You’ve Got a Reputation, Cookie!

Growing up, we always knew Christmas was coming when mom started her baking. She usually made just a couple types of cookies – candies were another matter (more on that another time) – but our family favorite was Aunt Catherine’s Rollout Cookies. It was so special, she only made them at Christmas.

Rite of Passage

It was a bit of a rite of passage to first watch then help mom make cookies. Mom never had a stand mixer; everything was done by hand or with a small hand mixer. For years…and I mean decades, she had an avocado green Sunbeam mixer. Believe me, that baby had been through hell and back. I think we all got spoons and spatulas caught in the beaters as we were learning to scrape and beat at the same time!  I also know there was plenty of Karo syrup permanently affixed to it following failed attempts to make “seafoam” (divinity).  But it held up like a tank, even with its bent and off-kilter beaters!

I like to roll about 1/8″ thick so they’re hefty cookies.

Anyway, the process was always to make cookies one day; decorate the next. I grew up in a small story and a half home that had a very small kitchen. Even after my dad blew out a wall and built a “bump-out” for the table, there was little to no countertop space. So, our “cooling rack” became cut up brown paper bags laid out on a spare bed. As cookies came out of the oven, we’d relay them to the bedroom to cool, hopefully remembering to shut the door and the dog out!

Back to Baking

Over the years, I haven’t been much of a baker. While I enjoy the “zen-like focus” and precision you need to bake, I just haven’t done a whole lot of it…until a few years ago. I made the decision to do trays of cookies for my entire team, which led me to making about 50 dozen over the course of a weekend! That effort got me back to baking again.

My “theme” this past year was to make cookies that were all old family recipes and family favorites. I had a lot of fun sorting through both my recipes and my mom’s recipes I have stored safely at my house.  I hadn’t made roll-outs for quite a few years, but my family had been making this particular recipe for years and years. In fact, it wasn’t until my mom actually gave me my own copy of the recipe when I got married that I learned it was my Aunt Catherine’s recipe.

O.k….my “boys” are creepy, but they’re delicious!

Aunt Catherine was one of my mom’s older sisters. As children, we loved going to her house because she always made amazing treats (seafoam remains my all-time favorite Christmas candy…more on that another time). These cookies are so good and flavorful, they’re soft and delicious even without frosting…which comes in handy for those who don’t care for decorating!

The Family Recipe

When I was done baking and decorating, I happened to post a picture on Facebook showing my handiwork. Well, cousins all jumped in asking for the “old family recipe.” Come to find out….every one of us has and uses that exact same recipe! We all grew up making it with our moms, and none of us realized we were all carrying on the same tradition with the same recipe. It’s gone from Aunt Catherine to her sisters, to the nieces, to the great-nieces and grand-daughters….and it keeps going! And, the funniest thing is we all found out we had one rogue aunt, Helen, who added lemon to her version!

The best part of this whole story is the trip down memory lane with my extended family, sharing favorite recipes, stories of holidays at grandma and grandpa’s farm, or doing “Christmas visits” to the aunts & uncles homes.

I love stories like that….stories that carry through the generations. What a way to keep life and love and our family heritage alive and kicking! So, here’s Aunt Catherine’s Roll-out Cookies. And if you’re feeling a little rogue-ish…add about a teaspoon of fresh lemon juice, a la Helen!

Who knew you could make Santas from a heart cutter?