One of My Traditional Christmas Cookies

Cinnamon Cookies

Somehow, in all the years since I started with my website and this blog, I have never yet entered this recipe for Christmas Cookies. I guess it is such a part of the scenery at Christmas that I just forget to share the recipe? Maybe? Whatever reason it may be, these have been overlooked, yet they have been a part of my Christmas Cookie repertoire from my earliest cookie-making days in Guatemala as a new young wife. 

I guess fiddling with recipes has been in my nature even back then when I didn't really know anything about cooking at all. The original recipe started out with my 1966 edition of The Joy of Cooking. That book was where I really picked up a love of understanding a recipe and what makes it work. The recipe I used was one with various alternatives. You could use white sugar or brown sugar. You could use cinnamon or other spices, or no spices. You could make them like "thumbprint" cookies and fill them, or not. There were so many options available, and I chose the route of using brown sugar and the cinnamon, but not making them into thumbprint cookies. And to add my own touch, I set a glace cherry on top. 
 

Cinnamon Cookies

While the recipe is not 100% original, in these days it is truly difficult to find anything that is totally original. I sat down a couple of years ago to create a cookie recipe all of my own. I took the amount of flour I thought would give me the size recipe I wanted. I added in sugar in the quantity I thought would be sufficient without being too much. I used butter, because butter is best! Egg, of course. Baking powder, vanilla extract, salt. I wrote down all the quantities I felt would be best for what I wanted. And I made them and they came out truly great. And then? I found a recipe online that was exactly the same! The same proportion of every single thing! I did no copying, no looking at other recipes. I wanted it to be my own. And someone already had the exact same recipe out there. How frustrating.

But really, there are these basic ingredients and only so many ways to alter the proportions. Not trying to justify using a pre-written recipe to build something, but it is just too easy to do. However I came to this recipe, I have been making it since my children were tiny, and we have all loved them, forever. So what are these cookies? I call them Cinnamon Cookies. Uninspired title, perhaps. But that is what they are. And if you like cinnamon, there is nothing NOT to like about these cookies; it uses a whole tablespoon of cinnamon for a quite small recipe. 

These cookies are rolled into balls, then rolled in granulated sugar, then flattened slightly, as with peanut butter cookies. Then I set a half glaceed cherry into the center, pressing a bit to adhere. Over the years, I have tried rolling the balls into green sugar granules and setting a half green glaceed cherry on top, and also used red sugar granules and red glaceed cherry half. But I think after all the experiments, they look best rolled in regular white granulated sugar and with either red or green glaceed cherry on top. The recipe is very small, at only 28 cookies, more or less. I generally double the recipe, and have even quadrupled it, when all the kids were still at home and we also had guests.

Cinnamon Cookies

Cinnamon Cookies

Makes about 28 cookies

½ cup unsalted butter, softened
½ cup brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 cup all-purpose flour
⅛ teaspoon salt
- granulated sugar, for rolling
14 - 16 glaceed cherries, halved

Cream together the butter and brown sugar until very light. Beat in the egg to combine completely. Whisk together  the cinnamon, flour and salt, then add in these dry ingredients all at once and mix just until no dry flour remains. Do not over-mix. Bring the dough together into a solid mass and wrap tightly in plastic wrap or place in a zip-top bag. Chill the dough for at least 2 to 3 hours, or overnight.

*DO AHEAD: If prepping early, make the dough, wrap tightly and freeze for up to 3 weeks. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before using.

Preheat oven to 375. Remove dough from refrigerator and roll into 1-inch balls. Roll each ball in granulated sugar to completely coat, then set at least 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet(s). Use a glass or other flat-bottomed object to flatten the cookie balls to about ¼-inch thick discs. Set a half cherry in the center, pressing gently to adhere (the stickiness of glaceed cherries works well, here). Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, or until set and barely beginning to turn golden at the edges. Remove them immediately to a clean counter or cookie rack to cool.



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Finally Making Time for Christmas Cookies

Christopsomos, Greek Christmas Bread

I had made a decision to do something different for gifts this year. I have been making (probably literally) thousands of cookies, so I have enough to give away as gifts to all the family, and still have enough to keep for ourselves. Instead, I decided on making another of the wonderful breads from The Bread Baker's Apprentice, by Peter Reinhart. I had originally tried the Christopsomos, a Greek Christmas Bread, but changed my mind. There was absolutely nothing wrong at all with the Christopsomos. It tasted divine. I was just unsure how the family would like it, so I switched gears and went for the Panettone. 

I made 10 loaves of the Panettone, the Italian Christmas Bread, for gifts. As it was taking the entire day long for the bread to rise (2 rises, at 4 hours each!), and then baking and cooling time to factor in, well, those were some long days. As we are now at less than a week from Christmas, I did not opt to make a Panettone for us here at home; at least not at this time. I will say, it smelled most heavenly while baking! 

Panettone, Italian Christmas Bread, right from the oven

Today, finally, I started on my cookies. Not getting too far just yet, with other things to do, I did at least get one batch of cookies made, plus the dough for another kind. The ones I made today were an experiment of sorts. I am not a peanut butter fan. Not - at - all. My husband however, is. The only peanut butter cookies I have made since my kids were little are the ones called "Miracle Cookies". That said, when I look around online, there are so many variations on Miracle Cookies now, that I am standing by the recipe I have had for at least 30 years. I like eating cookie dough. And bread dough, and cake batter, and just about any batter. I know this gives a lot of people the willies, but I have done it since early childhood, at my Mom's apron strings. At almost 65 years old, I am not planning on stopping now! 

I say that because, while I do not like peanut butter, I like the raw dough of these cookies. It may be strange, I know. I ate my fair share of peanut butter and jelly as a kid, and even in early adulthood. But, I have never, ever, in my life, taken a spoonful of peanut butter to eat. I have never liked it enough to do that. I do like the cookie dough! Go figure.

Miracle Peanut Butter Cookies, Christmas 2013

Back to the cookies. I have made these - not every year - but often enough, for my husband for Christmas. The recipe is so deceptively simple it is almost unbelievable, with only 4 ingredients. I know that others have made peanut butter cookies with a Hershey's Kiss set in the center. I remember one time seeing these at one of my sisters' houses. I have never done that, so I decided on making that little change to the Miracle Cookies this year. The basic cookie recipe is made entirely without flour, so they are gluten-free. I did not check the Hershey's Kiss bag to see if wheat is an ingredient, but without the Kisses, these cookies are totally gluten free. 

When making the peanut butter cookies without the Kisses, I scoop out and roll the dough into balls, and then use a fork to press the cookie down, making a criss-cross pattern on top (shown above). To make them with the Hershey's Kiss in the center, they are left in a ball, rolled in sugar and baked without flattening them down. They only flatten slightly in the oven, so pressing the Kiss into the center makes the cookie flatten to a normal cookie shape.
 

Miracle Peanut Butter Kisses, 2014

Miracle Peanut Butter Kisses

Miracle Peanut Butter Kisses

Makes about 24 cookies

1 cup peanut butter, creamy or crunchy as desired
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
---------
a bowl with about ½ to ¾ cup sugar, for rolling
24 - 28 Hershey's Kisses, unwrapped

Place all four ingredients into a mixer bowl, or just a mixing bowl. The ingredients can be creamed by hand, but a mixer will made super fast work of the dough. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Once the ingredients are well combined, begin rolling balls of the dough - or use a cookie scoop. Normally, I use the smaller of my two cookie scoops to make the plain cookies as I made last year. For these, I wanted enough of the cookie dough to offset the size of the Hershey's Kisses, so I used my larger scoop, measuring about 1 tablespoon. Scoop out a portion of the dough, roll it in a ball and roll in the sugar, to coat. Set the balls on an ungreased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake them for 10 to 12 minutes. Immediately on removing from the oven, set one of the unwrapped Kisses into the center of each cookie, making the still-soft cookie spread, as shown in the photo. Carefully slide them off the sheet to a counter or rack to cool completely. The chocolate stays soft a long time, so allow sufficient time for the cookies to cool before storing.

My next cookies are going to be "Forgotten Cookies". I will be making those this evening. Happy Baking!


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.