My goddaughter loves Peanut Blossom Cookies. In fact, it’s her favorite cookie and I make them for her every year. I wondered if I could add a bit more flavor to this classic cookie and I found the solution in The Perfect Cookie from America’s Test Kitchen. The original recipe on the Hershey’s package of Kisses calls for shortening. While this ensures that the cookies don’t spread all over the baking sheet, shortening doesn’t bring a lot of flavor to the party....

I’m dreaming of the sea...the sand...the waves...the gulls... the shells. I don't think I can stay away much longer. Even a drive-by encounter might be enough to restore my sense of belonging to a world where nothing is more important than a cool breeze and the endless blue sea. Oh for the joys of finding a sand dollar that the tide has tumbled and tossed at my feet. A beach cookie might be a nice substitute for the real thing until the beach is open for visitors.

“We dream in colors borrowed from the sea.” Anonymous

There just haven’t been enough special occasions lately so I decided to make cookies just because. These “No Special Occasion Cookies” are perfect for any no-occasion occasion. Chocolate cookie...yes! Frosted with chocolate...yes! Sprinkled with chocolate...oh, yes!

Did I mention that they are chocolate?

Several years ago, I bought a packaged mix to make dog cookies. It contained a bag of dry ingredients to which you added peanut butter, eggs, and water. They were fun to make and the dogs loved them. Of course, the next time I went to buy the mix, it was no longer available. So I spent a few weeks trying other recipes, looking for one to match the one my little pooches liked best. I finally found this one on the King Arthur Flour website. It is so similar that it could have been the inspiration for the mix!

I had so much fun decorating Easter sugar cookies a few weeks ago that I decided that it was time to bring out the spring cookie cutters and make a few dozen edible flowers and butterflies. What better way to bring Mother Nature’s exuberance inside than to bake cookies in shapes inspired by her and decorate them to pay homage to her designs.