Here Comes Santa Claus Sugar Cookies©



Fig. 1, Alma's Santa Claus Sugar Cookies
courtesy of http://TheLittleRoundTable.com
©2010 C Fagerlin

Do you remember gazing at the sky on Christmas Eve hoping to spy Santa and his sleigh heading for your house? Did you lie in bed and listen for the sound of sleigh bells while falling to sleep? Is there anything more exciting to a small child than waking before the break of dawn on Christmas morning, anxious to see whether Santa made his annual visit? Just the memory of creeping softly down the stairs and checking the cookie plate to see if Santa ate his cookies before spying the pile of presents that Santa left beneath the tree takes me back to my childhood! He came! He came! It was almost a sure thing, even though there was that last bit of doubt the night before because I didn't always do as I was told, or clean my room like I was supposed to do. But Santa came—every year for eight seemingly long years, until that day when I learned that Santa was not a real person at all.

As a parent, I remember watching from around the corner, or another room to see the looks of wonder on my children's and later, my grandchildren's faces when they spied the abundance of treasures carefully placed under the tree. Once again Santa visited our home, and the magic lived on. Regardless of your personal view concerning the commercialization of the holiday, there is nothing like the look of amazement on the face of a child Christmas morning. It's just too bad that myth eventually comes to an end in every child's life. I specifically remember where I was when I learned that Santa Claus didn't really exist. I believe that is one memory that stayed with me because of its shock effect. At least it was a shock to me.

Every Saturday during the fall and spring my oldest Sister and I, together with one of her friends, attended the "Little Women's Club" at our local YMCA. The program ran from about 9 a.m. until about 2 p.m. and was for "little women." I was eight at the time and my Sister was 11, so it was probably intended for girls 8-12. There were many activities included in that several hour period, including gymnastics, swimming, lunch, an indoor sport like basketball, kickball, or 4-square, and cooking. Because my family only had one vehicle at the time, we walked from our home to the Y in the morning, and walked to my Grandparents' home after the program. My Grandfather always took us home from there. We went to my Grandparents' home each week because they lived half a mile from the Y, and our home was two and a half miles away. At the end of all the activity of the day, we were exhausted by the time we finished, and walking that half a mile on some of those Saturdays was a big enough struggle.

Fig. 2, 3-Dimensional Christmas Cookie
Cutters available at
http://www.grammascutters.com

On this particular day, I can remember walking on the sidewalk, trying not to step on the cracks (or I'd break my Mother's back!), and my Sister and her friend were in front of me talking lowly to each other like they always did. There was only room for two across on the sidewalk, so I was relegated as usual to bringing up the rear. The sun was shining brightly, the sky was a clear bright blue, and the air was cool. Fall had arrived a few weeks earlier, and it was a typical beautiful Indian summer day in Northwest Ohio. I was kind of off in my own world, probably thinking about what pastries Grandma would have for us when we arrived (it was Saturday after all, Grandma Lasak's baking day). I was also half eavesdropping on my Sister's conversation, which I usually did, a little irritated as I was that I was always left out of the conversation. My Sister's friend asked her what my Parents were getting her for Christmas. My Sister turned around swiftly and caught my eyes then looked back at her friend and shook her head. "She doesn't still believe in Santa Claus does she?" my Sister's friend asked incredulously in a stage-whisper. I felt like I'd been punched in the stomach. The way she asked the question made it sound like I was a moron. Or worse yet, still a baby. Trying to maintain some sense of dignity, I quickly answered, "No! I know Santa Claus isn't real!" And that was it. I can't remember the conversation for the remainder of the walk. I just remember the feeling of having lost something. A little piece of innocence, perhaps? It made me wonder how many other things that I believed existed, really didn't.

The great part about this story is that every year Santa still visits my home, albeit a few days before his usual Christmas Eve arrival, and in the form of a cookie. Children get almost as excited about these cookies as about Santa himself. They have been an anticipated part of my holiday baking repertoire since the first year I made them with my Mother-in-Law, Alma. Alma had the special cookie cutters that these cookies require in order to achieve the 3-dimensional figure that makes them unique. (See Fig. 2) The cookie cutters are available at http://www.grammascutters.com/index.php/aunt-chicks-merry-xmas-cookie-cutter-set and are worth purchasing if you plan to make these on a regular basis. You can buy Santa individually or as part of a 4-cutter set (also includes a 3-dimensional star, stocking, and tree as seen in Fig. 3; and no, I am NOT receiving any remuneration for recommending them). The dough is pressed into the cutter and is "molded" providing the cookie with depth and dimension. (See Fig. 2) I took them to my sons' school Christmas parties every year; and the next year I was asked by the teachers whether the boys would be bringing them again. They are more work than your basic decorated sugar cookie, but they’re well worth it. The Santa is decorated in several stages, beginning with placing halved raisins in the eyes before baking, then painting and sugaring the hat red, cheeks and mouth. The moustache, beard, and eyebrows are iced with white icing, and finally coconut is added to the beard and eyebrows, if desired.


Fig. 3, 3-dimensional Christmas Cookie Cutters
courtesy of http://www.grammascutters.com
©2010 C Fagerlin

Since making these for the first time in 1972, this recipe has become my cut-out sugar cookie of choice. They can be mixed together in just a few minutes with a stand mixer, and they are very easy to roll and cut. Try this recipe for any occasion where cut-out sugar cookies are called for, such as Halloween, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, or Easter. It is a delicious cookie simply sprinkled with colored sugars, glazed or iced and decorated.² When my boys were little they loved to help in the making and decorating of these cookies, as my Grandchildren love to today. At Christmastime every year, my Grandchildren look forward to baking and decorating these cookies. It is a wonderful holiday project that brings forth the artist in even the most cynical of Scrooges! You can use them as Hostess gifts, gifts for your children's teachers, or hang them like ornaments on the tree. No matter how old your children are today, they will still love these cookies. In fact, my 40-year old Son just asked me last week when I was going to make the "Santa Claus" cookies. Bring Santa back into your holiday treats. You won't be sorry! Merry Christmas!
  ©2012 Here Comes Santa Claus Sugar Cookies by Kathy

Alma's Santa Claus Sugar Cookies

Fig. 4, Alma's Santa Claus Cut-Out Sugar Cookies
courtesy of http://TheLittleRoundTable.com
©2010 C Fagerlin

Yield: 3 dozen cookies

Prep Time: 20 minutes + chilling (at least 4 hours)
Bake Time: 8-10 minutes

Decorating Time: Varies

Ingredients

1 cup butter

1-1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs (make sure they're LARGE or it may alter the resulting dough)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. almond extract
4-1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
Raisins, snipped in half for the eyes (if desired)

Directions

For the Cookies

1. Cream together the butter and sugar until it becomes light and fluffy.

2. Add eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition.

3. Add extracts and blend to incorporate.

4. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and slowly add to the butter and egg mixture. 

5. Mix just until all the flour is incorporated.

6. Remove from bowl and shape into a log. Wrap the log in waxed paper and refrigerate 4 hours to overnight. 

7. Heat oven to 350° F.

8. On a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin, roll the dough out to ¼ to 3/8 inch thickness. 

9. Flour the inside of the cutter¹ and place the cutter on the dough, pressing down firmly with your fingers. Make sure all the edges are cut.

10. Gently pick up the cutter with cut dough, or if it you are having trouble lifting the cutter and dough, run a thin spatula under the dough and lift. 

11. Using your thumb, on the back of the cutter roll the edges of the dough toward the center and firmly press the dough into the nooks and crannies of the cutter to capture the 3-dimensional features of the cutter.

12. Tap the cutter in your hand or on a table (gently) and the dough will release from the cutter. If the dough does not release easily, you have not floured the cutter enough.

13. Place the cookie on ungreased cookie sheets and flour the cutter again before you cut out another cookie.

14. Leave at least an inch between each cookie on the baking sheet as they will spread just a little during the baking process.

15. Place the halved raisins in each crease for the eyes and press in gently.

16. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until a light brown. You don't want them to get too brown, but you want them done, so monitor your baking time on the first few batches. You will know they are done by the way they smell (you will see what I mean once you have baked a few batches).

17. Remove cookies from baking sheets onto cooling racks. Cool cookies completely before icing and decorating. In the meantime, prepare the decorations. 

Icing

8 Tbsp. (1 stick) Butter

4 cups Confectioners' Sugar
4 Tbsp. Water, or enough to make icing easy to spread, but not runny
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract OR Almond Extract OR a combination of both

Decorations

Red Food Coloring
Red Decorating
1 Egg White mixed with a few drops of water & food coloring of choice OR clear corn syrup to be used as "glue" to hold the colored sugar in place
Fine tip paint brush (used only for cookies)
Small paint brushes (used only for cookies)
Coconut for beard

Directions

1. Make sure the cookies are cooled completely before beginning the icing and decorating process.

2. Place a small bowl of clear corn syrup or the egg white/water mixture at your decorating area. Pour the red colored sugar into a small bowl.

3. Using a fine tip paint brush, "paint" the chosen form of "glue" in circles on the cheeks, the nose and the crease of the mouth.

4. Hold the cookie over the bowl and spoon the sugar over the facial features to which you have just applied the glue. Holding the cookie face down, gently tap the back of the cookie face to remove the excess sugar. You can also use a DRY paintbrush (children's small art brushes that are only used for cookies) to brush off any remaining sugar crystals.

5. Repeat with the remaining Santa cookies. Keep the cookies in the oven with the light on to maintain their crispness and to dry them between the applying the sugar and the icing. While they are drying, make the icing.

6. Mix together the butter, confectioners' sugar, almond extract and enough water to make a spreadable, not runny icing.

7. When the sugar and glue have dried completely, ice the whiskers and eyebrows and moustache with white icing. (If the glue and sugar have not completely dried, you will get red sugar in the icing resulting in pink whiskers & beard!)

8. Apply fresh coconut to the still-moist icing for Santa's beard and eyebrows, if desired.

9. Cool completely before storing loosely between doubled layers of waxed paper to prevent squashing the cookies.³

¹If you very lightly sift flour on top of the rolled cookie dough before you begin cutting, you will reduce the number of times the cutter has to be floured.

² If you are decorating the other cookies make from the 4-cutter set, choose various colored sugars for the different features of the cookie and place each color in a separate bowl. Use separate glue for each color as well. Complete each sugar color and dry in the oven before another color. Use the same method, i.e., holding the cookie over the bowl and spooning sugar over the area to be covered. Then remove the excess by gently taping the back of the cookie face to remove the excess sugar. You can also use a DRY paintbrush (children's small art brushes that are only used for cookies) to brush off any remaining sugar crystals.

³ If you find that I've forgotten to add something about either the recipe, the cutters, or the decorations, just leave me a message in the Comments section of this post, and I'll reply!

 

©2012 Here Comes Santa Claus Sugar Cookies by Kathy Striggow

©2012 Alma's Santa Claus Sugar Cookies by Kathy Striggow

When Do We Start Baking Cookies? Vanillekipferl (Crescents)©

It's that time of year again.  It seems like every year the months get shorter and shorter, and twelve of them fly by in what would have seemed like 5 years when we were children.  I could swear that Christmas¹ was only a few weeks ago, and that we just popped the cork on the Champagne bottle at Midnight on New Year's Eve.  Regardless, I have always loved this time of year that we call the "Holiday Season."  One reason is that it seems people are generally in a more benevolent state of mind, and exhibit more tolerance for others than during other times of the year. Why this doesn't continue all year I don't know.  I enjoy the spiritual aspect of the season and it seems no matter how old I get, there is still something magical about Christmas Eve.  I also love seeing houses decorated with twinkle lights and pine garlands, and the fact that even offices, hospitals and other commercial buildings take the time to decorate for the season.  There are many steps involved in getting ready for the holidays, and therefore I have many topics I could address.  But for today, we're going to discuss some of the preparations that can be made in advance of the actual day that you celebrate.

Decorating for the season is a preparation that takes careful consideration.  Deciding what day to decorate the outside of the house, for those like me who grew up in the Midwest, on the East Coast, or in the Northern States, was always a question that was more difficult than you might expect. You do not want to be outside on a ladder or up on the roof hanging the electric icicles when it is snowing, or when the temperature is below 32° F.  Therefore, it is important to catch that last warm day between the end of Indian Summer and the first snowfall of the year for that task, and predicting that day has become quite a feat.  When I was growing up, it used to be that the first snowfall in Northwest Ohio occurred on November 10^th; at least that was the date most often predicted for the first measurable snowfall of the year.  I remember this not because I memorized the Farmer's Almanac every year, or because I am a meteorologist or have a penchant for weather statistics.  I remember it because that day is my sister Janet's Birthday.  Inevitably, we would wake up on Janet's Birthday and there would be snow on the ground.  Sometimes there was just a dusting, and sometimes there were several inches.  But because weather patterns have changed over the past few years due to the global warming phenomenon, over population, destruction of the ozone layer and whatever other reasons experts advance as the reason, predicting that last warm day has become more difficult.

Now, for you folks living in the southern states with those lovely, temperate climates all year round, this may not seem like much of a big deal.  However in my neighborhood, there was an art to getting those decorations up in what was considered an "acceptable" time frame, or you were subject to scorn by your more astute neighbors.  You see, if you put them up too early in the fall, people regarded you as lazy, and assumed that you kept them up all year. If you put them up in a time frame that was regarded as too late, you were considered as lazy, and the question that circulated the neighborhood was, "Why bother to put them up at all?" And believe me, people remembered your decorating habits for as long as you lived in the neighborhood.  ("Remember the year George didn't get his lights up until the week before Christmas and there were already six inches of snow on the ground?  I'll bet he still can't feel anything in those fingers of his that got frostbitten."  Or, "For crying out loud, Ethel, will you look at that?  It's July, and George still has his Christmas lights up! Now he might as well leave them up for the rest of the year!")  Poor George's only escape was to escape to a new neighborhood on the other side of town.

Because I was never responsible for putting up the outside decorations, I never worried too much about this dilemma.  However, I must say that I might have been guilty of prodding my spouse to get the decorations up in a timely manner.  My domain, as you might guess, was the inside preparations.  In addition to decorating, that included getting the holiday baking done.  Just as at the beginning of November, I would subtly suggest that we might want to put the decorations up outside before Thanksgiving, the day after Thanksgiving my husband and children would not-so-subtly ask, "When are you going to start baking Christmas Cookies?" 

At my house, Christmas baking was a pretty big thing, and pretty much limited to cookies. Because I was never much of a Fruitcake fan, the only Fruitcake I ever made was limited to miniature loaves that I gave away as gifts to friends when we were too poor to give anything else.  Even though it was part of my family's holiday tradition, and my Mother and both my Grandmothers made Fruitcakes every year, that tradition never appealed to me once I had a family of own. (FYI:  I am saving the topic of "Fruitcakes" for another day because I do have very specific thoughts about why my Mom continued making it every year, when basically she and my Dad were the only ones to eat it.  And then there was always the question as to why it took Mom for what seemed like forever when she went upstairs to the attic every evening to annoint the Fruitcake with rum, brandy, bourbon, or whatever liquor she was dousing it  with that year.)

Living in a household that was of German, English, Czech, Slovakian and/or Moravian ancestry, we enjoyed a wide range of Christmas Cookies that reflected a smorgasbord of ethnic origins.  Like the Fruitcake, some of the cookies had to be made early in the season to mellow, or soften before they were ready to eat. Those started making shortly after Thanksgiving and stored in the attic..  You may think this seems like a strange place to keep them, but it served several purposes.  First, it got them out of our kitchen, which also served as our dining room, our homework room, and our game room.  The room was not that large, and it didn't have much storage space.  Second, it kept them out of sight, as in "out of sight, out of mind," which is an important concept when you have four growing children, all of whom had friends, all of whom had a "sweet tooth" or two.  I guess Mom thought we'd forget about them if they were up in the attic.  I also guess she forgot that my oldest sister and I shared a bedroom on the second floor across from the attic. Third, it kept the cookies fresh because the attic was the coolest part of the house--it was not heated (in fact, it was darn right freezing in there in the dead of winter if you happened to slip in during the night in your pajamas to grab a . . . never mind).  And finally, when I say we made Christmas Cookies, I mean we made Christmas Cookies.  Without exaggerating, I would easily say we made about twenty different varieties, with at least ten to twelve dozen of each variety. That's a lot of cookies! And where else do you store them in a house that was already bursting at the seams?  This was another reason we always started baking right after Thanksgiving.  If we didn't, we never would have been able to make all the different varieties that we did.  People today don't make Christmas Cookies like they used to.  For one thing, who has time?  For another, today you can purchase cookies that are just as good as the ones your mother or grandmother used to make from bakeries, supermarkets, and ethnic specialty shops.  For me, however, it's one of the traditions that my Children and Grandchildren will always associate with the holidays, and hopefully with me.  And I believe there are some traditions that are worth saving and passing along to my Grandchildren.

I have several varieties of Christmas Cookie recipes that I want to share with you. We're only going to highlight them one at a time, however.  Some are from my Maternal Grandmother; some are from my Paternal Grandmother; others are from my Mom; still others are from my Mother-in-Law and her Mother.  I'm sure I've got something in my Cookie Jar for everyone's taste.  But for today, I am going to share the recipe for the cookie that was the fastest one to disappear at my house, and therefore one of the last ones my Mother made before Christmas.   My sisters and I never helped make these particular cookies because Mom always said the dough was too difficult to handle.  After having become a parent of only two, rather than four children, and after having made this recipe now for many years, I think her reasoning had more to do with the fact that she got more accomplished when we weren't "helping."  We always called these cookies Crescents, and it was not until years later that I learned their real name is Vanillekipferl.  They are of either German or Austrian origin depending on which story you believe. This tells me that they came to us through the Moravian heritage of my Grandmother Lasak.  The basic recipe is the one my Mother used, and therefore I know that the cookies melt in your mouth. I have made a few adjustments to it, but they are just as good as hers.  I am sure there may be more authentic versions of Vanillekipferl out there. These are not difficult to make.  The German and Austrian recipes call for almonds, hazelnuts or walnuts; but my Mother and Grandmother always made theirs with finely ground pecans.  They are worth trying, at least once.  If you do decide to attempt them, let me know what you think!

¹ I will be using the term "Christmas" throughout this article. When I grew up, people did not consider "political correctness" as the important issue that it is today. But because in my family, Christmas was, and is, the holiday that we celebrate in December, I am using that term.I hope no one is offended by my use of it.

©2012 by Kathy Striggow

MOM'S CRESCENTS

Yield:  About 5 dozen

Ingredients
 

2-1/4 cups All Purpose Flour

3/4 cup Powdered Sugar
3 Egg Yolks
Seeds from 1 Vanilla Bean OR

Pinch Nutmeg
1-1/2 to 2 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract
Pinch of Salt
1- 1/2 cups Finely Ground Pecans

1 cup Butter, at room temperature
Powdered Sugar, to coat finished cookies

Directions

1.     In a large mixing bowl, beat butter until smooth.

2.     Add the powdered sugar and beat until the sugar is absorbed into the butter.

3.     Add the egg yolks one-at-a-time, mixing between each egg yolk to make sure the butter has absorbed the yolk.

4.     Add the nutmeg, vanilla bean seeds OR vanilla and salt.

5.     Add pecans and flour and mix together until a dough forms.

6.     Leaving the dough in the bowl, refrigerate dough (covered) for 30 minutes.

7.     Preheat oven to 350° F.

8.     Form dough into crescent shaped cookies about 3-in. in length from tip to tip.

9.     Place cookies on greased or parchment-paper-lined cookie sheets, approximately 3/4-inch to 1-inch apart. (There is no leavening agent, so they are not going to spread.)

10.    Bake cookies for 15 minutes or until a light golden brown. Do not over bake!

11.    While cookies are still warm, roll in powdered sugar. If they are too warm, they will fall apart when you're rolling them so be very careful. Roll again in powdered sugar once they have cooled. 

12.    Store in a tightly sealed container in a cool, dry place.