Christmas Cookies, Part I

It's Cookie Time!!!

It's that time of year where Brian and I have our holiday tradition of baking cookies to share with friends and family. In the past, we would take a Saturday and bake till we dropped from exhaustion. We'd start churning out cookies right after breakfast and be cleaning the kitchen around 11pm. Things have changed in the last couple of years because well.....we don't have a full Saturday anymore! Last year we were fortunate to both have jobs that enabled us to bake during the week, but since we're both now "nine to fivers" full-time, we decided to split the baking over a weekend and bake just a little less. I have to say, I like the format of stretching the baking over two days instead of killing ourselves over one day. This also makes us able to stick a fork in another "tradition:" the "Post-Cookie Exhaustion Argument." You know the one I mean, folks...the sqaubbly, gripe-y fight that is inevitable when you are both sore, tired and hungry. Not a tradition that I'm sorry to see go away!

So, in order to make fewer batches of cookies but still enjoy every minute, we made a list of cookies that we wanted to make and ranked them. (We're big, organized dorks in this house and take our cookie-baking seriously. And if you make fun, you may not get any cookies!!) First, we each chose a kind of cookie that it just wouldn't be Christmas for us if we didn't bake them. For me, that would be Rollo Cookies and for him, that would be Coconut Macarooons. Then we looked at a couple of other classic recipes and also decided on a couple of new recipes to try this year. Here is the list:

1. Rollo Cokies: I've been making these for years. I used to think they were some sort of family secret, but then I found out that my Mom got them on the back of a flour bag. Ah well. They're a chocolately, pecan cookie with a Rollo candy stuffed inside. Pure heaven.

2. Coconut Macaroons: Brian's absolute favorite, he could make these every week and still never have enough! They're crispy, coconutty and come together quickly.

3. Pecan Caramel Surprises: These are a new one for us this year, kind of like a rollo cookie but they aren't chocolate and they have a caramel square in the middle.

4. Rolled Sugar Cookies: A holiday tradition, the sugar cookies that you roll out and use cookie cutters and then decorate. I used to hate roll-out cookies until Alton Brown had a show dedicated with all sorts of tips and tricks to making them. We're not really picky about decorating them, usually it's frosting with sprinkles instead of a lot of detail.

5. Peanut Butter Blossoms: the traditional, peanut butter-and-hershey kiss variety. You know, the ones that tend to disappear from the platter first!!

6. Honey-Nut Clusters: This is also a new one for us this year.


Tonight we made the macaroons and the Rollo cookies, as we didn't remember until late that the sugar cookie dough needs to be refrigerated for 2-4 hours!! So we'll make the dough as soon as Will is napping tomorrow. Since we're supposed to get just a little snow tomorrow, it'll be fun to hang out at home and bake.

As I've already stated--we're pretty serious cookie bakers around the holidays. We double most of the recipes, plan grocery lists and only use the best ingredients. This is really the only time of the year that we bake like this, so we don't scrimp on quality. My feelings are, if you are going to bake a cookie, use what the recipe calls for and no substitution like margarine. Or applesauce, and if it calls for shortening, use it! I very rarely bake cookies, most of the time I can't be bothered. ('Cept for the occasional batch of Toll House Cookies!!) These are a real treat. :)

So what happens to all of these cookies?? Well, I'm glad that you asked. We make up platters and tins for friends and family. We also ship them in holiday packages to friends and family in places as far away as Maine, Pennsylvania and Illinois. And we keep some to indulge ourselves at home, sometimes with guests. There's nothing like sitting with your family by the tree, lights low and some cookies and milk. Mmmmm.............