An Old-Fashioned Christmas Cookie Tradition

This Christmas is going to be a tough one for my family – my mom passed away this summer.  She was 91 years old and lived a good life, but she was the heart of our family and the spirit behind all of our Christmases.  Every year, we looked forward to her baking. She was a woman who loved traditions and one of those was her Christmas cookies. She baked the same ones year after year since the 1950s.  They became a part of our Christmas tradition, a piece of what Christmas was for us.

Each of us received a box of cookies on Christmas Eve, including friends and neighbors.  She baked dozens and dozens of cookies, used many pounds of flour and butter and nuts. They were her gift to us.  A tin not just of cookies, but of her heart.

A few years ago, I was smart enough to ask my mom to come over and show me how to bake her delicious cookies.  And although I annoyed her with my inability to juggle the cookie sheets in and out of the oven as efficiently as she could, it was a special time of bonding for us.  I will always treasure those memories of working, side by side with her, rolling, cutting, chopping and baking.

Now that my mom is gone, it is unthinkable that we could have a Christmas without her tins of cookies.  And so the task now falls to me, her youngest daughter, to carry on her tradition and pass out her tins of love.  And as long as I do that, my mom will never really be gone for us.

Here are two of her Christmas cookie recipes.  I hope your family enjoys them. Next week, I will post two more.

Nut and Butter Balls

Ingredients

1 c butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 c flour
4 tbsp powdered sugar
1 c crushed walnuts
Extra powdered sugar for coating

Directions

Cream butter and sugar in a mixer.  Add in nuts and flour until incorporated.  Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Bake on lightly greased pan at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Remove cookies from pan and allow to cool.  Place extra powdered sugar in a ziploc bag. Add in a few cookies and shake until they are covered and look like snowballs.

Thumbprint Cookies

Ingredients

¼ c butter
¼ c shortening
¼ c brown sugar
1 egg, separated
½ tsp vanilla
1 c flour
¼ tsp salt
¾ c finely chopped nuts
Jelly or maraschino cherries (red and green)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix butter, shortening, sugar, egg yolk and vanilla thoroughly.  Work in flour and salt until dough holds together. Shape dough into one inch balls.  

Slightly beat egg white.  Dip each ball into egg white and then roll in chopped nuts.  Place one inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10 mins.  

When cookies come out of oven, insert cherries or jelly into centers.  This works best while cookies are still warm.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of An Old Fashioned Christmas Cookie Tradition!

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