Cookie Recipe and Holiday Romance

A photocopy of the page from the Betty Crocker book, my grandmother's handwriting at the top, my recipe amendments in messier script in the ingredients.

Did you know I've written five Christmas historical romances? Five! It's clearly a subgenre I enjoy. There's just so much magic possible and so much opportunity for cold weather to push two bodies closer together. 😘

One thing I try to put into all my holiday romances is a family tradition of some sort. In Three Kisses Til Christmas, it's a yearly house party for those who have no family to be with. In The Heiress Who Dared Me, it's ice skating and a card games. In Naughty for Sir Nicholas, it's Christmas eve toys and making magic for lonely children.

And in my own family, it was cookies.

My grandmother had this old Betty Crocker cookbook for kids, and every year we made the cut out sugar cookie recipies from it. Hand making the dough, rolling it out, using the cookie cutters her grandmother had brought to the US from Germany, decorating with colorful icing--all of this is still so vibrant in my mind, and I try to bring the same cozy moments alive for my kiddos.

As a Christmas gift for my readers, I thought I'd share that old recipe, the same one I still use today, even though I'm sure there's better ones out there. Doesn't matter. They wouldn't taste the same without the memories!

Ingredients:

3 cups sifted all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1.5 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 egg slightly beaten

3 tbs cream

1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl.

3. In another bowl, add the wet ingredients.

4. Combine!

5. Chill for easier handling, 30 minutes. If making ahead, you can keep the dough in the fridge for several days. Pull dough out of fridge at least 10 minutes before use.

6. Flour surface then roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Use cutters!

7. Place cut-outs on parchment-lined backing sheet.

8. Cook for 5-8 minutes.

9. Cool, then decorate if desired!

You'll see in the picture that I sometimes modify the recipe, adding more sugar to make them sweeter. They aren't very sweet, actually, and taste more like shortbread. Additionally, sometimes I find that the dough requires more cream to come together into something rollable. Start with three tablespoons then add more at your discretion!

I hope that you have a special end of the year, no matter what holidays bring you joy.

Happy reading and baking and holidays!

And if you're doing the Christmas cookie hop, click this link to go back to the list of participating authors and their links!

AND, to enter into a giveaway of my own, drop a comment in this blog post telling me what your favorite cookie is. Or your favorite type of romance hero. Or both!

Charlie