The Common Culinarian

Erika, over a Kid Cuisine (part of the Well Fed Network–see the links section) just posted a recipe for Peanut Butter cookies which got me to thinking about my favorite Christmas cookies. I love sweets in the winter–there’s something particularly special about going to a friend’s or family member’s house and seeing the lavish spread of delicious sweets they’ve prepared (or had prepared) for you.

Apparently this is the norm in Scandinavian countries–my former boss told us a story yesterday about how her Norwegian mother-in-law would spend hours in the kitchen over the holidays. She’d spend this time preparing delectable goodies for those people who would frequent her home, and the spread would consist of several types of cookies and candy. Most contemporary folks now just stop by the bakery, because, as you can imagine, this is a time consuming process!

In the spirit of the holidays, I’m going to present to you a basic cookie dough recipe you can use for any kind of moderate sized, flat cookie. It’s basically a chocolate chip cookie dough, without the chips, and is easily customized.

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound of butter or shortening, softened
• 3/4 cup of granulated, white sugar
• 3/4 cup of brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 to 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
• Up to 10 oz of your choice of fillings

Directions:

1. Cream the butter/shortening and sugars in a large bowl.
2. Add the eggs and vanilla extract to combine
3. Combine the dry ingredients separately, then add them slowly to the creamed butter/sugar mixture.
   • Stir to combine, but don’t over work the dough.
   • If you add less flour, your dough will be looser, meaning your cookies will spread out in the over. If you want firmer dough (and cookies with less diameter), add more flour.
4. Stir in your mix-ins.
5. Set the dough aside, in the refrigerator, to chill for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425.
6. Take the dough out of the fridge and scoop it on to a baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches of space between the cookies.
7. Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes, until the cookies are just beginning to turn golden.
8. Cool on racks for about 20 minutes, and they are ready to eat. Cool longer if you plan on packaging them, to eliminate condensation.

This is a really simple recipe, and you probably won’t break the bank to make these. I would advise using only shortening or butter, though–margarine just don’t taste the same. Same with vanilla–use only the real stuff. A little really does go a long way.

Some variations: double chocolate chip (add 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder with the flour and chunked semi-sweet chocolate); Nutella chip (replace 1/4 cup of fat with 1/2 cup of Nutella spread and chunked simi-sweet chocolate; chopped hazelnuts optional).

What is your favorite holiday cookie recipe?