Cookie Recipes in Beta: Spicy Pineapple Hazelnut Thumbprints and Gooey Tangy Lemon Squares

noghri: "With 36 hours to go, our %#@% oven is still broken."
Me: "What do you need us to bring to the party?"
noghri: "... baked goods?"

This is how hyounpark and I walk into a party: arms laden with all of our large baking dishes and tupperware, stuffed with two kinds of egg rolls, cheesy garlic bread, everybody's favorite chocolate toffee cookies, and two experimental sweet bakes: spicy pineapple hazelnut thumbprints and gooey tangy lemon squares. Oh, and the container for the egg roll dipping sauce stuffed into my purse. Tetris for food transportation!

Cris: "I had the feeling we'd need extra room on the dining table when Steve was that non-specific in his reply to you about what to bring."
Me: "In fairness, I did miss Jewmas baking again this year!"

And I did! Pretty much every December 24 since 2003, with few exceptions, I've rolled up my sleeves and pulled together three to five different types of cookies, cakes, and other baked goods to bring to the big annual party of friends; this particular party was a good excuse to go overboard on what I'd missed - and test a few new recipes in the process :)

( Spicy Pineapple Hazelnut Thumbprints )

( Gooey Tangy Lemon Squares )