Snickerdoodles: Cinnamon Sugar Cookies (+Giveaway)

Snickerdoodles are perfect during this holiday season. They're just as delicious as plain sugar cookies, but with a touch of freshly ground cinnamon. The cookie dough is rolled into small dough balls and then rolled in cinnamon sugar. Once they're nicely coated, the cookies are flattened, and when they're baked, a whimsical, crinkled cinnamon top is formed.

What makes this batch of cookies very special is the use of Bourbon Barrel Foods smoked salt, smoked sugar and pure vanilla extract. It turned out to be a marvelous choice as it added another dimension to the Christmas cookies.

If you want to try out this recipe, head over to BourbonBarrelFoods.com. Their products are some of the best new ingredients I’ve tried in a long time, and I highly recommend them for your sweet and savory cooking. And today only, you have a chance to win an assortment of Bourbon Barrel products by entering on the 25 Days of Giveaways page.

Make sure you're a fan of PhamFatale Facebook fan page and Bourbon Barrel Foods or follow @Phamfatalecom and tweet about this giveaway. To make it easy, you can just copy and paste this tweet if you’d like: "BBF Holiday Package #Giveaway from @Phamfatalecom and @BourbonBarrel: http://bit.ly/sp4V7y".

Citrus Chocolate Cookie Recipe

Sugar cookies are synonymous with the holidays. It seems as though I find myself making a batch every couple of days around this time of year. To speed up the process I keep dough frozen for quick use when the family needs a sugar cookie fix. This particular version is flavored with citrus and chocolate. I paired the cookies with a simple orange icing and decorated them with edible Pham Fatale peel-&-press stickers from Ticings. I completed the decorations by sprinkling crystallized rose-petal sugar. The pink color from the sugar matched our custom-made PhamFatale logos. Adorable, no?

I’ve used cute Ticings baking decorations several times over the past couple of months. I’m not very good with piping bags, so these decorations come in really handy. If you’d like to get your own on Ticings® decorations, the awesome folks at Ticings have agreed to be a part of our 25 Days of Giveaways, so you can add holiday art to your classic baking. Just enter today on the Pham Fatale 25 Days of Giveaways page. And if you don’t end up winning, don’t despair! Ticings is offering free shipping to Pham Fatale readers. Just use the promo code “PHAM” on your order.

Make sure you're a fan of PhamFatale Facebook fan page and Ticings, or follow @Phamfatalecom and tweet about this giveaway. To make it easy, you can just copy and paste this tweet if you’d like: "Ticings edible dessert toppers $30 value #Giveaway from @Phamfatalecom and @ticing: http://bit.ly/sp4V7y". Good luck everyone!

Madeleine Cookie Recipe (+Giveaway)

Whenever I have time, I prepare breakfast in bed for my husband. And since madeleine cookies are his favorite, I prepared the batter the day before and stored it in the refrigerator to surprise him today. It took me less than 15 minutes to bake them the next morning and I was able to serve hot, straight from the oven vanilla-flavored madeleines to Lulu. If you're planning to serve breakfast, keep these French cookies in mind; they're absolutely delicious and not that difficult to make. Just read my secret to the characteristic bump for an authentic version of madeleine cookies and these cookies are guaranteed to turn out well.

Vanilla is a great flavoring in general, and I think it adds another dimension to madeleines. I can't imagine a home baker's pantry not having a bottle of vanilla extract around the holidays. I used Nielsen Massey vanilla extract in this recipe. In case you’re not familiar, Nielsen Massey vanillas are full flavored and there are distinct differences between the varieties. It may be vanilla, but it's definitely not plain! The folks at Nielsen Massey were kind enough to provide one (two-ounce) bottle of each Tahitian, Mexican & Madagascar vanilla extract and "A Century of Flavor" cookbook as today’s giveaway. Be sure to enter for a chance to win (click on the link).

Make sure you're a fan of PhamFatale Facebook fan page and Nielsen-Massey Vanillas or follow @Phamfatalecom and tweet about this giveaway. To make it easy, you can just copy and paste this tweet if you’d like: "Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Extracts #Giveaway from @Phamfatalecom: http://bit.ly/uiJfq9". Good luck everyone!

Che Bap Recipe (Vietnamese Sweet Corn Pudding)

Chè is difficult to describe. It's a sweet, soupy pudding served in a small bowl. As I've mentioned before, Vietnamese desserts are mildly sweet and don't always have the most appealing presentation. Chè definitely fits this description. As a child, Maman used to make it very often, especially for the Buddhist prayer rituals (cúng). This version of chè is made with corn and coconut milk; it's called chè bắp in Vietnamese. It can be eaten warm or cold. This dessert can be made all year round; during the summer, I use fresh corn off the cob. When the weather gets cold, as it has over the past few days, canned corn kernels work just fine.

Chè bắp is generally topped witt a thick, syrupy coconut sauce and slightly toasted white sesame seeds. This is probably one of my favorite Asian sweets.

Madeleine Cookie Recipe (Halloween Dessert)

My husband Lulu loves madeleines. It always reminds him of our trips to Paris. I haven't made any in so long, I thought it was time to surprise him with a fresh batch. I made the madeleines Halloween-friendly by giving them a green color and decorating them with Halloween-themed designs. Pandan is my green food color of choice, and I've flavored and colored a lot of French desserts with it in the past.

Most of the madeleines I've had in America are flat, dry and not very tasty, so I wouldn't be surprised if you're not a fan. The authentic French version must have "the bump" (follow the recipe and you'll find out the secret for fool-proof madeleines) to be truly fluffy and tasty. It creates a light and delicate gourmet cookie that is so pleasant with a hot cup of tea. Not to forget the kid-friendly part, I decorated the madeleines with sprinkles and chocolate chips and wrote spooky messages that for sure will satisfy both big and little kids! And Lulu is most definitely a big kid. He still loves taking his kid sisters trick-or-treating so that he can raid their bags of candy later on. Maybe with these madeleines in the house, he'll stop stealing their sweet treats!

Happy Halloween everyone!