Chai Caramel Sandwich Cookies

This is a continuation of Hallie's and my happy little foray into tea-infused sugar cookies. I suggested that we try chai and Hallie threw in the caramel idea. And hoo boy, you have no idea how beautifully these turned out. Not too sweet, with a shortbread-like texture and an exciting, comforting zing of chai spices. These are perfect for filling your cookie jar, for an afternoon snack or, heck, for filling up with caramel and snarfing down like there's no tomorrow.

Almond Honey-Whiskey Cookies

Warning. These cookies are definitely for those in the 21-and-over set. It all started that other night when Hallie and I were stress baking our final paper feelings over a bottle of wine. "Hey, look what I have," Hallie said. She said it in this super-casual way that usually portends disaster for the peace of mind of her boyfriend Charlie and her cat Sylvia. "I have a bottle of Jack Daniels Honey Whiskey," said Hallie. "Let's put it in a cookie," I said, taking a large swig and reaching out to replay "Single Ladies" for the third time in a row. Charlie and Sylvia glanced at each other and headed for the back room.

Molasses Spice Cookies

Sometimes, especially after a long series of mishaps, it's pretty wonderful when something, anything just happens to go right. It's been a tough couple of weeks, what with finals looming and two months having gone by since I've seen my boyfriend and then some bug or allergen or something decided to give me big ol' itchy spots ("Boy, this is piquing my appetite," I hear you mutter.) I'd also been tinkering around with new recipes and after a failed tart and a couple failed batches of cookies, things weren't looking (or feeling) too great. Until today. Like I should have known from the start, all's well that ends with molasses, brown butter, brown sugar and spices.

Because it's Friday...

HERE ARE SOME PICTURES OF MINI-CUPCAKES.

Which are basically the cutest things in the world.