In Praise of Holiday Baking

Transitions into the holiday season can be anything but smooth. A rough introduction to the holidays can often be sweetened with a day of baking. Holiday bake-offs provide opportunities to trade recipes with friends and pass on family traditions to newly inspired bakers of all ages. Cookie baking is also a great way to pass an overcast, rainy Pacific Northwest afternoon.

Baked goods in one form or another have been shared, exchanged, and consumed in commemoration of wintertime holidays for centuries. Many cultures and countries produce specialty items for only this season: Italian panettone, English fruit cake, Scandinavian ginger biscuits, and German springerle cookies.

Why not dust off some old family recipes, plan an afternoon of baking, and share?

If you love the combination of chocolate and peppermint, this is the cookie for you. My step-mom, Carolyn, was given this recipe by her first college roommate, Celia Flynn. Thank you, Celia!

Celia Flynn’s Chocolate Peppermint Sandwich Cookies

Preheat oven to 350?.

Mix together and set aside:

3 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

Heat, stirring to soften:

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

3/4 cup unsalted butter

2 Tbs. water

12 oz chocolate chips

Remove from heat and stir to melt.

Mix in 2 eggs.

Stir in flour mixture. Drop teaspoon-sized pieces of cookie dough onto parchment-lined sheet pans. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cool.

For frosting, beat together until smooth:

3 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

Pinch salt

1/4 cup milk

Peppermint extract to taste

Green food coloring (optional)

Sandwich frosting between two cookies.

A Tupperware full of jam bars would meet us at the bottom of Grand Canyon whenever I would do a river trip with Marty’s husband Kurt. I now make them every winter.

Marty’s Streusel Jam Bars

Preheat oven to 350?.

Combine in large bowl:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups quick oats

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

Cut in:

1 cup softened butter

Reserve 3/4 cup oat mixture for topping. Press remaining oat mixture into a greased 9 inch square baking pan. Spread over bottom crust:

3/4 cup jam or preserves

Add to reserved oat mixture and sprinkle over preserves.

2 cups semi sweet chocolate morsels

1/4 cup chopped nuts

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely in pan until chocolate is firm enough to cut into bite-size bars.

Ornately patterned anise flavored springerle cookies, traditionally made with elaborate wooden moulds, originated in the German province of Swabia in the 15th century. I can’t remember a Christmas without them. My great-aunt Adele Bast was the family springerle maker for decades. Much to my grandfather’s delight, my brother Ben, sister Anne, and I have taken up the tradition.

Springerle

4 egg yolks

1 pound powdered sugar

4 egg whites

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp. anise oil

Grated peel of lemon

Beat egg yolks at high speed until light and fluffy. Gradually sift 1 cup powdered sugar into yolks while beating at medium speed.

With clean beaters and bowl, beat egg whites until stiff but not dry, then add 1 cup sifted powdered sugar. Pour yolk mixture into white mixture and continue beating at low speed.

Sift in remaining sugar and beat until bubbles rise when you briefly stop beating.

Sift baking powder and salt with 1 cup flour and add with anise oil and lemon peel to the egg mixture, beating at low speed. Gradually add enough of the remaining flour to make a stiff dough and mix well–about 5 minutes. Without a heavy-duty mixer, finish mixing by hand.

On a lightly floured board, roll out 1/3 of the dough about 1/4-inch thick.

To make traditional springerle patterns, lightly flour springerle pin or molds and press into the dough. Cut around the pictures and place cookies on parchment lined sheet pans. Repeat with remaining dough.

Let cookies stand at room temperature for 4-6 hours or overnight to let the surface dry out–this preserves the ornate patterns. Bake in a preheated 300? oven for about 20 minutes until golden and puffed. Cool slightly and remove from sheet pans to racks to cool completely.

My favorite ginger snaps ever! This recipe was introduced by a dear family friend years ago. The addition of ground mustard powder makes the snaps nice and spicy.

Mary Gibson’s Ginger Snaps

Preheat oven to 375?.

Cream together:

3/4 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

Add and beat well:

1/4 cup black strap molasses

1 egg

Mix together and add to wet ingredients:

2 cups sifted all purpose flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. dry mustard

1/2 tsp. salt

Mix well. Form dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar and place on parchment-lined sheet pans about 2 inches apart. Bake 8-10 minutes.

Kim Bast has cooked meals at the bottom of Grand Canyon, base camp of Mt. Rainier, and may places in between. A graduate of the Culinary Arts Program at the Art Institute of Seattle, Kim is currently a chef at The Bay Café on Lopez Island.

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