GG (Great Grandmother) Frieda, my mother, was a great cook and an even greater baker. Our home was overflowing with food and sweets as our parents remembered their days of deprivation and starvation in the Holocaust. The smell of homemade baked goods was present, fresh challah and rolls, and all kinds of sweets. There were always GG’s famous butter cookies, which were always in a tin on the kitchen counter. They were famous to us because they came from her childhood memory growing up in a shtetl (small town) in Poland, and for the way she never followed a recipe and changed them in many ways each time she made them.
When I asked for this recipe or any other, I had to have a measuring cup handy. My mother would measure dry ingredients in the palm of her hand. With liquids, she either just poured or used a drinking glass. I would have her dump the ingredients into the measuring cup, and she would warn me that next time the measurements would be different. That is the sign of skill, so understand that the butter cookie recipe just is as it is, always delicious, with a chocolate chip pushed in the center for me or jelly in the center for my brother.
Holiday time was the best when we would be assured of a variety of baked goods, and we had no limit as to how many cookies we could eat unlike our American friends. Our parents always wanted us to eat and eat and eat, plenty rather than famine of their youth.
GG FRIEDA’S FAMOUS BUTTER COOKIES
Ingredients (approximate)
1/2 lb. butter softened
2/3 c. sugar
2 egg yolks
2 c. flour
1 t. vanilla
1 t. baking soda
Directions
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and white sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour into the sugar mixture. Cover dough, and chill for at least one hour. Chill cookie sheets.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Press dough out onto ungreased, chilled cookie sheets. (can add chocolate chip or jelly in the center).
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly golden at the edges. (I used to like them more brown but they were never done the same way). Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.
Today, we have the internet and an overabundance of choices and recipes for cookies. I love the Neiman Marcus chocolate chip cookie recipe and put the instructions in a previous post.
There are so many variations of chocolate chip cookies and other cookies to try. Since the grandchildren will always want your “traditional” specialties, try new cookie recipes, but never forget to bake their favorites. Remember to give their parents your specialty cookie recipes to hand down to future generations.
Here are the best of the best 2020 holiday cookie recipes to save:
When I saw the ingredients of crushed potato chips, crushed pretzels, chocolate chips and sprinkles for Santa’s Trash Cookies, I knew that grandchildren would love to help us make these cookies. Maybe next year when we are all vaccinated against COVID.
This Holiday Garbage Cookie recipe is a variation on the same theme, but the base is a delicious oatmeal cookie recipe. Then the choices abound as to the add-ins. This reminds me of going to an ice cream shop where you can add some of dozens of choices to mix into the ice cream. Suggestions include M & M’s, white and milk chocolate chips, mini caramels, pretzels, dried cranberries, and nuts, but let your grandchildren’s imagination run wild.
This year, the internet also provided some interesting cookie information to share with grandchildren, play games with the cookie choices, and think about Disney World various parks and visiting again one day, hopefully sooner rather than later.
Our grandchildren live in three different states, Connecticut, Ohio, and Minnesota. It is fun to see each state’s choice and first guess why the cookie would represent the state in some way. Then you can read why it is representative of the state AND you are given a link to the recipe. It is educational as well as fun to make it a game, even long distance. Yes, key lime pie sandwich cookies for Florida.
It is fun to dream about going to Disney World again with our grandchildren through the cookie choices. Yes, there are recipes, and directions for decoration of Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and more. See, especially, Whole-Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies From Disney’s Contemporary Resort Bakery. There is also a link to Disney copy cat recipes and to
Finally, in recognition that this year we may not be able to bake or even share the holidays with our grandchildren, here is a handy article to have.
It not only includes links to shipping supplies, but also links to recipes for dozens of varieties of cookies that ship well.
This holiday season 2020 may be different than all others, but we still can have fun baking for our grandchildren, sharing interesting cookie stories as games and for reminiscing about and planning future Disney vacations together.
HAPPY CHANUKAH! MERRY CHRISTMAS! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Joy,
Mema
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