Yum! Christmas Cookies

I don't do much baking anymore. My children are grown. My husband and I don't need the extra calories. And with a full-time job and the stories I want to write, I just don't have the time.

But Christmas is the one time when I take down the dusty recipe box and pull out the old favorites behind the tab labeled "Cookies". Most of the recipes are ones I cut from magazines years ago, the paper now yellowed with age and stained with the evidence of their use.


I remember going to my grandmother's house when I was small and sampling from a dozen tins filled with at least that many different kinds of Christmas cookies. Of course, I had my favorites, like Swedish Snowballs (also called Russian Tea Cakes and probably other names depending on your nationality lol) And some I don't know the name and, like a yummy bar cookie I loved, wish I'd gotten the recipe somewhere down the line.

I've never made that many different kinds of cookies. My life, of course, is different than my grandmother's was. But it doesn't change the fact that while I've streamlined my holiday traditions over the years, Christmas wouldn't be the same without a few dozen Christmas cookies.

Now I have to admit I've gotten a bit lazy over the years. I never did have good luck with cutouts. Maybe I didn't have the patience for perfecting the rolling pin technique, and I never claimed to be a crafty cookie decorator. I stopped rolling, cutting and decorating cookies years ago. I'm down to about three kinds of cookies each year now, and I haven't even made the Swedish Snowballs in a long time.


One cookie I always make every year is my daughter's favorite, Peanut Blossoms. She'll be coming over this week to help me bake, which will make the baking much more fun. We'll be having a couple glasses of wine while we bake, but I'm sure the cookies will turn out fine :)

Another quick Christmas cookie tip I'm happy to pass along is the Christmas brownie. Bake a batch of brownies, frost them (I use milk chocolate frosting) and then sprinkle the top with red and green sugar. They look festive, taste great, and everyone loves them.

So what are your favorite Christmas cookies? Are you incredibly crafty, decorating those cut out cookies? Do your children (regardless of their age) like to help? Do you bake dozens or don't you bake them at all?

You know, I think I'm going to bake those Snowballs this year. Maybe my daughter will help with those too.

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Natasha
www.natashamoore.com

Happy Holiday Traditions

Once upon a time my grandmother, mother and aunt baked multiple batches of assorted Christmas cookies for sharing with friends, relatives and neighbors. Oatmeal raisin. Forgotten cookies. Cherry Winks. Sand tarts. Porcupines. Sugar cookies. Thumbprints. The list continues, but these are a sampling of which dozens were prepared and devoured. Though the variety changed and lessened over the passing years, one baking tradition remained—chocolate-chip cookies were always tucked into festive tins and dwindled rapidly between removal from the ovens and Christmas Eve. More now than ever, I choose to celebrate the real meaning of Christmas while embracing the beauty and natural majesty of the season. Shortly after Thanksgiving I shift into baking mode and prepare those chocolate-chip cookies that bring smiles, raised coffee mugs and good cheer.

Snow has fallen and your senses are stirred at first breath as you step outside. Lampposts and lintels are festooned. Holiday finery decorates doors, windows, shrubs and lawns. Proud pines show off their tinsel and trimmings. You’re strolling along, perhaps singing a favorite Christmas carol and mulling over plans for the season. What Christmas tradition is observed by you and your family?

Blessings and all the best for the holidays and beyond,

Shawna Moore http://www.grant-moore.com/
Myspace – http://www.myspace.com/shawnamooreauthor
Helle’s Myspace – http://www.myspace.com/hellehawthorn