Archive for December 23rd, 2008

Christmas cookies are a traditional part of many families' holiday celebrations.

If you haven’t made the Christmas cookies yet, it’s time to get started. Although we always say in this household it’s okay to make them up through the 12th day of Christmas, which is January 6th.

When I was a kid, my father used to make Christmas cookies at least once a year and sometimes twice. I don’t know what it is about my own kids – perhaps just our family is bigger — but we usually need to make them several times. They only last a few hours when they’re done. When you’ve got six kids, no food is safe.

This recipe is adapted from Rose Levy Birenbaum’s Christmas Cookie book which is still in print about 15 years after I bought it which tells you something. Yes, I recommend this book and not just for the sugar cookie recipe. But I digress. 

Start out by softening 1 1/2 cups butter. Set it out on the counter in a large bowl and go do something else for a while. Come back 1/2 hour later or more and put in 1 1/2 cups sugar. Cream sugar and butter together. Next add two eggs, zest from one large or two small lemons (optional, but does make a difference) and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Now you should have a slightly soupy very sugary batter. Mix well. If you have an electric mixer, let it run for a minute or two. By hand, beat until smooth. Now put 4 1/2 cups flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt into a sifter. You may have to hold back some of the flour from the first sift since the average sifter only holds 4 cups. Sift the flour and salt over the batter. Mix well. 

Now, put in the refrigerator for at least half an hour. If you’re in a hurry, you can take the dough out of the bowl and wrap it in celophane, in a long thin shape so it will cool faster. If not, just put a plate on top of the bowl.  Consider the flat work surface, such as a counter or table, on which you’re going to roll out the cookies. It should be clean, so wipe it off carefully and let it dry now. If the counter is damp rolling out the cookies will problematic.

When you come back, the dough should be cool to the touch. Turn oven on to 350 degrees and get out the baking trays and the cookie cutters. I find the most functional cutters are the ones that are more blocky and medium sized, however, if there are kids around they will insist on using whatever they like. I have learned to make a rule that they chose 4-6 cutters before we get started, then we put the rest away. Having too many different shapes can complicate the baking process. My personal favorites are

The Round Ball — decorate like a Christmas ornament

The Star

The Christmas tree — try using different sizes & shapes.

The Santa — it can be hard to decorate but worth it for effect on children.

The Angel — like Santa, it can be tricky if it has outstretched wings, but a big favorite with kids.

Spread out a handful or two of flour on the work surface, smooth with your hand to made a place to put the dough down maybe one foot across. Put 1/4 of the dough in a ball onto this floured space. Sprinkle another handfull of flour on top of the dough. Now take out the rolling pin and start to roll it out. When it’s about one inch thick, add more flour to each side and then continue rolling. The thinner you roll it, the crispier the cookies will be. If you like soft cookies, roll it 1/4 inch thick. If you like crispy ones (my favorite) it’s more like 1/8 inch. 

Another thing to explain to kids, if they are helping — you want to make each tray of cookies the same cutter shape. This makes it much easier to obtain uniform baking of the entire tray. If you have different sizes on the tray, by the time they are all done, some will be overcooked. 

After cutting out the cookies from the first rolling of the dough, add more fresh dough to the scraps and knead to get it into a ball, then start over again. 

Bake the cookies for 8 to 12 minutes, depending on the size of the cutter you chose and the thickness of the dough. Just keep them under observation. When they’re done, stack on cookie trays or newspaper and wait for them to cool while you make 4 dishes of frosting of different colors. You can buy frosting in a can but we make our own by following the recipe for buttercream icing in the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. Or the Joy of Cooking, it doesn’t matter. The only way you can really ruin frosting is to add too much liquid, so be careful about that.  Add the liquid slowly. 

Put a butter knife with each dish of frosting and assemble the volunteers, if you have them.  Put whatever cookies survive the frosting process (some will get eaten) aside. Don’t stack them unless the frosting is dried. Enjoy!

When we woke up this morning, it was 34 degrees but the dog still wanted to go for his morning walk. We had to put on one of his sweaters.

He doesn’t mind this too much, though he sometimes growls a little as you put his paw in the sleeves.