As we enter the holiday season, many of us are coming to the realization that celebrations are going to look very different from previous years. Gatherings will be smaller, parties won’t happen at all, and relatives and friends won’t be coming home to visit. But even though much will be different – in a sucky way – one thing will remain very much the same in my house – in a yummy way.
My fruitcake is baked and “curing” with periodic infusions of rum. The mincemeat (with real meat, apples, and lots of spices) is packed up and frozen for future pies, tarts, and cookies. And my freezer is full of butter for all the cookies I’ll be baking in the coming weeks. (I made sure to nab a large bag of flour this week in case our partial lockdown leads to a full lockdown and an interruption in the food supply chain.)
The cookie menu always includes traditional family recipes, plus one or two new-to-me confections that seem interesting. Grammy’s Shortbread Cookies take price of place, buttery and light and very more-ish. Soft Ginger Cookies, with bits of crystalized ginger, are perfect with an after dinner cup of tea. Pecan Fingers, similar to almond crescents, are packed with pecan flavour. About twenty years ago I added Swedish Christmas cookies to the line-up. An easy slice-&-bake buttery cookie, they’re flavoured with lemon peel and ground cardamom – super yummy. Two years ago, I added Blueberry Streusel Thumbprint Cookies. Not strictly holiday cookies, they are nonetheless rich and special and a real treat.
I’m sharing the recipe for another cookie I bake every year at this time – Bea’s Sugar Cookies. They are an easy drop cookie that are then flattened with a drinking glass that’s been dipped in coloured sugar. They freeze well and are a hit with kids.
Sugar Cookies
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup powdered sugar
½ granulated sugar
1 egg, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
Using stand mixer or hand mixer, cream together butter, oil, sugars, egg and vanilla until light and fluffy. Mix in flour, salt, baking soda and cream of tartar until well combined. Chill for 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Place rack in centre of oven.
Scoop a heaping tablespoon of dough (or use a cookie scoop), roll it into ball, and place on parchment lined cookie sheet, spacing a few inches apart. Flatten slightly with the bottom of a drinking glass dipped in coloured sugar.
Bake for 10 minutes, or until barely starting to colour around the edges. Cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack and cool completely.
Wishing everyone a holiday season filled with peace, joy, good health...and cookies.
Luanna Stewart has been creating adventures for her imaginary friends since childhood. She spends her days writing spicy romance ranging from contemporary to paranormal. When not torturing her heroes and heroines, she’s in her kitchen baking something delicious. She lives in Nova Scotia with her patient husband, two spoiled cats, and five hens.
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6 comments:
Luanna, I never was the cookie maker but I helped my Mom who did the fruit cake (a white one that was Delicious) and "real" mince meat although she only made if from scratch once and then found a place to buy the "real thing" but cookies? Yes! Shortbread was my favorite but she made it for my Dad who reluctantly shared a few pieces from his tin. Gingerbread men, sugar cookies cut out in Christmas shapes and then iced and decorated. You've awakened some of my favorite Christmas memories. I stopped eating foods with any type of flour so the cookies, Christmas breads, pies haven't been a part of my celebration for several years. This year, while I won't indulge, I'll miss the cookies and fruit cake, minced meat pie but I will indulge in the memories.
Thanks for the cookie recipe! Happy holidays, Luanna.
Judith, so many of my holiday childhood memories are centered around sweets and treats, it's no wonder I'm a rabid baker. Along with the seasonal cookies, there was candy that only appeared at this time of year, like the jewel toned ribbon candy, and the barley sugar "toys"my dad made sure was in my Christmas stocking.
Lynn, Happy holidays to you and yours!
I can personally attest to Lu's yummy cookies, since she lived blocks from me. I could almost smell them baking. NOW - she has gone and moved far away. But at least I now have a recipe and a photo of the cookies to go with it. BTW - I do LOVE this holiday book! A dark lord who succumbs to a non-traditional heroine with a lovely sense of humor and no fear of a dark-humored lord who hates the idea of falling in love.
Cookies are such a given at Christmas time. I can remember all of us baking dozens and dozens of cookies for a variety of celebrations. As Ive become older, cookies and pies and cakes are not something I bake anymore because it is way too easy to eat them. And with just the two of us, with one diabetic, it's not wise.
However, I do choose one sweet to bake for Christmas--that is fudge brownies. We cut them into 20 squares (about 26 carbs per square) and we each have one per evening for 10 days. It's quite the indulgence but only once a year and lasts from Christmas through New Year's Day and beyond.
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