Dear Friends,
I would rather have a great cookie than just about anything! It was always a treat at our home growing up to make cookies. Mom would make the dough the night before and chill it. Then at the appointed time, she would divide up the dough ball evenly. We would each take our part and begin to roll out the dough to fashion our own cookie style.
My brother, Keith, did not use cookie cutters; he chose to freehand his with a small knife. Needless to say, he had the most unusual designs of all—he even made his annual cookie into the face of a local politician. Oh, my—it was so weird when it baked. You can imagine the laughter that resulted. Not to mention, it was the size of a salad plate!
When my boys were little, and even today with my grandchildren, cookie baking was and is essential to a good time. Most of the time I wonder if any of the dough will make it to the pan, as they sneak the raw dough when I am not looking (even after my health lecture), but it’s all the fun!
The Cookie Collection is one of my favorite books. I can tell you that these recipes are scrumptious. I loved strolling through the test kitchens as these jewels were coming out of the oven. Oh, my goodness! I could gain weight smelling them bake. You will love this book!
Pre-order your copy of The Cookie Collection today, and in the meantime, answer this question in the comment section below: What is your favorite cookie baking memory?
Comments 6
Annie, First, I am so very sorry for your loss. I lost my mom 4 years ago, it is very hard. My name is Anne, my mom always called me Annie. We are not Polish but, my mom made the most divine Chrusciki. They were paper thin and I couldn’t get enough of them! We love in Chicago with a huge Polish population. 2nd only to Warsaw I believe, in the U.S. So you can imagine there would be a bakery where they would be good. But not so much. I find them to be thick and hard a lot. I chipped a tooth on one! The ones my mom made were so thin and delicate and you could read a paper through them. I am afraid I am a truley terrible baker. My mom was a really good baker! Oh how I miss her bakery goods! Life will never be the same!
Making and decorating sugar cookies at Christmas time for my Mom’s Sunday School (Bible Study) class . Loved the creativity and then the consumption . 🙂
I remember so well my Daddy making Fruit Cake Cookies. Not sure how many he ate but my daughters likely consumed plenty.
I learned at your sweet Daddy’s celebration that he also enjoyed making them.
I will always think of our Daddys when I think of Fruit Cake Cookies.
When my husband was growing up he and his brother decided one day to make cookies when his mother wasn’t home. He was four and his brother was seven. When they didn’t understand one of the words on the recipe they would run outside and ask their dad who never questioned what they were doing. They made such a mess they decided to throw the dough away and did so by throwing it down the outside potty hole. Ever since that day mom made sure to have cookies on hand for the boys. She was a one room school teacher in SD and in her 90’s when she went to assisted living I took the great joy of making the boys chocolate chip cookies when they would travel back to the farm in SD from their homes, one from Minnesota and the other from Colorado. I recently made them for the son who traveled back to SD for his 60th high school reunion. What fun and what memories.
I have been making Christmas cookies with my friends for over 40 years. When I got married and had children, my daughter and son joined in from the time they were little. We made at least 10 different kinds (we gave many away), but our favorite is still “the boots”. We used a Santa Boot-shaped cookie cutter and a sugar cookie recipe. The dough was made the night before and chilled. I cut them out and baked them, and my friend would frost each cookie with melted chocolate, then apply a warm mixture of mixed nuts and candied fruit (mixed in a little currant jelly and brandy) to each cookie. Divine!
Every Christmas my siblings and I would make Chrusciki with my mother. They are a delicious Polish cookie that is rolled out super thin, cut and folded into a shape similar to a bow tie and then fried very quickly. Once they are cool they are sprinkled with powdered sugar. Each of us had a specific job, mom made the dough, my brother rolled it out as he was really good at getting it so thin you could almost see through it. I was usually the fry-cook and sugarer. When my sister still lived in New York she would roll and shape the cookies as well. We often shared them with friends and colleagues. Sadly, my mom passed this year and we will no longer be able to make them with her, but our memories will last forever.