By Tammy Thornton
Growing up near Pittsburgh, someone always seemed to be getting married, and no wedding celebration was quite complete without the chicken dance, a dozen polkas, and, of course, the “cookie table”. Grandmas and aunts baked for weeks before the big day to make sure the bride and groom had a proper cookie table with at least 6-12 cookies per guest. Not until I got married in South Jersey did I realize it’s more of a Western Pennsylvania thing. Fortunately, when it comes to Christmastime, there is also no shortage of cookie-baking in New Jersey family traditions.
Sugar cookies are one of the must-haves on holiday dessert trays. Over the years, I have accumulated a ridiculous amount of cookie cutters, from snowflakes and stars to butterflies and doggy bones, so the options are endless. Every Christmas I make cookie trays for the neighbors so I need as many perfect cookies as possible. My poor family must settle for the broken ones until all the trays are filled. Once for my husband’s birthday, I wrapped up an entire batch of unbroken sugar cookies as one of his presents—I’m so glad he shared. My go-to recipe includes both vanilla and almond extract. In years past when we went on missions trips with our church to Haiti, vanilla extract was always on the list of souvenirs to bring back. Haitian vanilla is a lot stronger than what you find at the grocery store and it gave my cookies an extra kick.
Using my mom’s pizzelle iron always causes me to be nostalgic. My mom couldn’t make enough of these waffle cookies that look like snowflakes with their dusting of powdered sugar. I have to confess to what some would consider heresy though. I’ve never liked that licorice-tasting anise, so I leave it out. I know, horrors to you purists, but that’s how I like them. You can make a huge batch of cookies with one pizzelle recipe, but be ready to work quickly. Once I get in the rhythm of things, 41 seconds seems to be the magic time for opening the pizzelle iron.
While I’m confessing, (don’t tell anyone) but when I was a little girl, I would sneak a particular cookie from the cupboard under the wall oven in our kitchen. My mom kept these wonderfully Christmas-y cookies in a tin. She doesn’t remember the little peanut buttery cookie balls that were rolled in red sugar. Perhaps it was a dream?
Not too many years ago, I started making a cookie to give to my neighbor friend on Hanukkah. This unique cookie called rugelach consists of a pastry dough filled with cinnamon and brown sugar and often nuts. You roll triangles into crescent shapes with delicious results. Now if I could just find that recipe…
Like most foods tied to traditions, all of these cookies lead me on trips down the memory lane of holidays past. I think of the peanut butter blossoms that both of my sons loved. One son would remove and discard the Hershey kiss before enjoying his cookie, but the other son plopped the entire cookie, kiss intact, into his mouth. The present year will no doubt be memorable for obvious reasons. Hopefully, with everyone “stuck” home, I’ll have extra elves helping to make the cookies. All of my children enjoy cooking, so I wonder what traditions they will continue in the Christmases yet to come.
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Tammy Thornton is a mom of four, a substitute teacher, and a Sunday school teacher. She is passionate about gardening and cooking, and loves the beach.
