Thankfully I live in France. Come December, I have already built up a butter immunity which will serve me through the holiday season. And my affinity for Christmas cookies. Subscribing to the late Gourmet magazine as a precocious preteen, the Christmas cookie issue always promised sugar-laced fantasies of royal icing, meringue and ambitious ways to permanently dust the kitchen with icing sugar. Although cashmere sweaters are cool, I prefer giving a pretty parcel full of homemade treats. It started with grade school teachers, evolved into an embarrassing expression of unrequited love, and now is a holiday staple for many grateful French friends.
Nevertheless, I have curated a few of my favorite cookie recipes from the past few years, francofly-tested and Frenchie-approved:
-An unexpected mix of spices warms up a classic shortbread in these orange cardamom cookies.
-These festive, sugar-laced red and green pistachio cranberry icebox cookies were my salvation, sent to me by my mom during finals week my senior year. And I asked her for the recipe tout suite.
-Can’t forget about the chocolate! Or Martha Stewart. I love these chocolate crackle cookies.
-And finally, an irresistible recent addition to my cookie collection, nutmeg maple butter cookies from Smitten Kitchen. Sprinkled with a little fleur de sel, they make one multidimensional butter cookie.
Happy baking.
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ADORABLE!