AMISH CHRISTMAS COOKIES
It would never do for anyone to go away from the table at an Amish house without being filled to the bursting point. As the old Amish saying goes, “May a child never run out of your pantry with a tear in his eye.”
And this is never so true as it is around the holidays. Although the Amish are justly famous for their cakes and pies, no Amish housewife would want to be considered lax in the area of baking Christmas cookies. In fact, there’s an unspoken sense that a woman’s culinary skills can be judged by the quantity and variety of her Christmas cookies!
My mother was a true Pennsylvania Dutch cook when it came to her Christmas cookies, the baking of which usually started early in December. The problem was to keep my brother and sister and me from eating them before the holiday season had properly started!
Here, for your enjoyment, are a couple of favorite recipes:
Snickerdoodles
This is a traditional Pennsylvania German cookie, perhaps the best-known one with its light brown, crinkled top. A great favorite with children!
½ cup softened butter or margarine
¾ cup sugar
1 egg
1 ¾ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon of salt
Mixture of 2 tablespoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon for rolling
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the egg and beat until fluffy. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt. Blend dry ingredients into the creamed mixture to make dough, adding more flour if needed.
Shape the dough into balls the size of unshelled walnuts. Roll cookie balls in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Place on greased cookie sheet and flatten with a fork. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to cooling rack, cook, and enjoy! Makes about three dozen, depending on size.
Pfeffernuss
Pfeffernuss, or peppernuts, are a spicy traditional cookie, and there are as many variations of the recipe as there are Pennsylvania Dutch cooks.
¼ cup butter
3 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
3 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 tablespoon ground cardamom seed
Cream butter and sugar together. Add the beaten eggs. Sift in the flour with the baking powder and spices. The dough should be very stiff. If necessary for handling, add a little milk or cream. Roll into small balls and place on greased cookie sheet. Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 10 minutes, or until light brown. If desired, dust with confectioner’s sugar.
Do you have a favorite traditional cookie recipe for the holidays?
THE SECOND CHRISTMAS by Marta Perry
An Amish Holiday Novel # 1
When Leah Beiler pictured returning to Promise Glen, she imagined taking everything she learned from her aunt’s business in Upstate New York and starting up a quaint herbal tea shop of her own. What she didn’t expect was for Josiah Burkhalter to insist on helping her. Josiah might have been her childhood sweetheart but they’ve both changed a lot since then and Leah’s not sure she can trust the man who once broke her heart.
Josiah is determined to make the most of this unexpected second chance. When he hears of Leah’s plans to open her own shop, he resolves to help in any way he can—beginning his gentle campaign to win her back by renovating the small cottage on her family’s farm.
During her time away, Leah looked forward to once again spending the holiday season with her family, especially Second Christmas, December 26th, a time of celebrating with extended family and close neighbors like the Burkhalters. But as Christmas nears, her feelings for Josiah grow more confused, strengthened by their time of working together. Now it will take all the magic of the season for Leah to confront her fears and reach for the love she deserves.
Amish | Romance | Christian Contemporary [Berkley, On Sale: September 27, 2022, Mass Market Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593337929 / eISBN: 9780593337936]
Buy THE SECOND CHRISTMAS: Amazon.com | Kindle | BN.com | Apple Books | Kobo | Google Play | Powell’s Books | Books-A-Million | Indie BookShops | Ripped Bodice | Love’s Sweet Arrow | Walmart.com | Book Depository | Target.com | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR
About Marta Perry
Marta Perry realized she wanted to be a writer at age eight, when she read her first Nancy Drew novel. Most girls reached the end of that book wanting to be Nancy. Marta wanted to be the person who created the story. The dream lay hidden for years while she pursued other career goals, but eventually it re-surfaced, and she began to write, beginning with short children’s stories for Sunday school take-home papers. After seeing hundreds of her short stories published in a variety of magazines, Marta finally started work on the novel she’d always wanted to write. Thirty-some published novels later, she still feels the same excitement when she begins a new book.
A lifetime spent in rural Pennsylvania and her own Pennsylvania Dutch roots led Marta to the books she writes now about the Amish. The Pleasant Valley Amish series from Berkley Books are longer, more complex emotional stories with Amish main characters, while her Love Inspired suspense stories are shorter, more adventure-filled books set in Pennsylvania Dutch country. She also writes a Love Inspired series, The Bodine Family, set on the South Carolina coast where she and her husband have a second home.
Marta lives with her husband in a century-old farmhouse in the Pennsylvania countryside, but spends winters at their vacation home in South Carolina. When she’s not writing, she’s active in the life of her church and enjoys traveling and spending time with her three children and six beautiful grandchildren.
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