Christmas wouldn’t be the same without cookies. It’s a fact. Cookies are the season’s universal culinary icon.
Baking cookies is a tradition I loved as a child. One of my fondest memories is the cookies my German-American father would bake – Springerle spritz and fruit bars, baked using old country recipes. It’s a tradition I still continue.
Cookie baking is a tradition pastry chef and cookbook author Helen Fletcher also embraces, while cherishing the handwritten European cookie recipes left by her mother. These recipes will no doubt be included in her next cookbook featuring European cookies. Until then, Fletcher is celebrating American cookies in her recently released book, “Craving Cookies: The Quintessential American Cookie Book.”
“Cookies can provide comfort, flavor, familiarity and a sense of the exotic all in a bite or two,” Fletcher said. “They can be sublime and subtle or ridiculous and over the top; elegant or simple. And they can have a place at the greatest of celebrations or simply keep us company when we are home alone on a gray day.”
Fletcher firmly believes cookies should be venerated throughout the year, and not just reserved for Christmas. But for now, it is Christmastime, so let the baking begin.
To get those cookies baked in time for Santa’s arrival, Helen has shared one of her favorite recipes, Chocolate Dipped Sweet and Salted Butter Cookies, an American classic, which if you look closely, has its origins in European butter cookies. Featured in her book and on her baking blog, pastrieslikeapro.com, this recipe makes a lovely buttery decadent cookie that will definitely make Santa and the rest of the family merry.
Two cookie recipes I hold dear from my childhood is provided by German Tourism – Springerle and Spitzbuben, which we called Spritz when my family baked them. Springerle, an anise-flavored hard cookie that is a specialty throughout southwest Germany, is imprinted with designs before baking. Besides being eaten, they are often used as decorations and hung on Christmas trees. Spitzbuben are originally from southern Germany, and are a delicate sandwich cookie, named after Hilda von Nassau, the last Grand Duchess of Baden.
All three cookies are a wonderful addition to a cookie tray, each guaranteed to create Christmas memories you’ll savor for years to come.
CHOCOLATE DIPPED SWEET AND SALTED BUTTER COOKIES
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened (170 grams, 6 ounces or 1 1/2 sticks)
1/2 cup granulated sugar (100 grams or 3 1/2 ounces)
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons almond extract
1 1/2 teaspoons Tahitian vanilla (if possible) or any vanilla
1 7/8 cups all-purpose flour (2 cups less 2 tablespoons, 260 grams or
9 1/4 ounces)
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line several half-sheet pans or baking
sheets with parchment paper. Set aside. Cream the butter and sugar until very light. Add the egg yolk and beat until completely combined. Add the extracts, beating well. Add the flour all at once. Mix until it comes together in a ball. If using cookie cutters, divide the dough in half (290 grams or 10 ounces each piece). If it is too soft to work with, refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Roll between waxed paper to about 1/4 inch and cut out the cookies. Repeat with the second half of the dough. Gather the pieces that are left over and re-roll as necessary. Alternatively, divide the dough in half, as above. Roll each half into a 10-inch log. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm. Slice about 1/4-inch thick. Place about 1 1/2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake for 7 minutes, turn the tray and bake for 6 to 7 more minutes or until lightly browned.
QUICK TEMPERING CHOCOLATE
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (170 grams)
1 1/2 tablespoons shortening
1/2 cup Sanding sugar
Sea salt (I used Baleine Sel de Mer Le sel des Grande Espaces) to taste.
Melt the chocolate and shortening together. Whisk very gently to mix together. Do not whisk too enthusiastically or air bubbles may form. Mix about 1/2 cup Sanding sugar with sea salt to taste. Be careful not to over salt. You want to be able to taste the salt, but the sugar should be predominant. Holding the cookie upside down, dip the top of the cookies into the chocolate. Sprinkle with the sugar/salt mixture. Allow the chocolate to set firmly at room temperature. Yields about 70 cookies from the logs. If using a cookie cutter, it depends on the size of the cutter. Storage: After the chocolate is firmly set, the cookies may be stored with paper between the layers in an airtight tin for 7 to 10 days.
SPITZBUBEN
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup cold butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup raspberry jelly for center
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
In a stand mixer, cream together sugar and butter. Add in vanilla and egg and blend together. Add in flour to form a dough. Shape the dough into a ball and wrap or cover well and refrigerate for an hour. Heat oven to 325 F. Roll out dough to about 1/4-inch thickness and cut out circles. Cut small hearts, star and or circle shapes out of the center of half the cut circles. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes until cookies are golden brown. After cookies are completely cool, heat jelly and spread jelly over the cookies without the cutout. Dust the cutout cookie with powdered sugar and carefully place on top of the jelly-spread cookie to create a single cookie. Yields 12 to 16 cookies.
SPRINGERLE
4 eggs, room temperature
2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
2 1/4 cups flour, sifted
1 tablespoon lightly toasted whole anis seed (can substitute a few drops of anise oil)
Using a mixer, beat eggs until frothy, then add the sifted powdered sugar and the tablespoon of anise seed (or oil). Continue to mix for 10 minutes, adding a tablespoon of the flour at a time until all is used. Remove dough to a bowl, cover and allow to rest refrigerated for 12 to 24 hours. When ready to bake, roll out dough on a lightly floured surface about 1/2-inch thick. Dust lightly with flour. Press Springerle mold into the lightly dusted dough and cut out the Springerle with a dough scraper, pastry wheel or knife. Place cookies on a baking sheet covered with foil and allow to dry 24 hours. Heat oven to 300 F and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Do not let cookies brown; they are supposed to be pale in color – white to creamy white. Yields about 18 cookies.
