A Grinch tale as told by Courier Journal's own Chris "Kringle" White.
Coming home to the scent of cookies baking was a sure sign Christmas was coming when Michelle Herberger was little.
Her mother would start baking the family's springerle cookies a few weeks before Christmas, while the kids were at school. The recipe, passed down through the family for 70 years, makes four dozen white, anise-flavored cookies, each pressed with an intricate design.
"It was something that was part of our family gatherings," Herberger said. "Those cookies were always there. It's one way we come together as family and have those memories again."
Families all over the world have their own cookie recipes — special ones only made this time of year. So we decided to put out a call to readers to gather up some of those treasured family recipes to share.
There's no question the holidays are going to be different this year, with families separated to stay safe from the raging coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than a quarter of a million Americans. But you can still crank up the oven and bake something sweet to lessen the blow.
This year, Herberger's daughter is making the family springerle cookies. It was she who was gifted her grandmother's springerle press with a clear wish for the special holiday tradition to continue. Instead of gathering together to bake this year, Herberger and her daughter Beth will prep the cookies and deliver unbaked trays to nearby family members.
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"We give them unbaked so each one of their homes can have that delightful Christmas fragrance and the memory-making tradition continues," she said. "The fragrance is what lingers."
For Stacey Yates, Christmas smells like greasy-fried dough. Her family has passed down an Italian pitzafrit recipe for generations — it's basically a savory Italian dinner roll, served in place of garlic bread with spaghetti and meatballs on Christmas Eve.
"It's the Christmas Eve tradition," Yates said "You make them that morning, and put them in a rolled down paper grocery bag lined with paper towels. Dad would show up at my grandmother's house and see the greasy paper bag and go, 'Ah, it's Christmas!'"
Yates' grandmother, Philomena Carrara, learned the recipe from her own parents when growing up in Italy. For years, Carrara would spend the better part of Christmas Eve Day kneading the dough herself by hand. She didn't want help; it was her gift to the family.
"I had to talk her into using a food processor when she was 88," Yates said. "She tasted it and said it was OK. Thank goodness, because by the next Christmas she was gone. Had I not done that with her, I think I would have fallen apart. But I had the memory of her overseeing it and blessing it. And then we started the new tradition."
For Tracy Meacham, the family tradition was also passed down from a great-grandmother: Grandma Sim's butterscotch tarts, made for Thanksgiving every year and sometimes for Christmas.
The tarts make a flaky, buttery crust filled with thick, soft butterscotch filling, about an inch and a half deep. The recipe comes with memories of every matriarch passing it down when it became difficult to stand for long periods of time rolling out the dough.
"There's so many things to prepare for Thanksgiving we usually make them the night before, as they're best chilled," Meacham said. "I know how to make them, and my son knows how to make them now. He's 12. He's in training."
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Beth Ross' pumpkin cookie recipe came from a grandmother who lived to be 99 years old. A small, soft cookie with creamy icing, the cookies were a memorable treat for the family's 26 grandchildren.
"The recipe originally didn't have any instructions. Just ingredients," Ross said. "But I talked to her, and she told me what to do. It's kind of an oral family history. I've made them for years now, and I will pass it on to my children, too."
In Slovakia, the traditional Christmas recipe is kolachi: a leavened sweet roll-log filled with finely chopped, sweetened walnuts. The recipe in Tamara Yohannes' family was handed down by grandmother Anna Kranisky Dunay, who immigrated to the U.S. at the age of 2 from Slovakia in 1902.
She knew the recipe so well she made it by throwing ingredients into a bowl and mixing it by feel without timing anything, Yohannes said. It's lucky her daughter followed along one year, carefully measuring everything and documenting every step to share the recipe with the rest of the family.
"I'm the carrier of the tradition now," Yohannes said. "Usually we gather at my house to make them; there's several families in Kentucky now. My one nephew says the funnest part of Christmas is kolachi day. Obviously, we can't [gather together] this year, but my husband and daughter and I are making kolachi, I'll tell you that."
Peggy Helm remembers her family's cookie recipe because of the story that came with it — and also because they were her dad's favorite, and he hoarded them to himself.
"Mom Rook's Frozen Cookies" were passed down from her great-great-grandmother in Norway. Not particularly sweet, the cookies are made with lots of spices and crunchy English walnuts, shaped into logs and frozen before slicing and baking them.
Helm said her grandmother used to shape the logs, wrap them in paper and put them in a snowbank to freeze before baking.
"My dad was horrible, you'd literally have to come and ask, 'Can I please have one of your Christmas cookies,'" Helm recalled. "And he would make this big production about it, 'well, you can have one.' He would hoard them. They're not too difficult to make, it's just the dough is very stiff."
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As relatives passed away, Helm became the only person left who had the recipe. She would take tins of cookies to family members on holidays. She's planning to pass it on to her children when they're older, too.
"I think this year, above all others, we need something that keeps us grounded and helps us remember times that were maybe simpler but joyous," Helm said. "That's what these cookies mean for me. They’re really a connection to my family."
At this time of year we need joy, she said. "The sights and smells of baking bring me joy," Helm said. "And I hope it brings joy to others."
Reach reporter Dahlia Ghabour: 502-582-4497; dghabour@gannett.com; Twitter: @dghabour.
Springerles
Submitted by Michelle Herberger. Makes 48 cookies
- 4 eggs
- 1 pound confectioners sugar
- ½ teaspoon anise oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 4 cups flour
- cookie sheets
- springerle press
Lightly grease cookie sheets. In a large bowl, beat eggs at high speed for 10 minutes, until lemony yellow and thick. Gradually beat in sugar. Beat in anise oil.
Add flour, baking powder and salt that have been sift together. (The less flour you can use, the more tender the springerles.) Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate for one hour or more for easier handling.
On a well-floured surface using a regular rolling pin, roll dough to ½-inch thick. Press floured mold (a springerle press) firmly into dough so the designs will be imprinted on the dough. Cut cookies along design lines. Lightly brush off extra flour from the top of springerles. Place on greased cookie sheets.
Let stand in cool place overnight, to dry out and set the design. (This takes from 12 to 24 hours.)
Bake in a 300-degree oven for 20-25 minutes until set but not brown. Immediately remove from baking sheets. Store in a tightly covered container. Cookies are better served after eight hours but are best if stored a couple of weeks before serving.
Pizafrit
Submitted by Stacey Yates. Serves 4-6 people
- 2 cups self-rising flour
- 1/2 warm water
- Canola oil
Mix flour and drizzle in warm water in a food processor (or large bowl). Pulse dough until it forms a ball, adding more water if needed. If by hand, mix with two backsides of forks until blended, also adding water to make a ball.
Once in ball stage, knead by hand for 10 minutes or until stretchy. If in a food processor, keep pulsing until the dough completely pulls from sides of the bowl and feels stretchy. Heat canola oil in a skillet (cast iron preferably) to 375 degrees. Be careful not to overheat.
Roll out dough to 1/2-inch thick and cut with a pizza wheel into rhombus type shapes.
Add a few at a time carefully to the pan, being careful not to overcrowd. Once they puff up, turn gently and fry until golden brown.
Line a paper grocery back with paper towels, and cool and store until serving. Best eaten the day of or stuffed with a meatball on day two.
Grandma Sim’s Butterscotch tarts
Submitted by Tracy Meacham. Makes 12 tarts
For the pie crust:
- 3 cups of flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup shortening (Crisco) (chilled until cold)
- Tablespoons of ice-cold water to moisten as needed
Butterscotch tart filling:
- 1 pound brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3+ Tablespoons flour
- 3 large eggs
- 2 1/2 cups whole milk
- 2 Tablespoons vanilla
- 1/4 pound butter
To make the crust: Combine flour, salt and shortening. Then add 1 tablespoon of water at a time until dough forms neatly into a ball. Roll out dough (not too thin or it won't hold pudding) and cut into tart circles with a biscuit cutter or the top of an on-the-rocks glass. Place tart circles in a muffin tin and bake at 400 degrees until slightly brown. Let cool.
To make the filling: Combine brown sugar, salt and flour in a saucepot. Cook until thick and there is a small boil. Add eggs, whole milk and vanilla. Cook until thick over very low heat (it burns very easily) stirring constantly. It takes a long time to thicken but it's so worth the wait.
When thick, remove from heat and add 1/4 pound butter cut in thin slices, stir to incorporate. When cool, fill pastry cups and chill. Store in the fridge. Enjoy!
Pumpkin cookies
Submitted by Beth Ross. Makes 36 cookies
For the cookies:
- 1 cup Crisco shortening
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup prepared pumpkin
- 1 Egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- Holiday-themed candies, like candy corn (optional)
For the brown butter glaze:
- 1/3 cup butter
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 To 4 Tablespoons hot water
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients well and set aside. Cream together shortening and sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla until well blended. Slowly add dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture.
Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls, about 2-inches apart on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake for 10 minutes.
Remove from cookie sheet to a cooling rack. Glaze when cool. Top with candy if desired.
Brown Butter Glaze: Heat butter over low heat until golden brown; remove from heat. Stir in powdered sugar & vanilla. Beat in two tablespoons of hot water until smooth and desired consistency. Add more water as needed. Spread or drizzle glaze over cookies.
Kolachi
Submitted by Tamara Yohannes. Makes 8 rolls.
For the dough:
- 8 ½ to 9 cups sifted flous
- 1pound unsalted butter or margarine (room temperature)
- 2 cups warmed sweet milk
- 6 egg yolks
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 large rounded Tablespoon of yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
For the filling:
- 2 pounds shelled walnuts
- 1 cup milk
- 2 cups sugar
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 6 egg whites, beaten
Make the dough: Separate eggs and beat yolks slightly. Set whites aside. Dissolve yeast in warm milk and set aside. Sift and measure flour. Add sugar and salt. With hands, cut butter into the flour until crumbly. Add eggs and milk/yeast mixture.
Work until dough pulls away from the bowl (may add more flour if needed). Knead on floured board until smooth. Cover with a cloth and allow to rise two hours. Divide into eight balls. Allow to rise one hour, covered.
Make the filling: Grind the nuts very fine — so fine that the pieces clump when you squeeze them in your hand. Put milk, sugar and butter into a large kettle and warm until sugar dissolves. Add nuts and vanilla. Allow mixture to cool. Beat the six egg whites left from making the dough, and fold into the nut mixture.
Combine: Grease baking sheets. Roll out each ball of dough to ¼-inch thickness and spread with filling. (A trick is to divide the filling equally into eight bowls to make sure you don’t run out). Roll as a jelly roll. Poke in the ends of roll (like halupki or ‘stuffed cabbage’). Put on cookie sheet seam down. Prick top 6-8 times with a fork.
Allow to rise for a half-hour (or longer to avoid cracking). Brush with beaten egg. Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees and start checking for browned bottom. Cool in pan on wire rack first, then off pan.
Mom Rook's Frozen Cookies
Submitted by Peggy Helm. Makes 80-100 cookies
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup melted butter
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon cloves
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 5 cups flour
- 2 cups chopped English walnuts
Mix all ingredients together, (you may have to work the last of the flour in by hand if you are using an electric hand mixer). Divide the dough into 4-5 logs about 6-inches long and wrap in waxed paper. Chill at least one hour.
You can also place the frozen logs in a freezer bag and keep in the freezer through the winter months and take out a log at a time, cut and bake as needed.
Take one log out at time, cut into ¼ - ½-inch slices (the thicker the slice the softer it will be so if you like cookies that are crispy cut the slices thinner).
Bake at 350 for 6-7 minutes.
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The Link LonkNovember 30, 2020 at 06:19PM
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From Springerles to Kolachis, nothing says Christmas like these 6 special cookie recipes - Courier Journal
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