The classic cake reimagined as a cookie

When it comes to British cakes, coffee and walnut is such a staple that if there isn’t one present at a bake sale or coffee morning, I’ll raise an eyebrow. I’ve taken the classic combination and put them in a cookie for something fun and quicker to make. Full of toasty walnuts and a hit of that very nostalgic instant coffee flavour, I finish them off with a white chocolate button as a nod to the sweet, creamy icing.

What you plan to bake plays a big part in whether or not to chill a dough, and in terms of hydration, flavour and texture

Does chilling cookie dough really make for a better result?
Emily, by email
“It all depends on what kind of cookie it is,” says Guardian baker Helen Goh. “Let’s say it’s a cookie that you need to stamp out – the dough needs to be firm enough to roll it, but not so firm that you can’t.” That said, the question of whether to fridge or not to fridge is probably most prevalent in the chocolate chip cookie sphere. “There’s a perceived wisdom that chilling helps the dough develop the flavour and caramelisation,” Goh says, “but, to be honest, it also makes the dough a little easier to roll and ensures it bakes evenly, which is worth far more than that slight improvement in flavour.”

Recommended chilling times vary from 30 minutes to overnight, although Goh finds the latter results in a “cakey” cookie: “I’m a real Goldilocks, so I like crisp at the edges with a chewy centre.” On the flip side, if you don’t chill that dough enough and the butter is too soft, the cookies will end up “very thin and crisp. They might be greasy, too, because the dough melts before setting up its structure.”

Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.com

Citrus brings vibrancy and zing to savoury and sweet dishes alike

Citrus season brings an entirely new dimension of seasoning – a way to add vibrancy, nuance and brightness far beyond the standard squeeze of lemon. For me, citrus isn’t just acidity: it’s a complex alternative to sugar and vinegar, with varieties that offer bitterness, floral tones, sweetness and sharpness in equal measure. With more than a hundred types of lemons, clementines and limes now available, I find it easiest to think of them in two groups: sour citrus and sweet citrus. Once you know which you’re working with, you can explore each variety’s complexity and decide how best to use it.

Almost anything goes with these thrifty and delicious cookies

I often eat a bag of salty crisps at the same time as a chewy chocolate bar, alternating bite for bite between the two, because the extreme contrast of salt from the chips and the sweetness of the chocolate fire off each other and create an endorphin rush. The same goes for these cookies, adapted from a recipe by Christina Tosi at New York’s legendary Milk Bar.

Our panel says they dabble with homemade tortilla chips, hummus and crudites, olives, pastry twists, savoury granola … untold possibilities abound

What savoury snacks do your recipe columnists make when they’re trying to stay away from the biscuit tin?
Jess, by email
The pull of the biscuit tin is all too familiar to Guardian baker Benjamina Ebuehi, who, unsurprisingly, is often found in full “sweet mode”. To counterbalance the intake of cake, she tends to look for “something salty, spiced and crisp”, and, if time is on her side, that usually means homemade tortilla chips. “Chop corn tortillas into triangles, brush with olive oil and seasonings – flaky salt, za’atar, dukkah, garlic granules, or everything bagel seasoning, which is elite.” Bake until nice and crisp, then dunk into hummus. Her fellow Guardian regular Georgina Hayden is also rarely found without a tub of that creamy chickpea dip, whether it’s homemade or shop-bought: “I usually drizzle chilli crisp oil over the top of my hummus, then scoop it up with crudites [celery, carrot, cucumber, say]. That’s so good – and so easy.”

If Hayden’s trying “to be fancy”, however, her attention turns to gildas, – “an olive, a little anchovy and a pickled green chilli on a cocktail stick – or just a lovely, salty, anchovy-stuffed olive”. You could, of course, thread any antipasti you have knocking around on to said stick: “Sun-dried tomato, artichoke heart or one of those gorgeous, marinated onions.” Having a batch of that in the fridge feels “like a treat, but less indulgent”, she adds.

Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.com

Coconut bars with matcha, a nutty rubble for soups, sandwiches or toast, and super-simple almond butter flapjacks

I love a Bounty, although I call them paradise bars. I also love matcha (and not only for its health-supporting benefits). Though my partner doesn’t enjoy drinking matcha tea, when I mix it into the sweetness of the coconut filling, even he’s on board. Then, a very munchable and grabbable savoury granola, and flapjacks that you can throw together in minutes for a week’s worth of on-the-go snacks.

Moreish teatime treats that melt in the mouth… go on, you deserve it

If I were to rank my top biscuits of all time, Viennese fingers would sit firmly in my top three. There’s not too much going on: just a good, buttery crumb, melt-in-the-mouth texture and chocolate-dipped ends, which are a must. While they’re pretty straightforward to make, issues often arise when it’s time to pipe the dough, and it can be tricky to strike a balance between a consistency that has enough butter but still holds its shape once baked. I find that the addition of a little milk helps make it more pipeable, as does using a large, open-star nozzle to avoid cramped hands and burst piping bags.

From glühwein to lebkuchen, bratwurst to stollen, recreating the delicacies I sampled in the city’s festive markets is wholly achievable. Plus, a new digital cookbook for a good cause

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Without wanting to sound tediously Scrooge-like, the German-style markets that have become seasonal fixtures in many British cities over the last few decades never make me feel particularly festive. What’s remotely Christmassy – or German – about Dubai-chocolate churros and Korean fried chicken, I grumble as I drag the dog (who enjoys all such things) around their perimeters.

Hamburg’s markets, however, which I was myself dragged around last weekend, are a very different story. For a start, the city has many of them, mainly fairly small – and some, such as the “erotic Christmas market” in St Pauli, with a particular theme. What they all have in common is the range of food and drink on offer … though let’s gloss hurriedly over the phallic gingerbread shapes on sale at St Pauli in favour of the eye-opening range of glühwein (white, rosé, kirsch-spiked, blueberry-flavoured), which was far more appealing.

Two easy bakes to share or gift: soft and peppery gingerbread cookies and a ginger and pumpkin loaf with spiced lemon icing

As a self-proclaimed America’s sweetheart (Julia Roberts isn’t using that title any more, is she?) who moved to the UK nearly 10 years ago, there are a few British traditions and customs that I have adopted, especially around Christmas time. However, there are also a few American ones that I hold on to staunchly: one is the pronunciation of “aluminum”, and another is the importance and beauty of a soft cookie. In both of these easy but delicious bakes to share, I use spice and heat to balance the usual sweetness with which the season can often overload us.

A rich, buttery crumb, a hint of bittersweet coffee, a spot of icing and a cherry on top … better gift them before you scoff them

These festive cookies are inspired by The Nutcracker’s Land of Sweets sequence, in which coffee and sugar plums are two of the flavours used to conjure a fanciful world of decadent diversion. Anything from a hard candy to a candied fruit can qualify as a “sugar plum” and, in the case of these cookies, the sugar plum is represented by the amarena cherry. Coffee’s bitterness balances the sweetness of the fruit and the rich butteriness of the dough, while the oat flour adds a dash of shortbread-like delicateness.

Brian Levy is the author of the Formal Assignment newsletter and Good & Sweet, published by Avery at £35.99. To order a copy, visit guardianbookshop.com

When you try these festive, chewy German almond biscuits, you’ll see why people have kept making and gifting them at Christmas for more than 500 years

The thing I love most about these chewy, crisp, star-shaped, cinnamon-and-almond Christmas biscuits from Germany is that they date back to the 1500s. Which, much like spotting Mars in the night sky or visiting the pyramids of Egypt, makes me feel hugely insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but simultaneously awe-inspired by the power of a simple biscuit to provide joy and underpin celebrations across centuries. This particular recipe belongs to my friend Friede’s grandma, Hadmuth, and is worth continuing, I think, for at least another 500 years.

They come into their own around Thanksgiving in the US, used alongside savoury dishes, as well as in desserts. Now is the time to try them with sweet potatoes, in a strawberry mousse, or even with soup

The connection between marsh mallow the herbaceous perennial, also known as althaea officinalis, and marshmallow the puffy cylindrical sweet, is historic. In the 19th century, the sap of the plant was still a key ingredient of its confectionary namesake, along with sugar and egg whites. But that connection has long been severed: the modern industrial marshmallow is derived from a mixture of sugar, water and gelatine. Its main ingredient is air.

But there’s a lot you can do with the humble marshmallow – here are 17 examples.