My Favorite Christmas Cookie Recipe

Baking Christmas Cookies With Your Kids...

If you need a really good reason to visit Williams-Sonoma, preparing to bake my favorite Christmas cookie recipe with children that you love just might provide the perfect excuse. If you are a baker or a serious cook, their store is the one place on the planet where you can truly get lost for hours at a time.  The cookie cutters of your choice (old favorites or brand new) will be needed for this roll-out cookie dough recipe, be they plastic or metal. A new one or two can't hurt. :-)

     

"Let the children help you make Currant cookies, Twelfth-night cake, Anise drops and springerle, Ginger Men to trim the tree. Share with them each ritual. But teach them, too, the miracle of the Christ who came to give Food by which the soul may live. Dorothy P. Albaugh." Quote under the photo illustration in Farm Journal, "Christmas Idea Book", 1964.

I remember the first holiday Cookie Day with my little ones all those many years ago. It was a mess. They had icing, jimmies, candy and all sorts of cookie decorations everywhere - on the table, on the floor, the chairs, on the kitchen counters - literally everywhere. Afterwards, I found chocolate icing in places I didn't know I had! :-) But, the kids had fun. They were so proud of the cookies that they made and decorated themselves - their own creativity on display.

As I watched them decorate, I learned a little bit about each one - their favorite color, their thought process, who knew when to stop and who piled up every available decoration on every cookie that they made. That is the miracle of human beings: how two people can create several other people, each one unique with different physical features, tastes, likes and dislikes.  As far as I am concerned, it is a God thing. :-)

Cookie Day has become a holiday tradition in our family. I share this recipe with the hope that you will make it a tradition in yours. My little ones all have little ones of their own now. And we still use this recipe. It came from a book that I bought second-hand over forty-four years ago: Farm Journal, "Christmas Idea Book", 1964. The photo above left is a copy of the illustration which accompanied the recipe. Talk about a flashback to the past: do you remember when every mom wanted her little girls to look like her? :-) 

Extra Good Sugar Cookie Recipe

• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2/3 cup unsalted butter or shortening
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 teaspoon pure Vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon pure Almond extract
• 4 teaspoons milk (8-10 for a looser batter)
• 1/4 cup fine sanding sugar, for decorating (optional)

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.

2. Use an electric mixer to cream shortening/butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat to mix well. Add vanilla and almond extracts. Be sure to get extracts not flavored or imitation. You can use 1 tsp vanilla and 1/2 Tsp almond or omit the almond altogether. But, it tastes better with the almond. Mix until blended. By the way, you can use any secondary extract that you want: lemon, orange, peppermint etc. Frost with the same or compatible flavored icing.

3. Add flour mixture and blend on low speed until thoroughly combined. Be careful not to over-mix. Stir in milk. Divide the dough in half and chill in refrigerator 1 hour or until the dough is easy to handle.

4. TO ADD COLOR: divide dough into thirds, remove two sections from mixing bowl and set each on wax/parchment paper. Add a few drops of food coloring to each section and mix gently until the color is uniform throughout the dough. Repeat for each color.

5. Wrap each section of dough in plastic (or the entire batch of dough) and chill for about 30 minutes.

6. The recipe calls for the oven to be preheated to 375°. But, 350° is the optimal baking temp for my oven. Grease a baking sheet with unsalted shortening. Or, use parchment paper to line the baking sheet. On a floured surface, roll dough half of it at a time to 1/8" inch or 1/4" thick. Cut into desired shapes. The thinner the dough, the crispier the cookie. 

7. Transfer to greased baking sheets and place them 1/2" apart. Place on rack in the center of the oven and bake 8-9 minutes or until light brown. recipe calls for 10-12 minutes. Again, gauge your baking time according to your own oven. Just don't over bake.

8. Cool on wire racks. May be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. Makes 24 cookies.

9. Decorate the cookies with a thin layer of butter cream / confectioners sugar frosting or royal icing. Pipe decorative icing around the edges and to create a design on each cookie.

Confectioners Sugar Glaze Icing Recipe

• 1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 teaspoon Clear Vanilla Extract

Stir milk into sugar. Add vanilla. Drizzle on cookies. May be thickened with more confectioner's sugar or thinned with more milk or other flavored liquids. YIELD: 1/2 cup

TIPS: Keep the cookie cutter free from dough by dipping it in flour before each cutting.

COOKIES FOR THE CHRISTMAS TREE: Cut paper drinking straws into 1" lengths. Push one end into each unbaked cookie on the baking sheet. Bake the cookies and remove straws by gently twisting them out while the cookies are still hot. Frost the cookies. Then, insert narrow ribbon through the holes and tie them on the tree.

You can also use the icing/glaze from King Arthur Flour. Be careful how much water you add otherwise it will be runny. It dries hard after about an hour and is ideal for cookies that are stored in a jar.

Sugar Cookie Recipe from Farm Journal, "Christmas Idea Book", 1964. All rights reserved.

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