hristmas cookies start out as a great thing. At 5 years old, hanging out in the kitchen in PJs on a cold Christmas Eve, munching on sugar cookies and deciding if Santa
will really miss two or three more from his plate — I mean, he goes to every house,
surely he’ll be full by the time he gets to Calhoun County.
C
But then, decades later, sugar cookies lose a bit of charm; they’re all well and good, decorated like snowmen and christmas trees, but can’t we do something a little more dynamic
for the holidays? Where’s the joie de vivre, the carpe diem, the kaptu la tago? We could put
chocolate in these things and get away with it. We’re adults!
We’ve picked out three of our favorite cookie recipes for the holidays to give you something
sweet to eat this Christmas:
Maple Walnut
Cookies
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1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 large egg
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon fat-free milk
2 teaspoons butter, softened
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts, toasted
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Combine flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and cloves in a bowl and
whisk
INSIGHT
3. In another bowl, mix brown sugar and 1/4
cup of softened butter and blend them until
the butter takes on a fluffy consistency. Add
maple syrup and egg, then beat until blended; add flour mixture (created in previous
step) at low whipping speed until combined.
4. Spoon out the batter into 1 tablespoon
mounds (about 30) two inches apart on baking sheets. Bake for 14 minutes or until lightly
browned, cool on pans for five minutes and
cool the rest of the way on wire racks
5. For frosting, combine 2 tablespoons syrup, milk, 2 teaspoons butter and powdered
sugar with a whisk until smooth. Spread
evenly over cooled cookies
December 2014
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