Scrumptious Seasonals
Fill your own table with wintry sweets
The holidays are a time for family, and what really brings everyone together is a sweet tooth satisfied by best cookies you expect on the table each year. We asked some prominent Tri-Village community members to share the recipes for their favorite holiday treats.
Chris Taylor
Director, Upper Arlington Public Library
Taylor says her favorite cookie comes from the book Cranberry Christmas.
“I usually use orange juice in place of the lemon juice,” she says. “Instead of walnuts, I use pistachios. I reduce the cranberries to 2 cups and add 1 cup of white chocolate chips. That way my cookies are red, white and green.”
Cranberry Christmas Cookies
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
½ cup butter or margarine
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 egg
¼ cup milk
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
3 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, stemmed and chopped
1 cup chopped walnuts
In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar. Mix in egg, milk and lemon juice. Add dry ingredients and stir to combine. Fold in cranberries and walnuts. Bake for 15 minutes at 375 degrees.
Ryan McClure
Principal, Upper Arlington High School
McClure says he has looked forward to his mother’s Pumpkin Cookies for more than 40 years at both Thanksgiving and Christmas. After these cookies are iced, cooled and ready to serve, McClure suggests milk and coffee to accompany this soft cookie. The cookies are being passed down through generations; McClure’s four children are also big fans of grandma’s cookies, he says.
Pumpkin Cookies
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
¾ cup butter
3 ½ cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
3 tsp. baking powder
3 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
½ tsp. ginger
2 cups pumpkin
For icing:
10 Tbsp. brown sugar
4 Tbsp. butter
4 Tbsp. condensed milk
1 tsp. vanilla
Cream butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Slowly add dry ingredients to butter and sugar. Slowly fold in pumpkin mixture until combined. Drop onto cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes at 325 degrees.
Combine brown sugar, butter and condensed milk in a sauce pan on the stove top. Heat to a boil and add powdered sugar and vanilla.
Kent Studebaker
Mayor, Marble Cliff
Studebaker shares an annual cookie baking tradition that he picked up from his mother-in-law, who used to make these cookies for her children when she lived in North Carolina.
“The coconut gives the impression of Santa’s whiskers,” he says.
Santa’s Whiskers
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 ½ cups flour
¾ cup red and green chopped cherries
½ cup finely chopped pecans
¾ cup shredded coconut
Cream butter and sugar, then combine all of the ingredients except the coconut. Form dough into two 2-inch logs, roll in the coconut and refrigerate until chilled. Cut into ¼-inch round slices. Bake for 12 minutes at 350 degrees. Serve once cooled.
Ted Staton
City Manager, Upper Arlington
Staton loves his mother’s classic chocolate no bake cookies. “My mother made these cookies year round, but they were really popular around the holidays” says Staton.
Chocolate No Bake Cookies
1 stick butter 2 cups sugar 1/2 cup milk dash of salt 3 cups quick oats 1/2 cup peanut butter 1 tsp. vanilla 1/2 cup cocoa powder
Bring first four ingredients to a rolling boil over medium heat. Boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately add oats, peanut butter and vanilla. Mix together with cocoa and quickly spoon cookies onto sheet.
Nathan Rhodes is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at laurand@cityscenemediagroup.com.
