Ingredients
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup margarine
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup sesame seeds
Procedures
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit / 160 degrees Celsius. On an ungreased baking sheet, spread sesame seeds into one thin layer. Toast the seeds for 8-15 minutes or until they are lightly browned. Set seeds aside to cool. Spray the same sheet with canola-oil spray and put that to the side with a second prepared baking sheet.
Cream the brown sugar and butter together in a mixing bowl. Stir in the egg, vanilla extract and lemon juice. Follow with the flour, baking powder, salt and sesame seeds;mix until thoroughly blended.
Drop heaping teaspooons of the dough 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes or until the cakes' edges are browned. They are best served warm from the oven, but they do make fine (and popular) gifts too. Makes 24 tiny cakes.
Grownup Snickerdoodles
Many of you know that the snickerdoodle is my favorite holiday cookie. It's crispy, tangy, sweet and cinnamony delicious... and it has a variation. This potent, eggnog-flavored snick is one I will be giving to the mother-in-law this year - it's that good.
Ingredients
2-3/4 cups flour
2 tsps. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 cup Irish butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
1 tsp. brandy extract
1 tsp. rum extract
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. nutmeg
Procedures
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit / 205 degrees Celsius. Prepare two large cookie sheets with canola spray.
Sift the flour, creeam of tartar, baking soda and salt into a medium-sized bowl. In a larger bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until well-mixed. Blend in the eggs, brandy and rum until the whole is thoroughly combined. If resulting dough is too soft to be handled, chill it for an hour in the refrigerator.
Mix the 1/4 cup of sugar and the extra teaspoon of nutmeg together in a custard cup. With clean hands, form dough into 1-inch-wide balls. Roll the dough balls in the sugar-nutmeg mix. Place the balls 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until their edges are lightly brown. Makes 36 intoxicating little snicks.
Article comments
1 - Matthew T. Sussman
Peanut Butter.
You're welcome.
2 - kys
Great post, Natalie! I am adding stuff to my shopping list for your ginger cookie recipe! The holidays are most definitely a time to splurge a bit, and I intend to do so.
By the way, speaking of "real butter", may I suggest cultured butter from zingermans.com? It's a rare indulgence, but nothing is better for cooking and baking.
Thanks!
3 - Temple Stark
The average weight gain (in America I believe) is 7 pounds during the Christmas season.
Yuck. I'm running two times a day up in Washington (state) when I get there to buck that trend.
Nice recipes though. Anything that's a variation on the bland sickness that is "sugar cookie" is worth trying. Maybe I'll surprise someone and cook some up.
4 - Natalie Davis
It just occurred to me that I didn't include any chocolate recipes. This year, I'm also making chocolate-chip cookies (perhaps vegan, don't yet know) and, for all of the kids, individual Devil's Food Chocolate-Chip Star cakes (with Ghirardelli dark-chocolate and milk-chocolate chips, yummmmm). There must be chocolate at holiday time - I'll amend with those recipes later before starting on the vegetarian-dish column. First, though, I have to run to the store and bake a couple more batches of cookies.
Re: peanut butter, I'm terribly allergic. I rarely work with nuts.
Ba-DUM-bum.
5 - Warren
To be vegan, wouldn't you have to use the carib chips rather than chocolate (because of the milk)? I used to work with a really strict vegan (she was freezing and wouldn't borrow my leather jacket), and I know she never ate real chocolate. Maybe not, though -- I know there are a few "degrees" of veganism.
6 - Natalie Davis
Yes, there are degrees, and yes, many vegans use carob rather than chocolate, but not all do.
7 - Leah
Some chocolate has low enough dairy content to be considered vegan. But for a genuinely vegan chocolate treat, try Tropical Source's chocolate bars. They're 100% dairy- and gluten- free, and they are SO GOOD. (They're also kosher...) The raspberry kind is my favorite.
8 - pogblog
Natalie .. 30 years ago I made a discovery by mistake. I made the choc-chip cookies from the recipe on the back of the Nestles chocolate chip package. I cut the sugar down by 1/4 & the cookies were still very sweet -- too sweet for my taste. So the next time I cut the sugar by 1/3 & they were still plenty sweet. Finally I went with half the sugar & all the guys still adored the cookies.
My theory is that many recipes were devised in the Depression when lots of sugar was a sign of luxury and extra-hospitality. And people didn't really think through the taste -- they just piled in the sugar.
I recommend progressively cutting down on the sugar until it becomes a beautiful enhancement, not the dominant & cloying feature. (A lot of European confections are much less sweet.)
I know there is a certain amount of sugar necessary for the texture, but nowhere near as much as one thinks. cheers,
9 - Michael A. Milan
To the author of this article,
I am deeply offended and appalled by your repeated liberal use of the following offensive words: Kwanzaa, Hanukkah and most all all Christmas. These three words often alienate those who do not practice these three main religious and cultural days.
It would be much appreciated in the future if you refraim from using these offensive words and use "Holiday" or "Holiday Season" when referring to Kwanzaa, Hanukkah or Christmas.
Thank you,
Michael A. Milan
10 - Natalie Davis
Mr. pogblog, I am a diabetic, so I know quite a bit about that. I'm all for reducing sugar, at the same time, if you taste them, you'll find (I hope) that these aren't cloyingly sweet at all.
Ms. Leah, thanks for the Tropical Source tip.
Mr. Milan, that's cute.
11 - Anthony Grande
(laughing)
A taste of your own medicine. You did use the word "christmas" quite liberally.
12 - Chocolate
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