Once In A Lifetime

I have two near-and-dear people on my Christmas list who do not particularly like to bake. And so sometimes for their holiday gift they receive a subscription to The Baker's Dozen. It starts in December and runs for 13 months, and each month I bake something -- cookies, muffins, bread, cupcakes, whatever -- and deliver it to their doorstep.

This month I saw this recipe for Carrot Cake Cookies. They sounded phenomenal. I knew they were just the thing for The Baker's Dozen for April.

So I bought ingredients and quadrupled them. Because I wanted to have some left for us.

I started with the filling, made the quadruple amount and chilled it. Then I began the actual cookies starting with a double batch.

I want to tell you that at the end of the experience, I did have some very, very tasty cookies. But almost everything in the kitchen had been used and dirtied in the process: a bowl and the beaters from the hand mixer for the filling; the food processor for shredding the carrots; big bowl and beaters from the big mixer for the batter; two cookie sheets; two cooling racks. Plus measuring cups, spatulas, etc. 

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience," I told Himself over the five cookies that remained after packaging and delivering the others. "Way too much mess." 

Well, that batch of filling in the fridge began to weigh on me and Himself mentioned more than once how good they had been. So this afternoon I dirtied almost everything in the kitchen again and made the remaining double batch. 

They are truly delicious. If I were silly enough to ever make them again, I'd prolly add a wee bit of finely shredded orange zest. If you want to make a big mess in your kitchen and at the same time gain the undying love of your family, go here. Oh, and put them in the fridge for a couple of hours after assembling before eating. Trust me.