Take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne

     New Year's Resolutions:

     Write a post at least once a week (hibernation is almost over).
     Attempt to learn Italian and polar bear.
     Make Yonce brunch.

     Let's be serious, I only really need the last one to happen, but I guess I'll shoot for the first two as well. 

     I've recently been eating a lot more than I've been baking, annnnnd I can't really say I apologize, except for the extra lbs. One of the scrummy things I made over the holidays was a riff on ginger bourbon cookies. I added coffee and cardamom and made Dirty Chai cookies. They may or may not have won a cookie contest. As the cookies were consumed by a hoard of 20-something females, I do not have pictures, but will include the recipe. I did take the time to document my take on Sticky Date Pudding. You simply cannot have a proper happy Christmas without it. Ask Tiny Tim.

Sticky Date Pudding

Do not be fooled, you Yanks, this here ain't no milk pudding. It's a moist cake soaked in syrup. To get started, add the finely chopped dates to the water and drop in the cinnamon sticks. Bring to a boil and then simmer for five minutes. Take off the heat and add the baking soda.

Next, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about four minutes. Add the vanilla and the eggs, one by one. Add the flour and dates and mix just to combine. Pour into a lined 8 in baking dish and throw that sucker into the hot box. 

While it's baking, you should probably make the toffee sauce. So simple. Start by heating the brown sugar, butter, and molasses in a small pot. After this mixture has simmered for a few minutes, take off the heat and add the cream. I also added some sea salt at this point. Great choices. 

When you take the finished cake out of the oven, pour some of the sauce over top. Use the rest to garnish with or eat with a spoon.

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Sloppy or Delicious? Hard to say.

Extra-Dirty Chai Cookies

Start by combining all the dry ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. In a larger bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Then add the vanilla and eggs, one at a time. 

Now for the crazy bit. I took 1/2 cup of coffee, 1/4 cup of sugar, and two tablespoons of cornstarch and combined them in a small pan. I added a bit of the coffee to the cornstarch before adding it to the pan to make sure it wasn't lumpy. After adding the cornstarch slurry back into the pan, I simmered the mixture until it thickened enough to coat my spoon. I then added this to the cookie mix. Lastly, I mixed the flour in until well combined. Let this mixture sit for at least a day in the fridge, if not longer. 

After the flavors have had a day to get to know each other, take the dough out of the fridge and roll them into 1 1/2 in balls. Roll these balls into the cardamom sugar mixture and place onto a cookie sheet. Lightly press on the cookies with your palm to flatten them slightly. Bake and eat. Or gift. 

Recipes

Sticky Date Pudding (adapted from the blog "Don't Forget Delicious!")

350 F 30-35 min

Cake:

• 6 oz dates, pitted and finely chopped
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup crystallized ginger (optional)
• 2 cinnamon sticks (optional)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Sauce:

• 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup Steen’s Pure Cane Syrup (or honey or molasses)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup heavy cream

Extra-Dirty Chai Cookies (adapted from the blog "The Busty Baker")

350 F 8-10 min

2 ¼ cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground ginger

¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tsp cardamon 

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

½ cup packed light brown sugar

½ cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1/2 c coffee

2 tsp cornstarch

1/4 c sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon bourbon (dark or spiced rum also works well)

¼ cup molasses

¼ cup granulated sugar, for rolling

2 tsp cardamon