Thumbprint cookies are easy, can be made with any kind of jam or fruit filling, flavored with whatever pleases you most, and are delicious. We are of differing opinions about what kind of glaze to use, though. Our go-to (powdered sugar, water, and flavoring) can be too soft and smeary, especially if you’re packing them as holiday treats. A royal icing squiggle works just as … Continue reading Jammy Thumbprint Cookies
Like all of the recipes in this category, we haven’t tried these yet. But they look like they will work, and sound delicious to us. When we finally get around to a test batch, we’ll move them into the category where they really belong. If you try these out before we do, let us know about your results! Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an … Continue reading Eggnog Blondies
For Carla, no peanut butter can ever be too crunchy. Nor can any peanut butter cookie. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream butter and sugars in stand mixer until fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add peanut butter and mix until well blended. In separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt. Add flour mixture to the butter mixture and blend well. Last, stir in … Continue reading Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients in large bowl and shape into 1-inch balls. Flatten balls with the tines of fork you have dipped in flour in a criss-cross pattern. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Continue reading Grammy’s Peanut Butter Cookies
Laura makes the best cookies, by far. She has the gift. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix butter and peanut butter until smoothly blended. Gradually add sugars, and beat until fluffy. Stir in vanilla and eggs. Mix dry ingredients together in a separate bowl, and add to butter mixture in thirds, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place on baking sheet, … Continue reading Laura’s Peanut Butter Cookies
Because both our grandmother Mamcik and Great-Aunt Nela made this recipe (it also appears in Nela’s Cookbook, and I’ve copied her citrus topping here), it most likely came from the kitchen of their childhood home, Ilgovo, in Lithuania. I keep telling myself I should ask Nela’s children (along with whether they know what happened to four of their seven siblings who survived childhood – we … Continue reading Mazourka
Carla wheedled this recipe from a friend , who wheedled the recipe from an ex-boyfriend, who in turn wheedled the recipe from his grandmother, who made him promise not to share it with anyone ever. We say the statute of limitations has expired – enjoy for yourself. Continue reading Gingersnaps
Here are sugar cookies that are firm enough to hold a glaze, while still soft and tender inside. Not too-sweet or sickly-sweet, but fragrant with vanilla or almond or rum. There are never, ever, enough – they’re always eaten up too soon. These are the sugar cookies that put all other sugar cookies to shame. Continue reading Glazed Sugar Cookies
Laura got this recipe from a Scottish expatriate – and it is so much better than the packaged kind! Beat butter and sugar together until mixture resembles face cream. Add flour one cup at a time; beat well after each addition. Form shortbread into balls about the size of tennis balls. Pat balls out until they are about 7 inches in diameter. Prick shortbread all … Continue reading Scotch Shortbread
This is one of the recipes Laura makes every Christmas holiday season, mostly to give away as gifts. The filling is like pecan pie; the cream cheese dough is soft and luscious, and it’s difficult not to eat the whole batch before it’s packed up to give away. Cream together cream cheese, 1/2 cup butter and flour; chill dough for 1 hour or more. Shape … Continue reading Pecan Tassies
Around Our Table 