Holiday Cookie Baking

I love December, that is despite the cold and snow. The cold does have its benefits though, as the eternal image of families and friends surrounding a fireplace surmounts a certain warmness, even without the makeshift fireplace. And of course, the Christmas (or should I say holiday) cookies. Though for some time I have insisted that Hanukah does not hold a candle (purposeful pun) to the dessert offerings of Christmas (jelly-filled donuts being the only possible contender), I have for years held off on making holiday cookies. However, this is my first year at college and I thought some holiday spirit needed to be iced upon my Winter holiday to compete with my friends’ excursions to Paris, Rome, and London (Hamilton College has their fair share of wealthy travelers).

I set out to conduct primary research on holiday cookies. I found mountains of ginger bread, sugar, and booze soaked cookies, that typified the holiday spirited a little too much for my taste. Autumnal spices like cinnamon and nutmeg were already too long overused and tacky sweet butter cookies (1 cup of sugar to 1 cup of flour) overloaded with bright, artificial icing tainted my holiday mood and weakened my stomach.

What I really wanted were uniquely presented cookies, reminiscent of holidays past, without the overbearing memory of leftover fruit cake and boring holiday tastes. I finally decided on three cookies that had touches of holiday nostalgia with new flavorings and touches. In place of a butter cookie with icing, I opted for chocolate and almond dipped sandwich cookies, made with a basic butter dough, but loaded with rich toasted nuttiness. Instead of a heavily laden, overbearingly dense fruit cake, I chose hazelnut linzer cookies with blackberry jam. And finally to substitute the heavy rum balls that leave the crowd groggy within a few bites. Well, alcohol is of course necessary for the holidays and so too is chocolate. A rum soaked chocolate cookie fit the bill quite nicely.

The only problem now is the approaching snow storm scheduled to drop ten inches of snow. Well, if nothing else my love and the heat from the oven will keep me warm!