On my daily commute I pass a cookie shop. This isn’t just any cookie shop, it’s COOKIES! COOKIES!, the very title of which causes any person saying the name to sound like a crazed cookie monster. The interior is filled with display cases of COOKIES! COOKIES!, of all flavors, shapes, and sizes. With Christmas fast approaching, and invitations to cookie exchanges abounding, wouldn’t it be fun to have your very own COOKIES! experience? I thought so, which is why I’m giving you 10 recipes for Christmas cookie classics. Bake at your own discretion.
10: Peanut Butter Blossoms
When asked what their favorite holiday cookie was, I had more than one person tell me “those peanut butter thingys with the Hershey’s Kiss on top.” Insanely easy and fun to make, those thingys are called peanut butter blossoms.
9: Fig Pinwheels
A staple at my Grandma Jean’s house during Christmas, I always loved these little cookies because, for me, they are like a DIY Fig Newton — and who doesn’t love that?
8: Snicker Doodles
So full of cinnamon, sugar, and butter — these are perfect for that morning cup of tea or coffee.
7: Chocolate Espresso Cookies
Just in case you need to stay up all night wrapping gifts.
6: Coconut Macaroons
When the weather turns colder than you think you can handle, turn to these coconut macaroons for an island feeling. This amazing recipe from my friend Lis produces light, fluffy macaroons so good you’ll forget its cold outside.
Coconut Macaroons
2 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups (9 ounces) sweetened shredded coconut
Put rack in center of oven and preheat to 350. Grease baking sheet. Whisk eggs sugar, salt, flour, vanilla until well blended; stir in coconut. Drop dough into mounds, spacing at least 2 inches apart. Bake 14-16 minutes until golden on edges and a few strands on top. Cool completely on wire rack.
5: Milano Cookies
Why buy Pepperidge Farms when you can create your own fancy cookies? Rich ganache sandwiched between two airy cookies sounds positively wonderful.
4: Danish Butter Cookies
I knew it was Christmas when the blue Royal Dansk tin filled with butter cookies made its appearance each winter. My favorite was the wreath with the rock sugar — what a melt in your mouth treat.
3: Buckeyes
Not quite a cookie — more like a giant, even more delicious peanut butter cup, buckeyes should be on every baking to-do list.
2: Caramels
Ok, so I’m really stretching the cookie theme but one bite of these caramels will have you convinced of an afterlife. My friend Jessey sends these out as Christmas gifts each year and they are worth their weight in gold. As a bonus, the extended constant stir time really works those biceps.
Mike Family Famous Caramels
1 pound butter
1 bag brown sugar (2 pounds)
dash of salt
2 cans condensed milk
2 cups light corn syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla
In a 5 quart Dutch oven melt butter and blend in sugar and salt. Stir in syrup and milk, stirring continuously on medium heat until 248 degrees on candy thermometer (Don’t stop stirring). Remove from heat and continue to stir until it stops boiling, and add vanilla. Pour into a VERY well-buttered jelly roll pan and cool until solid in fridge. Then cut into squares and wrap individually.
1: Sugar Cookies
No list would be complete without the King Kong of Christmas cookies, right? A good sugar cookie recipe is worth passing down from generation to generation. I rolled these out with my mom as a little girl, and remember sneaking down to the basement fridge to steal a spoonful of the dough as it chilled overnight. Sometimes my mom uses melted almond bark as frosting, other times it can be regular buttercream or just sprinkles. Passed to me from my mother, I’m not quite sure how far back this recipe goes, but I’ll settle for my Great Grandma Satran.
Satran Sugar Roll Outs
1 cup shortening
2 eggs beaten
3 tablespoons heavy cream or whole milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in 1 teaspoon hot water
2 1/2 cups flour (plus more for rolling)
1 teaspoon vanilla
Cream together the shortening and sugar, then add the beaten eggs and milk/cream. Add the soda, salt, and vanilla and mix together. Slowly add the flour, making sure the ingredients are fully mixed before adding more. Once fully mixed and the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, place in the refrigerator and chill at least eight hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees when you are ready to bake. Flour your board, take your saran-wrapped wine bottle and roll out the dough to about 1/4 of an inch thick. Use your desired cookie cutters and place on an ungreased sheet pan, baking for 10 minutes.
Don’t hesitate to double the recipe.
Enjoy — and feel free to send some cookies my way!
The Chaser:
I can’t resist one more cookie recipe. I have an Italian great aunt who bakes pizzelle’s each year. These delicate anise flavored cookies are addictive — although they require special equipment. Give it a shot!
50 Words to School a Foodie, or, 50 words every food lover should know, like “civet”
Wait just a Swedish minute… a blog detailing 365 days of delicious Swedish breakfast? I want in.
Photo: Paul Schultz
