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Grandma Chandler's Christmas cookies "will never win a beauty contest" says Christy Cowell of Pasadena, one of the 10 winners of The Times Holiday Cookie Bake-Off. "But they are a fantastic, sturdy molasses-spice-walnut cookie that keeps well and tastes great throughout the holiday season." (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times) |
Christy Cowell of Pasadena was one of the 10 winners of our first Los Angeles Times Holiday Cookie Bake-Off with these humble-looking holiday treats:
The Christmas cookies are one of the favorite holiday cookie recipes we've collected in our updated "Los Angeles Times Holiday Cookies" e-book. The cookbook now includes 65 recipes from a wide range of sources, including world-famous pastry chefs, favorite bakeries and home cooks. And check out the favorite holiday recipes we've collected in our "Los Angeles Times Holiday Handbook." The book shares more than 110 seasonal recipes to help you celebrate Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year's.
Each book is $4.99. They are available at the Los Angeles Times bookstore for Kindle, Nook and iBooks.
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You can find Noelle Carter on Facebook, Google+, Twitter and Pinterest. Email Noelle at noelle.carter@latimes.com.
Grandma Chandler's Christmas cookiesSubmitted by Christy Cowell of Pasadena
Total time: 1 1/2 hours
Servings: About 12 dozen cookies
3 eggs
1/2 cup molasses
3 3/4 cups dark brown sugar
3/4 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon ground cloves
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 tablespoon ground allspice
1 1/2 pounds walnuts, coarsely chopped
About 6 ½ cups flour
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat together the eggs, molasses and brown sugar. Beat in the water, then the baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and allspice. Beat in the walnuts, and then half of the flour. It's best to beat in the rest of the flour by hand; this recipe makes a lot of dough, possibly too much for some mixers.
3. Roll out the dough in batches on a well-floured surface to a generous one-fourth-inch thickness. Cut the dough into diamond shapes and bake on lightly greased sheets until the bottom is lightly browned but the top has yet to color, 11 to 13 minutes.
4. Pack in air-tight containers; these are good for two to three months and they ship well.
Each of 12 dozen cookies: 79 calories; 1 gram protein; 12 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram fiber; 3 grams fat; 0 saturated fat; 4 mg cholesterol; 6 grams sugar; 21 mg sodium.
