Old-Fashioned Christmas Cookies
Amidst the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, one thing that always grounds my family and I is baking (and, specifically, baking our favorite, addictive cookies that are guaranteed to put us into a sugar coma).
This old-fashioned recipe originated with my great-great-grandmother’s friend and has since been passed down through my family for generations. Every year, all of our relatives request that we serve these cookies at Christmas dinner, and we even give them out as Christmas gifts because they’re so in-demand.
It’s a simple recipe that’s made fun by the creativity it allows for in decorating, as well as the quality time spent with loved ones when making it. Be warned, however: you’ll never be able to eat just one or two of these cookies at a time.
Ingredients:
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 cups (400 g) sugar
4 eggs
4 cups (480 g) all-purpose flour
4 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup milk
4 tsp baking powder
desired amount of decorative sugar and sprinkles
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F and line 2-3 baking sheets with aluminum foil.
Cream butter and sugar together in a large bowl with a handheld mixer on medium speed for 3 minutes.
Whisk 2 eggs together and add into the butter/sugar mixture until just combined.
In a separate bowl, combine flour and baking powder.
Using your hands, mix half of the flour mixture into the butter/sugar mixture. Once evenly combined, mix in the second half of the flour mixture until evenly combined.
Add vanilla and milk to the bowl and evenly combine using a handheld mixer.
Note: The dough will be very wet and sticky, but this is okay because it will absorb the flour during the dough-rolling step.
Thoroughly clean a countertop and dump 4 cups of flour in a pile on top.
Spread a thin layer of flour over the countertop and place 2 handfulls of dough on top.
Place a handful of flour on top of the dough and knead together.
Sprinkle additional flour on top of the dough, then use a rolling pin to roll out the dough as much as possible.
Using your desired cookie cutters, cut the shapes into the entire rolled-out sheet of dough.
Remove the cut-out shapes with a spatula and place onto a baking sheet.
Pro Tip: For easy removal, scrape some of the flour from the countertop onto the tip of the spatula just prior to scraping each cookie off of the countertop.
Whisk together two eggs in a small bowl. Using a baker’s paint brush, gently apply a thin layer of egg to each cookie on the baking sheet.
Top each cookie with your desired amount of sprinkles and bake for 5-6 minutes, or until the cookie edges are golden-brown.
Repeat steps 8-14 until all dough is used.
Enjoy and Have a Merry Christmas!
