Recipe swap: Cranberry sammies and/or Bourbon Balls

About a month back, I was searching for a caramel apple recipe. I never did make them, but I did find this recipe for caramel apple bites. Click that link and tell me those aren’t the most adorable little treats you ever saw.

While reading that post, I discovered that those teeny sweet caramel bites were part of a recipe swap hosted by Burwell General Store. The Recipe Swap is a fun exercise, where Christianna (mastermind behind the Burwell blog) sends us a recipe from a vintage cookbook, and we reinterpret it as our own. This month’s assignment: Toll House Cookies.

I had my usual decision paralysis over sweets, and decided to go in two directions. For both, I started with a basic cookie:

• 1/2 C butter
• 12 T granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1 1/8 C cake flour
• 1/2 t salt

Cream butter and sugar, add egg. Mix dry ingredients, then blend with wet. Drop by teaspoonful onto a baking sheet and bake at 375 for 15 – 20 minutes.

The bottom cookie in the picture below was baked for 15 to get something nice and chewy, the top cookie I baked for 20 minutes to get something more dry.

While those were cooling off, I made a quick cranberry jam:

• 1 C cranberries
• 1 T orange juice
• 1/4 C sugar

Combine all and bring to a boil over medium high heat until cranberries start to pop. Turn down the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. It should get pretty thick.

I combined my chewy cookies with the cranberry jam for these rich cranberry sammies.

I used the crispy cookies instead of the traditional vanilla wafers to make bourbon balls.

• 2 C cookie crumbs (I ground them in a food processor)
• 2 C almond flour
• 1 C powdered sugar
• 1/2 C bourbon
• 1.5 T corn syrup
• 2 T cocoa powder

Combine all. Roll into balls, then into cocoa powder or powdered sugar. Refrigerate.

These are delicious, but pretty strong. Make sure you don’t give them to kids!

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