Dede Wilson - Bakers Field Guide to Christmas Cookies

THE HARVARD COMMON PRESS
535 Albany Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02118
www.harvardcommonpress.com

Copyright 2003 by Dede Wilson

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be repro
duced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any informa
tion storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publisher.

Printed in China

Printed on acid-free paper

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Wilson, Dede.
A baker's field guide to Christmas cookies / Dede Wilson.
p. cm.
ISBN 1-55832-263-9 (hc : alk. paper)
1. Cookies. 2. Christmas cookery. I. Title.

ISBN 13: 978-155832-263-9
ISBN 10: 1-55832-263-9

TX772.W525 2003
641.8'654dc21
2003007484

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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3

Book design by Night & Day Design
Cover and interior photographs2003 Eric Roth Photography
Food styling by Mary Bandereck

This book is dedicated to
Mary McNamara, one of my best friends
and an excellent baker. Her lucky
husband and kids never know what
goody she might bake up on any given
daybut it is always delicious!

A big thank you to Pam Hoenig, who brought this project to me and gave me free reign to scour the world for delicious holiday cookies. Thanks also to Bruce Shaw, publisher of The Harvard Common Press, for giving me his stamp of approval.

This book is enriched by the recipes generously given to me by so many family members and friends: my dad, Moses Acosta, for assembling an international list of helpers; Robert Agro for his struffoli; Darina Allen from Ballymaloe Cookery School for her mincemeat recipe; Valerie Cimino for her family's Italian cookie recipes; Lou Currin for her help in researching southern recipes; Angie Czajkowski for her Polish recipes; Joan Eckert for her Swedish recipes; Nathan Fong for insight on the origins of Nanaimo Bars; Aglaia Kremezi for so promptly answering my questions about Greek holiday cookies; Carolyn Laychak for her help with the holiday pastries of Hungary; Beatrice Ojakangas for her Finnish prune pastries; Christopher Rivers for his family's many southern heirlooms; Christina Trivero for her decadent bourbon balls; and Naomi Waynee and her MilleniuM bull terriers for their dog biscuit recipe.

A big, special thank you goes to the staff at Kitchen Arts & Letters, especially Matt Sartwell. He was pressed into service more than once when I needed help with historical research. Matt is as quick and efficient as he is a joy to speak with.

Thank you to my agents, Maureen and Eric Lasher. This is book number fivewho knew? You did! And you support me at every turn.

Mary McNamara is always there for me to discuss baking ideas and techniques and to test recipes. I will literally call her up and suggest a baking day and she is always accommodating, my house or hers. Mary helped brainstorm the "drop by generously rounded teaspoon" language and pointed out that most people would have thought me a bit nuts to dwell over such a topic, but she actually found it interesting! I have called her my baking muse in the past; she still is and always will be.

Thank you to Juanita, Tom, and Daniel Plimpton, who ate hundreds of these cookies. Now, Juanita and Tom think everything I bake is great, which is always nice to hear. On the other hand, their son, Daniel, is a budding food critic, always offering incredibly insightful feedbackand he has been doing so since he was ten! Daniel will nibble on one cookie for fifteen minutes, savoring every crumb, critiquing every morsel. Every baker dreams of having such an audience.

And, always, thanks to my partner, David Kilroy, and my kids, Ravenna, Freeman, and Forrester, for indulging me during baking frenzies. Ravenna is off to college and I promise to send cookie care packages. Freeman and Forrester, you guys can count on me to bake for you anytime. And Beckett, the dog biscuits are for you!

My first cookie memory is from the age of four. My mom and I were making gingerbread people, and I decided the ginger-men and ginger-women should be anatomically correct. My mom thought that was great; my aunt, who was looking on, wasn't so sure. So some were embellished and some were not, but they were all given cinnamon red-hot candy eyes because I just love that combination of chewy gingerbread and the crunch from the spicy cinnamon candies.

Cookies were also the first dish I became "famous" for. They are the same ones as those described on a meringue cookie filled with semisweet morsels and chopped walnuts. I learned to make them when I was about eight; my mom and I found the recipe in a church cookbook put together by my school. It seemed easy enough. That is until my mom suggested we whip the egg whites by hand in a copper bowl. She took a turn with the balloon whisk, then me, then her, then me, and the egg whites still weren't stiff enough. It took us so long, and our arms were so tired, that we decided to give the mixer a try next time. That made it a breeze and I started making the cookies for any and all occasions. The sweet meringue combined with the toasted walnuts and luscious dark chocolate is irresistibleand they go together in a flash. I memorized the recipe and made them on the spur of the moment at friends' houses, right up through my teens and into adulthood.

I have learned a lot about cookies since then; principally that there is the perfect cookie for every taste and that they are a joy to make. And as I mentioned above, they can make memoriessweet ones at that! Christmas is the perfect time of year for making cookies and memories with your family, so dig right in.

Most of these recipes are very easy, while some require a special mold or a little more attention. All of them, however, are easy to follow and will give you delicious results any time of year.

Happy Holidays and Merry Baking!

This is the first-ever Baker's Field Guide to Christmas Cookies! Every cookie has its own page with information indicating its Type (drop, rolled, molded, filled, etc.), its country of origin (Habitat), a Description of how that cookie tastes and looks, Field Notes on traditions or tips or interesting related bits of information, variations (Related Species), and how long they will keep (Lifespan). For each cookie you will be given information about its special characteristics in a box right before the expected yield.

Also, look to the end of the recipe for Good Cookie Tips for easy variations and specific information, where needed, that will help you make your cookies as good as they can be.

But first...

What Is a Christmas Cookie?

• They can be cookies with a seasonal shape, such as stars, bells, and reindeer
• Some feature holiday flavors such as peppermint, ginger, molasses, pumpkin, or cranberry
• They might keep well, so you can bake early and reap the rewards of extra time during the season
• Some are quick to whip up, because time is short during the holidays