Webner House

Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2011

Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2019

Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2021

Posted on December 2, 2021 by webnerbob

This year I’ve decided to resume baking, and sending out, Christmas cookies to family, friends, and clients. Last year I reluctantly took a year off, breaking a long-running tradition, because of the COVID pandemic. Although the coronavirus is still with us, the CDC says–after more than a year of experience and testing–that there is no evidence that COVID can be transmitted through food or food containers, so long as basic precautions like washing your hands are followed. So, this year I’ve decided to get back to normal and return to my holiday baking efforts.

If you’ve got some good cookie recipes that you don’t mind sharing in the comments, I’m all ears. And I’ve reprinted, below, links to blog entries from prior years that provide links to some of the recipes for the cookies I’ve baked and posted in the past, if you’re on a recipe hunt yourself. The links below will take you to blog entries with recipes I tried in the prior years and, at the bottom of the entry, links to other new recipes I tried that year.

So far I’ve taken the initial steps to prepare for the holiday baking frenzy: finding my old recipes, and (thanks to Kish and The Container Store) laying in a supply of very festive looking silver cookie tins, some of which are shown in the photo above, that I’ll be filling with the baked goodies. The next step will be to figure out which specific cookies I’ll be baking, and then preparing my shopping lists to pick up the ingredients. I haven’t quite decided for sure, but I think this year I’ll get back into the swing of things by focusing on some tried-and-true favorites, like iced sugar cookies, Dutch spice cookies, and cranberry hootycreeks. I’ll probably try a few new ones, too, because experimentation is good for the baker’s soul.

Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2011

Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2019

Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2019 (II)

Posted on December 14, 2019 by webnerbob

The internet is a wonderful thing — at least, some of the time — but sometimes sifting through the mass of available information seems overwhelming. Run a search for Christmas cookie recipes and you will get an avalanche of hits that leaves you no method, aside from random chance, to pick which website to review. They all promise to offer favorite recipes that people will love.

That’s where the use of finer search terms become necessary. I realized this when I happened across a website post that featured the best soft Christmas cookie recipes — just in case you’re baking for the toothless among us who must gum their holiday delicacies. So this year I did a search for Christmas cookie recipes from the 1960s and ran across a treasure trove of options, including this gem, which is described on yellowed print as “Easy-to-make cookies for those who like a not-too-sweet dessert” that are “good keepers and shippers.” I’m pretty sure Mom made these, by the way.

Swirl cookies

2017-11-18-holiday-pinwheel-cookies-coloradjusted-7 Ingredients: 1 cup soft butter; 1/2 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 2 1/2 cups unsifted flour; 1/4 teaspoon salt; red and yellow food coloring

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla until light. Stir in flour and salt until well blended, then divide dough in half.

Color one half with 1/4 teaspoon of red food coloring and 7 drops of yellow food coloring. Leave other half uncolored. Chill the dough.

Press together one level teaspoon of each color. Roll into a pencil shape, then form in a coil on the baking sheet. Bake for 8 minutes at 375 degrees.

Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2019

Posted on December 9, 2019 by webnerbob

Has anyone else stopped to notice that it is December 9, 2019? That means we’re only three weeks or so away from a new decade and a new year that will remind those of us old enough to remember it of a TV news show featuring Hugh Downs and Barbara Walters. It also means we’re about to commence our twelfth year (yikes!) of publishing Christmas cookie recipes on the Webner House blog.

And yet — there are still unknown cookie recipes lurking out there, just waiting to be tried and enjoyed for the holidays. Thus, our voyage of baking discovery continues. If you’re interested in the recipes from the prior years, you can find all of them by clicking on and following the links for each year at the bottom of this post, which in turn have links to all of the recipes provided in that particular year.

The first recipe for 2019 comes by way of Aunt Corinne and the Food and Wine website and blogger Luisa Weiss. The first sentence of the description of the cookies reads: “These German raspberry-hazelnut macaroons require just five ingredients and are extremely no-fuss.” That’s a pretty compelling recommendation for cookies that will be prepared by a novice baker in the German Village neighborhood of Columbus.

Raspberry-Hazelnut Macaroons

Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups of whole hazelnuts; 2 large egg whites; 1/4 kosher salt; 3/4 cup sugar; 1/2 cup raspberry jam

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Spread hazelnuts in a pie plate and toast for about 10 minutes, until the skins split and the nuts are fragrant. Transfer to a clean kitchen towel and rub together to release the skins, then let the hazelnuts cool completely.

In a food processor, pulse the hazelnuts until finely chopped. In a medium bowl, using a hand mixer, beat the egg whites with the salt at medium speed for about two minutes, until foamy. Gradually add the sugar and continue beating for five to seven minutes until soft peaks form when the beaters are lifted, then fold in the chopped hazelnuts.

Use a soup spoon to scoop 1 1/2-inch rounds of the batter onto the baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Bake the cookies for 11 to 13 minutes, until fragrant and lightly browned; rotate the baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking. Remove the cookies from the oven and, while they’re still hot, carefully make an indentation in the center of each with the back of a teaspoon.

In a small saucepan, boil the raspberry jam for 30 seconds, until slightly thickened. Carefully spoon about 1 teaspoon of the hot jam into the center of each cookie. Let the jam set and the cookies cool completely before serving.

Calling for Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2011

Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2018 (III)

Posted on December 12, 2018 by webnerbob

When I’m trying to figure out what to bake each Christmas, whether something looks like it would be tasty is always the first and most important criterion. Once that threshold is passed, however, I’m always looking for something with color and texture that will add a little dash to the cookie tins, and I also like to try recipes that are different from what I already prepare.

This recipe, which I found on the www.dinneratthezoo.com website, meets all of those requirements. The cookies are made with cornflakes, which sounds intriguing, they look great, and they are “no bake” cookies that supposedly can be made in 10 minutes — which is something I’ve not tried before.

Christmas Wreath Cookies

Ingredients: 1 stick of butter (1/2 cup); 30 large marshmallows; 1 and 1/4 teaspoon liquid green food coloring; 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract; 5 cups cornflakes; 1/2 cup red candy coated chocolates such as mini M&M’s; cooking spray

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Place the marshmallows and butter in a large bowl, and microwave them in 30 second increments until melted. Add the green food coloring and vanilla and stir until the marshmallow mixture is smooth. Add the cornflakes to the bowl and gently stir to coat the cereal evenly with the marshmallow mixture.

Pack the mixture into a greased 1/4 cup measuring cup, then turn the mixture out onto the sheet pan. Use your fingers to make a hole in the middle to form a wreath shape and decorate with red candies. (The recommendation from the website is that it’s easiest to form the wreath holes if your fingers are damp or coated in cooking spray.) Cool completely until firm and serve.

Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2018

Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2018 (II)

Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2018 (II)

Posted on December 9, 2018 by webnerbob

Every would-be cookie baker needs a taster — that person who will sample your fare and tell you whether the batch is brilliant . . . or a bust. I’m blessed to have the greatest taster of all under our roof, so when Kish sent along some holiday cookie recipes from the New York Times I had to pick one to try this year. I like coconut, so this was my choice.

Toasted Coconut Shortbread

Ingredients: 2 1/4 sticks cold salted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces; 1/2 cup granulated sugar; 1/4 cup light brown sugar; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour; 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (plus more for rolling); 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon; 1 large egg, well beaten; sanding sugar

Using an electric mixer and medium bowl, beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla on medium-high speed for 3 to 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Use a spatula to scrape down sides of bowl, then put mixer on low speed and slowly add flour, followed by 1/2 cup coconut and beat until blended.

Divide dough in half and place each half on a piece of plastic wrap. Sprinkle each piece of dough with half of the cinnamon, then fold plastic over to cover dough and use your hands to form dough into a log shape about 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter. Chill logs in the refrigerator for 1 1/2 hours, until they are firm.

Heat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment paper. Brush outside of logs with egg wash, then roll logs in unsweetened coconut. Slice each log into 1/4-inch rounds. Dip each round on one side into sanding sugar and arrange on backing sheet, sugar side up, 1 inch apart. Bake cookies 10-12 minutes, until edges are just beginning to brown.

Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2018

Posted on December 5, 2018 by webnerbob

The calendar — and, unfortunately, the too-early winter weather — confirm that it is indeed December. In fact, it’s December 5. December 5!! That means it’s high time to start collecting the Christmas cookie recipes that I’ll be baking this year.

If you like Christmas cookie recipes, the internet is truly a mixed blessing. It’s great in that there are countless cookie recipes that can be called up by running a simple Google search for “Christmas cookie recipes,” which will give you awesome variety and concoctions that you’ve never even thought were possible. It’s bad, however, because at many websites Christmas cookie recipes are classic clickbait, and you need to click through multiple pages to finally get to the recipes. If you hate the constant clicking, as I do, because you believe the website is treating you like a pawn in an advertising game whose time is of no value, I recommend the iambaker.net website, which allows you to get directly to the recipes like the one below.

Peppermint Meltaway Cookies

Ingredients: For the cookies — 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature; 3/4 cup cornstarch; 3/4 cup confectioners sugar; 1 tsp. McCormick pure peppermint extract; 1 cup all-purpose flour

For the glaze — 2 cups confectioners sugar divided; 6 -8 teaspoons whole milk divided; 1/4 -1 teaspoon of McCormick pure peppermint extract; McCormick green food color optional

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix the butter and cornstarch until well combined and lighter in color, then turn the mixer off and add in confectioners sugar. With the mixer on low, add the peppermint extract and mix until ingredients are fully incorporated. Turn mixer off again and add flour, then with the mixer on low to medium-low, mix until the dough comes together and pulls away from sides of the bowl.

Using a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop or a tablespoon measuring spoon, remove about a tablespoon of dough. Place on parchment lined cookie sheet at least 2 inches apart. Once the cookie sheet is full, gently roll each scoop of dough between your hands until it is a smooth ball. Bake 9 minutes at 350 degrees. Right out of the oven take a glass with a flat bottom (that is smaller than the cookie) and gently press into the cookie. Allow cookies to cool for about 5 minutes and then move to a cooling rack. Make sure cookies are completely cool before adding glaze.

Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2011

Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2017 (I)

Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2017 (II)

Posted on December 7, 2017 by webnerbob

Every year, the Columbus Dispatch publishes a holiday cookie section with some new recipes. Knowing that I would be doing my holiday baking, Mom would send me the Dispatch cookie section to give me some new ideas, and to say thanks I would always make sure that a big plate of cookies went her way at the end of the process. Mom always enjoyed a good Christmas cookie!

So, as a tribute to Mom, I visited the Dispatch cookie guide webpage for 2017 and tried to pick out a recipe that I thought Mom might like. She had a taste for the simple sugar cookies, and this rosemary cookie recipe (from Margaret M. Titerington of Ostrander) looked intriguing — the sort of straightforward cookie that Mom might have liked and that might have been baked back in old England during the holidays and consumed with a cup of tea with lots of milk.

Rosemary Cookies

Ingredients: 1 cup butter; 1 cup sugar; 2 eggs; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 4 cups flour; 1 cup oil (I use extra light olive oil); 1 cup powdered sugar; 1 teaspoon vanilla; 1 teaspoon cream of tartar; at least 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all ingredients, except rosemary, in mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly. You might need to add a little more flour if dough appears sticky — add 1 tablespoon at a time. Add rosemary and gently mix into batter. Chill the dough thoroughly until very firm.

Roll dough in small balls and then in sugar and flatten with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar.

Bake, watching carefully until light golden — about 5 to 10 minutes. Baking time depends on how large you form the cookies.

Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes –2017

Posted on December 4, 2017 by webnerbob

Mom and Grandma Webner had a Betty Crocker cookbook in the kitchen, and Kish’s Mom did, too. So when the time comes to look for some new Christmas cookie recipes to try this year, the Betty Crocker website — hey, who actually messes with looking at a book anymore? — is one of the first places I check out. I’ve been brought up to trust Betty, and her website always has lots of good options.

I’m always on the lookout, too, for different options for bar cookies, and for some new ways to add a little color, variety, and eye-catching zing to the collection of cookies I’ll be putting into tins and sending out to my friends. The recipe below caught my eye because of its color, shape, and use of cranberries, a perennial holiday favorite. And since I like the taste of cranberries, how can I resist?

White Chocolate Cranberry Cookie Bars

Ingredients: 1 pouch (17.5 oz) Betty Crocker™ sugar cookie mix; 1/2 cup butter, softened; 4 oz (half of 8-oz package) cream cheese, softened; 1 egg; 1/4 cup coarsely chopped dried cranberries; 1/2 cup white vanilla baking chips. Frosting and topping: 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened; 1/4 cup butter, softened; 1 teaspoon vanilla; 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar; 1/3 cup coarsely chopped dried cranberries

Heat oven to 350 degrees and spray 13×9-inch pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, 1/2 cup softened butter, 4 oz. cream cheese and egg with spoon until soft dough forms. Stir in 1/4 cup cranberries and the white chocolate chips. Spread dough in bottom of pan. Bake 20 to 23 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely on cooling rack, about 1 hour.

In large bowl, beat 8 oz. cream cheese and 1/4 cup softened butter with electric mixer on medium-high speed until smooth. Beat in vanilla. On low speed, beat in powdered sugar until frosting is smooth and creamy. Spread frosting over top of bars; sprinkle 1/3 cup cranberries over frosting. Cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Store covered in refrigerator.

Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2016

Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2015

Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2014

Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2013

Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2012

Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2011

Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2010

Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2009

Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2016 (III)

Posted on December 14, 2016 by webnerbob

This morning Kish sent me a link to the New York Times “Christmas Cookie Plate” — their listing of Christmas cookie recipes from the Times Cooking section. It’s the kind of thoughtful gesture that makes her the best wife ever.

The Christmas Cookie Plate offers an impressive array of cookie recipes, but one in particular caught my eye. I’m a sucker for spice cookies and have been making Dutch Spice cookies ever since I started doing holiday baking years ago. The recipe below for Grammy’s Spice cookies, though, includes a lot of spice — plus heavy cream and Irish whiskey in the icing. I’m guessing that Grammy’s house was pretty festive.

Grammy’s Spice Cookies

Ingredients: 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened (some of which is used for cookies, and some for icing); 1 cup sugar; 1/4 cup molasses; 1 large egg; 2 cups all-purpose flour; 2 teaspoons baking soda; 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger; 3/4 teaspoon ground cloves; 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt; 3 3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 3 tablespoons heavy cream or milk (add more as needed); 1 to 2 tablespoons Irish whiskey (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick liners. Using an electric mixer, beat 12 tablespoons butter with the sugar, molasses and egg until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Slowly beat in flour, baking soda, spices and salt. Shape dough into walnut-size balls and place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake until firm, about 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool on wire racks.

To make the icing, slowy beat remaining butter (4 tablespoons) butter with confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Beat in vanilla and enough cream or milk, and whiskey if using, to make a spreadable frosting. Use on fully cooled cookies.

Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2016 (II)

Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2016 (II)

Posted on December 10, 2016 by webnerbob

I like carrot cake, so when I saw this recipe for carrot cake cookies on the excellent delish.com website, I couldn’t resist it. Now, whether I can actually successfully make the cookies is another question entirely . . . .

Carrot Cake Cookies

Ingredients: 1 cup softened butter, 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon cinnamon; 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 cup shredded carrots, 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, 1/2 cup raisins, 2 cups old-fashioned oats

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, until incorporated, then add vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture until well-combined. Stir in carrots, coconut, raisins, and oats and mix until just combined. Scoop 1-inch rounds of dough onto baking sheet. Bake until golden, 13 to 15 minutes. Let cool.

Cream cheese glaze ingredients: 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 ounce cream cheese, at room temperature, 1 tablespoon milk, 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Beat together cream cheese, powdered sugar, milk and vanilla until combined. Drizzle glaze over each cookie and let harden before serving.

Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2016

Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2015 (IV)

Posted on December 19, 2015 by webnerbob

The Savannah contingent of the Webner family — specifically, Aunt Corinne — recently sent along a sheaf of Christmas cookie recipes that looked interesting. I picked this one as my last new Christmas cookie recipe for this year and made it last weekend when I was in my two-day baking frenzy.

I picked the recipe because I wanted to mix some fruit-based cookies in with the chocolate, lemon, and iced cookies and because it looked within the comfort zone of my limited baking skills. It turned out to be easy and fun to make — I particularly liked rolling up the dough over the filling — and very tasty. I’m going to make it again this weekend and mix up the fruit and nut combinations for the filling, just to do some experimenting.

Apple Butter Rugelach

Ingredients: 1 cup unsalted butter, slightly softened and cut into pieces; 1 8 ounce package of cream cheese, slightly softened and cut into pieces; 2 cups all purpose flour; 3 tablespoons white sugar; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon cinnamon; 1/2 cup apple butter; 1/4 cup chopped pecans; milk to brush on top of cookies and cinnamon for sprinkling

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt, then add in butter and cream cheese and mix at low speed. Dough will be crumbly then come together; mix until it is just combined. Remove mixture from bowl, shape it into a large rectangle, then wrap it in plastic wrap and chill for two hours.

After removing dough from refrigerator, cut dough into four equally sized pieces. On a floured surface, roll each piece into a 12 x 4 inch rectangle. Spread apple butter onto rectangle, leaving space around the edges, then sprinkle pecans onto apple butter. Working from the long end, carefully roll the dough into a 12-inch log, then wrap the dough in plastic wrap and put it in the freezer for 15 minutes to make it easier to cut.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and remove dough from freezer. Brush the dough log with milk and sprinkle cinnamon on top, then cut the dough log into 12 equal pieces and place them upright on baking sheet. Bake for 22-25 minutes until lightly golden, then let cool.

Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes – 2015 (II)

Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2015 (III)

Calling For Christmas Cookies Recipes — 2015 (III)

Posted on December 11, 2015 by webnerbob

A friend, colleague, and Webner House reader from Fort Worth, Texas responded to this year’s call for Christmas cookie recipes with this concoction from the Food Network website. He says “these cookies require a little more effort than most but are unique and very good.” From the recipe, the cookies do look good — and surprisingly, given its apparent popularity in Texas, the recipe doesn’t include mesquite or armadillo meat as required ingredients.

Lemon Ricotta Cookies With Lemon Glaze

Cookie ingredients: 2 1/2 cups all-purpose baking flour; 1 teaspoon baking powder; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 stick unsalted butter, softened; 2 cups sugar; 2 eggs; 1 15-ounce container whole milk ricotta cheese; 3 tablespoons lemon juice; 1 lemon, zested

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. In the large bowl combine the butter and the sugar, then beat using an electric mixer for about three minutes, until the butter and sugar is light and fluffy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Beat to combine, then stir in the combination of flour, baking powder, and salt.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Spoon the dough (about 2 tablespoons for each cookie) onto the baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes, until slightly golden at the edges. Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 20 minutes.

Glaze ingredients: 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar; 3 tablespoons lemon juice; 1 lemon, zested

Combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Spoon about 1/2-teaspoon onto each cookie and use the back of the spoon to gently spread the glaze over the cookie. Let the glaze harden for about 2 hours.