I am so happy that I can share Aunt Edna’s Christmas Cookies with you. These are such a wonderful cookie. They are subtly sweet and flaky. The brown sugar in these cookies gives them their distinctly different flavor from the sugar cookies that we are so accustomed to. There are only 4 ingredients in these cookies: butter, brown sugar, flour and water. So there is nothing to compete with the sweet molasses flavor of the brown sugar.
Okay, so I must admit that I am not very artistic when it comes to decorating cookies. It is definitely not one of my strong points, but I thought that these came out cute! And I know you are wondering why there are red, white, and blue Buffalo cookies mixed in with my Christmas cut outs. Well, if you are in Buffalo, you know that the Bills are playing today. So, I had to get in the spirit of the holiday and the football frenzy that has taken over the city this year. Go Bills!
Aunt Edna
I never met Aunt Edna, but I have heard so much about her from my husband and his sisters. Aunt Edna was a great baker and wonderful lady. John loved to visit her, when he was young. She was always cooking or baking something delicious. John and his sisters, often remember the wonderful foods they had with their aunt and the times they spent at her home. Even though she has been gone for so many years, she created some indelible memories that they still talk about today. Aunt Edna is especially remembered during this time of the year. When the baking starts, John always reminisces about her and those delicious cutouts. Isn’t it amazing how we can carry memories with us through food!
She shared some of her recipes with my sister-in-law, Wende. And Wende has offered to share them with me. So I will definitely be posting more of her most requested dishes. Stay tuned for her Danish Puff Pastry.
Some truly good cookies
I have heard a lot about Aunt Edna’s cutout cookies over the years. This year I finally made them. Now I understand what all the fuss was about. They truly are good! I absolutely love the flavor of these cookies and I am sure you will too. I have a sugar cookie recipe that I have been using for years. It is the Ann Clark Ltd Sugar cookies and I have to say that it is my standard for all other sugar cookie recipes because they are that good! But now I will have two sugar cookie recipes from here on in. Aunt Edna’s cookies will make the list every year.
How to make Aunt Edna’s Christmas Cutouts
- There are only 4 ingredients in these cookies: butter, brown sugar, flour and water.
- Mix all of the ingredients until it just starts to form a dough.
- The dough comes together kind of like a pie crust dough does. It is a bit crumbly.
- Form it into a ball and wrap it with plastic wrap. Then refrigerate it for at least an hour.
- Generously flour your work surface and be sure to flour the top of the dough as well so that the rolling pin does not stick to it.
- You can roll them out to about 1/8″ if you like a thin cookie. I like my cookies a little thicker so roll them to about 1/4″.
- Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes. Mine did not brown when I removed them from the oven but here were definitely done.
Here are some additional recipes perfect for the holidays:
The Best “Cuccidati” Italian Fig Cookies
The Best Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Aunt Edna’s Christmas Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup Butter unsalted, softened
- 1/2 cup Brown sugar firmly packed
- 2 1/2 cups Flour all purpose
- 3 tbsp Water cold
Frosting
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1 1/2 boxes of 10X Confectioners Sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 2-3 tsp. milk
Instructions
- Using a mixer combine the butter, brown sugar and flour and water until it is just combined. Form into a ball (It will be crumbly and resemble a pie crust dough)
- Wrap in plastic wrap and chill dough at least one hour.
- On a generously floured surface, roll the dough to 1/8 – 1/4" with rolling pin. Be sure to flour the top of the dough so that the rolling pin does not stick to it.
- Cut the cookies into your desired shapes. Then using a thin floured spatula gently lift the cookie off the surface and arrange on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the cookies just start to to turn golden.
- Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes, before transferring them to a cooling rack.
Frosting
- Blend all above ingredients until smooth.
- Frost cookies by hand or in a pastry bag.
