December 8, 2008

Grandma's Sugar Cookies ( TWD)

Sugar and spice. And butter. And salt. And well you know, a few pistachios and dried cherries don't hurt either. For this week's Tuesdays with Dorie, we are making Grandma's Sugar Cookies, which are a very simple cookie that offers lots of room for improvisation. These cookies were chosen by Ulrike of Kuchenlatein and you can find the recipe on her blog.


I baked two versions -- one a simple version with lots of spicy cinnamon baked inside (I love Penzey's Vietnamese Cassia Cinnamon) and a light dusting of cinnamon sugar sprinkled on before baking. These remind of a crisper, neater Snickerdoodle and they are really well suited for accompanying afternoon tea or late night cocoa.



My second batch was studded with dried cherries and pistachios. I love this combination for the holidays as you get the red & green effect but in more muted tones than brightly colored sugar. And the flavors are so good together.

For the record, I don't make shaped, frosted cookies for the holidays. Or for anytime. I have nothing against those cookies, and I know that the TWD bakers are going to knock themselves out with creativity and artistry on this week's challenge.

But you see a while back, I worked for a cookie company that specializes in hand-iced cookies. The cookies look gorgeous, and sometimes they don't taste bad either. But when you have a job where you watch people ice cookies for 8 hours a day, and they do it really, really well and really, really fast... Well, let's just say your motivation to do it at home definitely wanes. I ate so many iced cookies at that job. And I have never even liked iced cookies that much to begin with! But they were everywhere, all day long, and when a hunger pang or a boredom streak would hit, there the cookies were - so pretty, so inviting, so damn fattening. Sigh.


Every once in a while, we would have to test out new packaging and we would try eating really old cookies to see how they had fared. Needless to say, somebody has to spit out yucky, rotten cookies in order to tell you when they are "best eaten by." And that person was occasionally me. So, yup, I'm over iced, shaped cookies. They look pretty, and I bow down to all of you who slave over them. But as for me, I am now solely a "slice and bake" gal when it comes to sugar cookies.



Speaking of which...I like to wrap my cookies in parchment rather than the saran that Dorie recommends. I find it's helpful if you write the baking time and temp on the packages so you don't have to root around for the recipe later. I usually make 6 or 7 different cookie doughs for the holidays. I freeze the doughs in parchment rolls or individually scooped balls, label them and then bake in small batches for gift bags as I need them.

This year, these cookies will definitely be in the line-up.

12 comments:

vibi said...

Yummy! A very nice association with pistachios and dried cherries! Must be heavenly...
Truly delicate and dainty, worth lifting the pinky with a cup of tea! LOL Beautiful Kittymama!

chocolatechic said...

Gorgeous cookies.

I did orange zest with mine.

Flourchild said...

Oh yum..i love your spice choices! Your cookies look great!

TeaLady said...

Great idea for storing/baking cookies. So often I cannot find the recipe when I need it after freezing the dough. And they do look delicious. I am not a shape and frost either. Never come out right. From now on it is strictly slice and bake. Yours look totally yum.

Anonymous said...

Your cookies are lovely!!! Very Creative with pistachios and cherries!

Jaime said...

hahaha i can't believe you had to test the cookies to see if they were rotten! i love your idea to label them w/the baking instructions! great tip, ellen!

Jaime said...

oh and i love the idea of adding the pistachios and cherries :)

Lynne Daley said...

I love your flavorings-cinnamon sugar cookies, yum! Also, the pistachios and dried cherries. I have used that combo in my biscotti and really like them. Nice job on the cookies.

AmyRuth said...

You are so smart.... I've never thought those pretty cookies tasted that delish either. I'm all about how it tastes. Love the parchment idea and I'm forever freezing scooped cookie dough for the convenience of a quick baking need. Loved your post and the dried cherry/pistachio idea. I bet they were really tasty. I just did the cardamom/lemon zest and really enjoyed that combo. Can't wait to try your variation. Happy Christmas
AmyRuth

Anonymous said...

That's a fantastic idea for a gift!!! What lucky gift recipients, eh? LOVE that you added the cherries and pistachios!

Everyday Goddess said...

Those look great - I might actually try to bake them.

Mouthwatering blog!

Carol Peterman/TableFare said...

The mix-ins sound great with the sugar cookie dough. I have never tried dimensional flavorings in sugar cookies, but rather stick with spices and zests. Something new to do!