Interlude: Christmas Cookies

When I was very young, my family had a tradition of baking and decorating Christmas cookies and dropping them off at the fire station, hospital, and police station on Christmas morning. For many reasons, we stopped doing that when I was about ten years old. In early adulthood, I baked a variety of cookies or a variety of candy in alternating years to give as gifts. And then for many reasons, I stopped doing that when I was about 23.

This year, I wanted to reconnect with myself, even though in many respects I'm not really celebrating Christmas (at least not in the ways most people expect). As bad as things are out there with viral transmission, I am hunkering down, despite boosters and vaccines and everything. But I was feeling somehow Christmassy. And I wanted to bake cookies to give away.

And so I did.

The thing is, where I'm concerned I have difficulty with moderation about things I find exciting, so I tend to mildly overdo them. I couldn't just bake one kind of cookie; that's madness. Also, presentation is key in giving gifts, so I couldn't just slap things on a plate. The platter above went to my colleagues at the library who are still at work this week; I personally have taken these two weeks off, though you'll see a packed lunch soon that I haven't yet posted. I made a special trip to the library just to drop them off. So they had to be in individual paper cups, for germy reasons, but I think they're pretty that way, too.

And this box went to a friend:

And I kept some for me, of course.

And also I will freeze some.

Most turned out pretty great, though I have some tips for you (and for myself  next time around!) for some of them.

So let's begin.

1. Lemon Cookies (Nut Free)

This recipe was from Loving It Vegan. They were one of my favorites, and smelled absolutely amazing, too! I think I pressed the dough balls down too hard, which made my cookies flatter and less fluffy, but if you don't know what I was going for that doesn't matter. You probably want to space these out further apart than you might think; they do spread a bit, and you are smashing them down before baking.

2. Cranberry Pistachio Linzer Cookies

These were undoubtedly the most fulfilling of my need for artistic expression. The recipe is from Rainbow Nourishments and warns that the dough may be hard to work with because of the nuts and fruit; this is very true. If I were to make these again I would chop both the pistachios and cranberries up very finely. But there was something deeply satisfying about rolling and cutting out dough and making something that looks so undoubtedly festive. I used both raspberry preserves and strawberry preserves in these cookies (the raspberry is the center, darker colored kind). These may be more about looks than taste, really, but they are a pretty good shortbread cookie in any case.

3. Pecan Pie Cookies

I swear these cookies may be the answer to my pecan pie fantasies but my unwillingness to eat an entire pecan pie. I cut the recipe at the Emotional Baker down to 1/3 so I could make them in mini muffin size rather than in full sized muffins; I recommend this. For me, the caramel needed to set in the fridge, so that's something you may try if your caramel isn't setting. It ran nicely into the shortbread bases but this makes them somewhat fragile and delicate, so having them in the mini, single-bite form is probably safest. They do taste a lot like pecan pie and I loved them.

4. Macadamia Oatmeal Cookies (Gluten Free, Soy Free)

These turned out nothing like the image in my head, but in the end that was okay! The only gluten free option of the bunch is an oatmeal-based macadamia nut cookie (recipe from Nutti Nelli). I expected the dough balls to spread, but they did not. These are not as sweet as the others and given the ingredients I would probably eat them for breakfast (and you may well see me do that at some point). They weren't my favorites here but they definitely helped diversify my cookie offerings, and they were tasty.

5. Peppermint Chocolate Brownie Cookies (Nut Free, Soy Free)

These were shockingly delicious. Seriously amazing. The recipe from VegNews is pretty easy, but I swear these stole the show. They give a crunchiness without nuts thanks to the candy canes, which is a fun thing for people allergic to nuts (like some of my co-workers). I would definitely make these again. In fact, it is possible I may make them again next week.

This was the first time I've tried my on-again, off-again cookie-baking tradition as a vegan, and it was so much fun! I may have to try making candy next year. Merry Christmas to all who celebrate (or half-celebrate and hunker down like me), and a happy new year to all!