Masterclass
Long before marriage and kids and a decent oven, I had
The Sweetest Exchange
entrance to my apartment’s compact kitchen: “Cooking
an artist friend write in large black script above the
Fill your favourite cookie tins with these little morsels chockful of nuts, spices, fruit, and chocolate—perfect for holiday gift giving and community cookie exchanges.
is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.” The quote, by American newspaper columnist Harriet Van Horne comes to mind whenever I start my holiday baking. As my cupboards swell with chocolates, nuts, dried fruit, sugars, and flours, my kitchen becomes unconstrained with the joyful flurry of baking. You’ll find recipes for my holiday favourites on the following pages. My mother rarely baked, but I can’t imagine the holidays without her buttery shortbread cookies. Once a year she’d dust off her aluminum cookie press, a contraption that extracted perfectly uniform cookies. She topped each shortbread with a single neon-red candied cherry (near toxic by today’s standards). I stamp out my shortbread with a ravioli cutter and decorate it with pistachio nuts and dried cranberries affixed with a smudge of white chocolate. However you shape or decorate your cookies, the secret to melt-inthe-mouth shortbread is to bake them in a low oven and remove them before they take on any colour. Your gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan friends will appreciate the habit-forming nutty coco bites. Made of sweet dates, almonds, toasted coconut, and dark chocolate, they include just enough flax meal to make you feel a little smug about enjoying them. They require no baking and are utterly addictive. Of course, nothing smacks of Christmas quite like a sugar-dusted snowflake cookie. An adaptation of an Austrian classic, Linzer torte cookies are made of toasted ground almonds and a whisper of cinnamon. Sandwiched with raspberry jam (or whichever jam you wish), these double-stacked cookies are as scrumptious as they are beautiful. You’ll have fun experimenting with different cookie molds. If you enjoy buttery toffee paired with dark chocolate and toasted almonds, you’ll love the snap of almond chocolate toffee. Candy is easier to make than you might imagine, and all you need is a heavy-bottomed pan and candy thermometer to get started. If you’re looking for a quick confection, this recipe comes together astonishingly fast.
R ECIPE + T E X T
Denise Marchessault S T Y L ING + PHO T OGR A PH Y
Deb Garlick
Not in the mood for a full-on baking extravaganza? Consider hosting a Christmas cookie exchange. It’s a clever way to expand your holiday repertoire without all the work. There are variations on the theme, but the idea is to bake one dozen cookies per guest and have your attendees do the same. Each person comes away with enough variety to last the season, plus a cache of new recipes. No matter how you approach your Christmas baking, cookies make a nostalgic gift that never goes out of style. They’re never the wrong size or colour and always bring an appreciative smile, especially from those who least expect them.
31