Christmas Cookie Recipes

These are an example of wrongs (maraschino cherries, mini marshmallows, butterscotch chips) making a right. This is my favourite Christmas cookie and a whole that is so much more than just the sum of its parts. I don't know where my mother originally got the recipe; we've had it for years and fiddled with it until it was perfect.

BRANDY BALLS (Makes about 45 balls)

1/2 cup maraschino cherries, cut in quarters

6 tablespoons brandy

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

1 cup butterscotch chips

250 grams cream cheese, softened out of the fridge

2 cups mini marshmallows

1 cup chopped walnuts

2 cups best quality flaked coconut, unsweetened

Marinate the cherries in the brandy for at least 4 hours.

Melt both kinds of chips in a large saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring regularly.

Remove from heat and stir in the cream cheese. This will only work well if you softened the cream cheese at room temperature first. Putting in fridge-cold cheese may make the chocolate seize and even if it doesn't, you'll have to use your muscle power to blend it in. If the cheese is soft, it melts happily into the chocolate without much effort on your part.

Once the cheese is blended, dump in the remaining ingredients (marshmallows, nuts and coconut). Stir with a wooden spoon until everything is combined and coated with the chocolate.

When the mixture is cool enough to touch (almost right away), roll into 1 inch balls (your hands will be very goopy and messy) and set them out on wax paper. Chill them in the fridge or freezer for at least an hour before eating. They freeze well and are, despite their unassuming appearance, completely delicious and dangerously addictive.

DUTCH ALMOND BARS

I call these Dutch because of the marzipan. My father loves them and requests them every Christmas. One year, I made some for my Opa who grew up in Holland and worked in his brother's bakery. I was a little nervous about serving him something almondy, but he loved them and thanked me many times for "the little marzipan squares." They are a little more time consuming to make, but oh so worth it.

Crust:

1/2 cup all purpose flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup butter

Filling:

1 1/2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup sugar

1 large egg

1/4 cup ground almonds

1/2 tablespoon all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

2 tablespoons water

Glaze:

3 tablespoons butter

6 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1 tablespoon all purpose flour

4 teaspoons milk

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

For the crust: combine the sugar and flour and cut in the butter. Press the mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 8x8 inch pan. Set aside.

For the filling: Cream butter and sugar. Beat in the egg. Stir in the almonds, flour, extract and water. Spread over the unbaked crust carefully and slowly. Bake the squares for 20-25 minutes, until slightly golden and firm to the touch. Set aside to cool slightly and make the glaze. Set the oven broiler to High.

For the glaze: Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly until the butter is melted and the glaze is thoroughly mixed and heated through. Spread over the bars in the pan. (You don't have to wait until the bars cool). Broil the bars about 6 inches from the heat source until the glaze is golden in places (it won't brown uniformly). Watch them carefully! This will likely only take 1-2 minutes. Let the bars cool completely on a metal rack before cutting them into squares. They also freeze nicely.

For a picture of the almond bars, see the next post (Cookies for Santa).

PEPPERMINT CRACKLES

These are a recipe from Epicurious.com, which I won't type out as I don't adapt them at all besides cutting their 6 1/2 tablespoons of sugar down to 5 tablespoons. These are fun for kids to help with and sneak little bits of the crushed candy cane when you're not looking!

Cookies for Santa

So I went to the garage to take my cookies out of the freezer to photograph them for this post. I thought I would be in and out of there in two minutes, so didn't wear my coat. Suffice to say, it was a stupid idea. In addition to the frigid garage, I was dipping in and out of the freezer and attempting to pry open stubborn Tupperware containers with fingers that were rapidly freezing and growing numb. Beating them against my leg to wake them up didn't do much. Aside of having my own To Build a Fire moment in the garage, surrounded by hockey equipment, I didn't accomplish much. The pictures I took were way too dark. You couldn't properly see the cookies at all, and though I am in no way a photographer, I at least know that seeing the subject is an important part. So, I went inside, put on my coat, warmed up and tried again.
Clustered around the milk glass are Brandy Balls and directly underneath them are Almond Bars. To the left in front are Peppermint Crackles and the Ginger Crackles are at the bottom.


Many holiday movies denounce the commercialism of the season and how much we've gotten out of hand with our spending and gifting. How the Grinch stole Christmas, A Charlie Brown Christmas and others try to remind the viewers of what Christmas is really all about. One of my favourite examples of this is Miracle on 34th Street. Little Susan Walker (Natalie Wood) has already been through her parents' divorce and deals with life in the best way she knows how to, as a miniature adult. With practicality, forthrightness and an enforced maturity that is heartbreaking in all children who are thrust into adulthood too soon, Susan has already dismissed the possibility of there being a Santa Claus. When the Macy's Department Store Santa turns out to be unsuitable, Macy's hires a man who turns out to be the real deal. He (Edmund Gwenn) sits in the store and listens to the requests of children, but instead of recommending Macy's products to their parents, he tells the parents where to go to get the best bargain. And it often isn't Macy's. This policy frustrates the owner of Macy's and eventually leads to Santa being put on trial.

And while this movie has its share of poignant moments, the real miracle is Susan's transformation and that of her mother, Doris (Maureen O'Hara), who has never believed in encouraging fairy tales or fantasy of any sort. Miracle on 34th Street is a classic and rightly so.

Leave out a plate of your favourite Christmas cookies for Santa. On my plate are the Ginger Crackles I've given a recipe for before. The Brandy Balls, Almond Bars and Peppermint Crackles recipes are in the post directly above this one. Enjoy them (and all Christmas cookies) with a glass of milk or eggnog.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas...

I have been praying for snow, hoping for snow, yearning for snow. In Alberta, it's sometimes hard to tell if you'll get blizzards or no snow all winter. I asked St Nicholas to bring some for his feast day, December 6th. And he did. I woke to big fat flakes falling around the trees in the backyard. I found my ski boots in the closet today.


A few days after the snow, the temperature dropped to 30 below zero. (Celsius).


The cold coated the inside edges of some of the windows. 5 year old Hannah grabbed a butter knife, making a game out of scraping it off.
Later, playing outside for all of five minutes, when I asked her for a face to express how cold it was, she gave me this:
At the liquor store, one of the employees ran in from carrying out a lady's bags and stamped his feet for several seconds. "It's not reasonable, this weather," he said. Perhaps not. But like many things of beauty and strangeness, what has reason to do with it?

So, I won't be skiing for a little while, but what care I? There is snow, glorious snow. Snow that holds the sun close to its wintry bosom, in at attempt to, if not get warm, at least shine fiercely. Snow that catches the moonlight and takes my breath away and brings tears to my eyes when I run out to the car to get something I forgot and am arrested by the sight; a sight that embodies silence. Snow that reflects the twinkling, colorful Christmas lights on the neighbourhood houses. Snow that covers my heart with gladness.

My freezer is filled with Christmas goodies, baking and a free range turkey that I bought from the Mennonites in September. My trees are twinkling happily, lights shine from the front walkway, hymns at Mass are now Advent hymns including my favourite, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. My brother Daniel comes home for Christmas on Wednesday, flying from England. He had emailed asking if there were snow. "Please let there be snow," he'd written. Yes, Daniel. There is snow. Snow to welcome thee. Our arms are outstreetched, counting the hours now until you come home and they can enfold you once more.
"So snow comes after fire and even dragons have their ending!" -JRR Tolkien, The Hobbit, Chapter 18

Gingery Goodness

A slightly out of focus picture of ginger crackles cooling on my ancient cookie tin:

A slightly small picture of a nearly perfect comedy:

An Everlasting Piece
2000; Barry McEvoy, Brian F. O’Byrne
Directed by Barry Levinson

Being a Catholic, I'll start with confession:

When I first saw An Everlasting Piece at the age of 15 or 16, I had a crush on Barry McEvoy, who plays Colm, a Catholic barber. (He also wrote the screenplay.) His hair so dark, his temperament so intense; that was all it took. I had the same feelings for Robert Arkin who played Jimmy Rabbitte in The Commitments. Not my most embarrassing crushes, but embarrassing enough. Moving on...

An Everlasting Piece is comic brilliance, a story set in 1980’s Belfast about two barbers, one an assertive Catholic, the other a hesitant Protestant, (McEvoy and Brian F. O'Byrne) who decide to get into the hairpiece business, figuring that they can capture both the Catholic and Protestant markets, calling themselves The Piece People. Though they start out as “the only hairpiece company in all of Northern Ireland,” they don’t remain the only one. The ensuing competition, fraught with religious tension and a growing friendship between the two men, is material for many classic scenes. You may want to buy An Everlasting Piece, because you’ll likely watch it over and over again.

In honour of the Irish wit, snappy dialogue and intense personalities, I present gingersnaps to consume with this film. I know that they aren’t Irish but there is something about gingersnaps, the spiciness, the sugar granules on top and most of all, the satisfying crunch as you bite down. These cookies, redolent with spicy, warm aromas and just hot enough on the palate, always make me think of Colm dancing a jig on top of the flight of stairs after being chased by Mr. Black and his cronies.

SPICY UNAPOLOGETIC GINGER CRACKLES (Makes 3 1/2 dozen)

1/2 cup vegetable shortening (such as Crisco)

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

1/4 cup molasses (not blackstrap. Use "fancy" or "cooking" molasses)

1 cup white flour

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons ground ginger

Pinch of white pepper

1 teaspoon ground cloves

Pinch of salt

Sugar to roll the cookies in

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cream together the shortening, butter and sugar. Beat in the egg and molasses. Combine both flours, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, pepper, cloves and salt in another bowl and then mix the dry ingredients into the wet until thoroughly combined. I usually do this in the food processor, where, as my brother Isaiah pointed out, the batter takes on the appearance of dog food. Rover never had it so good...

Roll your batter into 1 inch balls and then roll each ball in a little bit of sugar to coat it.

Place your balls about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 - 10 minutes until the cookies are set and brown underneath. Allow to cool before greedily munching away. They are great with a glass of milk and even better with coffee.

Fa ra ra ra raaaaa ra ra ra raaaaa!

A Christmas Story
1983; Melinda Dillon, Darren McGavin, Peter Billingsley
Directed by Bob Clark

A Christmas Story is a cult film among some. For years, I didn’t know its real name, thinking of it simply as “You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out!” Based on the memoirs of Jean Shepherd, A Christmas Story captures the trials and fantasies of childhood in a realistic and unsentimental way. Our hero Ralphie (a fantastic Peter Billingsley) grows up in the 1940’s, though it just as easily could be today. Some things never change, like when Ralphie feels mistreated and fantasizes about going blind. Then they’d be sorry! (With me, it was always getting hit by a car….) If a BB gun had appeared under our tree on Christmas morning, with my name on it, I probably would have thought my parents had mixed up the tags. No matter. A Christmas Story will have you nodding your head and laughing out loud in recognition, almost no matter what your childhood was like.

The ingredient list for this recipe may make you think of fruitcake but press on anyway. For the record, I hate fruitcake and I absolutely love this brandy tart. It’s Christmassy without being only appropriate at Yuletide. You can enjoy it at any time of year. This tart is “adult” tasting and would have elicited groans from me as a child, as I suspect it would from most children. Now, however, you can enjoy it with your more mature palate. That’s what watching A Christmas Story is all about, remembering childhood with your now-adult perspective on the horrors and triumphs of the fourth grade. It’s not really a children’s movie though it may seem that way at first glance. This brandy tart is perfect accompaniment and I really hope you serve it warm with a dollop of whipped cream.

I got this recipe from a friend of my mother's who is a certified Cordon Bleu chef. She despises cooking and forever blames cooking school for ruining it for her. Her idea of dinner is a pot of baked beans and another pot of rice. If we're really going to get fancy, maybe a cut up cantaloupe for dessert. Jean, however, will put her education to good use now and then and come up with a truly fantastic recipe. I am fortunate to have sampled some of these, the Brandy Tart being my favourite. Thanks Jean.

JEAN'S BRANDY TART

TART:

4 ounces dates
4 ounces raisins
1/4 cup maraschino cherries
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1 egg, lightly beaten

SAUCE:

1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water

1/3 cup brandy

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

For the tart, finely chop the dates, raisins and cherries. Pour the boiling water over the fruits and set aside. (The water won't cover the fruits completely; don't worry about it.) In another bowl, combine the sugar, flour, baking soda, baking powder and walnuts. Pour in the egg and the date mixture at the same time and stir until just combined. Scrape the batter into a tart pan or deep dish pie plate. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool completely.

For the sauce, combine the butter, sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer the sauce for 4 minutes, stirring every minute or so. Remove from the heat, allow to cool for 2 minutes and then stir in the brandy. (This will be a very wet sauce, not a thickened one).

Once the tart is completely cool, poke holes all over it with a knife. Pour the warm sauce over the tart, slowly, allowing it time to soak into the tart. Cut in wedges and serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, if desired.

"Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store."

Purchase it at Amazon!


How the Grinch Stole Christmas
1966; Narrated by Boris Karloff
Directed by Chuck Jones and Ben Washam

Even if you didn't grow up with Dr Suess books as nightly rituals, you've probably seen a TV re-run of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Even Suess haters (ahem, my mother) grudgingly admit that the Grinch is a Christmas staple. Boris Karloff (of Frankenstein fame) narrates in his deliciously dark, thick, oozing voice. You could drink that voice like melted chocolate. The animation is vintage Suess (though not actually drawn by him), the rhymes nonsensically sensible and literate. (If you think it's easy to come up with Suess-quality rhymes, try it sometime. The nearest old lady will probably tell you to eat something).

You already know the story, how the Grinch can't stand the noise, noise, noise. How he hates the Whos down in Whoville, with their merrymaking every Christmas. You know how he comes up with his dastardly plan, forcing his dog, Max, into it with him. How he steals Christmas...or so he thinks. I know it's coming, but I always get a little teary anyway. Even though the trees, decorations, presents, wreaths, candy canes, roast beast, are gone...even the last can of Who Hash has been stolen...... Christmas comes anyway. The Whos gather and sing praises and welcome Christmas. Their faces are alight with joy. And the Grinch? Well, his heart grew at least three sizes that day. And then, the forgiving Whos, like all good Whos, welcome him into their circle and feast with him.

When you make these lemon bars, sweet yet fiercely sour, thin but aggressive, you'll know why they suit How the Grinch Stole Christmas.




I made these bars with a pretzel crust, inspired by a chocolate coconut square with a pretzel crust, that I'd eaten once when I was twelve. I've always wanted to make a pretzel crust (hey, it only took me 14 years) and it seemed particularly suited to a lemon filling. The filling was adapted from a recipe my mom gave me for lemon meringue pie. I think she got it from Epicurious.com.

They turned out fairly well, but were a bit more runny than I was expecting. I guess, having not made many lemon desserts with curd (ok, having never made lemon curd, sticking to lemon sponge cakes and the like), I was expecting my curd to be more jelly-ish and stick together, hunching its shoulders in solidarity as it gathered itself within the confines of the crust, standing proud and fierce on the plate. Hmmm... Not so much. The result was delicious and the perfect amount of mouth-puckering sour and palate-soothing sweet. And the texture wasn't a complete disaster. The filling did set somewhat; it wasn't running all over the plate, which I would have found highly annoying. It just...slumped. A little bit, over its crust, like a mama hen settling her feathers over her chicks. This crust, being crunchy and chewy and salty and sweet and buttery and perfect, did not need the mothering, but perhaps it was glad of it all the same. We sometimes are, you know.


LEMON BARS

Crust:

100 grams of pretzels (about 1 cup of crushed pretzels)
1/3 cup melted butter
2 tablespooons sugar

Filling:

1 cup sugar
5 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup water
1/2 cup whole milk
4 egg yolks
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice

Preheat your oven to 350 Fahrenheit.

For the crust, crush the pretzels in a food processor fitted with the metal blade, or in a Ziploc bag, bashing them with a rolling pin. They don't have to be powder. Mix the pretzel crumbs with the melted butter and sugar and spread in the bottom of an 8x8 inch baking pan. Bake for 12 minutes and then set aside to cool.For the filling, whisk together sugar and cornstarch. Gradually whisk in water and milk, whisking until cornstarch is dissolved. In a bowl whisk together egg yolks. Cook milk mixture over moderate heat, whisking, until it comes to a boil.

Gradually whisk about 1 cup milk mixture into yolks and whisk yolk mixture into milk mixture. Simmer mixture, whisking, 3 minutes. (It will thicken. Don't worry; I got a little nervous (it being custard and all) and took it off too soon, which is probably why my squares weren't as solid as I'd hoped.) Remove pan from heat and whisk in butter and lemon juice until butter is melted.



Pour filling onto your cooled crust and refrigerate until set, at least 2 hours. Serve cold and fierce.

Comfort Film, Comfort Food

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
1986; Matthew Broderick
Directed by John Hughes

This movie was made when I was four years old and I watched it for the first time at the age of 23, but I think the concept is timeless. Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) may be seventeen, but he has the outlook of an innocent and joyful twelve year old who reads comics and lives in a world of bumbling villains (his Dean of students, Mr. Rooney, played by Jeffery Jones) and afternoons of freedom consisting of driving down the highway in a red Ferrari, hair blowing in the wind.

Whether I am having a twelve year old moment myself or simply grinning in remembrance, there is something quirky and loveable about Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, something that makes me realize that childhood really wasn’t that rigorous after all.

In honour of your Kraft Dinner days, I offer Mac and Cheese, homemade and with some grownup elements. This is a far cry from the bright orange packaged stuff, but familiar and creamy enough to transport you back to your own days of dreams and schemes.

CREAMY MACARONI AND CHEESE

500 grams elbow macaroni

1 cup butter

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

5 cups whole milk

2 cups grated Cheddar cheese, the older and sharper, the better

1 1/2 cups grated Parmeggiano Reggiano cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Put on a pot of water to boil for the macaroni. Boil the pasta for 2 minutes less than the package directions call for. While the pasta is boiling, melt the butter in another pot over medium-low heat. When melted, stir in the flour and keep stirring for about five minutes, long enough to toast the flour and get rid of that raw wheat, pasty taste. After five minutes, remove from heat and stir in the nutmeg and SLOWLY whisk in the milk. Too fast will result in lumps. When the milk is whisked in, return to the hot plate and whisk constantly for 10-15 minutes, until the floury taste is gone and the sauce begins to thicken slightly. Remove from heat and stir in the cheese, reserving 1/2 cup Cheddar, until it is melted.

When the pasta is cooked, drain it and dump into a large pan or casserole dish. Toss with the cheesy sauce until well combined. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup Cheddar over the mac and cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or so, until the mac and cheese is bubbling and the cheese on top has melted and is beginning to brown a bit in places. Let stand out of the oven for about 10 minutes before serving, comfortingly, with a salad, or just as is.