# The Ghost of Cookies Past **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 4, 2007, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ghost-of-cookies-past/428750 "2007-12-04T04:01:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ghost-of-cookies-past/428750/1 "2007-12-04T04:01:02Z")
In my family, Christmas cookies reigned supreme. The moment the Thanksgiving leftovers were put away, my mom shifted to Christmas cookie baking. Dozens of cookie tins were brought up from the basement and washed. The dining room table was commandeered. Mom baked like a fiend and put each batch of cookies in its own tin. Nana (Mom’s mother, who lived with us) cooked amazing fudge, the likes of which I have not tasted since. The fudge went into a tin that was stored on the screened porch off the kitchen. When the time came, Mom assembled elaborate cookie plates for Dad’s work colleagues, for neighbors, for aunts and uncles. My earliest instruction in the fundamentals of design and composition came from watching Mom compose those cookie plates. They were works of art. When all the cookie plates had been disbursed, the remaining cookies went into a HUGE cookie tin. Each layer, separated by waxed paper, had an assortment of cookies. The ironclad household rule was that you COULD NOT lift the waxed paper to find your favorite kind of cookie in a deeper layer. When you lifted the layers, you risked breaking the more delicate cookies on the layer above. (God rest Mom’s bipolar, anal-retentive soul! Were unbroken cookies worth all that vigilance and angst?) I have all Mom’s recipes, but at most I bake one of these during the holidays. Among the cookies I remember: Poinsettias – a spritz cookie made with butter (not margarine) and almond extract. A single silver dragee in the center. I inherited Mom’s cookie press, so I am now the only one who can make these. 😉 Chess cakes – teeny tarts with coconut or pecan filling Apricot butter rings – apricot jam sandwiched between shortbread cookies Hello Dollies – your standard seven-layer cookie. Where that name came from, I have no idea. Strawberry tarts – a bar cookie, not a tart, with a Linzer tort dough base, strawberry jam, then topped with a lattice of the dough Lemon love notes – your standard lemon bar with shortbread crust, but once again, where did that name come from??? Mincemeat bars – an oatmeal cookie base with mincemeat filling and a crumb topping Pecan butter balls – Mexican wedding cookies, more or less Holiday cherry bars – graham cracker base, chopped maraschino cherries, coconut, pecans, miniature marshmallows, sweetened condensed milk. So what are other Dopers’ Christmas cookie memories? ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ghost-of-cookies-past/428750/2 "2007-12-04T04:05:44Z")
I adore cut out cookies with royal icing. Very time consuming and no one I know makes them. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ghost-of-cookies-past/428750/3 "2007-12-04T04:07:27Z")
My grandmother used to make huge quantities of snickerdoodles for the holidays. They were better than any cookie I’ve ever eaten. Once I asked grandma for the recipe, and she said she didn’t use a recipe, didn’t even use measuring cups or spoons: she just grabbed stuff and threw it in the bowl. So I asked her if I could watch while she prepared the dough, and she said that would make her nervous. Grandma’s gone now, and I’ll probably never learn the secret of those scrumptious snickerdoodles. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ghost-of-cookies-past/428750/4 "2007-12-04T04:31:04Z")
We had the usual sugar cookies and chocolate chip, but we could get those any time of year. Holidays got us peanut butter cookies, pecan fingers and mexican wedding cakes. I don’t know why the peanut butter cookies couldn’t be an all year thing. I got to make the little criss cross marks with the tines of a fork on the peanut butter cookies and I got to roll the other two kinds of cookies in powdered sugar. ---
**Author:** ![jellyblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@jellyblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellyblue)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ghost-of-cookies-past/428750/5 "2007-12-04T04:51:41Z")
[QUOTE=eenerms] I adore cut out cookies with royal icing. Very time consuming and no one I know makes them. [/QUOTE] I do 🙂 . I am thrice-crowned Most Beautiful Cookie Queen at the cookie exchange [/brag]. My grandmother made these amazing Wine Cookies - cutout cookies with red wine in the dough. Really unique tasting. My mom usually made spritz and Russian Tea Cakes (what you call Mexican Wedding Cookies if you’re Polish). I LOVE making xmas treats. I usually make mini-rum cakes and wrap them individually with sprigs of sparkly stuff and ribbons. I also like to make a chocolate cookie with a chocolate covered caramel in the center - always very popular. I also like to make Orange Cranberry spirals, Eggnog Meltaways and this year, peanut butter xmas mice (peanut butter cookies that look like mice). It so hard to choose, because whenever I see cookie recipes I want to make them ALL!! ---
**Author:** ![Suse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Suse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suse)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ghost-of-cookies-past/428750/6 "2007-12-04T07:49:57Z")
Pfeffernuesse cookies. My mom loved them but never made them; she always got them from the local Archway outlet. When I grew up, I found a recipe and started making them for her. Now that she’s gone, I don’t know many people who like them and so each year whoever I can find who likes them gets as many as they can eat. It’s just not Christmas without those cookies around. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ghost-of-cookies-past/428750/7 "2007-12-04T14:53:25Z")
Big Santa Claus-shaped spice cookies with a picture of Santa glued on with icing. It was impossible to peel the picture off cleanly, so you always ended up eating bits of paper. ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ghost-of-cookies-past/428750/8 "2007-12-04T15:01:58Z")
We’ve just started the Christmas cookie baking here. Last night we decorated gingerbread cookies - we’ve finally got the knack of using cookie cutters! - and tonight we’ll be making some cookie press cookies. I have a five year old, so sprinkles and colored sugar and royal icing are important ingredients right now. My favorites from childhood include: butter cookies with a cherry in the middle of each one chocolate covered cherry cookies gingersnaps oatmeal raisin I love Christmas cookies! ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ghost-of-cookies-past/428750/9 "2007-12-04T16:16:31Z")
Recipes people! ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ghost-of-cookies-past/428750/10 "2007-12-04T16:20:46Z")
[QUOTE=Suse] Pfeffernuesse cookies. My mom loved them but never made them; she always got them from the local Archway outlet. When I grew up, I found a recipe and started making them for her. Now that she’s gone, I don’t know many people who like them and so each year whoever I can find who likes them gets as many as they can eat. It’s just not Christmas without those cookies around. [/QUOTE] Oooh! Oooh! Me! ---
**Author:** ![Lambo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lambo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lambo)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ghost-of-cookies-past/428750/11 "2007-12-04T17:46:37Z")
My sister is the Christmas cookie baker for our family - Two standouts in my mind are the mounds balls (basically, homemade mounds bars), and cherry bing bars (again, basically homemade Twin Bings, but much, much better). She has trouble finding cherry chips in Louisiana, though, so my mom often will mail her several bags before the holidays. ---
**Author:** ![susan\_foster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@susan\_foster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan_foster)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ghost-of-cookies-past/428750/12 "2007-12-04T18:26:43Z")
Christmas IS Hershey Kiss Cookies (aka Peanut Butter Blossoms). Susan ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ghost-of-cookies-past/428750/13 "2007-12-04T18:57:34Z")
I’m not sure my mother really did much in the way of cookie baking for Christmas. But she often made candy. Chocolate Covered Peanut butter balls–which I made for a cookie exchange this year. Merry Cherry Bars --almond flavored bar cookies with candied cherries, m&ms and a dab of icing springerles(sp?) --traditional anise flavored cookies–technically speaking, Dad makes them, not Mom. Angel Candy or Sponge Candy, and Candy Cookies (where you take the leftover crumbs and stir them into the leftover chocolate from dipping the larger chunks). ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ghost-of-cookies-past/428750/14 "2007-12-04T19:15:28Z")
My Mom, too, is queen of the Christmas cookie. Traditional stash contained: [Butter Pecan Turtle Cookies](http://www.thatsmyhome.com/hannahs/cookies/butterpe.htm) (press crumb crust, pecans, caramel, melted chocolate chips - bar style) Peanut Butter Crackles (the peanut butter cookie with the Hershey’s kiss pressed in it) [Here, but press a Hershey’s kiss in before they cool](http://www.heidenreichs.net/Blog/tabid/54/EntryID/16/Default.aspx) [Toll House chocolate chip cookies](http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/detail.aspx?ID=18476) – the classic [Chocolate cookies with peanut butter chips](http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Peanut-Butter-Chip-Chocolate-Cookies/Detail.aspx) [Coconut Macaroons](http://www.kraftfoods.com/recipes/CookiesCandyOtherDesserts/DropCookies/BAKERSONEBOWLCoconutMacaroons.html) - Baker’s recipe And last but not least, Christmas biscuits, kind of a plain butter cookie in shapes. We got into those last, and they had to be dunked in milk. She has added others, like the seven-layer cookie, but the above are the childhood classics. ---
**Author:** ![Vimp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vimp/32/4186_2.png) [@Vimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vimp)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ghost-of-cookies-past/428750/15 "2007-12-04T20:31:26Z")
And dont forget the [Fat City Squares](http://64.33.74.120/cgi-bin/cooking/sefer.cgi?display:991840564-11743.txt) easy and _oooh_ yummy ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ghost-of-cookies-past/428750/16 "2007-12-04T21:05:20Z")
Mom taught us boys to cook by saying, if we wanted fresh cookies, we’d have to make them ourselves. One of our favorites was **Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies**. It’s your basic oatmeal raisin cookies, with butterscotch chips in place of the raisins. Once, we got distracted, and we left out the flour. By golly, they’re still pretty good that way! Thanks, Mom! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ghost-of-cookies-past/428750/17 "2007-12-04T22:11:26Z")
[QUOTE=Zebra] Recipes people! [/QUOTE] My dear brother put a whole bunch of Mom’s recipes online a few years ago. [Holiday Cherry Squares](http://www.completerecipes.com/83205.htm) [Lemon Love Notes](http://www.completerecipes.com/83206.htm) [Mincemeat Bars](http://www.completerecipes.com/83208.htm) [Filled Butter Rings](http://www.completerecipes.com/83204.htm) [Chess Cakes](http://www.completerecipes.com/83201.htm) [Strawberry Tarts](http://www.completerecipes.com/83213.htm) [Luscious Apricot Bars](http://www.completerecipes.com/83207.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ghost-of-cookies-past/428750/18 "2007-12-04T22:17:22Z")
[QUOTE=AskNott] Mom taught us boys to cook by saying, if we wanted fresh cookies, we’d have to make them ourselves. One of our favorites was **Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies**. It’s your basic oatmeal raisin cookies, with butterscotch chips in place of the raisins. Once, we got distracted, and we left out the flour. By golly, they’re still pretty good that way! Thanks, Mom! 😃 [/QUOTE] I love oatmeal cookies but I hate raisins. A couple years ago I found a recipe for oatmeal cookies with Kahlua (or similar liqueur) in them, they were wonderful. Now if I could just remember what I did with the recipe. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2007, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ghost-of-cookies-past/428750/19 "2007-12-09T21:28:56Z")
Thumbprint cookies. Swedish Thimbles? Birdsnests? By whatever name, they are Christmas to me. Time consuming, oh, yes, but the dough is so delicious, and rolling them in the crushed nuts, and then that little dab of jam. I like raspberry jam best. I don’t like them with coconut, but these are the first and most-loved Christmas cookie. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2007, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ghost-of-cookies-past/428750/20 "2007-12-10T00:21:43Z")
Our traditional christmas cookies all came from a cookie cookbook supplement to the Ladies Home Journal, December 1946. (I may have the year off slightly.) Yep, we still have the original ‘clip out and save’ packet, now very decayed looking because the paper is so brittle little bits keep breaking off the edges. What’s fun is that all the recipes give the cost of the ingredients. Mostly on the order of 23 cents and 45 cents. I don’t think any of them were over a dollar. Anyway, the one we always made: Sugar cookies flavored with cardamon. Rolled, cut out, decorated. Date nut pinwheels. Super easy to make, and a batch made about 7 dozen cookies. Chocolate bells. Pretty much a sugar cookie with a couple of squares Baker’s Chocolate melted and mixed in. For some reason we ONLY used a bell shaped cookie cutter for these, and always frosted them with pink-tinted peppermint Oatmeal lace. Meringues sprinkled with bashed up candy cane bits. Shortbread logs – shortbread rolled into long ‘snakes’, then a groove pressed into their length and the groove filled with raspberry jelly. Cut into sections as soon as taken from the oven. Now I want cookies. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ghost-of-cookies-past/428750.md?page=2)