I know a woman whose family always left out a shot of whiskey for Santa, along with cookies. In the morning, the glass would be drained, and there would be cookie crumbs on the plate.
The booze, instead of the more traditional glass of milk, may say more about her father than the actual Santa Claus. But the important part of this story, for our current purposes, is the cookies.
Cookies are as much a part of Christmas as candles and caroling. They are the gift that everyone loves, the holiday snack supreme. In many respects, they are the reason for the season.
And it is not just in America, by any means. In other parts of the world, too, Christmas cookies are as part of the holiday tradition as whiskey is in certain neighborhoods of Chicago.
So this year, I decided to make holiday cookies from around the globe. To be honest, most of them come from Europe, because many of the best cookies come from there. One batch was from New Mexico, because they seemed so intriguing. And after all, New Mexico is part of the globe.
I'll start with the New Mexico cookies first. They are called Biscochitos, and they are literally the state cookie of New Mexico. In the Land of Enchantment (which is to say New Mexico), they are typically served for big occasions and especially for the holidays.
They turned out to be every bit as delicious as I had hoped from the description: they are crispy shortbread cookies infused with the flavors of anise and orange, and topped with a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar.
There is, however, one thing about them that gave me pause: Traditionally, they are made with lard.
I just couldn't do it. Lard cookies somehow seem ... wrong. So instead I used shortening, which is widely recommended as the second-best fat for biscochitos. It worked great, and the cookies turned out every bit as crisp as you could want them.
I next turned to Finland to make Joulutorttu, which are Finnish Christmas pinwheels with a dollop of prune jam in the middle of each one.
I know: A lot of people are vaguely repelled by the idea of prune jam. But the stuff is quite good, and if you don't want to buy it at a store, it is ridiculously easy to make yourself.
Still, if the idea of prune jam leaves you feeling clogged, you can always use raspberry jam. In fact, I'd recommend it if that is what gets you to try Joulutorttu.
These cookies begin with the softest dough I've ever felt. That is because they are not only made with flour, butter and a little baking soda, but also whipped cream.
Not whipping cream. Whipped cream.
The dough is folded over on itself a few times, too, like puff pastry. The result is a cookie that is almost like pastry in both taste and texture, marvelously flaky and not too sweet. And it's all topped off with prune jam. Or raspberry, if you insist.
My next cookie comes from France, or at least I think it does. It is a cookie that the great chef Jacques Pepin makes every Christmas, and because Pepin is French, I'm going to assume the cookies are also French. You could think of them as a version of sables, the traditional French shortbread cookie from Sable-sur-Sarthe that are often made with almonds.
In this case, Pepin calls them Almond Shortbread Cookies. One taste, and you'll know why he makes them every year.
These are a traditional shortbread cookie, heavy on the butter, with ground almond powder in them as well as almond extract. And for the finishing touch on the theme, they have a single almond pressed into the top of each one.
I turned to Austria for my next Christmas cookie, Vienna Tarts. These are flaky crescents rolled up around a bit of apricot jam, topped with chopped walnuts and powdered sugar.
This is a bit of cookie perfection. The dough is nicely rich, thanks to a combination of cream cheese and butter, which makes it an unbeatable backdrop for the apricot jam and the walnuts. The powdered sugar just ties it all together.
According to the "King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion" cookbook, Mailanderli are Switzerland's favorite holiday cookie. One taste is all it takes to understand why.
These are crisp and buttery cookies with a subtle flavor of lemon. They are not too sweet and not too flamboyant _ they are sheer elegance in the form of a cookie.
Vanilla Kipferl cookies were next, all the way from Austria. These tasty little treats are deceptive; they are easy to make, but they pack an enormous amount of flavor. In fact, my two taste testers said it was their favorite of all the cookies.
There are two reasons for the cookies being so addictive. One is that most of their bulk comes from toasted, ground almonds. And the other is the vanilla. Not only is there vanilla in the dough, but the cookies, once baked, are rolled in a mixture of superfine sugar and blended whole vanilla bean.
They are sophisticated and delightful.
And finally, I made a cookie that isn't really a cookie; it's more of a cookie bar, which is perfectly acceptable at Christmas. But it's really more of a cake bar.
Chocolate-Glazed Lebkuchen, a treat from Germany, is a spiced honey cake. With its cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg and ginger, plus its candied fruit, it tastes just like the holidays.
And the chocolate glaze on top? That's like a special Christmas present to you and your friends.
Santa would approve if you ate it with a little whiskey.
