It’s that time of year again—time to break out the tinsel and the holiday sweaters and, of course, the cookies! Yesterday was the Workman holiday party, and we really pulled out the stops. In addition to gifts under the tree, a rockin’ holiday band, and a record-breaking dance number (more details soon…!), the party also saw the return of a favorite holiday tradition: the annual Workman cookie swap.

A very small sampling of the many desserts at the party

What is a cookie swap, you ask? It’s just that: a swapping of cookies. Partygoers whipped up a batch of their favorite cookies—often, you probably won’t be surprised to learn, out of a Workman cookbook—and then laid them out for display. Then everyone who brought in baked goods could put together a sampler of all the other cookies they wanted to take home. And even those of us who didn’t make anything were allowed to try a few—you know, in the generous holiday spirit and all.

This year the edible offerings were as great as ever, with cookies running the gamut from peanut butter thumbprints to chocolate whoopie pies. Among the many highlights were treats from two of our favorite cookie books: Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunch Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies by Alice Medrich and Lauren Chattman’s Cookie Swap! Below, check out (on the left) some Snickerdoodles from Chewy Gooey and (right) some Chocolate Peppermint Dirt Cookies from Cookie Swap!, lovingly baked by Workman employees.

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Gearing up for your own holiday party? Whip up a plate of delicious ginger cookies from Artisan’s spectacular Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy and you’re sure to wow all the holiday revelers you know; the recipe’s below. (And keep scrolling for a few choice shots from the party!)

Partygoers mingle and jingle.

Red-and-green peanut butter thumbprints (!!)

The Reprints---Nancy (at the back on the spoons), Erin, Liz, Bob, David, Jeanne, and Mike (below)---rock out.

No keyboard? There's an app for that.

Donated gifts under the tree---and Cheryl and Griffith Day of "The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook" on top!

Happy holidays, from our family to yours!
—Avery

Wouldn’t you know it, that holiday everyone loves to hate is coming up: Valentine’s Day. But instead of moping around, sending flirtatious texts to your would-be Romeo, or wallowing in a vat of chocolate, we have an alternative activity for you. A Valentine’s Day cookie swap! It can be lovey-dovey or grumpy; to accompany the cookies, you can serve bittersweet souffles, decadent chocolate layer cake, or solely raw vegetables and protein bars. But please do yourselves a favor and make these Mini Hazelnut Linzer Hearts, no matter what the sentiment! (Unless you have a nut allergy, that is.)

Mini Hazelnut Linzer Hearts

Makes: 36 small sandwich cookies

Bake time: 10 to 12 minutes

Linzer sandwiches are so rich that large cookies often go half-eaten. But bite-size Linzer hearts give you all the Viennese-style decadence of a big cookie with half the guilt (which–let’s be honest–means you can eat more of them!). These cookies are made with two sizes of cookie cutters–a larger heart to cut out the cookies and a smaller one to create the window; you can find them at Williams-Sonoma or N.Y. Cake & Baking Distributor (where the small ones are sold in a set of aspic cutters).

1 cup skinned hazelnuts*
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 2/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for working the dough
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

1. Place the hazelnuts and 1/3 cup of the sugar in a food processor and pulse 8 to 10 times until very finely ground (the mixture should resemble very coarse sand).

2. Place the butter and the remaining 1/3 cup of the sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat together with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Add the flour, salt, and the hazelnut mixture and mix on low speed until the dough comes together in a ball.

3. Divide the dough into three parts and, on a lightly floured surface with lightly floured hands, press it into three 1/2-inch-thick disks. Wrap the disks in plastic and refrigerate them for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days. (At this point, the dough may be wrapped in a double layer of plastic and then a layer of heavy-duty foil and frozen for up to 1 month. Defrost it in the refrigerator for at least 5 hours or overnight before proceeding with step 4.)

4. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper.

5. Remove one of the dough disks from the refrigerator and knead it 4 or 5 times on a lightly floured work surface to soften it. With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to a thickness of a scant 1/4 inch. Use a 1 1/2-inch heart-shaped cutter to cut out as many hearts as you can. Place the hearts on the prepared baking sheets and use a smaller heart-shaped cutter to cut a peek-a-boo center into half of the cookies. Alternatively, use a skewer to poke holes in half of the cookies. (These holes should be in rows, about 1/4-inch apart from each other.)

6. Bake the cookies until they are lightly golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Slide the parchment sheets with the cookies onto wire racks and let the cookies cool completely.

7. Roll, cut, and bake the remaining disks of dough (and any scraps), using fresh parchment paper, as directed.

8. To assemble the cookies, use a small offset spatula to spread about 1/4 teaspoon of jam on each of the un-poked hearts; spread the jam to within 1/8 inch of the edge. Lightly sift some confectioners’ sugar over the poked hearts and place each on top of the jam-covered hearts.

*Use this technique to skin the hazelnuts: Place the hazelnuts in a saucepan and cover them with water to a depth of 1 inch. Add a tablespoon of baking soda and bring to a boil for 3 minutes. Strain the nuts under cold running water, rubbing them between your palms. The skins will completely dissolve. Pat the hazelnuts dry before using them.

Mini Hazelnut Linzer Hearts will keep, layered between parchment paper, in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

-Liz, editorial assistant, who does in fact have a nut allergy, but wishes she could eat these anyway, because they are so beautiful. Oh yeah, there they are on the cover of the book!

Enjoy a bite of festive cheer in the form of pics from our annual cookie swap. (Who can blame us for favoring house cookbooks Cookie Swap, Mad Hungry, The Crabby Cook Cookbook, The Cake Mix Doctor Bakes Gluten-Free, and Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunch Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies?)

It all looks very orderly and civilized. But mere moments after documentation, the subjects of these photographs were gobbled up by a gaggle of hungry bookmaking elves. . . . Happy holidays!

Sometimes it can be tough to work in an office filled with mouthwatering photos of food.

However, if you stay alert, sometimes you get to raid the goodies after a photo shoot…

Workman employees raiding the leftovers from the Cookie Swap Cookbook photo shoot

…and that makes it all worth it!

Today’s treats were from the Cookie Swap Cookbook by Lauren Chattman, releasing in September. I can say from personal experience that these cookies are incredibly tasty. I’d have taken more cookie photos to show how adorably decorated they were, but I had to scoop up my own cookie stash before they disappeared!

Wracked with anxiety over your holiday baking?  Sure your cookies won’t measure up at the office party? Well, stop second-guessing yourself and get back in the kitchen armed with tips and solutions from The Baking Answer Book by Lauren Chattman.

Q: I’ve underbaked my chocolate chip cookies, but now they are cooled, I realize they are way too soft. Can I return them to the oven at this point?

Absolutely. Drop cookies like these can be crisped up in the oven with a minute or two of additional baking, even after they’ve cooled.

Q. My recipe calls for softened butter. Should my eggs be at room temperature too?

Experienced cake bakers are careful to bring all liquid ingredients, including eggs, to room temperature along with their butter. Room temperature eggs are just as important when making cookie dough. Even if your butter is properly softened and creamed to a light fluffy state with the sugar, your batter will curdle if you then add very cold eggs. Remove your eggs from the refrigerator when you remove your butter. Or bring them to room temperature by placing them in a bowl of hot tap water for 5 minutes.

Q. The pastry crusts of my lemon bars and pecan bars are always a little oily rather than moist and crumbly. What am I doing wrong?

If you are melting butter to make these crusts, make sure to cool it before stirring it into the dry ingredients to avoid oiliness. If you are mixing solid butter with dry ingredients, your butter may be too soft and warm. In either case, if your crust looks shiny and oily before you bake it, put the pan into the freezer for 5 minutes to let the butter solidify.

Q. Are there tricks to getting evenly shaped slice-and-bake cookies?

When you are ready to cut, remember to rotate the log of dough often, so that one side doesn’t become flattened by the repeated pressure of the knife.

Q. Are there secrets to better-looking bar cookies?

I often line my baking pan with nonstick aluminum foil before filling it with cookie dough. So instead of having to dig out that first brownie with a spatula (and probably destroying it in the process), I just lift the foil from the pan when the cookies are cooled and slice them into neat squares.

The best bar cookies are slightly underbaked in the center. If they’re not, then the bars closest to the edge of the pan will definitely be overbaked. But underbaked bars are very soft and can crumble when cut. To make neat squares, freeze the cooled but uncut cookies for 15 minutes to firm them up and then cut straight down with a sharp chef’s knife rather than dragging the knife across bars.