MY CHRISTMAS GIFT TO YOU

If you guessed it was a recipe, you guessed right. What’s a holiday season without holiday baked goods? Recently I’ve been inspired to try traditional cookie recipes from other countries, such as Mexican wedding cakes and Swedish Bruncraker cookies. Both delicious! There was just one problem—we couldn’t stop eating them. I wouldn’t fit in my clothes if I didn’t give away or freeze most of what I bake.

I’m reminded of when I was growing up and my sisters and I would spend an entire day on weekends baking cookies at Christmastime. We especially loved making the kind you cut into shapes and decorate with different colored icings and sprinkles. One year my sister Laura made a tray of beautifully decorated cookies and tucked them away on top of our fridge to keep them safe from her sticky-fingered younger siblings. They were fine until someone opened the door to the fridge and it brought the tray of cookies crashing down. There were broken cookies all over the floor and Laura was in tears. But she survived and the following weekend whipped up another batch. If there’s a moral to the tale, it’s this: When life gives you broken cookies, make more.

One of my favorite holiday cookie recipes is this one. They look festive and are bursting with flavor, each bite a little bite of heaven. I plan to make them Christmas week when I have some free time. The recipe is in my cookbook SOMETHING WARM FROM THE OVEN, but I’m sending it to you here so you don’t have to buy the book to try it. Enjoy, and happy holidays! May 2021 bring you more unbroken cookies than broken ones.

COCONUT-CRANBERRY COOKIES
Makes 3 dozen cookies
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup of sugar
1 ½ teaspoons orange zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
¾ cup dried cranberries
¾ cup sweetened flaked coconut

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease, or line with parchment, two baking sheets.

2. In a large bowl, cream the softened butter with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add the sugar ¼ cup at a time, beating until the mixture is pale and fluffy. Blend in the zest and vanilla. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to the creamed mixture, and beat on low speed until the dry ingredients are incorporated. Increase the speed to medium and continue beating until it comes together in a dough. Stir in the cranberries and coconut.

3. With floured fingers, shape the dough into 1-inch balls, placing them 1 inch apart on the baking sheets, reserving a third of the dough. Bake in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes, just until the edges start to brown. Let cool on sheets for several minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Repeat the above with the remaining dough, reusing one of the baking sheets. (Most ovens don’t comfortably accommodate more than two baking sheets at a time).

4. Store at room temperature for up to a week.