Visions of Christmas Cookies dance in their heads

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When I was growing up in the 60s, the holidays at my family’s farmhouse in Norway, and for that matter, those of my friends and relatives, were a flurry of cooking and baking. My grandmother Hope, and later, my aunt Faith, simmered pots of green tomatoes and spices on the stove to make mincemeat, which was later baked into sugary tartlets. My grandmother Nonie rolled out pounds of spicy gingerbread, and made dropped hermits by the panful. My cousin Pam and her mother made sugar cookies: stars, Christmas trees, and Santas, all carefully frosted and decorated with red and green sprinkles. My friend Lucinda’s mother was known for her refrigerator cookies: pinwheels of double chocolate and vanilla, cookies with cherries and pistachios, lemon drops decorated with swirls of white chocolate.

Cookie-baking at our house was a carefully planned production. I remember my mother, the day after Thanksgiving, flipping through the tattered pages of her Fanny Farmer cookbook and studying the magazine articles she had clipped throughout the year, deciding which confections we would give as gifts to our teachers and friends. Then she would make her infamous lists: detailing who would receive the treats (the mailman, paperboy, hairdresser), the ingredients (butter, sugar, eggs, almond extract), a baking schedule for each day (Monday: date logs; Tuesday, molasses crinkles;), lists of containers to store the cookies (coffee cans, 3 dozen almond press cookies; Tupperware, 5 dozen candy cane sugar cookies), jars and tins to give the cookies in.

When everything was organized, our kitchen became a massive cookie workshop. Nuts were toasted and chopped, dates were cooked, frosting was made and tinted, dough was fashioned and molded, and cookies were baked. The first week in December, we would return home every day from school to the aromas of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Afternoons were devoted to decorating and tasting. Container upon container of finished cookies would be carefully packed and stored on the back porch. Finally came the best part, filling the festive jars and tins with a colorful assortment of our handiwork.

As a young bride still in college, it seemed only natural for me to continue the holiday cookie ritual. When I opened my Gourmet To Go store in Bangor more than a decade ago, my collection of Christmas cookie recipes greatly expanded. During the years my children were in primary school, my kitchen became a literal cookie factory, producing dozens of gingerbread people for their classmates to embellish. Some of my fondest memories are of my three daughters decorating cookies to give as gifts to their friends. We even shipped gingerbread lobsters and moose to California and France. Although my two youngest girls are now in high school, they still love garnishing and eating Christmas cookies.

The cookies we are baking this year are a wonderful assortment of textures and flavors. Two of them – Lemon Coconut Cookies and Cranberry Pistachio Cookies – are refrigerator cookies. Their rich, shortbread-like texture comes from high-quality, unsalted butter. I like to keep a log of dough in the refrigerator so I can bake fresh cookies when someone stops by for tea. Hazelnut Shortbread Sticks are an addictive combination of ground hazelnuts and chocolate. The Linzer Cookies are like a miniature linzertorte, the elegant, rich tart that I first sampled in Austria. They can be filled with either seedless raspberry or apricot jams. I was inspired to create Pink Peppermint Stars as a way to recycle candy canes.

Because my oldest daughter, Laurel, works with young children, we will be shaping Gingerbread Cookies for them to decorate. And for those who want a treat but like to watch their fat intake, try the Holiday Sugar Cookies. Made from a combination of whole-wheat and cake flour, they are really quite delicious. Substitute Splenda for the sugar and try a low-carbohydrate version.

As I’ve perfected my cookie baking techniques over the years, my mother’s penchant for organization still makes sense. Once you’ve selected your cookie recipes, make a list of all the ingredients, and the places you need to shop to purchase them. Look at your family calendar and actually schedule the days when you can make these works of art, allowing plenty of time so that the process is enjoyable, not rushed. Finally, on baking days, double-check your ingredients, and set things out on the counter that need to be at room temperature, including the butter.

The best gifts are ones that come from the heart. Because cooking is so much a part of my life, the gifts I like to give and receive come from the kitchen. This year, instead of spending hours shopping for things people may never use, take a page from the family cookbook of the 1960s. Let your creativity run wild and bake Christmas cookies.

Cheryl Wixson can be reached at starchef99@aol.com.

Gingerbread Cookies

Yields 24 very large gingerbread cookies

1 1/3 cups shortening or margarine

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

11/2 cups molasses

6 cups flour

4 teaspoons ginger

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cloves

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup flour or more for rolling out the dough

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar with an electric mixer. Add the molasses and eggs and beat well.

Sift together the dry ingredients into a separate bowl. Add this mixture in small batches to the molasses mixture, mixing well each time, until all is incorporated.

Scrape dough out of bowl onto floured surface and form into a ball. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and chill the dough.

To shape cookies, remove about 2 cups of the dough and shape into a ball on a floured surface. Using plenty of flour, roll the dough out to about 1/4-inch thick. Dip the cookie cutter in flour, then cut out the cookies. Transfer immediately to an ungreased cookie sheet, fitting 3-4 cookies per sheet.

Continue working with 2-cup amounts of the dough and roll and cut cookies.

Bake the cookies in a 350 degree F oven. Let the cookies cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then carefully transfer them to a rack to finish cooling. Be sure to keep the cookies flat.

Cookies may be stored flat in a covered container for several weeks. Do not stack cookies, as they will stick together.

Unused dough may be stored in the refrigerator, tightly wrapped, for up to 2 weeks.

Icing for Gingerbread People

Yields 24 2-ounce containers

2 pounds confectioners sugar, sifted

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk (or more)

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine sugar, vanilla and milk until the icing has reached a consistency that is thin enough to spread with a knife. If desired, some of the icing may be flavored with strawberry or raspberry syrups. This recipe produces enough to ice 24 gingerbread people with some left over for licking.

Holiday Sugar Cookies

Makes about 60 2-inch cookies

1 cup sugar

4 tablespoons butter at room temperature

4 tablespoons canola oil

2 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

11/2 cup whole-wheat flour

1 1/2 cup unsifted cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil 2 baking sheets.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, combine butter, oil and sugar and beat until fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla, beat until smooth.

Whisk together the flours and baking powder. Add to the creamed mixture, mixing on low speed until just combined. Divide the dough in half and press each piece into a disk. On a well-floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut out cookies, rerolling the scraps of dough.

Bake for 5 to 7 minutes, until just golden on the edges. Let cool completely on a rack.

Adapted from Eating Well magazine.

Cookie Decorator Icing

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

3 tablespoons dried egg whites (available at Cakes by Jan in Bangor)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

food coloring (optional)

1/2 cup water

water for thinning

Sift sugar, cream of tartar and dried egg whites into a mixing bowl. Add vanilla and water, beating with an electric mixer at low speed until mixed. Increase speed to high and beat until icing has thickened and holds peaks, about 8 to 10 minutes.

This frosting may be thinned with water and tinted with food coloring to make a “paint” for cookies. It may also be piped through a pastry bag with a fine tip.

Lemon Coconut Cookies

Makes about 5 dozen cookies

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

11/2 tablespoons freshly grated lemon zest

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sweetened flaked coconut, toasted and cooled

In the bowl of your electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the lemon zest, vanilla and lemon extract. Add the flour and beat the mixture until it forms a dough. Stir in the coconut. Chill the dough until it is firm enough to handle. Divide the dough in two, shape each piece into a log about 8 inches long. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Lightly grease baking sheets. Using a sharp or serrated knife, cut the dough into 1/4-inch thick slices. Place on the baking sheets and bake until they are pale golden, about 25 to 30 minutes. Let cookies cool completely on a rack. Store in airtight containers.

Cranberry Pistachio Cookies

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg, separated

21/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cups pistachio nuts, coarsely chopped

1 cup dried cranberries

1/3 cup coarse or sanding sugar

In the bowl of your electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the egg yolk. Add the flour and pistachios, mixing until just combined. Stir the dried cranberries in with a spoon. Divide the dough in half and roll each piece into a log about 12 inches long. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let chill at least 2 to 3 hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a cookie sheet. Pour the coarse sugar over a piece of waxed paper. Whisk the egg white in a small bowl. Lightly brush the egg white over the surface of the cookie dough log, then press and roll the log in the sugar. Using a sharp or serrated knife, slice the dough into 1/2-inch slices and place on the baking pan. Bake 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool on a rack and store in an airtight container. These cookies freeze well.

Hazelnut Shortbread Sticks

Makes about 24 cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup (2 ounces) finely ground, husked and toasted hazelnuts

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the topping:

4 ounces high quality milk chocolate

1/3 cup coarsely chopped, husked and toasted hazelnuts

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet pan with parchment paper. Whisk the flour and baking powder together. In the bowl of your electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the ground hazelnuts and vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and mix until just combined.

Shape the dough by tablespoons into 3-inch logs. Place on the cookie pan, spacing about an inch apart. Cook until they are light golden brown, about 15-20 minutes. Let cool on pan 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack and cool completely.

Melt the chocolate in a glass bowl in the microwave or in a double boiler on top of the stove. Place the chopped hazelnuts in a small bowl. Dip one end of the cookie in the melted chocolate, then into the chopped hazelnuts. Let dipped cookies cool on the rack until the chocolate is set, about 1 hour. Store in airtight containers at room temperature.

Notes: Husked hazelnuts are available at the Natural Living Center in Bangor and Rooster Brother in Ellsworth. Toast hazelnuts in a 325 degree-oven until they just start to turn golden and have a nice toasty aroma, being careful not to burn them. Chop hazelnuts in the bowl of your food processor, take care not to chop too much or they will turn into hazelnut butter!

Linzer Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup almond meal or hazelnut flour

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 egg

1 cup seedless raspberry or apricot jam

Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

Cream together the butter, sugars, baking powder, cinnamon and almond extract. Mix in the nut flour, all purpose flour and egg. Divide the dough in half, wrap well in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour for easiest rolling.

Roll the dough out 1/8-inch thick. Cut half of the dough into solid shapes. Cut the other half into the same shape with a cut-out design in the center. (Linzer cookie cutters may be purchased for this from catalogs such as King Arthur Flour). Bake the cookie shapes on an ungreased cookie sheet in a preheated, 375 degree F oven until lightly browned, about 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on a rack.

Dust the cookies with cut-out tops lightly with confectioners’ sugar. Spread the solid cookies with 1/2 teaspoon of jam. Place a cut-out cookie on top. Let stand for several hours until the filling is set. Store in a tin or tightly sealed container.

Pink Peppermint Stars

1 cup shortening

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup finely crushed peppermint candies

6 drops red food coloring

In the bowl of your electric mixer, cream together the shortening and sugars. Beat in the eggs. Beat in the peppermint extract and red food coloring. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda. Add gradually to the creamed mixture. Stir in the crushed candy. Scrape the dough out of the bowl, shape into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour.

To shape the cookies, roll the dough out on a well-floured surface and cut into stars. Bake in a preheated 375 degree F oven until the edges just start to brown, about 6-8 minutes. Makes about 9 dozen, 2-inch star cookies.