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How the heck did Christmas sneak up so quickly!? I’ve been so busying being jet-lagging, baking, and merry making that I didn’t even notice that Christmas is in two days! What are your plans? Mine involve a Christmas-y hot pot dinner with my family and a Mike and I collaborative Christmas day menu – I’m making a ducken (that’s a duck stuffed with a chicken) and he’s doing the sides. I’m super excited.

Of course, there will be cookies for dessert. Cookies like these marzipan chocolate chip beauties. When Molly and Alana invited me along to a lil marzipan dance party, I knew I had to make cookies because you can definitely dance and eat cookies at the same time, especially these golden brown, crispy on the edges and perfectly gooey and soft in the middles cookies studded with chocolate and marzipan.

Are you guys fans of marzipan? If you like almonds, then you’re a fan of marzipan even if you don’t know it. If you’re a big marzipan fan, you should totally go to Germany because they have marzipan EVERYTHING. I brought some back with me and it was soft and almond-y and basically a marzipan dream. Seriously, I had the best time in Berlin at the Christmas markets. They really know how to celebrate Christmas over there.

And while they had loads of pretzels, wursts, steins, bethmännchen (traditional German marzipan cookies), what they didn’t have were chocolate chip cookies. So this mash-up of a marzipan chocolate chip cookie is my little ode to Christmas in Germany. I riffed off of my all time favorite chocolate chip recipe by adding in marizpan balls. At first I stirred in the marzipan balls, but then I realized that you couldn’t really tell that the marzipan was in the cookies, so I started popping the balls on top. You can do either, but I ended up liking the ones where the marzipan was incorporated into the dough.

Some of my favorite people on the internet are in on this internet-wish-it-was-real-life marzipan party hosted by Alana and Molly: Michelle, Lily, Betty, and Beau all made some marzi-ful treats, so go on over and check them out. Wishing you a zen, relaxing, cookie-filled last 2 days before Christmas!

Here are the links!
Amaretti Morbidi (Marzipan Cookies)
Cardamom Skillingsboller
Sesame Pseudo Marzipan Rose Mini Cakes
Cardamom Pistachio Ice Cream with Rose Marzipan Swirl
Macadamia Marzipan Balls

Marzipan Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe adapted from Not Without Salt
makes 12-18 cookies
prep time: 8 minutes
cook time: 12 minutes
total time: 20 minutes

• 1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 tablespoons Turbinado sugar
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 + 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 pound dark chocolate féves or 1/2 pound dark chocolate cut into rough 1/2 inch chunks
• 100 grams marzipan, cut into small chunks or rolled into small balls
• 1/4 teaspoon flaky sea salt, for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 360°F.

Cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy (5 minutes on medium speed if using a mixer). While the butter and sugar is creaming, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.

Add the egg and vanilla to the butter-sugar and mix until combined. Add the flour and mix, with a spatula, until barely combined. Fold in the chocolate and marzipan. Portion the cookies out onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Sprinkle with the flaky salt and bake for 12 minutes, until the edges are golden but the centers are gooey. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and enjoy warm!

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