McCall’s Basic Cookie Mix and Christmas Cookie Variations

By Hklbrries

NOTE: Variations in collection will reference back to this basic recipe.

NOTE: Place in airtight container; store in refrigerator (mixture will keep for up to 8 weeks). Bring to room temperature before using. Recipe can be doubled or tripled.

Recipes in collection associated with this Basic Cookie Mix: Rolled Sugar Cookies, Candy Cane Cookies, Checkerboard Squares, Gingerbread People, Chocolate-Dipped Peanut Brittle Fingers, Lemon Linzer Cookies, Sables, Vanilla Cream Filling, Lemon Cream Filling, Peanut Butter Cream Filling, Maple Coffee Cream Filling, Pine Nut Cream Filling.


Start with one basic dough and trays of delightfully different holiday cookies are not far behind. A recipe for simple Christmas cutout cookies can be adorned with “stained glass,” rolled and cut into Linzer tarts or chocolate and vanilla checkerboards, pressed with thumbprints or sandwiched with a favorite filling.

Stir in crushed peppermint candies to create a candy cane shaped cookie, or add orange, lemon or lime zest to vary the dough’s flavor.

Recipes for rolled sugar cookies vary slightly, so a family favorite can be a good starting place.

McCall’s magazine printed a series of recipes in 1991 that worked perfectly for rolled cutout cookies. It included variations to make Candy Cane Cookies, Checkerboard Squares, Gingerbread People, Chocolate-Dipped Peanut-Brittle Fingers and Lemon Linzer Cookies (recipes follow).

But don’t stop there.

With a small cookie cutter and crushed hard candies, the cutouts can be turned into a Stained Glass Cookies. Use nesting cookie cutters to cut windows into rolled cookies. Crushed transparent hard candies (such as lemon drops, cinnamon balls or Jolly Ranchers) should fill the cutout until it is level with the dough before baking.

Lauren Chattman, author of “Mom’s Big Book of Cookies” (Harvard Common Press, 2006), says her family’s favorite is stars filled with butterscotch candy. Her advice is to let the cookies cool completely on the baking sheet so the delicate windows can set up.

Parchment paper keeps the cookies from sticking to the sheets. Take care when transporting because the “stained glass” breaks easily.

Bakers can also use cutters to make small circles, ovals or stars for sandwich cookies. Or a Linzer cookie cutter can make pretty windows in the cookies.

The filling ideas are endless. Sandwich with a favorite jam (apricot or seedless raspberry are common) or make a simple vanilla filling, add a bit of peppermint and crushed candy canes for a seasonal flavor. Drizzle the outside with icing or melted chocolate and decorate with more crushed peppermint, nonpareils or toffee bits.

If you need a place to start, consider the filling ideas from Mark Scarbrough and Bruce Weinstein in “The Ultimate Cookbook” (HarperCollins, 2007). In their mix-and-match recipe for Vanilla Sandwich Creams, they offer variations for lemon, peanut butter, maple coffee, chocolate truffle, pine nut cream and chocolate hazelnut cream (some recipes follow).

Shortbreads are perfect for playing around with different flavors. Baking guru Dorie Greenspan’s recipe for tender, crumbly sables is perfect for improvisation.

She offers variations for lemon, pecan and spiced cookies in her cookbook “Baking: From My Home to Yours” (HoughtonMifflin, 2006).

Greenspan writes, “The dough for sables is shaped into logs and then sprinkled with sugar before it is sliced and baked. During the year, I coat the logs with sparkly white decorating sugar. When the holidays come around, I double the recipe and go mad with color, sprinkling some of the logs with brilliant red sugar, some with green and some with a rainbow mix. Trimmed in color and packed in festive tins, these make terrific Christmas cookies.”

Ingredients

• 2 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened

Preparation

Step 1

In large bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt; mix well. With pastry blender or two knives, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.

Then go to cookie mix in collection (see title page) and follow additional instructions.