Seasonal Flavors: Christmas Cookies

0
1056

By Denise Zito

I come from a very large family. At the high-water mark, there were 22 aunts and uncles plus the in-laws (10 more). Now only five are left. They and the 45 first cousins made for a lot of fun and a lot of great cooks. One group of aunts was famous for their baking skills.  Holidays, especially Christmas, would mean at least fifteen kinds of cookies, plus special pastries and even homemade chocolate candies. We would return from holiday visits laden with sugary treats. Nowadays, we’ve all tried to give up that lifestyle, but come Christmas, I let down my virtuous guard and make cookies—lots and lots of cookies; at least ten different kinds and the pastry too. The candy? No, I don’t see myself ever doing that.

Aunt Kay was a beloved baker, as well as a seamstress, a knitter, crocheter, quilter, painter, and singer. She also raised two wonderful daughters and worked in an office on and off most of her life. A quiet woman, she accomplished all this without fanfare. Her gregarious husband, Uncle Walter, matched her toe-to-toe with his woodcarving. He was a machinist and made tabletop, scale-model merry-go-rounds with moving metal parts and hand-carved horses.  Flip the switch and you would hear the music while the horses went round and round and up and down. Aunt Kay painted those horses and the merry-go-round canopy.  She and Uncle Walter were quite a pair and would have been terribly intimidating to me with all that talent, if they weren’t just so nice and unassuming. Two artists, living perfectly quotidian lives; I loved them and will never forget them.

But let’s get to the cookies. This is one of Aunt Kay’s recipes. There is something very special about this dough. I don’t even really like mint in a cookie, but I love these. Enjoy.

Aunt Kay’s Starlight Walnut Mint Christmas Cookies 

  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup butter
  • ½ cup white sugar
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 Tablespoons water
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • Andes Mints (available on the top shelf of the candy section of Crozet Great Valu)
  • 36 perfect walnut halves (pick through the bag—you’ll find enough)

Sift the flour, baking soda and salt.

In a separate bowl, cream the butter with the sugars, until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time and mix ’til blended. Add the water and the vanilla and blend. Then add the flour mixture a little at a time and mix until all is added and blended.

Refrigerate the dough for at least two hours, or overnight.

To bake, take a tablespoon of dough and wrap it around half of an Andes Mint.  Press a walnut half gently on top to flatten slightly.  These cookies spread, so leave plenty of space between cookies on your baking sheet.

Bake at 3750F for 10 – 12 minutes.

When I make these for Christmas, I mix the dough on the first evening and then bake them the next evening.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here