How to Bake a Better Cookie

There is a reason that the word cookies follows Christmas with such inevitability. Nothing represents the spirit of loving, nurturing and giving more than a homemade cookie. It is small and pretty, sweet and comforting. It is something friends and family can make together. A cookie is a treat that doesn’t need to be eaten right away but will last, in many instances, for months, to be savored when one desires (only, of course, if it is well hidden).

One of the most touching examples of how much Christmas cookies are associated with love is what one of my dearest friends said when I asked about her favorite cookie recipe: “Oh, yes, I have a wonderful recipe I used to make with my mother. Well, maybe it isn’t all that wonderful; maybe it’s just that it makes me remember my mother.”

Another dear friend remembered how, even when she had grown up and left home, her mother would purposely not finish making all the Christmas cookies so that a few would remain for them to make together when she visited for the holidays. She remembered how “A lot of things were solved over those cookies--things you wouldn’t feel comfortable saying if your hands were not busy.”

The first Christmas cookies I ever made helped create a special bond between my Aunt Ruth and me. She invited me to sleep over and together we figured out the ideal consistency of the dough for spritz cookies so that they would come out of the cookie press in nice shapes.

Aunt Ruth was the perfect person to teach me about cookies. For one thing, she was the only person in the family who baked on a regular basis. Also, she came from a tradition of fine handwork and crafts so she adored creating the most decorative cookies imaginable.

When she made spritz cookies, she would set out little glass custard cups filled with appealingly colorful dragees, candied fruit, nuts, colored sugar and sprinkles and beautifully decorated cookie tins in which to pack the cookies. To this day, spritz cookies are among my favorites.

Friends have created a tradition of offering Christmas cookies in antique decorative tins that they collected all year round. They say when the cookies are finished, their friends return the tins to ensure that they will receive another batch the following year.

There are many festive and exciting ways to present your cookies as gifts: in antique cookie jars, in small hatboxes lined with crumpled tissue paper or tinsel or in a cookie tin, wrapped and tied with ribbons, perhaps with a favorite cookie cutter attached to the ribbon. Cookies made with holes in them can be tied together in bunches with gold cord or beautiful slim ribbons.

One of the nicest things about cookies is that even if they aren’t perfect, they’re still appreciated. At a book signing a few weeks ago, a pastry chef prepared my spritz cookies to give out as samples. She called me the night before, puzzled and upset that they weren’t coming out looking at all like mine and the dough seemed very soft.

The next day, I realized what the problem had been. Instead of sliced almonds, she had used whole almonds. When processed without coarsely grating them first, they become very oily, softening the dough. They were still delicious, but not the same. Cookies are very forgiving. But if you want yours to turn out looking like the ones in the pictures, here are some of my favorite tips:

* Use the ingredients called for in the recipe. Substitutions may present problems. When a recipe calls for brown sugar, use light brown unless otherwise specified. If you substitute plain granulated sugar, the cookies will be drier. Keep in mind that a cup of sliced nuts has a much different weight than does a cup of slivered or whole nuts.

* Measure or weigh carefully. If you add too much flour, the cookies will be dry and crumbly; too little and they will spread and be thin.

* Bleached all-purpose flour contains eight to 14 grams of protein per four ounces of flour. This is listed on the side of the bag. Lower protein flour will result in more fragile, paler, higher cookies. Unbleached or higher protein flour will result in tougher, browner, flatter cookies.

* For best flavor, use unsalted butter and unsalted nuts.

* Make cookies in the same batch the same size, shape and thickness, arranged at even intervals on the baking sheet so they bake evenly.

* Preheat the oven for at least 15 minutes before baking the cookies.

* Rotate the baking sheets in the oven for even baking.

* Use flat baking sheets with very low edges so that the air can circulate over the cookies and make them crisp. If you only have a jellyroll pan, simply invert it and place the cookies on the back.

* Use shiny, heavy-gauge aluminum baking sheets, not darkened ones, so the cookies will brown evenly and not excessively. This prevents burned bottoms.

* Only grease the pans if specified in the recipe. Many cookie doughs have enough butter to keep the cookies from sticking. If the pans are greased, it will cause the cookies to spread too much.

* Allow baking sheets to cool completely before placing the next batch of dough on them. The cookies will spread too much if placed on hot or warm sheets before being set by the oven’s heat.

* Don’t overbake cookies. Remove them from the baking sheets as soon as they are rigid enough to transfer and cool them on racks so they remain crisp and do not continue cooking from the heat of the sheets.

* Cool cookies completely before storing them airtight to maintain the best possible texture.

* Store soft cookies together--not with crisp cookies--or they will soften the crisp ones. To preserve each cookie’s special flavor, it is best to store each variety in its own container.

* Separate layers of cookies with wax paper to keep cookies crisp and to separate those that are sticky.

This recipe produces spritz cookies with a lovely almond flavor and very tender texture. They are delicious to eat and because they are so pretty and do not become stale quickly, they are perfect for setting on the mantle for company. I prefer the food processor method for speed and ease of preparation but the mixer method works just as well.

SPRITZ BUTTER COOKIES

1/2 cup blanched sliced almonds

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup unsalted butter

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 cups flour

Dash salt

Glace cherries, sugar sprinkles or dragees, optional

Place almonds on baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely.

Food processor method: Process almonds and sugar in food processor until ground powder-fine. Cut butter into few pieces and add to food processor with motor running. Process until smooth and creamy. Add egg, vanilla and almond extracts. Process until incorporated, scraping sides of bowl. Add flour and salt and pulse just until blended.

Electric mixer method: Grate almonds powder-fine. Soften butter. Cream together butter and sugar in mixer bowl until fluffy. Add egg, vanilla and almond extracts, beating until blended. On lower speed, gradually add flour, salt and grated almonds and mix until incorporated.

For both methods: As soon as dough is prepared, scoop into large pastry bag fitted with number 6 or 7 (about 1/2-inch diameter) and pipe rosettes about 1 3/4 inches in diameter onto ungreased baking sheets, 2 inches apart. (Or use cookie press with star fittings.) For best possible shape, hold bag or press so that tube is straight up with toothed edge just barely touching baking sheet. Squeeze or press firmly without moving until shape is as wide as desired. Stop pressure completely and push tube down slightly. Lift tube straight up and away. If dough is too soft and impressions indistinct, chill dough briefly in bag or press. Decorate with glace cherries, sugar sprinkles or dragees.

Bake at 375 degrees 10 to 12 minutes, depending on size or until pale golden. For even baking, rotate baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking period. Cool completely on wire racks.

Store cookies in airtight container at room temperature or in refrigerator or freezer. Cookies will keep 1 month at room temperature, several months frozen. Makes about 3 1/2 dozen 2-inch cookies.