Operations Baking GALS, cookies on the way

Cookies are on the way to our soldier....a Marine stationed on the USS Essex. Our baking team, Dani's Delightful Darlings (through Operation Baking Gals), has 18 members. It's really exciting to think about how many soldiers on that ship will have some love from home in a week or two. (There are over 20 teams total, with 6 to 26 members each...that's a lot of baking!)

My son & I spent most of yesterday baking. Here's part 1 of our shipment:

Gingerbread Biscotti...

I tried to pick cookies that would ship well and hopefully taste fresh when they arrived. This recipe is from The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion: The Essential Cookie Cookbook. If you don't own this book, I highly recommend it. It doesn't have a lot of pictures, but very detailed instructions and illustrations.

The recipe is actually on the King Arthur website. It seems daunting with 2 baking times, but really takes less time than rolling dough and decorating cookies. :)

My kitchen...house, actually...smelled like Christmas while these were baking. Absolute heaven!
Of course, taste testing is essential! ;) These were perfect with a cup of chai tea! See those vanilla beans in there? I used vanilla bean paste in place of the vanilla extract.
I've posted this recipe before for 1-2-3-4 Peanut Butter Cookies. They are delicious and from the same cookbook.

Stay tuned for part 2 of our shipment. Godspeed to our soldier...and we are thankful to all our service men and women and their families for their enormous sacrifice!