My family’s most cherished holiday tradition started out as a way to
save money. In the ‘80s, my endless need for Barbies and Nintendo games claimed all of my young mother’s Christmas budget— which was great for me, but there was that little issue of giving to the rest of my family. Always resourceful, her solution was: those who can’t buy, bake. So she started baking Christmas cookies. Dozens and dozens of cookies, in varieties ranging from Chocolate Chip to the old New England favorite Lumberjacks , savory Peanut Butter Cookies and lesser-known recipes like almond-based Greek Kourabiedes . There was one tin for every branch of the family tree, handed out on Christmas Day and never opened until people got home, lest the vultures descend to devour someone else’s cookies. Seriously. They’re that good. We all have our favorites: mine is a Raspberry Coconut Bar ; Uncle Buddy’s is the molasses Lumberjack ; Aunt Norma Jean’s is Santa’s Whiskers , which are shortbread cookies with nuts, cherries and coconut that are a delicious 1950s throwback. But the secret to the cookies isn’t any one recipe— though most of my mom’s come from a battered copy of the Woman’s Day Cookie Cookbook from the 1960s. It’s the combination of all of them together. When the flavors meld, they all take on a little bit of each other, creating better versions of every individual cookie. It’s a lot like Christmas itself: being together is the best part. Three decades later, those cookies are as important to our celebration as our well worn and well loved Christmas stockings. As time went on, we handed them out with gifts,
and then, when we decided as a family that we would scale back the largess of our exchanges, in place of presents entirely. Only now, my family understands that the three days of mixing, chopping, rolling and kneading are the best gift they could receive: because we do it every year; because families change, but some things, like these cookies, stay the same; because they’re baked with love (and, let’s face it, some wine).
Beth-Anne’s Santa’s Whiskers Yields 60 cookies 1 cup butter, softened 1 cup sugar 2 tablespoons milk 1 teaspoon vanilla or rum extract 2 1/2 cups flour 3/4 cup finely chopped red and green candied cherries 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans 3/4 cup flaked coconut 1. In a mixing bowl or a mixer with a whisk attachment, cream together butter and sugar, then add milk and extract. 2. Add flour, cherries and pecans. 3. Form dough into two 8 inch rolls, and roll in flaked coconut to coat the outside. 4. Wrap in waxed paper or plastic wrap, and chill several hours or overnight. 5. Cut into 1/4 inch slices and place on ungreased cookie sheets. 6. Bake at 375F until edges are golden, about 12 minutes.