Cookie Showdown: And the Winner Is . . .

The Chow Bella team came out in force for our latest food showdown, this time a battle of holiday cookie recipes. Thank goodness somebody showed up with a gallon of milk! I had an entire plate filled with all kinds of baked treats, and somehow I had to taste through them...

By Michele Laudig

December 21, 2010

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The Chow Bella team came out in force for our latest food showdown, this time a battle of holiday cookie recipes.

Thank goodness somebody showed up with a gallon of milk! I had an entire plate filled with all kinds of baked treats, and somehow I had to taste through them all and pick a winner. (That amounted to my dinner that night, by the way -- my food coma was so intense that I could barely drive myself home from work.)

Hannah Williams made her grandmother's Melting Moments (which lived up to their name), Zach Fowle slathered us in chocolate with his peppermint chocolate bonbons, Wynter Holden doctored up her mother-in-law's macaroons with a special ingredient, and Carrie Wheeler made chewy, delicious layer bars.

And that's not all! Cyndi Coon slathered butter creme in her chocolate chip peppermint sandwich cookies, and Carol Blonder brought in pretty little chocolate-dipped walnut spritz cookies.

When all was said and done, I found myself taking a couple extra bites of Wynter's awesome macaroon, and it dawned on me:

If only someone in my family had made macaroons like this -- chewy, sweet, and gently crisp on the outside -- I just might've liked coconut as a kid.

Congrats, Wynter! Santa Claus would be thrilled to find a plate of these next to the Christmas tree.

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