Washington Post Food Section Cookie Issue

I've made no secret of the fact that I'm a huge fan of the Washington Post Food section. During my blog's first year, I featured its stories (along with those of the New York Times' then Dining section) in a weekly "battle" called Food (Section) Fight, which the Post's Food section won. Although I discontinued that feature in 2013, I still continue to include Post Food section stories in each edition of The Feed, my weekly roundup of interesting food-related stories.

One of the best things about the Post Food section is its regular special issues. I look forward to all of them--the Top Tomato recipes issue, which I was featured in this year, is a definite favorite, as are the two Thanksgiving issues--but the one that is the most fun is the holiday cookie issue. I feel like a little kid when I unfold the paper on the first Wednesday of December to a beautiful full-page spread of cookies. Beautiful cookies. They featured more than two-dozen recipes this year. It's always an interesting mix, always something new.

Lemon Sablés fresh from the oven.

I made two of this year's cookie recipes and loved both of them: the Lemon Sablés and the Congolais, a type of French coconut macaroon. 

The Lemon Sablés are a recipe by Heather Ross of Wildflour Baking, a bakery in Alexandria, Virginia (if you like beautifully decorated cookies, check out the pictures on Wildflour's website, they are exquisite). Sablés are a classic French cookie not too dissimilar from a shortbread. The recipe in the Post includes an optional lemon-sugar glaze, which I omitted because I was taking the cookies to work. I think they would be delicious either way.

Congolais, headed to the oven.

The Congolais also make their home in Alexandria and are also of French origin. The recipe is from Bastille pastry chef and co-owner Michelle Poteaux. The sablés were very good, but the congolais were exquisite. I loved these! And they are so easy too. The Lemon Sablés require a little more effort because you must first chill the dough and then slice the cookies, but that's really not very hard either. 

Lemon Sablés

Recipes (from the Washington Post website):

Congolais (French coconut macaroons)

Lemon Sablés