Monday, December 12, 2022

Cookies and Christmas treats



My parents baked cookies all through the year, though I suppose Christmas was an extra special time. That said, I don't remember there being any particular cookies that were reserved for the holiday season. Mom had a Kitchen Aid stand mixer that she could make huge batches of cookies in--and she would. For chocolate chip cookies, she would triple the recipe in the Betty Crocker Cookbook. They had these sheets that they would lay out over the counter (our kitchen had more than its fair share of counter space) for the cookies to cool and shed some of their grease into. 

The other cookies I remember most were peanut butter cookies and cornflake cookies (distinguished by cornflakes and coconut). When I was quite a bit older, after dad had died, Mom got really into potato chip cookies, which came from a recipe on a bag of our local potato chips

It seems like if anything Christmas was the time for non-cookie treats. Mom was never quite satisfied that her Divinity matched what her mother used to make, and it was never quite the same from year to year, so to this day I can't say I know what Divinity is supposed to taste like. All the iterations she tried seemed wonderful to me though. We would frequently make Buckeyes, though those were also a year-round treat, but chocolate and peanut butter fudge were (I think) reserved for the holidays. 

Christmas time involved a lot of parties, either at church or at the social organization my parents were part of, the Grange. And that's where I remember other festive cookies and treats that we didn't make at home. I don't think my mom ever in her life made Hershey kiss cookies, which made them a particular treat when I got them. And white chocolate peppermint bark always seemed like something that had to have been cooked up between Santa Claus and Jesus, it was so good. There was some kind of green cookies shaped like Christmas trees (were there cornflakes or some other cereal in them?) that were a holiday treat but probably would have worn out their welcome quickly if they were always available. 

Oh, and popcorn balls! I can't say I loved them, but I recall them fondly. And, of course, we kids got a lot of candy canes, which were good to suck on, but they were even better to gather up and toss in the blender to turn into an ice cream topping. Anyway, I'm getting pretty far afield from cookies--what were your favorite Christmas treats growing up?

And finally, I want to direct attention to Bozoette's Mom's chocolate chip cookies. I gave them a try this afternoon and they are a revelation. The use of a copious quantity of dark brown sugar instead of light brown sugar gives these cookies a distinctive character that is above and beyond the flavor profile of the cookies I grew up with (sorry Betty). Highly recommended. 

7 comments:

  1. Yesterday I bought enough to make springerles, candy cane cookies (which are sort of like shortbread), and thumbprint cookies. I'm not sure I've ever purchased Crisco before in my life, but this year I'm trying to follow the instructions...

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    1. We always had Crisco in the house when I was growing up. I've shunned it for the last decade+ because vegetable oil is really not good for you, but I broke down and bought some today because it just makes the cookies better.

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  2. Same here. I also bought margarine because that's what we had growing up, and I've finally realized why butter in cookies tastes so weird to me.

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    1. Oh yeah, we were a strict margarine family too. I'm not going back to that, at least.

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  3. The cookie that says Christmas to me (and now to my adult children) is the toffee cookie. You press a stiff dough into a cookie sheet and bake for a while, then pull it out and put squares of Hershey chocolate bars on top to melt. When they've sat there for 10-15 minutes, you spread evenly with a knife and top with finely chopped pecans.

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  4. John, I remember your kitchen counters and the stand mixer. Your mom and I used it to shred the cabbage for the church social there in your kitchen. I was amazed at the attachments that mixer had. When Whirlpool bought Kitchen Aid I finally got one...I was never much of a cookie baker though. Happy memories, happy holidays!

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  5. I'm so glad you love The Cookies! They were our year-round cookie, but at Christmas time my Mom made a confection called sea foam, which I adored. I'll have to look up a recipe for one!

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