Culinary Adventures with Camilla

This post is sponsored in conjunction with Christmas Cookies Week.  I received product samples from sponsor companies to aid in the creation of the Christmas Cookies Week recipes.  All opinions are mine alone. Prizes + Giveaway Here we are at day four of a fantastic event helmed by Ellen of  Family Around the Table   with help from Christie of  A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures . These talented ladies are tireless and inspiring. They not only wrangled all of us foodie bloggers, but they lined up some amazing event sponsors who donated to us for recipe creation and also for prizes. Go to  my kick-off post  to read about the prize packages and to enter the giveaway. Or you may enter at the bottom of this post.* You won't want to miss out. Seriously. Your holiday baking will be kicked up more than a few notches. The Rest of the Cookie Tray Celebrating Sinterklaas with Speculaas by Culinary Adventures with Camilla Chocolate Mint Thumbprints b...

I won't post a recipe because we didn't get it quite right. I followed someone else's (a well respected kitchen personality) recipe to the letter, but think that my dough was too thick and the oven temperature too low. So, it's back to the drawing board...but I wanted to post photos because we had so much fun! Make the dough...look at all those delicious spices! I did add vanilla bean powder and loved the subtle sweetness it added. Prep the mold...I love that my mom has had these molds since we lived in the Netherlands when I was a kid. Truth be told, I do not think she ever used them. But she has a ton of them. I think I'll be stealing more of them. Mold the cookies... Smile for the camera... They looked good on the tray! But they lost their shape. Try, try, try again. We characterized this batch as a 'flop' but they tasted great.