Christmas Cookies

Oh, the delicious aroma of Christmas cookies. You will find much baking in a Pennsylvania Dutch household, especially during the Christmas season.

Just one batch of cookies is never enough. Huge cans store all the sand tarts, molasses cakes, filled-raisin cookies, Lebkuchen, anise drops, currant cakes, black walnut cookies, oatmeal cookies, nut cookies, cinnamon crisps. And more!

Christmas baking means bringing out the cookie molds and cutters from the back of the cupboard. My mom would have both ovens (electric stove and wood-burning stove) hot and busy on cookie-baking day.

Recipe for Christmas-Cookies

4-1/2 cups sifted flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup butter
1-1/2 cups light molasses
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger. Add the sugar and mix well. Cut in the butter with a fork. Add the molasses and vinegar gradually while mixing. Chill dough until firm. Roll out dough about 1/8 inch-thick on a floured board. Cut with cookie cutters of favorite shapes and place on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F about 10 minutes.

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