When I think of the holiday season, I think of cookie day. There are pictures of me in diapers, sitting on the counter, decorating Christmas cookies. I don’t know the Christmas season without cookie day.
When I was little, cookie day meant opening a store-bought roll of dough and decorating the cookies with sprinkles before baking them. We typically made cookies right before Christmas so I could leave my decorated cookies for Santa. As a little kid, most cookies were more sprinkles than cookie dough, and not very edible. However, they were fun to decorate and it was time spent with my mom.
Over the years new family members have been introduced to our family tradition. When my now sister-in-law and niece came into our lives, they didn’t know about cookie decorating or think of it as part of Christmas. I was in college at the time, and it was fun to see this holiday tradition through the eyes of a child. We were back to more sprinkles than cookie dough, but it was a great bonding experience with these new family members.
In 2008 and 2011 we added my nephew and niece to the family. Since they were each old enough to hold a sprinkle shaker, they too have been decorating cookies. One of my favorite memories of my niece, Maddy, is from cookie day when she was four. She was standing on a step stool to reach the kitchen counter and I was helping her decorate her cookies. I turned my back for less than a minute to get cookies out of the oven and the entire jar of red sprinkles went on three cookies. There was no dough in sight anymore, but there was a very proud four-year-old because she had decorated the cookies all by herself. All I could do was snap a picture of the proud artist and bake those poor cookies.
As people have gotten older and gained more artistic skill, cookies have become more elaborate, with royal icing and new techniques. Decorating takes longer, but it’s more time together as a family. A few years back my mom found a recipe we actually like eating, which is good since these days we need a triple or quadruple batch to make enough cookies for everyone who comes to decorate.
Cookie day can be chaotic, messy, and exhausting. But it’s also full of laughter, stories, and creativity. At the end of the day it’s not about the cookies, it’s the memories that come from cookie day. Some years cookie day goes on the calendar before Halloween because we are coordinating so many different lives, but we all prioritize it so we can be together as a family. Like cookie day, life can also be chaotic, messy, and exhausting. It’s important to find time to pause. In the pause we can remember to be grateful. We can remember what the season is really about and we can spend time with those we love. For my family, cookie day provides this pause.
Sugar Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
1 egg
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
3 cups all purpose flour
Instructions:
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350° F.
Step 2: In the bowl of your mixer cream butter and sugar until smooth, at least 3 minutes.
Step 3: Beat in extracts and egg.
Step 4: In a separate bowl combine baking powder and salt with flour and add a little at a time to the wet ingredients. The dough will be very stiff. If it becomes too stiff for your mixer turn out the dough onto a countertop surface. Wet your hands and finish kneading the dough with your hands.
Step 5: DO NOT CHILL THE DOUGH.* Divide into workable batches, roll out on a floured surface and cut. You want these cookies to be on the thicker side (closer to ¼ inch rather than ⅛).
Step 6: Bake at 350° for 6-8 minutes. Let cool on the cookie sheet until firm enough to transfer to a cooling rack.
*If you must chill the dough, leave it out on the counter for about 10 minutes or work it with your hands for a few minutes.
Megan Kaatz teaches at La Sierra University, but more importantly is coordinator of cookie day this year.