Sunday, December 18, 2011

Get Your Butter On: Inside the Christmas Cookie Jar

Good grief. My repertoire of Christmas sweets has really expanded.

For several years the staples were Rugelach, Russian Tea Cookies, and and Press/Cutout Cookies. A few years back I added Coconut Macaroons and  two recipes from my sister: Cornmeal Cookies and Amaretti. Maybe two years ago I started making Hazelnut Biscotti. I love having something chocolaty but still perfectly seasonal on the cookie tray. And last year I added Pralines and Peppermint Bark.

What I appreciate about these recipes is the variety when all are on a platter. Also, there are enough choices about fillings and what nuts to use that make it fun each year. Sometimes I use hazelnuts in my Russian Tea Cakes, other times I use pecans.

Rugelachis a hard one to pick a filling for because I like them all so much. Each filling incorporates cinnamon sugar but the varieties are apricot jam, raspberry jam, chocolate/almond, or currant/pecan.

I make  Press Cookies  because they're so kid friendly (espeically when you forego the press and simply roll out the freshly mixed dough, using cookie cutters to shape). I rarely make gingerbread men because I just love both snappy and squishy ginger cookies but gingerbread usually disappoints. Also, I'm a terrible cookie decorator.

Happy Holiday Baking!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

rugelach has been in my repetwoire for the last severl yers, especially welcome at our joint Christmas Hannukah celebrations. Last year's twist on rugelach was ginger pear, pear preserves from Whole Foods with chopped dried pears from Trader Joes with almonds, a huge hit!