We asked readers to share their best holiday cookie recipes and the stories behind them. After sifting through dozens of sweet (and buttery) submissions, here are a few that touched us most. A Spoonful of Love from Grandma’s Kitchen Submitted by Kim Sutter, Owasso, Oklahoma I have lovely memories of my grandmother Helen. She was…
The Makings of an Italian Christmas Cookie Tin: 3 Recipes to Tell the Story of My Family, Past and Present
I am a Tuscan born and bred country girl, from a family of people who love traditional food. Olive oil runs through my veins, and I love nothing more than pappa al pomodoro, our famed stale bread and tomato soup. I stock my pantry and my fridge with local beans, pecorino toscano, our typical unsalted…
Mostaccioli (Pugliese Spiced Christmas Cookies)
Mostaccioli are dense, dark, nutty cookies shaped like diamonds and covered with a chocolate glaze. The key ingredient to make traditional mostaccioli is vincotto, a syrupy cooked grape must (mosto in Italian, hence their name, mostaccioli), or vincotto di fichi, a thick, slow-cooked fig syrup. Both are very common in the Italian South, usually used…
Cavallucci Senesi (Sienese Walnut Cookies)
Among Siena’s most traditional Christmas cookies, cavallucci are not elegant or photogenic, lacking the bright colors, icing, and sparkling sugar we expect from a Christmas cookie. Nor do they come in Christmas shapes; they’re round and rustic, lightly flattened on the ends, floury and a bit lumpy. And yet, with that first bite full of…
A Twist on Traditional Italian Holiday Cookies
This crispy-on-the-bottom-and-chewy-on-the-inside gluten-free cookie recipe is a twist on a traditional Italian holiday treat, pignoli, or pine nut cookies. Look for almond paste—a mixture of ground almonds and sugar (available in tubes or sometimes tubs)—near other baking supplies in well-stocked supermarkets or specialty stores. Sweeter marzipan doesn’t work well in these cookies. Pignoli Cookies Active…
Pecan Tassies
Makes 24 tassies For the Pastry 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature 3 ounces cream cheese, softened 1 cup all-purpose flour For the Filling 1 cup chopped pecans, divided 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted 1 large egg, room temperature 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract Pinch of kosher salt 1 cup packed light brown sugar Preheat oven…
Better Than Boxed: Homemade Graham Crackers Are 100 Percent Worth It
The after-school program at my elementary school never served chips or cookies as snacks, deeming them junk food. It did, however, offer the same snack every day: graham crackers. At snack time, we lined up to grab a small carton of milk and pull one graham cracker out of its sleeve. The most exciting days…
The Family Table: 6 Generations of Siste Kage and the Universal Bread Maker
Submitted by Doris Richardson, Georgia One of my favorite memories and family traditions is that of making Siste Kage (Sosterkake) during Christmas. Actually, it’s my mom who makes it every year, without fail, and I help. She’s the expert, not really needing to follow the recipe exactly, and only checking to make sure she’s remembering…
The Family Table: The Norwegian Holiday Bread—and Hand-Cranked Bread Maker—Passed Down 6 Generations
Submitted by Doris Richardson, Georgia One of my favorite memories and family traditions is that of making Siste Kage (Sosterkake) during Christmas. Actually, it’s my mom who makes it every year, without fail, and I help. She’s the expert, not really needing to follow the recipe exactly, and only checking to make sure she’s remembering…
Holiday Cookies: 7 Festive Recipes for the Must-Bake Cookies of the Year
It’s the most delicious time of the year. The holiday baking season has begun, and for extra inspiration, we’ve rounded up a collection of Christmas-ready cookies from this fall’s fresh batch of baking cookbooks. First, we stop in Germany, where the Advent season is marked by a steady parade of traditional treats. For Anja Dunk,…
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