Lynne Champlin
For many years my friends and I have attended cookie exchange parties. We have exchanged recipes when we found cookies that we loved and could not stop tasting.
I am going to share a few of my favorites. You might recognize the names of these Napa cookie chefs. They are all exceptional women and cookie makers. I have asked for and received their permission to use their names and their recipes.
I hope that you, your families and your holiday guests will enjoy these cookies. All of them go especially well with our Napa wines. I promise you this is true as we have personally tested each cookie at our Christmas cookie party in Old Town Napa
Fat Ladies
My first cookie recipe was a favorite of Mrs. Lois Ryan. She was the wife of Air Force Major General Malcolm Ryan, and the mother of Kathay (Wyman) Smith of Napa. These cookies were made at all 26 Air Force bases where the Ryans were stationed around the world. The family is not sure of the origins of the cookie recipe but these are easy and delicious!
16 oz. package of refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough 6 oz. package of chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Follow the instructions on cookie dough package. Spray cookie pan with vegetable spray. Spread cookie dough evenly into the bottom of a 13 by 9 by 2-inch pan.
Bake 15 to 20 minutes. While still hot, coming out of the oven, sprinkle the chocolate chips on top. Form a layer of chocolate and let cool for a few minutes.
32 pieces of soft caramel square candies
¼ cup half & half
1 cup chopped pecans
Melt together the caramels and half and half. Stir until blended and becomes smooth. Pour over the layer of chocolate chips. Sprinkle with chopped pecans. Cool and cut into small bars. Makes 20–24 pieces.
Lemony Butter Cookies
My next cookie maker is our friend and colleague, retired Napa Superior Court Judge Diane Price. She was a partner with Coombs & Dunlap before being appointed to the bench where she served for many years. She has a sense of adventure and enjoys travel and bicycling throughout the United States and abroad. She also loves rock music. She took the recipe from “Kristen Stevens Slideshow: Delicious Cookie Recipes.”
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup confectioners sugar (Use in dough in place of granulated sugar)
1 Tbsp. finely grated lemon zest
1 ½ Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 cups all-purpose flour
¾ tsp. kosher salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, using a hand-held electric mixer, beat the butter with the confectioner’s sugar until very smooth, about 2 minutes.
Beat in the lemon zest and juice, add the flour and salt until mixed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if necessary. Use parchment paper or vegetable spray on cookie sheets.
Roll half of the dough into 1-inch balls. Put balls 1 inch apart on two cookie sheets. Gently flatten each cookie with fingers.
Bake for 12 to 14 minutes until firm, rotate the baking sheets.
Let cookies cool for 2 minutes on cookie sheet, then transfer them to a rack to cool completely. Let the cookie sheets cool slightly, and then repeat with remaining dough.
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons confectioners sugar
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
In bowl, whisk the confectioner’s sugar with lemon juice and butter until smooth. Spread glaze on cooled cookies, garnish with lemon zest. Let stand until the glaze is set, about 15 minutes.
Savory Asiago-Rosemary Shortbread
Michaela Rodeno is a longtime friend who loves cookie parties. She finds cookies that go well the Rodeno’s Villa Ragazzi Wines. Michaela helped launch Domaine Chandon in 1973 to 1988. She was the CEO of St. Supery Winery 1988-2009 and is the author of “From Bubbles to Boardroom.” The originator of this recipe is Sarah Scott, a Napa Valley chef and caterer (SarahScottChef.com).
6 oz. unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup grated Asiago cheese
¾ tsp. kosher salt
1 ½ cups flour
½ tsp. finely chopped rosemary
1 egg white
Fleur de Sel (French salt. You may substitute good quality sea salt.)
Place butter and cheese in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat together until well mixed.
Whisk the flour, salt, and rosemary in a medium bowl. With the mixer running, add the flour mix, into the butter and cheese. Mix until everything is blended and the dough comes together.
Turn the dough out onto a floured board. Fold a few times, bringing it together. Divide into two sections. Roll each into a log 1 ¼ inches in diameter.
Wrap in parchment paper and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. To freeze, wrap in plastic wrap.
To bake, first, thaw the dough in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and spray with vegetable oil.
Set oven at 350 degrees.
Slice the logs into 1/8” to 1/4 inch coins. Place on prepared baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Allow room to spread. Brush tops of shortbread with the egg white, sprinkle top with fleur de sel. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until light golden brown.
Brutti Ma Buoni (Ugly but Good)
Janis McWilliams Miller, my sister. is a retired division secretary for the Physics Department at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. She is the chef in our family. Women beg her for her recipes. The origins of this recipe are unknown.
Two 7 oz. boxes of Odense Almond Paste (Recommended brand) ½ cup chopped dried fruit in small pieces (raisins, apricots, peaches, dates, figs, etc.) Zest from an orange (You may add dried pitted cherries for color. Set aside in a bowl. 8 oz. almond paste
1 egg white, unbeaten
3 Tbsp. flour
2 tsp. fresh orange zest
1 Tbsp. pure vanilla
1 Tbsp. Disaronno Amaretto
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Prepare 1 baking sheet with vegetable spray.
Grate 8 ounces of almond paste with the large holes of a cheese grater, then put it in a food processor with a blade. Add 1 egg white and pulse until creamy. Add remaining ingredients and pulse only until blended.
Drop dough onto cookie sheet using 2 teaspoons. The dough should look bumpy. The cookies will not spread out.
Recipe makes 24 cookies; use only 1 cookie sheet.
Bake 26 – 29 minutes or until golden. Cool all on a metal rack.
2-3 cups powdered sugar
A little milk or water
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Dash of salt
1-2 tsp. fresh orange zest
Mix well; all ingredients together with a hand mixer. The icing for cookies needs to be thin. Drizzle icing zig-zag over each row. Store in air-tight container.
Lemon Sandwich Cookies
Gayle Nelson enjoys cooking classes and entertaining. She has a large garden and is busy homeschooling grandchildren. With her Master Gardener colleagues, she is helping to develop a new training program. This recipe has unknown origins. It was received in exchange for a donation to the St. Helena Co-op.
1 cup butter, room temperature 1 cup confectioners sugar 1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest ½ tsp. salt 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling 2 tsp. granulated sugar, for sprinkling later Filling 4 oz cream cheese, room temperature 1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest 1 to 1 ½ cups confectioners sugar
In large bowl, using an electric mixer on high speed, beat butter, confectioners sugar, lemon zest, and salt until combined. With the mixer on low, add flour. The dough will be stiff, use a wood spoon if needed.
Turn dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and make two ½ inch thick rolls.
Wrap them in plastic wrap and chill until firm, about an hour, or up to 3 days.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Use parchment paper or vegetable oil on two cookie sheets.
Slice the logs into 1/8 to 1/4 inch slices. Place cookies 1 inch apart on the cookie sheet. Sprinkle tops with granulated sugar. Bake 7 to 8 minutes. Watch carefully until light golden brown.
Transfer to wire rack and let cool completely.
For the filling
In a small bowl, mix cream cheese and zest until smooth. Gradually add 1 cup confectioners sugar, mixing until smooth. Mix in remaining sugar as necessary to make a firm but spreadable filling.
When cookies are cool, place about 1 teaspoon of filling between two of the flat sides and gently press together. Sugared sides will be facing out.
Squeeze gently so the filling reaches the outer edges of the cookies. Makes approximately 3 dozen cookies.
Fruitcake Cookies
Marti Schumacher’s Fruitcake Cookies recipe is my grand finale. Every holiday dessert column needs a fruitcake recipe. Marti, a CPA, is a talented woman with a variety of interests This recipe was found by her mother years ago and is a family favorite — especially for Marti’s dad who tries to eat most of them just out of the oven. This recipe makes 10 dozen cookies, enough for you to share with your 10 best friends, neighbors or family members.
¼ cup butter ½ cup brown sugar ¼ cup jelly (apple preferred) 2 eggs 2 tsp. baking soda 1 ½ Tbsp. milk 1 ½ cup flour ½ tsp. allspice
½ tsp. ground cloves ½ tsp. cinnamon ½ tsp. nutmeg 1 lb. broken pecans 1 lb. raisins ½ lb. candied cherries, chopped (1/4 lb. green and 1/4 lb. red) ½ lb. candied pineapple, chopped ½ lb. candied citron, chopped
Additional candied red and green cherries for decoration on top Cream (mix until a well-blended batter) butter, sugar, jelly and eggs. Dissolve baking soda in milk. Add it to the creamed batter.
Sift all the spices into the flour. Gradually add half of the flour/spice mixture to the above batter.
Dredge the nuts and fruits with the other half of the flour in a separate bowl. Then stir the dried nuts and fruit mixed with flour into the batter.
Cover your cookie sheets with parchment paper or vegetable oil. Spoon the dough onto the sheet and bake at 300 degrees for 20 minutes.
Centers of the cookies will be set and edges golden brown. Cool on the wire rack.
Storage: Keep them in covered containers. Separate layers with wax paper. Store them in a cool dry place. This allows the cookie flavors to mix and mingle.The cookies ripen just as fruitcake does.
White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Toll House Cookies
In closing, my husband suggested I include his favorite cookie recipe. So, in the interest of gender neutrality, here it is:
Go to your favorite grocery store and purchase one package of refrigerated Toll House White Chip Macadamia Nut cookie mix.
Bring to room temperature. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray vegetable oil on cookie sheet. Follow the instructions on the package.
Cook 11 to 12 minutes.
Let cool and, if there are any left, store in an airtight box and hide.
Otherwise enjoy and gobble, gobble, gobble!
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December 01, 2020 at 10:51AM
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Butter Cookies
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