For many of our readers, making cookies during the holiday season isn’t just another chore to check off the to-do list. It’s a great way to make memories with friends and family.
We asked Eat readers to reminisce about holiday cookie-making, and we were inundated with great stories, photos and recipes.
We picked 14 of our favorite entries from the stack — there just wasn’t space to run them all. But if yours didn’t get chosen, don’t worry. With the response we had, we’ll be doing this again next year.
Memories and recipes have been edited for length and clarity, in some cases.
Happy reading (and baking)!
WHILE MOM’S AWAY …
My favorite cookie memory is making cutout sugar cookies with my little sister and my dad. My mom was in a bowling league on Monday nights, so she mixed up the balls of dough, and then after she left for bowling, we got busy cutting out stars, trees and Santas. Our favorite thing to do was to trace our little hands and then put a red hot on each fingernail. We sprinkled the cookies with colored sugar, and more sugar probably went on the floor than on the cookies. Of course, we liked to eat the dough scraps that were between the cookies.
When I had my own children, I continued this tradition with the four of them. The lemon sugar cookies are still my favorite Christmas cookie.
— Marcea King, Eagan
ROLLED LEMON SUGAR COOKIES
Makes about 48 cookies.
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar, plus more for sprinkling
2 eggs
2 teaspoons lemon extract
6 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
5 1/2 cups flour
Frosting, optional
To prepare oven: Heat oven to 375 degrees.
To make dough: Using electric mixer, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs. Beat well. Add lemon extract. Beat well. Add milk. Beat well. In separate bowl, stir together salt, baking powder and flour. Gradually add dry mixture to mixing bowl. Beat until all flour is incorporated. Form into 3 balls. Refrigerate until firm.
To shape and bake: Using rolling pin, roll dough out on clean surface to desired thickness. Cut shapes. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or just until starting to brown. Cool. Frost, if desired.
SUPERIOR TRADITION
Crashing waves, good friends and family, and a cozy cabin on Lake Superior have been the ingredients of our December “cookie bake” for the past 16 years. Each year, we gather to visit and laugh, watch our favorite holiday movies, shop in Grand Marais and bake and decorate cookies. Everyone sits around the big table sharing stories while adding their creative touches to make our sugar cookies festive.
— Linda Jackson, Forest Lake
SUGAR COOKIES
Makes about 50 cookies.
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup softened butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
Sugar, for sprinkling
To prepare oven: Heat oven to 350 degrees.
To make dough: In mixing bowl, combine powdered sugar, butter, egg, vanilla and almond extract. Add flour, baking soda and cream of tartar. Mix well. Chill dough.
To shape and bake: Using floured rolling pin, roll out chilled dough on well-floured board. Cut out shapes. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 6 to 7 minutes. Or cool completely and frost (recipe follows).
SUGAR COOKIE FROSTING
1/3 cup softened butter
3 cups powdered sugar, divided
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
A few tablespoons milk
Food coloring, optional
In medium bowl, beat butter until smooth. Slowly add 1 cup powdered sugar, vanilla and almond extract. Add 2 cups powdered sugar and a little milk until you achieve desired frosting consistency. Add food coloring.
EARLY START
I started baking with my Easy Bake oven, and 40-plus years later, I am still the baker of the family. At Christmas, I used to bake double batches of 15 to 20 different items. I would stay up until the wee hours then get up and go to work by 8 a.m. I would give the cookies to family, co-workers and friends. I used Christmas boxes, shirt or robe size, and put a dozen of each kind in the boxes. Last year, I decreased the amount I make. I am now down to nine different items. I asked each family member for the one item they would want the most.
I am attaching my favorite recipe for spritz cookies, which my mom has used for as long as I can remember. Thank you, Mom, for teaching me the skills for baking and for my Easy Bake Oven, which started it all.
— Lori Ann Jones, St. Paul
SPRITZ COOKIES
Makes about 75 cookies.
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1 egg
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
Heat oven to 450 degrees. Mix ingredients well. Run through cookie press. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.
COOKIE-MAKING WEEKEND
Cookie-baking weekend started in 1970, when my family left Minnesota, leaving me alone and lonely. I asked my aunt to bake cookies with me. Over time, more bakers joined us. Today, 35 years and four houses later, more than 40 friends and relatives of all ages wander through my kitchen during a cookie- baking weekend in December. The kids who once just got in the way are now coming with their kids. Everyone brings batter for their favorite cookies and together we roll, sugar, press, frost and bake more than 1,500 cookies, representing favorites from many nationalities. We once calculated that we use more than 10 pounds of butter, 10 pounds of sugar and 20 pounds of flour during these marathons. Then, the cookies are stored in bins on a cold porch until claimed by the bakers.
— Leah Harvey
A.J.’S (AUNTIE JO’S) JEWEL SANDWICH COOKIES
Makes about 100 (1-inch) cookies.
Dough:
2 cups flour
1 cup butter
1/3 cup whipping cream
Granulated sugar
Filling:
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Red food coloring
Green food coloring
To make dough: In mixing bowl, beat together flour, butter and whipping cream. Chill.
To shape and bake: Heat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out dough as thin as possible. Cut into 1-inch circles. Sprinkle with sugar. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Using fork, poke each cookie 2 or 3 times. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes. (Note: Do not brown.)
To make filling: In mixing bowl, beat together butter, powdered sugar and egg yolk. Divide filling in half. Mix vanilla into 1 half. Mix almond extract into other. Color 1 batch red, other batch green.
To assemble: Spread filling over 1 cookie. Top with another.
BURIED BATCH
My friend (age 13) and I (age 12) were baking cookies one frosty evening and decided to triple the recipe. Little did we know that a single batch produced a whole lot of cookies. After the ninth or 10th batch came out of the oven, we were growing quite bored but decided since we shouldn’t throw the dough in the trash, we would bury it in the raspberry patch out back. Our secret was never revealed to my parents.
— Dede Fendt, Oakdale
RUSSIAN TEACAKES
Makes about 48 cookies.
1 cup butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar, plus more for decorating
2 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup nuts
1/4 teaspoon salt
Heat oven to 400 degrees. In mixing bowl, combine butter, powdered sugar and vanilla. Stir in flour, nuts and salt. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Roll warm cookies in powdered sugar. Cool. Roll again in powdered sugar.
BAKING WITH GRANDMA
Baking a batch of my Grandma Vida’s sugar cookies always helps usher in the Christmas season. The smell of them baking brings back memories of working with Grandma in the tiny kitchen of my childhood home. I loved watching her roll out the dough; she could cut out so many cookies at once. Now, I bake them with my kids, and I still don’t think I can cut out as many cookies as Grandma did.
— Becky Marks, Rosemount
GRANDMA VIDA’S SUGAR COOKIES
Makes about 5 dozen cookies.
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
To make dough: In large bowl, combine flour, cream of tartar, salt and baking soda. Using pastry blender or fork, work in shortening until mixture is pea size. Set aside. In another bowl, combine eggs, sugar and vanilla. Beat egg mixture into flour mixture. Refrigerate for 40 minutes but no longer that 60 minutes.
To shake and bake: Heat oven to 325 degrees. Roll out dough. Cut into shapes. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until light brown.
To decorate: Unlike some sugar cookies, these are delicious with or without frosting — either sprinkle with colored sugar before baking or frost and decorate after baking.
SANTA AND HELPERS
My mom, best friend and I used to get together every Christmas to bake these sour cream cutout cookies. The recipe was passed down from my grandmother to my mom to me. We made these cookies to take to the nursing home in Eveleth, Minn., where I lived up at the time. We frosted some cookies; others we filled with dates. The residents loved them because the cookies were soft (easy to chew) and not high in sugar. I dressed up like Santa and my mom and friend were my helpers. We handed out presents and cookies to everyone. We had so much fun.
Now, my mom and friend are gone, and I have had a liver transplant and am waiting for a kidney. I have not been able to bake for two years because of health reasons. This year, I am making just enough cookies for a few friends and my family.
— Ramona Pikula, Oakdale
SOUR CREAM CUTOUT COOKIES
Makes about 4 dozen cookies.
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup shortening
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
12 ounces sour cream
To make dough: In mixing bowl, beat sugar, shortening, yolks and vanilla until light and fluffy. In another bowl, mix flour and baking soda. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture. Gradually add sour cream, but only enough to make dough soft and easy to roll out. Chill for at least 1 hour.
To shape and bake: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour baking sheet. Roll out dough. Cut out shapes. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely. Frost with buttercream frosting. (Recipe follows.)
Variation: To fill with dates, cook cut-up dates and a little water until soft. Cool. Sandwich 1 teaspoon of filling between 2 cookies.
BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
1 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
Milk
Food coloring, optional
Sprinkles, optional
In bowl, beat together shortening, butter, sugar and almond extract. Dribble in milk, just enough to make frosting fluffy and spreadable. Beat in food coloring. Add sprinkles.
SALLY ANNS AND THE SPAM CAN
Sally Ann cookies have been a family favorite since I was a child, decorating them in my parents’ kitchen. Mom would mix, cut, bake and frost, and we kids got to decorate.
Now, my grandchildren are the ones decorating. My granddaughter saw a stockpile of new sprinkle containers on the counter this week and immediately asked when we were going to bake cookies.
My mother cut the cookies into stars, trees, etc., at Christmastime and used a Spam can to cut them during the rest of the year. After she passed away, my daughter was one of the last to get a memento from her apartment. Finding a Spam can in a cupboard, she said, “How has no one else claimed this yet?”
My nephew’s wife recently asked if I had a spare Spam can because she had made Sally Anns and my nephew said they didn’t taste right because they weren’t shaped like Grandma’s.
— Mary Selby, St. Paul
DOLORES THOMALLA’S SALLY ANN COOKIES AND FROSTING
Makes 6 dozen cookies.
Cookies:
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup shortening
1 cup dark molasses
1 cup cold coffee
7 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking soda
3 teaspoons ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
Frosting:
2 egg whites
4 cups powdered sugar
To make cookies: In mixing bowl, beat together white sugar, brown sugar and shortening. Beat in molasses and coffee. Add flour, baking soda, ginger, cloves, cinnamon and salt. Chill overnight.
To shape and bake: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out dough. Cut out dough. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.
To make frosting: In mixing bowl, beat egg whites and powdered sugar. Add a little water to reach correct consistency.
LATE-NIGHT BAKING
In 1975, I worked at a pizza place and baked 18 different kinds of cookies one night after we closed. I made rosettes in the deep-fryer and used the large pizza oven to bake seven pans of cookies at once. At 6 a.m., the janitor drove me home, along with my pizza boxes full of cookies. After visiting my mom in the hospital that day, I went back to work and almost fell asleep during my shift. Here’s my favorite recipe.
— Dot Ott, Oakdale
PEANUT BUTTER BLOSSOMS
Makes 4 dozen cookies.
48 Hershey’s Kisses
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus more for rolling
1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
To prepare oven: Heat oven to 375 degrees.
To make dough: Remove foil from Kisses. Set chocolates aside. In large mixing bowl, beat shortening and peanut butter until well blended. Add granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla. Beat well. In medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.
To shape and bake: Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately press 1 chocolate into center of each cookie. (Note: Cookie will crack around edges.) Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.
BEST FROM BETTY
Every year since I was a little girl in the 1950s, my mom, Betty, has made her special bonbon cookies for our Christmas gathering. She got the recipe from General Mill’s “Betty Crocker,” who voted these cookies the “Best Cooky of 1955-1960.” By my calculations, this will be Mom’s 60th year baking these special treats. Trust me, she knows the recipe by heart. Although the recipe suggests variations, Mom typically puts maraschino cherries in the middle and decorates them with pastel green or pink icing. P.S. I love how Betty Crocker spelled “cooky” in the cookbook.
— Lynda Holland, Apple Valley
BONBON COOKIES
Makes 2 dozen cookies.
1/2 cup butter or margarine
3/4 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
Cream
Filling suggestions:
Maraschino cherries
Pitted dates
Nuts
Chocolate pieces
Bonbon icing:
1 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
Food coloring
Topping suggestions:
Icing of choice
Chopped nuts
Shredded coconut
Colored sugar
To make dough: In mixing bowl, combine butter, sugar and vanilla. Add flour and salt. Mix by hand. (Note: If dough is dry, add 1 to 2 tablespoons cream.)
To shape and bake: Heat oven to 350 degrees. For each cookie, wrap 1 level tablespoon dough around 1 suggested filling. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until set but not brown. Cool.
To decorate: In small bowl, mix confectioners’ sugar, cream, vanilla and food coloring. Dip tops of cookies in icing. Decorate with 1 suggested topping.
GRANDMA’S LEGACY
My favorite memory of Christmas at Grandma’s was walking downstairs to her pantry and finding 20-plus varieties of cookies, bars and … my favorite date balls. I loved packing them tightly in my take-home Cool Whip container. My grandmother died this September at age 96, after years of loving our family, often through food. Like many fantastic farm women, she did much well, including making dates delicious. My family loves making these no-bake treats every year.
— Beth Mork, St. Paul
DATE BALLS
Makes 2 dozen balls.
1/2 cup butter
1/2 pound dates, chopped
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 cups oven-popped cereal (such as Rice Krispies)
Shredded coconut, to coat
In saucepan, combine butter, dates and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Set aside. In bowl, combine egg, milk, salt and vanilla. Add to date mixture while still hot. Set aside to cool slightly. Add nuts and cereal. Roll into balls. Roll in coconut to coat.
THE CONNECTION
My grandmother is not your typical cookie-baking octogenarian. She is more likely to be found attending a lecture at the AAUW (American Association of University Women) or talking politics with me than she is sitting in the kitchen whipping up something tasty. Even so, for more than a decade, we have designated one day each year to make Christmas cookies to share with friends and family. It’s an opportunity for the two of us to take several hours out of our hectic lives to reconnect. In 2012, four generations of my family gathered in my kitchen to make our favorite cookies, which always include Wheaties Cookies. These cookies were first made by my great-grandmother and now have been made by four generations of my family.
— Bridget McCauley Nason, Eagan
WHEATIES COOKIES
Makes 36 cookies.
1 large block of melting chocolate (24 ounces)
1 box of Wheaties
Heat chocolate in double-boiler until melted. Add cereal. Stir to coat. Drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper. Cool.
ALL-AROUND FAVORITE
I found this recipe in a magazine in Kansas, where my husband was stationed in the Army in 1953. When we returned to Minnesota, my family and friends loved the cookies because they were so unusual, and I have been making them ever since. They are a favorite of everyone who tries them. I make them for holidays and special occasions, and I even send them around the country. I made more than 1,200 for my son David’s wedding in 1997.
— Darlene Schwart, St. Paul
MINT SURPRISE COOKIES
Makes 4 1/2 dozen cookies.
3 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup Crisco shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 unbeaten eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
5 dozen mint-chocolate coating wafers (see shopper’s note)
Walnut or pecan halves, optional
To make dough: In bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In mixing bowl, beat together butter and shortening. Gradually add granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat well. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Gradually blend in dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Cover. Chill for 2 hours or overnight.
To shape and bake: Heat to 375 degrees. Pinch off 1 tablespoon dough. Using two-thirds of it, form patty. Place mint on top. Cover with remaining one-third dough. Seal cookie at edges. Place 1 walnut or pecan half on top of each cookie. Place cookies 2 inches apart on baking sheet. Bake for 9 to 12 minutes.
Shopper’s note: For coating wafers, I use Wilton Candy Melts available at Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores.
IT’S A DATE
The women in our family (eight of us) have been baking Christmas cookies together for 25-plus years. There are four generations of us — my mom (age 92), me (72), my daughters and twin granddaughters (21), who started baking as soon as they could get up on a stool at the kitchen counter.
We bake all day, about 24 to 28 cookie recipes. Many are favorites printed in your newspaper that we have saved all these years. Each year, we all hunt for new recipes to add to the list.
My granddaughters, college seniors, called from St. Cloud State to get the date on their calendars so they can be at Grandma’s house to bake. We’ll miss my youngest daughter this year (she is in Afghanistan), however, she has the date on her calendar, too, and will call us during baking day to share the laughter and pick out which cookies we should send her.
— Judy Ehlert, St. Paul
ANDES CANDIES COOKIES
Makes about 10 dozen.
3/4 cup butter or margarine (I use butter)
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 cups chocolate chips
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 boxes Andes Mint candies (Andes Crème de Menthe Thins box)
To make dough: In saucepan over low heat, melt butter. Add sugar and water. Add chocolate chips. Stir until partially melted. Remove from heat. Stir. Cool for 5 minutes. Add eggs and dry ingredients. Using mixer, mix at low speed until blended. Chill for 1 hour.
To shape and bake: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Roll dough into little balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 13 minutes. While still hot, put 1 mint candy on each cookie. Let it get soft. Using spoon, swirl mint. Cool on baking rack.
