Another Delicious Failure - Christmas Cookies

What can I say - delicious failures seem to haunt my kitchen. Maybe the name of this site should be changed to "Failure to Fabulous."

This particular failure can be blamed on my indoctrination. I was taught that Christmas could not take place without dozens and dozens of home-baked cookies packed in waxed-paper lined tins, to be passed out to family, neighbors, school teachers, postmen, milkmen, mechanics and anyone else straying within 50 yards of the house between December 20th and New Year's Day.

That sort of training isn't easily discarded. Never mind that everyone on my Christmas list is trying to lose weight or on a restricted diet. Never mind that the cost of ingredients for home-baked cookies added to baking time amounts to double the cost of identical store-bought cookies. I just can't do Christmas without baking cookies.

All this is to explain why I mixed up a batch of simple sugar cookies with the intention of making intricately decorated cut-outs to send across the country to my grandchildren on the opposite coast. After making a plastic template and carefully cutting around it with a sharp knife, then smoothing the edges of each cookie-man with my fingers to create perfect edges, the darn things spread into unrecognizable blobs in the oven! At that point I wanted to sit on the kitchen floor and bawl. Instead, I broke up the blobs and fed them to a very appreciative family.

But two-thirds of that batch of dough remained in the refrigerator. Another thing I was taught as a girl was that it is a sin to waste food. So I could not just throw it out.

That's where this failure turns delicious. Now I knew that the batter was going to spread. So I pinched off walnut-sized pieces and plopped them into my nifty new silicone mini-cupcake pan then added interesting toppings. Perfect.

But there was still another ball of dough. That's okay, because another principle of the whole Christmas Cookie culture is that one must produce many types of cookies. So I crumbled up the last of the dough and pressed it into the bottom of a greased pan as the base for jam bars.

The moral of this story? When a recipe doesn't work one way, change perspective and work it another way.
And have a delicious holiday!

Recipe: Christmas Cookies

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 c. butter, lard or butter flavored shortening
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 tsp. salt

In large mixing bowl, cream together sugar, butter, egg and vanilla.
Add dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Option 1: 
Press walnut-sized balls of dough into lightly sprayed or greased mini-muffin tins.
Make a depression in the top of each cookie and top with any of the following:
Chocolate kisses
Mini Marshmallows
Baking Chips of any variety
Walnut or Pecan halves
Maraschino cherries (drained)
Bake 7 - 8 minutes at 350 degrees (F.)
Note: If using silicone mini-muffin pans, allow cookies to cool about 5 minutes, then remove cookies by pressing up beneath each one. The cookies will easy pop out of the flexible pan.

 








Option 2:
Press walnut-sized balls of dough into lightly sprayed or greased mini-muffin tins.
Bake 7 - 8 minutes at 350 degrees (F.)
Note: If using silicone mini-muffin pans, allow cookies to cool about 5 minutes, then remove cookies by pressing up beneath each one. The cookies will easy pop out of the flexible pan.
When cookies are completely cool, top with one of the following glazes, sprinkle with colored sugar or nonpareils.
Lemon glaze: 
Stir lemon juice into powdered sugar, bit by bit, until glaze just drips from a spoon.

Brandy or Rum glaze:
Stir brandy or rum into powdered sugar, bit by bit, until glaze just drips from a spoon.

Chocolate glaze:
Heat chocolate chips in microwave just until shiny. Stir until smooth, spread on cookies and top with decorations. Chill in refrigerator to firm up glaze.

Option 3: 
Crumble about 1 1/2 cups chilled dough into the bottom of a lightly sprayed or greased pan. (I happened to use an iron skillet. Normal people would use a 9" square pan.) Press dough about 3/16" thick, making an even crust.  Top with about 1/2 c. fruit jam. Cover with crumb topping, pressing gently to make a firm layer.
Bake 20 - 25 minutes at 350 degrees (F.) until topping is lightly browned. Cool before cutting and removing from pan.


Crumb topping: 
1/2 c. oats
1/4 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 c. brown sugar
3 Tbs. soft butter
dash salt