Alas, Christmas is over. That’s probably a good thing. The holiday season is dangerous for me, filled as it is with cookies and other baked goods. Most holiday cookies are nice, but run-of-the-mill. Every once in a while, a friend surprised me with something truly delicious: Jenn’s gingerbread cookies, Courtney’s hot pepper and chocolate wonders.

This year, though, I tasted two great cookies. On the same day. Oh, my poor poor belly. Fortunately, I’ve been able to obtain the recipes for the future. Maybe once I’ve lost some weight, I can bake a batch of one of these as a reward.

First up, from Michael Hampton comes this delicious jelly-filled cookie:

Great Grandma Emilia Marie Martin’s Jelly Cookies

  • 1 cup butter/margarine
  • 1-1/2 cups sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3-1/2 cups flour
  • 2 tsp cream of tartar
  • 1 tsp soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Cream butter.  Add sugar gradually, creaming until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.  Stir in vanilla.  Sift dry ingredients together.  Add gradually to creamed mixture.  Chill 3-4 hours.

 

Roll on well-floured surface to 1/8-1/4 inch thickness.  Cut in desired shapes – Grandma’s were always round so cut circles and then circles with a hole in the middle.  Put circle on a baking sheet and then put the circle with the hole on top.  Put a bit of jam or jelly in the hole. 

 

Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 375 for 6-8 minutes. Cool on a cooling rack and frost with a thin powdered sugar icing.

Next, from the Moenne-Loccoz household, here are some chewy oatmeal cookies that, well, are more than oatmeal:

Praline Snaps

from Art of the Cookie by Jann Johnson

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1-1/2 cups old-fashioned or quick (not instant) rolled oats, coarsely ground in a blender or food processor
  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (2-1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1-1/2 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350˚F. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and oats; set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream the butter and sugar. Add the vanilla extract. On low speed, gradually add the flour mixture and combine well.

Scoop the dough into 1¼-inch balls and place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Flatten the balls slightly with the bottom of a glass.

Bake in the center of the oven for about 12 minutes, or until barely browned around the edges. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container. Well-wrapped cookies may be frozen.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies

Yum. My mouth is watering just thinking about these…

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