Too many cookies.
Making Christmas cookies is a multi-week whole family effort that generally takes up most of advent every year. Christmas cookies are important. The goal is to have enough Christmas cookies to last until Lent, with plenty to give away in the meantime, so with Lent coming a bit late in 2025, we have to make sure we have enough.
There are a few favorite standbys. We already talked about the Biberli, next on the list is “Joe Froggers” a molasses cookie from the America’s Best Lost Recipes Cookbook. This is kind of a love-it-or-hate-it cookie.
I call this composition “7 1/2 dozen Joe froggers, and some squash.” And also all the junk on our “craft” table.
One of Uncle Adam’s favorites is the Eggnog cookie. This is just a sugar cookie, with eggnog in it.
The kids like it because if you stiffen the dough with a little extra flour, and chill it in the fridge for a couple of hours, it lends itself well enough to cookie cutters.
Cookie cutters are very important to the children. In many ways, they are the most important reason for making Christmas cookies.
Here, Winnie is cutting out a Christmas Cow for Mommy. Because Mommy loves Cows.
Evie took a break from math to help with these cookies. The eggnog cookie dough makes a lot of cookies!
Sometimes, cookie making is just too hard.
Before we can bake new cookies, we have to put away the old ones. In the tins, not in the Seppi.
Chip-Chocolate-Oatmeal-Raisin cookies are another favorite, mostly of the men-folk.
They are a blast from Daddy’s past, so now Seppi is helping to make them.
“Is this big enough?”
Finger-lickin’ good!
A good man knows how to clean up after himself.
Winnie’s turn! After we zest the lemon, we slice it so we can dry the slices and use them for scents. Winnie decided to taste the lemon slices sitting on the counter…
Not everything that goes in cookies is tasty in its raw state.
Let’s get those in the dehydrator.
When they are all dried out we can string them for ornaments on the tree, or steep them in hot water for lemon tea.
Ellie Belle is starting to become a good little baker.
Ellie’s favorite is Mailanderli. This is a Swiss cookie, similar to a sugar cookie, but a little stiffer, lemon flavored and glazed.
Perfect for cookie cutters, way better than the eggnog cookies.
Earnestly debating what cookie cutter we should use for the very last cookie.
Seppi, “No, just roll it some more. The more you roll it the bigger it gets and we can make more cookies.”
Ellie: “Yes but the more we make the thinner they are and we want them thick.”
They settled on Mama Mary, who turned out to be cracker thin and got a bit toasted in the oven.
Chip-Chocolate-Oatmeal-Raisin and Mailanderli.
Spur of the moment we decided to throw together a new cookie we have never tried before: Brown butter pecan bourbon chocolate chip. We’ll let you know if they are tasty or not. Ellie Belle melted the butter and toasted the pecans in butter as well without burning either of them!
Winnie wants to cook too!
Mommy’s Specialty is Brazeli, another Swiss cookie like a toothsome slightly sweet cracker.
Instead of being baked they are pressed on a hot iron with a special Brazeli pattern on it.
Probably done with cookies for the year. Next up…
Pies.
Little Farm in the Big City 