Receta Christmas Cookies
Have I told you that the Sous-Chef moved to Paris?
Well, she did.
It’s been more than four years since we first met in Paziols, and she’s featured on this blog more than half a dozen times. For this installment of “emiglia and the Sous-Chef cook way more things than they could ever possibly eat,” we went for Christmas cookies.
It seemed seasonally appropriate.
Christmas cookies are a strong childhood memory for both of us. We sought out the recipes that made this time so special through family members, and one Saturday a few weeks ago, after traipsing around the Montmartre Christmas market for a few hours, we got together in my tiny Parisian kitchen, equipped with no more than a toaster oven, and we baked.
This was the first Christmas season I spent in Paris not as a student. Instead of the rush of finals and drafts of my thesis, I had the relative calm that comes after our monthly content update at work. Instead of sitting at a desk all evening, I left work at 6 and took advantage of the way that Paris lights up for the holiday.
Paris doesn’t become the same kind of winter wonderland that New York does in time for Christmas, with carols on every speaker system and lights blinking in every window. But that makes the pieces of Christmas all the more fun to discover. The small market streets string up lights.
A healthy handful of Christmas markets grace the city.
And sometimes — not this year, but sometimes — we get a light dusting of snow.
This year, I put up a tree with blue lights. TCB and I stuck oranges with cloves and made pomander balls. I found a classical radio station that played the kind of Christmas music I like — strictly no “Jingle Bell Rock” — and put TCB’s presents under the tree, though we’ll be having our Christmas celebration later, a day before Epiphany.
This Christmas has become a combination of traditions: some old, some new, some mine, some the Sous-Chef’s and TCB’s and Paris’. One thing is certain: it is definitely beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.
Lebkuchen
- 4 eggs
- 1 lb. Dark brown sugar
- ½ cup sweet butter
- ½ cup chopped hazelnuts
- 2 cups flour
- rind of one orange
- juice of one orange
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon cloves
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- a few drops of vanilla
- lemon icing – lemon juice and confectioners sugar
- Mix all ingredients except for icing ingredients. Spread on a buttered jellyroll pan size 11” x 16”. Bake at medium heat 350°F.
- Cool completely. Cut into squares. Pour and spread icing.
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup softened butter
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- raspberry and apricot jam
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Use a wooden spoon to combine the dry ingredients with the butter mixture, stirring until just combined.
- Bake cookies until the edges are golden, about 15 minutes. Cool cookies on the baking sheets. Be careful… the jam will be hot!
- Chocolate Shot Cookies
- 1 cup room temperature butter
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup uncooked quick rolled oats
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- dash of salt
- about 1/2 cup chocolate shot (chocolate sprinkles)
- Cream butter; add sugar gradually; cream until fluffy.
- Add vanilla and flour sifted with soda, and rolled oats. Mix thoroughly.
- Shape into logs, wrap, and chill at least 1/2 hour. Coat each log in chocolate shot (or do this when forming logs).
- Slice about 3/8″ thick and place on ungreased baking sheet.
- Bake at 325 for 20-25 minutes. These burn fast, too, so watch carefully.
- Russian Teacakes
- 1 cup room temperature butter
- 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
- 2 1/4 cups flour, sifted
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
Mix butter, sugar, and vanilla thoroughly. Sift flour and measure, then sift again with salt. Blend into butter mixture. Mix in nuts. Chill dough after forming into a large ball and wrapping in saran.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Roll dough into 1″ balls. Place on ungreased baking sheet (cookies do not spread while cooking) and bake 10-12 minutes or until set but not brown (check the bottoms–they burn fast). While still warm, roll in conf. sugar. Be careful–they break easily while they’re warm. Cool, then roll in sugar again.