Holiday Cookie Recipes from Evie

In the spirit of Christmas giving, our resident pantry manager and cookie baker Evie is back with two of her great recipes for holiday treats just for you! First, enjoy this recipe for Holly Springs – almond and raspberry sandwich cookies that are decorated with a red and green holly design on top. Evie says she doesn’t frost hers and just likes them plain, but we’ve included the recipe for festive frosting as well.

Holly Springs
1 cup butter
1/2 cup sifted confectioner’s (powdered) sugar
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup almonds or walnuts, finely ground
1 cup red raspberry preserves
1/2 recipe Royal frosting, green and red food coloring

Cream butter and sugar until well blended in a large bowl. Stir in flour, vanilla and nuts.
Roll dough, as teaspoonful at a time, into balls between the palms of hands. Place 2″ apart on cookie sheet. Lightly grease the bottom of a flat measuring (or other) cup and dip into powdered sugar, press over each ball and flatten to about 1 inch round.
Bake at 350 degrees 10 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Remove carefully to a wire rack to cool completely.
Spread bottoms of half the cookies with raspberry preserves, top, sandwich style, with remaining cookies, flat side down.
Divide Royal frosting (recipe below) into 2 small cups, 3/4 in one and the remaining in the other. Tint the larger one green, the other red. Decorate cookies with frosting to resemble holly using a cake decorating set. (3 green leaves with 2-3 little red berries).

Makes about 3 dozen double cookies.

Royal Frosting
3 egg whites
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 package ( 1 lb.) confectioner’s sugar, sifted

Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy in a small bowl. Slowly beat in confectioner’s sugar until frosting stands in firm peaks and is stiff enough to hold a sharp line when cut through with a knife. Keep bowl of frosting covered with a damp paper towel to keep frosting from drying out. Store any leftover in a tightly sealed container in the fridge.
Makes about 2 1/2 cups.

(Recipes republished from Family Circle Magazine 1972)

Spritz cookies are another favorite of Evie’s. They’re a crisp and buttery cookie that has roots in Germany. These are best prepared with a cookie or dough press.

Spritz Cookies
1 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. flavoring (almond or vanilla)
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Heat oven to 400 degrees (mod. hot). Mix butter, sugar, egg, salt, and flavoring thoroughly. Measure flour and work it into the dough. Using 1/4 dough at the same time, force dough through cookie press on ungreased baking sheet in desired shapes. Bake 6-9 minutes or until set but not brown. Makes about 5 doz. cookies.

(Recipe republished from Betty Crocker’s Cookie Book)