It's Christmas cookie time!

As we've done every year since the 1960s, last night was Christmas cookie making time. As I've written before, every Christmas we make cookies, using an old recipe my mom got in the 50s or 60s, to make Christmas cookies that we then decorate and hang on the tree. This year they won't be going on our Charlie Brown Christmas tree, as Koukla will likely pull the entire thing down.

From my Googling, it looks like the "hanging cookies on trees" tradition began in Germany a long time ago. And since I usually get asked, the recipe is at the end of the post.

Every year we like to ask you guys to share any particular family traditions you have this time of year. Feel free to share them in the comments.



More pictures, and the cookie recipe itself, following the jump.





cream together:
1 c butter or margarine
1 c sugar (regular old granulated sugar)

to the creamed butter and sugar add:
2 eggs
1 t vanilla

in separate bowl, mix well:
2 1/4 c flour
1/2 t baking soda
1 t cream of tartar

Slowly add flour mixture to wet ingredients, blend well (on low mixer speed, otherwise it's a mess).

Now comes the hard part. Telling when you have enough flour. Some years, I've had to add a good extra cup (or more) of flour to make the dough the right consistency. Basically, and this is difficult to describe, but the dough should be a nice thick consistency, almost like play-dough (but not as thick as that). It should not be super soft and gooey, it shouldn't really be sticky at all. You want something that you're going to mold into cookies, so it has to be pretty firm to start with.

Once you get the right consistency, chill the dough in the fridge a good hour, to thicken it. Then take it out, spread some flour on your counter or wherever, roll the dough flat and thin (hard to say how thing, really depends on your cookie cutters, but don't go too thin) and start (you really need a rolling pin to do it right), then cut out your cookies. Transfer them to a baking pan (spray the pan if you like), decorate them with colored sugar, chocolate chips, etc. Move any excess sugar away from the side of the cookies, or it will melt and stick the cookie to the pan. Use a toothpick to poke a hole in the top of each cookie (and once it comes out of the oven, poke the hole again).

Then bake 8 to 10 minutes at 375F until slightly brown. Take out, let them cool a good ten or 15 minutes before you try to move them. They last for literally weeks, no kidding.