Dutch St. Nicholas Cookies

Some people celebrate St. Nicholas's feast day on December 6 by leaving out their shoes to be filled with treats. Although we did not particularly celebrate that day, these cookies are a traditional treat for the feast day. The cookies are usually molded or imprinted with various designs such as an image of St. Nick. Mom's recipe called for using the spritz cookie press, which worked well with this dough.

This recipe has an intriguing ingredient list including spices and even black pepper. The cookie itself is not overly spicy, but just spicy enough. I also liked the contrast of the sweetness of the chocolate frosting. Mom's recipe did not contain the ingredients for the frosting, so I used the chocolate fudge frosting from Mom's recipe for eclairs. Even if it is not St. Nicholas day, give these delicious cookies a try.

Dutch St. Nicholas Cookies 

• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ginger
• 1/4 tsp. cloves
• 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• 1/8 tsp. baking powder
• 2-3 Tbsp. milk
• 1 cup flour
• Chocolate Frosting

Beat butter and sugar until creamy; beat in spices, salt, pepper, and baking powder. Beat in two tablespoons milk and gradually beat in the flour. Use additional milk if the dough is too stiff. Put the dough into a spritz cookie press with a rosette plate. Press onto a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Allow to cool a few minutes before frosting. Prepare the chocolate frosting. Spoon a little frosting onto the center of each cookies. Press an almond onto the frosting. Enjoy!

German Cinnamon Cookies

December is all about Christmas cookies. Mom's recipe box has so many cookie recipes that it was hard to pick just a few for this Christmas season. This German Cinnamon Cookies recipe has an appealing combination of cinnamon and almonds. And the recipe makes so many cookies, so you won't mind giving some away at Christmastime. These cookies will freeze well and can always be saved for another day.

The cookie dough for this recipe needs to be refrigerated overnight, requiring some advanced planning. Although rolling out the dough and using a cookie cutter might take a little more time than drop cookies, the resulting crunchy cookies are worth it. You can use any shape and size cookie cutter. I used a round shape with scalloped edge. Whatever shape cookie cutter you use, you'll love the cookies.

German Cinnamon Cookies 

• 1 1/2 cup butter
• 1 pound confectioner sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 4 cups flour
• 3 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 pound finely chopped almonds

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Sift flour with cinnamon, baking powder, and salt; add to creamed mixture. Beat until blended. Stir in almonds. Chill dough for several hours or overnight. Roll out small portions of dough at a time on a lightly floured surface until very thin. Cut the dough with a cookie cutter. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 375 for about 10 minutes or until delicately browned. Allow to cool on a rack. Enjoy!

Toffee Bars

In preparation for Christmas, I looked through Mom's recipe box for cookies to make this year. When I saw this Toffee Bar recipe, I remembered making it with Mom because it was so easy and yielded many bars. So I made this recipe for Thanksgiving. I know that pies are the traditional dessert at Thanksgiving, but there were plenty of pies. These Toffee Bars are so easy to eat and can be cut into small bars, it almost doesn't count as having dessert.

When I made this recipe, I used milk chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet chocolate chips just because I prefer milk chocolate. I also used about twice as many chips as called for in the recipe, in part because I did not use nuts when I made this recipe. If I were to use nuts, I think I would use almonds, but any type of nut would do.

Toffee Bars 

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped nuts

Thoroughly cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla. Add flour and mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Press dough into an ungreased 15 1/2 inch by 10 inch jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until brown. While still warm, cut into bars. Cool before removing from the pan. Enjoy!