A quartet for the cookie jar

December 12, 2007

This time of year, plum puddings and gingerbread houses enchant many bakers, who think the holidays demand fancy sweets. But when it's time to celebrate, old-fashioned cookie-jar treats aren't too ordinary to offer friends and family. We think that a perfectly chewy oatmeal cookie, made with "fat raisins" (they've been plumped in a rum-orange syrup), or a buttery shortbread studded with bittersweet chocolate nuggets is exceptional. Add slightly salty peanut-butter rounds and rich chocolate cookies and the holiday dessert table is full and comforting. - SHERYL JULIAN

To measure flour, hold the handle of a metal or plastic measuring cup and dip it into a bin of flour. Use a blunt knife to sweep the excess off and level the top.

Made with "fat raisins," these chewy gems are favorites of Bill Clinton.

Nuts, espresso, and lots of chocolate go into these dark, rich rounds.

Use unsalted butter unless a recipe states otherwise. This lets you control the amount of salt in a recipe. A pinch brings out the flavors of the other ingredients.

Bittersweet chocolate chunks are mixed into a simple butter dough.

There's a big difference between measuring cups that come in sets and glass or plastic cups. Use the sets for dry ingredients. Use glass or plastic to measure liquids.

Instead of buttering baking sheets, line them with parchment paper. After baking, it's easy to pull the paper off the sheets and transfer it to a cooling rack.

The classic crosshatch pattern always signals crunchy, nutty rounds.