The Cookies of Christmas Past and Present

In the Schutte household, once you’ve done something once, it suddenly becomes a tradition. Michigan vacation in July? Tradition. Mashed-potato pizza for Christmas Eve? Tradition. Stomach bug in February? Definitely tradition. Of course, traditions shift, ebbing and flowing with changing seasons and family needs, and while the ones mentioned above — along with many others — have morphed or disappeared over time (except the mashed-potato pizza — mutiny would ensue if it didn’t make its annual December appearance), they hold a sacred place in our memories.

Our robust Christmas cookie process is, alas, a tradition that has ebbed rather dramatically in recent years. Its heyday, however, was glorious, and every family member had his or her favorite treat. Mom and Dad loved tea time tassies (half without pecans), and Dad would sit and carefully craft each mini pie himself. Orange-chocolate meltaways are hugely popular, as are buckeyes (the better version of a Reese’s cup). My personal passion was for Snickers candy, and I managed to ruin it at least twice with attempts at making my own caramel for one of the layers. Sprinkled into this lineup — depending on the year — were Santa cookies made with Nutter Butters (or, alternately, penguin cookies, also made with Nutter Butters), chocolate sandwich cookies, rosette cookies, raspberry bars, lemon bars, and more.

Sadly, while our enthusiasm for sweets has stayed the same, our metabolism isn’t cooperating, so we’ve cut back to a very small number of Christmas cookies and candies — and small batches at that. It does work out fine, since our new obsession is pork ribs for Christmas dinner, and we’re generally too full for much dessert.

I, however, have a long list of cookies I want to test, and plenty of people to give them to as gifts, so this December, off to the kitchen I went.

Actually, off to Aldi I went first, hoping to beat the Christmas baking-supply rush. While I think I did beat that group, I got caught up in the “we’re expecting four inches of snow, and we need milk and bread” crowd. Everyone, as far as I know, made it out unscathed — one of us with six pounds of sugar and three dozen eggs.

My plan consisted of around ten cookie or candy recipes, three of which were not new to me, and my goal was to make them over the course of a week. (Spoiler: I didn’t make all ten.) Christmas-cookie-baking requires a level of strategic planning that would impress a general — some doughs must be chilled, others frozen. Some need filling made in advance, while others have layers that must set between stages. Thank goodness most cookies bake at 350 degrees, but even then, you’re still working with limited oven space, sheet pans, and cooling racks, so critical thinking is of utmost importance.

To be honest, my cookie adventures started back on November 30, when I made chocolate crinkle cookies (inspired by this America’s Test Kitchen video) to mail to friends. The ones I sampled were delicious — not too sweet, and perfect with a glass of cold milk — and I hope the recipients thought so, too.

Adventure No. 2 was marshmallows. These I’ve made before, and they’re fairly easy — especially if you have a stand mixer to beat the egg whites and sugar syrup into submission. The concoction smells funny during the mixing process, but the result is far, far superior to anything you’ll find in the store. After packaging up those the Tuesday before Christmas week, Wednesday saw the reemergence of my pizzelle maker. A gift from my uncle a few years ago, this pizzelle maker has been one of my go-to kitchen tools each December. King Arthur Baking has an excellent pizzelle recipe, and I always add the traditional anise flavoring into the mix. This year, since this batch was for a party, I decided to dress them up by dipping half of each cookie in melted chocolate. It was a lovely touch, but the chocolate didn’t dry quite as well as I’d hoped. Still, the cookies were well received at the shindig, and I held back enough for both my parish priest and my voice teacher.

The Friday before Christmas arrived, and I was down to four final gift bags to complete. The final cookie push would include: gingerbread, cranberry-lime swirled meringues, bûche de Noël cookies, Linzer cookies, and rosemary shortbread cookies. Four of them required overnight dough rests, and the coulis for the meringues needed to chill, so I spent Friday night listening to Sinatra Christmas carols and putting my food processor through its paces. My worst error that evening consisted of putting all the lime juice in with the boiling cranberries, instead of waiting until after putting the mixture through the food processor, but this is par for the course with someone who skims recipes. (I know, it’s a bad habit. Maybe this is the year I’ll reform. . . .) A few hours later, I clambered into bed, still unsure what my baking order would be the following day but knowing that the meringues needed to go in last. And no later than 6 p.m. — they would monopolize the oven for four hours.

By 4 p.m. on Saturday, I’d done it. Everything I’d set out to make was done or in the oven. Yes, the bûche de Noël had slumped a bit more than I’d anticipated, and my cookie stamp hadn’t worked quite as well as I’d hoped on the gingerbread. But the flavors were all there, and I was particularly delighted with how the Linzer cookies — a sandwich cookie with jam peeking through a hole stamped in the top — had turned out. Shortbread success continues to elude me, as some of this first batch of rosemary cookies was definitely underbaked, but I had a whole second roll of dough up my sleeve and was undaunted.

Later that evening, I bagged up my accomplishments and left a sticky note on the front door, reminding me not to forget said bags on my way to church the next morning. I didn’t count exactly how many dozens of cookies I made, but I’m down at least two pounds of butter. Did I make everything on my list? Not quite — there’s a spritz cookie recipe calling my name, and I’m determined to make decent chocolate shortbread one of these days. But those will have to wait until after the holidays. I need to work off all these Linzers.