Taste of the new year!

Backpedaling a bit to Christmas. Made linzers and gingerbread and a Martha cookie that is good anytime, methinks. The flavors are good- a bit of citrus, chocolate, mellow marsala and nuts.

Got a few compliments on these, which is nice considering I didn't use candied orange peel (which was scarce right before Christmas) but the stuff you put in a fruitcake. I picked out the pineapple, the cherries and the green chunks and used the citron, lemon and orange. Not as tart, but still tasty. Definitely one to add to the repertoire and something I'd bring to a grown-up party. Have one with tea or more of the wine you use in the recipe.

Chocolate Almond Marsala Cookies (from "holiday cookies" 12/06)

Yields 2 dozen. Or more.
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp course salt
2 large eggs (One goes IN the cookies, one gets beaten and brushed on top.)
1/3 cup Marsala wine
1/2 cup whole raw almonds with skins toasted and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped candied orange peel
4 oz. semisweet chocolate chopped
3 tbsp honey

1.) Preheat oven to 250F. Stir together dry ingredients in a large bowl. Beat 1 egg with wine in a small bowl and add to flour mixture. Stir in almonds, orange peel and chocolate. Stir in honey.

2.) Flour your work surface generously and knead dough just until it holds its shape. Divvy dough in half and pat each half into a 10 1/2 inch by 1 1/2 inch by 1 inch log. Or thereabouts. Refrigerate until cold (abt. 45 mins).

3.) Cut log crosswise (I did it on a diagonal) about 3/4 inch thick slices. Gently mess with each slice so it's slightly rounded (think "nugget" rather than "biscotti"). Beat second egg. Stand the cookies upright 1 inch apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush each with a bit of beaten egg.

4.) Bake 20 minutes. Raise oven temp to 350F and bake cookies to a deep golden brown (10-12 mins). Cool on sheets on wire racks. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temp up to two days.