5 days. Make sure cookies are completely cooled before placing in container. Do NOT store in fridge, the powdered sugar could melt. They are best enjoyed during days 1-2 but will keep up to 5 days.
Wondering how many cookies this yields. An average number of ordinary sized cookies. Anyone have an idea? I ALWAYS prefer a yeidl when preparing anything whether baking cakes or cookies or preparing a savory item for dinner. As much of my baking and cooking goes elsewhere feeding other people, it is a tremendous help to know before even beginning what to expect and whether more than one batch will be needed. Thanks
Oops! Gosh, I thought I had posted the yield. I think I ended up with 20 cookies using a #40 scoop (1.6T).
Love tumeric. I added cinnamon and nutmeg and used vanilla. Fun change of the standard cookies!
I made these with ricotta cheese and they came out amazingly well balanced and delicious! A 10/10 in my book!
Yum!
These are… odd. Turmeric and lemon are a fine combination, but the soda and salt are excessive compared to the other ingredients. Since the other ingredients are fairly light-flavored, this results in a noticeably salty cookie with a lingering baking soda aftertaste. Alas. I think this would be better if it called for 1/2 tsp baking POWDER instead of the 3/4 TSP baking SODA.
I’m planning to try almond extract in place of vanilla next time. Do you think that might help with the after taste?
Can this recipe be doubled successfully?
I think you should be able to although I have not tried. I would add the eggs one at a time, beating one in before the next one. Hope this helps.
I’m wondering if there could be a cream cheese alternative for those vegan people?
Hmmm, there are plant based cream cheeses out there. Even Philadelphia Cream Cheese makes one now. I have tried Miyokos plant based cheeses for eating and they’re pretty good. I saw another suggestion-Tofutti. My choice would be Miyoko’s cream cheese. Made of cashews and coconut cream to replace the dairy.
I agree that these cookies almost taste better the next day or two. They stay moist which seems contradictory to other “crinkle” type cookies that I made. Maybe it’s the cream cheese. They are best with tea or coffee.