It's Beginning to Smell A Lot Like Christmas

Oh, yes, it's there all right. I can smell it. You probably can, too. I get the first whiff around Thanksgiving from my kitchen. But, in a few weeks, it seems to be coming from every house and apartment you pass. It's the smell of Christmas cookies.

Sure, I grew up with cookies like everyone else. Grandma Q used to make them for the whole brood. Her specialty was oatmeal cookies with these little bits of pineapple in them. Mom baked cookies, too. But, even though Mom made these special butter cookies with smashed candy canes in them for Christmas, I don't remember Christmas cookies being a big deal.

This all changed once I married. You see, The Husband and I moved to California right after we tied the proverbial knot. That meant, instead of the family free-for-alls I grew up with, Christmas basically consisted of opening Christmas packages sent via the mail from our respective relatives. Each of the packages contained the expected brightly wrapped Christmas presents. But, the parcel from The Husband's Mutti contained something extra - a number of round cookie tins. When I opened the first one, my life was changed forever.

Inside was a cornucopia of Christmas delights. There were little round cookies that had been dipped halfway into chocolate. There were crunchy little crescents coated with powdered sugar. There were little two layered cookies that had a luscious fruit filling. Each was a little taste of heaven.

The best part was that Mutti made several tins, not just one big one. That meant that we could have one tin for the living room, one tin for the kitchen, and, yes, even one tin for the bedroom. We always took the largest tin up there to satisfy The Husband's midnight snacking needs.

Each year, we would await the arrival of Mutti's parcel with much anticipation. Then, when it finally arrived, we were faced with The Decision. Oh, what to do, what to do? We would open the parcel and take out the presents. There was no decision to be made about these. It wasn't yet Christmas and they would go under the tree until Christmas Eve. But, what about the cookie tins? Sure, they were Christmas presents. Yes, it wasn't Christmas yet. But, surely, Mutti would want us to enjoy the cookies during the entire Christmas season, not just Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

I admit that our passion for these little tasty treats won. We tried to have a little restraint (about as little as possible) and would make sure that all of the presents were properly stowed under the tree before we opened the first tin.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. A couple of years ago, Mutti called to tell us there would be no more cookie tins in her parcel. She was retiring from the Christmas cookie business. The arthritis in her hands made it too hard to make these little taste treats each year. But, she didn't want the tradition to fade away, so she passed down the recipes to me. And, now, I am passing them along to you. Yes, they take a little time, but they are truly worth every second.

Linzer Cookies
Makes about 4 dozen.

1 1/2 cups butter - softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup hazelnuts - finely ground
1 1/2 cup almonds - finely ground
3 1/3 cup unsifted cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 jar apricot jam

Cream butter and granulated in a large bowl with a mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, egg yolk, lemon rind and vanilla. Mix in ground nuts. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder and cinnamon. Gradually mix flour mixture into butter mixture to make a stiff dough. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Divide dough in half returning half to the refrigerator. Roll dough out between sheets of wax paper until about 1/4 inch thick. Remove top layer of wax paper. Cut out as many 2 inch circles as you can. Carefully remove circles from wax paper and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Add scraps to the remaining half of dough and repeat rolling/cutting procass. Abter placinc second batch of circles on baking sheet, use a 3/4 inch cookie cutter to cut a hole in the center of 1/2 of the cookie circles. Place the centers on a separate baking sheet for Chocolate Dipped Moons.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven until edges of cookies brown (about 12 minutes). Let cookies cool for 1 minute before removing them from baking sheet to newspaper to finish cooling.

Heat apricot jam in a small saucepan. Spoon a small amount of jam onto the solid cookies. Top with cut-out cookie and gently press together. Spoon a dab of jam into the opening of each cookie.

Chocolate Dipped Moons
Makes about 2 dozen.

cookie centers from Linzer Cookie recipe
3 ounces milk chocolate chips

Bake cookie centers in a preheated 350 degree oven until lightly browned (about 10 minutes). Allow to cool for 1 minute before removing them from baking sheet to newspaper to finish cooling.

Melt chocolate chips in a small saucepan over low heat. When cookies have completely cooled, dip cookies half way into melted chocolate. Place on waxed paper to cool.