Since the HCB assignment this week had peanut butter in it, which I am allergic to, I decided that I would take the week off.  However, after seeing my fellow bakers’ comments about Chocolate Genoise Cake with Peanut Butter Whipped Ganache, I am seriously thinking that I will have to bake the chocolate genoise after all.

In the meantime, I thought I would share a photo of some cookies I made a few weeks ago.  This is my interpretation of Martha Stewart’s Spiced Cardamom Cookies.  I’ve had these cookies on my Must Try list ever since I saw them in her Holiday issue two years ago.  I know, it is pathetic that it has taken me this long to get them done.  In my defense, however, I just haven’t had a lot of spare time due to the job I have had and I have also been dealing with some challenges in my life for almost that same amount of time.  So now that I am working a job that can be “left at the office,” and I have finally accepted the fact that I am going to be learning patience with these trials for the unforeseen future, I decided to try them.

Now I do have to state for the record that Martha Stewart and I have a love/hate relationship.  Some of her recipes are great, and some of them just really do not work.  This one, however, is a definite keeper. The dough was easy to mix up and also to work with.  I used an impression mat that I have for fondant.  It’s not quite as nice as Martha’s but it worked out okay.  The cookies went together quite quickly and I think it would be a fun project for kids to do.  See Martha’s recipe here.

The squirrel cookie cutter is made by Marimekko and I bought it last winter when I was in Minnesota.  I thought it was the perfect cutter to use for fall and went really great with the walnut cookies (also seen on Martha Stewart but I used the recipe from House on the Hill.)  (You can find the walnut recipe here.    Since I made these cookies for some children that can not have nuts, I filled them with chocolate buttercream.)

The cookies turned out great and my family has already requested that I make them again.  If you are looking for something fun and unique, definitely give these a try!