By the time Dec. 25 rolls around, do you feel like if you eat one more sugar cookie or gingerbread man you are going to go crazy? Below are some nontraditional cookie recipes to shake up your holiday baking routine this year (recipes taken from the "Worldwide Ward Christmas Cookbook" published by Covenant Communications).
Krumkake
“Every year in northwest Minnesota, families gather together and go out into the woods to find the perfect Christmas tree. It‘s usually extremely cold up here then, maybe in the teens if we are lucky, and all the kids are bundled up and hauled on sleds — or, if they are really lucky, by horse-drawn sleigh. Once the family chooses the perfect tree, it‘s hauled back to the house and decorated while the whole family gathers around and drinks hot chocolate and eats Krumkake and other Christmas cookies.” — Janet Gerla, Climax, Minn.
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
Beat eggs with sugar until light. Add cold water, cooled melted butter, vanillaand flour. Stir until smooth. Brush a krumkake iron (available at Amazon.com and in local stores around Christmas).
Eggnogg Cookie
2-1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1-1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup eggnog
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix well with a wire whisk and set aside. Cream sugar and butter until it forms a grainy paste. Stir in eggnog, vanilla and egg yolks. Beat at medium speed until smooth. Add flour mixture and beat at low speed just until combined.
Drop cookie dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets, 1 inch apart. Sprinkle lightly with nutmeg. Bake for 7–9 minutes or until bottoms turn light brown. Makes 30 cookies.
Kruidnoten (Ginger Nuts)
A cookie recipe from the Netherlands
3 tablespoons margarine or butter Pinch of salt 4 tablespoons brown sugar 1 teaspoon allspice 2 tablespoons milk 1 cup self-rising flour
Mix the butter, salt, sugar and allspice. Add 1 tablespoon milk and 1/2 cup self-rising flour. Mix well. Add rest of the milk and flour. Form into balls the size of marbles and push them flat on one side. Preheat oven to 325. Put the balls on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes. Makes 4 dozen.
Cherry Winks
Yes, this cookie recipe calls for cornflakes!
3/4 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk or cherry syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 cup dates, chopped
1⁄3 cup maraschino cherries quartered
Crushed cornflakes
Cream shortening, sugar, eggs, milk or syrup and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Fold in pecans, dates and cherries. Shape into balls and roll in crushed cornflakes. Put piece of cherry on center of each ball. Bake at 375 for 10–12 minutes. Store when cooled. Makes 3 dozen.