The Oregonian: 6 New Christmas Cookies, Plus a Holiday Cocktails

By Grant Butler | The Oregonian/OregonLive

It’s not Christmastime without cookies. Rolling out dough and cutting out evergreen trees and snowman are as much a part of the season as Santa himself. And that guy knows a thing or two about cookies.

This fall offered up a new wave of baking books, all with merry nods to the holidays.

“Martha Stewart’s Cookie Perfection” (Clarkson Potter, 256 pages, $26) has several complex cookies that are prime for bakers looking for a challenge. Her Double-Chocolate Peppermint Cookies make an elegant addition to a Christmas cookie tray, as does her interpretation of the German classic Pfeffernüsse, a spicy cookie that’s dressed up with crushed pink peppercorns. But the real revelation is her recipe for Fruitcake Cookies, which transform the much-reviled holiday dessert into bite-sized marvels. Only Martha Stewart could pull off such a holiday miracle.

Less-experienced bakers will find plenty to like in “Betty Crocker Cookies” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 350 pages, $25), with Hazelnut Chocolate Cookie Balls, which have a nice textural contrast between the chewy cookie, creamy icing and crunchy toasted hazelnuts.

If you want kids to get involved with the cookie baking, you can’t go wrong with Spicy Gingerbread Folks from “MasterChef Junior Bakes!” (Clarkson Potter, 256 pages, $19.99). These cookies were created by child competitors on the popular TV show, and can be elaborately decorated with royal icing. Don’t have a “folks” cookie cutter? They can be rolled out and cut into any shape imaginable.

For an adult cookie party, turn to Katherine Cobbs’ “Cookies & Cocktails” (Tiller Press, 142 pages, $19.99), which gives the concept of milk and cookies a serious upgrade, pairing each of her 50 cookie recipes with spirited drink. For Christmas, she offers a rolled Tuiles cookie filled with Irish Cream, paired with a coconut milk-based nog with plenty of rum.

It adds new meaning to “Making spirits bright.”

-- Grant Butler

Recipes included with this story: Buttery Tuiles With Irish Cream Filling; Fruitcake Cookies; Pfeffernüsse; Double-Chocolate Peppermint Cookies; Spicy Gingerbread Folks; Hazelnut Chocolate Cookie Balls; Elsa Bar 24 Karat Nog.

Buttery Tuiles with Irish Cream Filling and Elsa Bar 24 Karat Nog

Recipes from Cookies & Cocktails by Katherine Cobbs for Tiller Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster (photo by Becky Luigart-Stayner)