Leaves make the most appealing shapes for cutout cookies. And dark chocolate is an autumn-kind of flavor so leaf-shaped chocolate sandwich cookies is a brilliant idea. I filled the sandwich with a simple chocolate ganache and, voilà! ... a beautiful and irresistible cookie. But I warn you: it’s not possible to eat only one.

Cake is a birthday must-have, right?  It has been at our house, but several family members have chosen other desserts, too, like chocolate-pineapple pie or a huge chocolate chip cookie. So although cake may not be the only dessert we have for birthdays, it is still one of the most popular.

Summer means time at the beach...playing in the ocean, combing the shore for sea shells, burying your feet in the warm sand...ah-h-h. For me, baking and decorating “beach cookies” brings all that to mind. I wish you all a wonderful summer...even if it’s still December and there’s snow on the ground! A plate of beach cookies always brings summer into someone’s day.

These Brown Butter Cookies are a gourmet twist on sugar cookies. They have a deep, rich, caramelized taste, and are decorated with white and dark modeling chocolate. The embossing gives them an added elegance, sort of like a cookie in a tuxedo.

These Brown Butter Cookies were a gift to a good friend who was getting married after being widowed for several years. I’ve given her many cookies over the years, but this time I wanted something for her to share with her new beau. The heart shape was perfect and covering them with white chocolate for the bride and dark chocolate for the groom seemed like the perfect match for this sweet couple.