mike and i are lucky enough to celebrate the christmas holiday with three different and fantastic sets of family: my mom, mike’s parents, and my dad. for the celebration at my mom’s this year, we decided to give edible presents to each other for various reasons, but the biggest of which is that we all love baked goods (it runs in the family, i guess). mike and i got a little overzealous about the project and selected not one, not two, not three, but yep, you guessed it, FOUR different kinds of cookies to give away. we chose to make: 1. krumkakes; 2. cocoa-coconut macaroons; 3. vegan strawberry pinwheels; and 4. cinnamon stars.
we were so engrossed with the process of making cookies, that we only took one picture of the vegan strawberry pinwheels (above), and none of the cinnamon stars or coconut macaroons. but we took a lot of the process of making krumkakes, a crisp cardamom traditional norwegian cookie made on a special krumkake iron.
i realize that most of you (except my dad!) don’t own a krumkake iron, so this recipe for krumkakes will be kind of moot for most people reading this post. however, it’s a very sentimental recipe that epitomizes the smells and tastes ofchristmas at my dad’s house, and i didn’t think my christmas cookie post would be complete without sharing this norwegian tradition with you.
the krumkake iron sits above a burner, and you place 1 teaspoon of batter on the center of the iron. then you close the iron and allow it to cook for about 15 seconds per side – the whole iron flips like a waffle maker you see in many hotels. then, you pull the hot cookie off of the iron (with tongs, unless you want to burn your fingers off), roll it around a wooden cone-shaped dowel, and place it seam-side down to cool. the cookies cool rapidly, and within minutes become very crisp and perfect to munch on with a cup of tea, or stuff with goodies like whipped cream and berries.
the coconut macaroons are also an old favorite – a cross between light, fluffy, and crunchy meringues and traditional chewy macaroons that smell like christmas at my mom’s house. they’re very simple to make – you beat a couple of egg whites and throw in the rest of the ingredients, then drop them onto a baking sheet and cook for just a few minutes. we’ve been making these cookies since i was a little kid, and it doesn’t feel like christmas without them.
the other two recipes are new to me. i choose the strawberry pinwheels because of their vegan ingredients and yummy fruit insides. they turned out to be absolutely delicious, with the perfect combination of shortbread and fruit, and even though the recipe was a bit of a pain to make – it includes two refrigeration cycles – i think these are a great choice to make if you have time to leisurely make cookies over four plus hours.
lastly, i chose the cinnamon stars because the joy of cooking stated that they were “deservedly one of the best christmas cookies” – and how could i pass up that rave review? i also thought the combination of cinnamon and lemon zest sounded quite appealing, and my curiosity was piqued when i realized there was no flour in the recipe – only ground nuts. we found the batter to be really difficult to drop and shape into stars, but they turned out to live up to their reputation and then some – i think i found a new favorite.
after baking up a storm, we wrapped up the cookies in cute little gift boxes and included recipe cards so our family could make them for themselves later on in the year or next christmas. i hope you enjoy the rest of these recipes as much as we did. happy new year to all of you!
krumkakes
traditional norwegian recipe
yields 3 dozen krumkakes
- 2 eggs
- ½c butter, softened
- 1c sugar
- 1t cardamom
- 1c flour
- 1c (soy) milk
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- beat eggs well and add butter, sugar, and cardamom, continuing to beat
- add flour and (soy) milk alternately and beat until smooth
- pour 1t of batter onto a krumkake iron and close lid
- cook for 1minute per side
- while hot, roll krumkake into a conical shape and let cool
- eat plain or stuff with whipped cream, berries, and/or jam
cocoa macaroons
adapted from joy of cooking
yields 2 dozen cookies
- 3 egg whites
- 1/8 t salt
- 1c sugar
- 2t water
- 1t vanilla
- 3T cocoa
- 1¼c coconut candied cherries
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- preheat the oven to 350º
- whip the egg whites and salt until stiff but not dry
- gradually add 1/2c sugar
- combine water and vanilla
- alternate beating in liquid and remaining sugar
- fold in cocoa and coconut
- drop batter by spoon onto greased floured tin
- top with pieces of candied cherries
- bake for 10-12 minutes and cool on cookie sheet
strawberry pinwheels
adapted from my sweet vegan
yields 2 dozen cookies
- ½c earth balance (margarine)
- ½c non-hydrogenated veg shortening
- ½c sugar
- 2¼c all purpose flour
- ½c whole wheat pastry flour
- ¼t baking soda
- ¼t baking powder
- ¼t salt
- ½c soy creamer
- 1 jar of strawberry spreadable fruit
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- preheat the oven to 375º
- beat margarine, veg shortening, and sugar until light and fluffy
- add the flours, b. soda, b. powder, and salt and mix until combined
- drizzle creamer over batter, beating until a thick dough forms
- divide dough in half and press each half into a rectangle, cover with saran wrap and fridge for 2 hours
- roll dough out to ¼” thickness between wax paper, & spread jam on top
- roll log up, using wax paper, then refrigerate for 2 hours
- cut dough into ½” pieces and bake on greased sheet for 15-20 minutes, or until golden around the edges
cinnamon stars
adapted from joy of cooking
yields 2 dozen cookies
- 5 egg whites
- 1/8t salt
- 2c powdered sugar
- 2t ground cinnamon
- 1t grated lemon rind
- 1lb pecans (or almonds), ground
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- preheat oven to 300º
- whip the egg white and salt until stiff but not dry
- beat in powdered sugar slowly
- add cinnamon and lemon rind, continuously beating
- reserve ¼ of batter in a separate bowl
- fold in ground pecans
- drop batter onto greased cookie sheet by the spoonful and shape into stars
- glaze with reserved batter
- bake for 20 minutes, until cookies are a little golden on top