Holiday Cookies

Four years ago I did a travel through holiday cookies post from a condo in Brooklyn (Travel through Holiday Cookies – Auntastasia’s Kitchen). I have not posted much since then as we have been adjusting to having a house that is very much in the country (there’s an introduction to the house and “our” bear here: It Has Been a Minute – Auntastasia’s Kitchen).

One fabulous thing about the house is the amount of space, which led to our biggest cookiepocalypse yet – a slightly insane gathering for which we put up three trees (four if you count the little one on the table). With the exception of the little table-top tree, the trees were all fresh-cut at a lovely local farm (Angevine Farm – Memories Grown Here).

Yes, Father Christmas is a little close to the ceiling on that third tree. My tree-cutting helpers got a little carried away with tree height. The books behind that tree are all cookbooks, but the cookie cookbooks are on different shelves entirely. I used just a “few,” and a bunch of clippings from old Bon Appetit and Gourmet magazines, for most of this year’s baking.

Of course, this isn’t a post about trees. It’s a post about cookies. For our “cookiepocalypse” party this year, I made 42 separate varieties of cookies. Prep involved a week off from work for the sole purpose of baking. Fortunately, I had help from the young woman who first dubbed me “Auntastasia.” The cookies are set out all through the house, but mostly in the dining room.

On the closest end of the table in the above photo there are mocha stockings, gingerbread trees and holly with juniper berry infused glaze, vanilla-chai pinwheels, and chocolate cutouts in the shapes of wrapped candies that are sprinkled with crushed peppermint candies.

Next to the mocha stockings (far left of the above) there is a plate with two types of slice and bake shortbread type cookies, “orange sparkle” and “ginger-citrus.” Both recipes were new to me this year, and both are from King Arthur flour and available on their website. Next to those are two different varieties of stamped and glazed gingerbread, one recipe from Ottolenghi’s Sweet that I have made several times, and the other from Nordic Ware, a company that makes a variety of cookie stamps. Next to the stamped cookies are “stained glass” and then at the head of the table a “tree” of eggnog shortbread with some chocolate bears.

On the stamped gingerbread, the glaze cracks after it has cooled/dried, and the gingerbread children look a bit maniacal, but that didn’t stop consumption of these.

Moving to the other side of the table, closest to the tree at the right are obviously gingerbread people. After years of trying different gingerbread recipes, I think I will be sticking with the soft and chewy gingerbread people from The Perfect Cookie cookbook from America’s Test Kitchen. Next to the gingerbread people are another new to me stamped cookie, the brown sugar cardamom cookie recipe available from the Nordic Ware website. Then there are two more slice and bake varieties, an eggnog cookie with freshly grated nutmeg that I have made before, and “ode to panettone” from Brian Hart Hoffman’s Holiday Cookies. For those who like the dried fruit and booze flavors of fruitcake, the ode to panettone are excellent.

From the table, we go to the sideboard:

Along the side board there were peppermint cookies in the shape of candy canes, clove snaps in reindeer shapes, turmeric lemon drop cookies, moravian spice (a very thin, spicy cookie that I try to make every year, and that contains no egg or dairy even without modifying the recipe) that I make in toy shapes (teddy bears, trains, toy soldiers), and then a plate of almond spritz, fior di sicilia spritz (another King Arthur recipe) and anise cookies.

We try to have something for everyone, so there are dairy free, vegan, and gluten free options in the mix.

The dark pressed cookies on the left are gluten and dairy free espresso, then gluten free almond shortbread, and gluten free cardamom stars. The meringues are naturally gluten free – peppermint and chocolate flavors there.

I also try to have a variety of softer, drop type cookies. And, yes, I’ve started putting out labels. I lost track of the number of types of sugar I used. Confectioner’s and granulated, of course, but also pearlized, sparkling, and turbinado, in addition to all the colored sugars.

If I had to choose one of the many cookies as my “signature,” it would be difficult. During the year, the two varieties I make most are the very gingery ginger cookies from the Milk & Cookies cookbook and my variation of Martha Stewart’s chocolate cookies. My version of the chocolate cookies is here https://auntastasia.blog/double-dark-chocolate-cookies/. But, at Christmas, the cardamom orange sugar cookies that I make as snowflakes every year are probably the signature. Over the years I have collected an absurd number of snowflake cookie cutters, and each year sees different combinations of sizes and styles.

In the photo above we have the cardamom orange snowflakes bottom left, fruitcake “cookies” behind those, large lemon snowflakes in the pedestal bowls with a plate of the lemon snowflakes in the center, glazed cinnamon-orange-cardamom snowflakes in the bottom right, and second plate of meringues rounding out this table.

Then there is the coffee table:

On the left are the ginger cookies from Milk & Cookies. Then there are three types of spritz – chocolate, vanilla bean, and mint with chocolate sprinkles. And at the end are the snickerdoodles that I have to make even if the young people who always asked for them are now adults living too far away to attend.

And in the kitchen we had to have cookies in the cookie jar (named Oscar), next to milk fresh from another local farm (Gourmet Chocolates – “The Magic is in our Milk” – Thorncrest Farm, LLC & Milk House Chocolates).

If you counted and didn’t get to 42, you’re right. Somehow the peppermint/red velvet cookies that were on a small side table missed being photographed. I do think we caught all the others, though.

I hope that everyone finds time during the busy holiday season to do something they love with people they love. Cookiepocalypse is that for me.

May you find peace and joy this holiday season.