A time for cookies
I fancied myself a baker before a cook. When I was young, I found it really fun to try baking things for occasions (or just to try something new to see if I could) and loved gifting them to people. I got really into baking cupcakes for awhile, and was even that kid who gave their teachers treat bags at Christmas my senior year of high school.
Fast forward to adulthood and I still really enjoy baking even though cooking is more necessary in my daily life. Obviously baking is a lot more precise than cooking, which makes it even more fun when things turn out. I also have noticed that the technique and intuition take longer to arrive with baking, but when they do, a lot of it is transferrable across recipes.
This year, my Mom and I made a date to bake a collection of holiday cookies for the first time. As mentioned, we’re both very into cooking, but we aren’t always the best co-pilots. Don’t get me wrong, we laugh and have fun the whole time, but our styles differ to say that least. She thinks I’m too carefree and move too fast (which is usually true), while she prefers to stay on course. This actually ends up meaning we work well together which I love.
Here was our lineup — spoiler, everything turned out delicious:
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies, Food52 - These are so easy they don’t even require a stand or hand mixer and they end up tasting like a brownie. The only thing to note is that the dough has to chill for four hours before you can ball and bake.
Monster Cookies, Two Peas & Their Pod - In my opinion, these turned out the best and had incredible texture — exactly what you want in a cookie with a crisp exterior and chewy interior. Use red and green M&Ms for a festive feel. We also did not sprinkle with sea salt or add more candies on top, but you could!
Snickerdoodles, BA’s Best — Only one of our batches puffed up well and a lot baked flat (I think we accidentally under-baked), but the taste and texture were still there. Apparently, the cream of tartar actually creates a tart finish, who knew!
Butterhorn Cookies, Kitchen Gidget — This was always my favorite type of Christmas cookie growing up because it’s more elaborate to make and isn’t too sweet. The dough comes together more like a pie dough than cookie, but it’s really special.
Next Up: I’m going to set out to make frosted sugar cookies. Don’t expect fun shapes or decoration this first time — I’m starting with technique and using my Granny’s recipe! Heads up, shortening will be used.
