Merry Cookiemas, Happy Butterdays
Merry Cookiemas, Happy Butterdays
It's the most wonderful time of the year
Merry Christmas, Food & Stuff friends!
Over 10 pounds of butter later, and here we are: on the other side of my marathon weekend of cookie making, baking, and shaking (because I unwisely drank 2 shots of espresso at 4 pm in anticipation of a late night of baking).
If you’ve spent any amount of time around here, you’ll know a couple of things:
I really love butter.
I love making cookies.
I really love making buttery cookies during Christmastime.
Over on a website called “Mockingbird,” I recently wrote an essay titled “Butter From Heaven” about how I came to really love cooking and baking and the theological implications of baking with butter and giving away cookies. (My editor called it “fun and mildly zany!” Thanks, Todd!) If that sounds like something you’d like to read, head on over there and give it a look! But if you’re not, no worries because we have more important things to do than read about cookies: we need to MAKE and then EAT cookies!
I’ll share photos and links to the cookies I made this year, plus a couple of extra links to some festive holiday recipes that are not cookies!
Cookie Plate 2022
Below you’ll find the recipes for what I made this year! I have maybe one more cookie I want to try to make before the end of the month (these lime squiggles from Clarie Saffiz’s new cookbook “What’s For Dessert,” which would make a great gift, BTW), but I thought I’d get this newsletter out now so folks still had time to bake before the (rapidly approaching) holiday is here!
Dark Chocolate Orange Walnut Biscotti
Making biscotti is kind of stressful because the dough is supposed to spread, but of course, I look into the oven and declare disaster almost every time I’ve made it. I found I had to use about 1/2 cup more flour than this recipe called for to make the dough workable.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
My third? fourth? year making these cookies and I’m still not tired of them. Rolling them in edible glitter is optional but also not.
Cranberry-Glazed Chewy Almond Cookies (Gluten-Free)
I am still obsessed with these cookies. I cannot emphasize enough how good they are. They are perfect unless you are allergic to nuts and then they are deadly. FYI, the glaze needs way more powdered sugar than the recipe calls for — use your eye and have it be thick enough to not run off the cookie.
Christmas Confetti Cookies
I love all the colorful sprinkles in these soft and plush cookies — such a festive and friendly cookie! Quite easy to make, too. I used Christmas sprinkles, but you could just the rainbow ones as Smitten Kitchen does.
Thick Molasses Spice Cookies
I’m sharing this recipe with you, but it’s from Smitten Kitchen Keepers which you should buy, like, right now.
Ingredients
2 ½ cups (305g) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ginger
¾ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon cloves
¼ teaspoon allspice
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon (3g) kosher salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
¾ cup (12 tablespoons/6oz/170g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
½ (150g) molasses
⅔ cup (145g) packed dark brown sugar
1 large egg yolk
3 tablespoons (45g) finely chopped crystallized ginger
6 tablespoons granulated or turbinado sugar
Directions
Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Whisk the flour, spices, baking soda, salt, and pepper in a large bowl until fully mixed. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in the melted butter, molasses, brown sugar, yolk, and candied ginger. Whisk these together in the center a couple times (until the egg yolk is dispersed); then switch to a spoon or rubber spatula to continue mixing. The dough will be very thick!
Scoop the dough into balls-I either use a medium cookie scoop (1/2 tablespoons) or take just shy of 2 tablespoons of dough for each. Roll each in your hands briefly to shape it into a ball, then into the granulated or turbinado sugar for coating.
Space the cookies evenly on the parchment-lined baking sheet (they barely spread), and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. You want what looks like a quite underbaked cookie. It will feel totally soft on top; you will be sure it's raw. But if you lift a cookie, you'll see that it's one shade darker underneath. They're done. Remove the pan from the oven, and let the cookies cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely. Cookie will be very soft in first hour or so, but will firm up as it gets completely cool.
Rosemary Cornmeal Shortbreads
This is a recipe I made up combining a few different recipes I saw online. I wanted a cookie that leaned a little more savory but still could be eaten with dessert. I think these turned out really well! I like the sweetness of the cornmeal and the pizazz of the rosemary…it makes me feel like a fancy lady!
Ingredients
1 cup butter
6 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
6 tablespoons cornmeal, plus more for coating
2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary
3/4 teaspoon salt
Directions
In a mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter. Add the powdered sugar and mix in. Add the vanilla extract and mix in. Add the dry ingredients and mix until blended.
Separate and shape dough into 2 logs and roll in cornmeal to coat. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill at least one hour or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Slice shortbread dough thinly and bake on a silpat or parchment paper for 11 to 13 minutes.
The shortbread will still be blonde, and they will crisp once cool.
Plus more cookies from last year…
Last year, I also made some pretty great cookies including a few listed above, but also these ones I haven’t listed:
Need more? Be sure to check out this PDF I put together with 10 additional recipes I’ve enjoyed throughout the years!
Not Cookies
Believe it or not, I do eat things other than cookies this time of year. I also eat cake! Specifically this Cranberry Bundt Cake that contains 3 sticks of butter and a block of cream cheese…YUM!
I also love love love this Crockpot Wassail, which I’ll be making this weekend when I host four of my gal pals for a festive weekend here at my apartment! It tastes like Christmas in a cup.
Speaking of Crockpots, I hosted a queso party a few weeks ago and made a big batch of this recipe in the crockpot and my pals loved it. It’s super not good for you but it’s super good tasting AND easy AND so Midwestern :)
& Stuff!
Okay, closing this out with some last-minute* gift ideas (* funny because I still have like everyone’s gift left to buy haha ha ha aaaahhhhhhhhhh) for the baker, chef, and food enthusiast in your life.
A link for Airbake cookie sheets, which help evenly distribute the heat on the baking tray, preventing burning.
A link to my favorite apron. Mine needs a wash! But I love it.
A copy of Smitten Kitchen’s newest cookbook, “Smitten Kitchen Keepers,” which I’ve been hoarding a copy of from my local library.
Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat prints, for a pop of color in your kitchen AND useful food facts while you have some art
This paring knife. Because it’s a good little guy.
I hope everyone enjoys making and eating beloved holiday treats, and maybe even trying some new ones along the way, too! If you make and/or enjoy any of these recipes, I always love hearing about it. Last month, a few friends told me they made recipes from my last newsletter, which seriously made my day!
To close, I want to say thank you for following along with Food & Stuff — I love writing this newsletter and hope you enjoy reading it :) Wishing everyone a wonderful end to 2022, and I’ll see you back here in 2023 with even more recipes and food fun facts!
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year,
Grace