Christmas Cookies
I made Christmas cookies about a week ago.
I tried several new recipes and had to go with one old favorite. My German Grandfather's family recipe.
I've attempted this recipe several times in the past with various levels of success. Providence was with me this year and they came out perfect! I was able to share them with a new friend who enjoyed them so much that she asked for the recipe!
I had been thinking of posting it anyway, and I had to type it up for her so I'll just do a little cut and paste.
But before I do, I have to say that after a positively horrid year, things are looking up! I'm back where I belong, doing what my heart tells me I am meant to do!
When the spirit is healed, the body follows.
I gain strength and confidence every day and my children prosper!
Merry Christmas and Blessed Be!
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A few notes on the subject.
You will need:
4-6 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups 10X powered sugar
1lb (4 sticks) butter, softened
1 lemon
10 boiled egg yolks, grated
1 raw egg & yolk from another
1 separated egg white
candy sprinkles, nuts, cherries, etc for decorating
Preheat Oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Wash the lemon and using a fine cheese grater, grate off all the skin creating lemon zest. Juice the lemon. Using an electric mixer beat the butter, raw egg, lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar and egg yolks. With the mixer on low, gradually add the first 4 cups of flour, 1 cup at a time. Now you have to get your hands dirty. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and add as much of the remaining 2 cups of flour as you need to make smooth dough. Separate into manageable portions and roll to ¼ inch thickness, cut using your favorite cookie cutters and place on greased cookie sheets. Brush each cookie with whipped egg white. This makes them shiny and makes the little candy sprinkles stick. Decorate and bake for 10-15 minutes depending on the size of the cookies. They will turn a nice golden color and the smell of their baking is like nothing else! Let cool about 1 minute then get them off the baking sheets or they will stick. Let your kids eat any cookies which break in the process, (we call these defective, and we can’t have a defective product for our friends and family!). Share, share, share! Makes about 10-12 dozen depending on size.
I tried several new recipes and had to go with one old favorite. My German Grandfather's family recipe.
I've attempted this recipe several times in the past with various levels of success. Providence was with me this year and they came out perfect! I was able to share them with a new friend who enjoyed them so much that she asked for the recipe!
I had been thinking of posting it anyway, and I had to type it up for her so I'll just do a little cut and paste.
But before I do, I have to say that after a positively horrid year, things are looking up! I'm back where I belong, doing what my heart tells me I am meant to do!
When the spirit is healed, the body follows.
I gain strength and confidence every day and my children prosper!
Merry Christmas and Blessed Be!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grandpa Weirick’s German Christmas Cookies
A few notes on the subject.
- It is best to use real butter and fresh squeezed lemon juice. If you substitute, the cookies just don’t taste the same.
- This recipe makes a lot of cookies! Many family members have tried to scale down the recipe, but here again, they just don’t taste the same.
- You will get your hands dirty. At a certain point you have to knead the dough almost like bread dough. Don’t try to use a high-powered mixer like I did once, the cookies were tasteless.
- I have found that keeping the dough chilled helps with the rolling and cutting. Taping Freezer or Waxed paper onto a counter seems to be the best option for rolling and cutting, not to mention when you’re done, it’s an easy clean up!
- Most important, make these cookies with your kids! Extra hands help, it becomes an assembly line sort of process, and that’s how I learned to make them. One of my most cherished memories is of the annual Christmas event of making these cookies. My Grandpa would be pleased to know his family recipe is living on after him.
You will need:
4-6 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups 10X powered sugar
1lb (4 sticks) butter, softened
1 lemon
10 boiled egg yolks, grated
1 raw egg & yolk from another
1 separated egg white
candy sprinkles, nuts, cherries, etc for decorating
Preheat Oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Wash the lemon and using a fine cheese grater, grate off all the skin creating lemon zest. Juice the lemon. Using an electric mixer beat the butter, raw egg, lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar and egg yolks. With the mixer on low, gradually add the first 4 cups of flour, 1 cup at a time. Now you have to get your hands dirty. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and add as much of the remaining 2 cups of flour as you need to make smooth dough. Separate into manageable portions and roll to ¼ inch thickness, cut using your favorite cookie cutters and place on greased cookie sheets. Brush each cookie with whipped egg white. This makes them shiny and makes the little candy sprinkles stick. Decorate and bake for 10-15 minutes depending on the size of the cookies. They will turn a nice golden color and the smell of their baking is like nothing else! Let cool about 1 minute then get them off the baking sheets or they will stick. Let your kids eat any cookies which break in the process, (we call these defective, and we can’t have a defective product for our friends and family!). Share, share, share! Makes about 10-12 dozen depending on size.
posted by Candy at 10:01 PM
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