Made with just five ingredients, this historic Christmas cookie recipe offers a truly old-fashioned taste of the holidays. These caraway-studded little treats are a fun addition to Christmas cookie baskets, and would be a sure hit at any cookie swap!
Dear friends ~
When we think of getting into the Christmas spirit, is there anything that summons more heart-warming nostalgia than a fresh batch of Christmas cookies?
Most of us grew up with classics like gingerbread boys, linzer cookies, peanut butter kiss cookies, walnut crescents, and (if you were a child of the 80’s like me), magic cookie bars made with red and green M&Ms.
These Christmas cookies I’m sharing today have a whole different flavor profile than the modern flavors we tend to associate with the holidays though. No ginger, cloves, chocolate, or peppermint here!
These are studded with caraway seeds which (in my opinion) offer a wonderfully old-fashioned, almost “Old World” flavor.
These are such a fun way to share a truly historic taste of the season. I sent a batch of them in with my daughter for her fifth grade class, and she informed me that while everyone appreciated the chance to taste them, only two out of 18 kids “ACTUALLY liked them!”
Fair enough. Many folks have never tasted caraway beyond the context of a slice of rye bread, so I totally get it! If you’re feeling a bit adventuresome though, I hope you’ll give these lovely, caraway-studded cookies a try. They just might become a new family favorite!
~ Anna
The New England Economical Housekeeper, 1845
CHRISTMAS COOKIES
Take one pound and a half of flour, three quarters of a pound of sugar, half a pound of butter, half a cup of milk, and two spoonfuls of caraway seeds; melt the butter before you put it in. It is rather difficult to knead, but it can be done. Roll it out and cut it in hearts and diamonds, and bake it on buttered tins.
Here’s a photo of the recipe as it appears in the cookbook:
A FEW COOKING NOTES:
As the recipe implies, the hardest thing about this recipe is working that stiff dough until it’s well and thoroughly mixed. Everything else is pretty straightforward.
We aren’t even left to guess at the amount of flour to use, like with many mid-1800’s cake and cookie recipes, so my baking notes are super short today!
How much caraway seed to put in?
While the volume of spoon sizes is not specified clearly anywhere that I’ve found in the book, I’ve now made quite a number of recipes from this volume, and have found that when a “spoonful” is called for (as opposed to a teaspoon), it works well to use a modern tablespoon. When a “teaspoon” is prescribed, that’s when to reach for a modern teaspoon.
In this recipe, that usage worked well, since anything less than two tablespoons of caraway seeds really would have felt quite sparse–especially in a Christmas cookie.
Mixing the dough
She’s right that this is quite a heavy dough, and mixing it well is an undertaking!
I combined the melted butter with the milk, and sugar, then added the flour and caraway seeds last. Working the flour in by hand does make for a stiff dough.
In the future, this is one of those recipes that I would definitely mix by hand if recreating the recipe with a class. However, if making them for a family treat or to include in Christmas cookie baskets, this is one of those times I’d go ahead and let myself employ the stand mixer, now that I’ve had the experience of making this recipe “properly” by hand at least once.
All that to say…please know that I’m not over here judging, if you go straight for the stand mixer!
What temperature should the oven be?
Without an oven temperature specified, I tried baking these at both 325°F, and 350°. I found I liked the results best at 350°, since that allowed for golden brown edges, with a center that was still tender when enjoying the cookies warm from the oven.
Baked at either temperature, these will cool to a crisp cookie that keeps well, as cookies for holiday entertaining were supposed to.
How thick to roll the dough
I found that about ¼″ worked well for these. I did try making some a little thicker and others a little thinner, but ¼″ seems to give a result that feels like the “right” one.
You can tell from the photos that these cookies don’t spread or rise much, so the finished cookie remains about that same size as what you cut out.
I feel at this point I should draw attention to my failure in cookie cutting…while the directions clearly say to cut these in hearts and diamonds, you can tell I cut mine in hearts and circles! I’d just rolled out the dough, and that little round heirloom tin cutter sits just above the counter, so I grabbed it to cut just a few…and ended up totally forgetting to cut any of the dough into the prescribed diamonds! Ah, well. Next time.
How long to bake these?
Depending on the size of the cookies, I found these cooked in 9-11 minutes, at 350°F. They’re done when the centers are set and edges are golden brown.
I definitely enjoyed these more than either of my kids, but I have a feeling that if I just keep making them every year, eventually I’ll win everybody over, and they’ll enjoy them as much as I do.
Wishful thinking? Perhaps. More for me…
Until next time, ~ Anna
This post was originally published in the 1800’s Housewife newsletter. Not on the mailing list? You can join here to receive full recipes with cooking notes straight to your inbox!
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