A Belated Post From Christmas...

Everyone has a food ritual that defined their lives as children. A lot of people have several. It’s this reason that no one cooks like your Grandmother or your mother. They were probably the major proponents of that ritual.

One ritual from my past was that of making Christmas cookies with my mother.

Now, let’s get this straight. Our Christmas cookie baking was not one day or even one weekend long. It started the day after Thanksgiving and didn’t stop until a few days before Christmas. We made THOUSANDS each year. We had long lists of recipients and even a list of who liked what. Trays and tins of these cookies would circulate as Christmas presents. You were more special if you got a tray, but tins made people really happy too. I had teachers and bus drivers tapping the tips of their fingers together waiting for their yearly ration of cookies.

I say this is a ritual from my past because, several years ago, my mother stopped making these cookies. Suddenly. Prices were too high – especially for butter – and we just couldn’t afford it any more. I think I was the most disappointed person, but I vowed that, when I was able, I’d pick up where she left off.

I think it was last year that I made pizzelles and decided to distribute them to Matt’s family. This year, more requests rained in.

Then my mom asked me if I wanted to bake cookies. Here was her buckets of recipe books and booklets. Make a list.

Oh, and could you make a pumpkin roll?

SURE CAN!

I was so excited. I was determined to make one of my favorites from the olden days – the Caramel surprise. Then I found a recipe for Irish Crème cookies. Then Matt bought me some Heath crunchie chip things and I added Toffee Chip cookies to the list.

I had trouble finding a recipe for the caramel surprises in the bucket so I looked online and found this one and decided that was close enough, I’d just alter it slightly so it’d be what I remembered.

Then I wanted a chocolate chip cookie recipe to use the toffee chips in and I found this one. I, obviously, left out the chips and added the entire bag of toffee.

The Irish Crème cookies were the only recipe I actually got out of the box of wonders.

So, I made a list, we got everything off the list, and I came home and prepared myself to make cookies. I put on my Coheed and Cambria/The Prize Fighter Inferno playlist on (which has every single song from the two projects and is about 6 and a ½ hours long) and I began to bake.

I started with the Toffee Chip cookies because they were the easiest. I needed to ease into this. Other than bread, I’m not really a baker and I tend to really mess up chocolate chip cookies.

TOFFEE CHIP COOKIES

1 cup softened butter

1 cup white sugar

1 cup packed brown (I used light) sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp hot water

½ tsp salt

1 bag Heath toffee pieces

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour and heath pieces. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.

3. Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.

They came out so beautifully. You can add ½ tsp. cream of Tartar to get a nice cracked top but I found I didn’t need this at all! They also tasted phenomenal and had a nice little crunch to them.

After the Toffee Chip Cookies, I went in to making the pumpkin roll – which ended up not being as successful…

Here’s the recipe that we’ve always used (but I’ve only ever been able to get to work for me once…).

PUMPKIN ROLL

3 eggs

1 cup white sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

3/4 cup all purpose flour

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 cup confectioners sugar

6 oz cream cheese

1/4 cup softened butter

1/2 tsp vanilla

2/3 cup (1/2 can) pumpkin

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Beat eggs for 5 mins.
3. Gradually add the sugar and beat until creamy and lemon colored.
4. Add pumpkin and lemon juice.
5. Add the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.
6. Grease jellyroll pan and line with parchment paper.
7. Grease and flour the paper.
8. Spread the batter
9. Bake for 15 minutes, until springy.
10. Immediately turn out onto a linen towel, remove the paper and roll into the towel starting with the short side.
11. Beat cream cheese, confectioners sugar, butter and vanilla until fluffy
12. Unroll the cake and spread the filling within one inch of the edge. Roll from the short size.

My moms oven is electric so it’s got longer cooking times. I guess I didn’t realize the roll wasn’t completely cooked when I took it out.

After the roll, I started making the Caramel Surprise cookies because their dough needed to chill for 30 minutes. I tripled this recipe

CARAMEL SHORTBREAD SURPRISE COOKIES

1 1/4 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
7 tbs butter, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg yolk, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
7 caramels, cut in half

1. Cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and mix.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking soda. Mix the dry ingredients with the wet to form the dough.
3. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 400°F.
5. Unwrap and cut each of the caramels in half
6. Roll the dough into a ball and cut it in half. Roll each half into a 7 inch log and cut off one inch slices.
7. Place 1 caramel half in each slice and roll it into a ball, trying if you can to not have the caramel poking through the top.
8. Using either a dusted measuring cup or something else with a flat bottom, flatted each cookie slightly.
9. Bake for about ten minutes or until lightly golden and let cool completely.

IRISH CREAM COOKIES

The Cookies:

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

½ cup butter, softened

¼ cup half and half

¼ Irish Cream

¼ tsp rum extract

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

¼ tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

The Glaze:

¼ cup powdered sugar

2 tbs Irish Cream

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Mix the brown sugar and butter on medium until creamy
3. Reduce the speed to low and add the half and half, liqueur, and rum extract
4. Add the flour, baking soda and salt
5. Drop the dough by rounded teaspoonfuls and bake 10-12 minutes
6. Mix the powdered sugar with the cream until smooth and drizzle over the cooled cookies