Cinnamon-Sugar Glee

When I was a child, I liked to sleep in. My wife likes to sleep in. My children like to sleep in. If left on our own, we would sleep past nine nearly every morning. However, being a responsible person I’ve bowed to the alarm, getting up with the sun for years in order to put in a full day’s work. I’ve adjusted, and even though I’ve come to enjoy the quiet solitude of the early morning hours, on weekends I still enjoy an extra hour or two of sleep—which is a pipe dream when visiting my in-laws.

Typically, when visiting Grandpa’s, my wife’s sister’s family is there too. Her kids don’t sleep late at all. They are up at the crack of dawn no matter if it’s a school day or weekend. The last time we were there her youngest woke up at 5:00 a.m. The rustling upstairs tends to stir my young’uns, rousing them into energetic wakefulness. Before I know it, I’m in the kitchen at 7:30 trying to calm the wild beasts with some food. And what they all love most is cinnamon-sugar toast.

Cinnamon is one of the most remarkable spices. It dates back as far as 2800 BC. According to The Spice House, “Romans used cinnamon to make their strong, bitter wine palatable, Greeks to season meat and vegetable dishes, Arabs in tea, and nearly everyone in baked goods. English nobility hoarded the delicate Ceylon cinnamon to flavor breads and puddings.” In the first century AD, cinnamon was worth more than silver. You can use it in all sorts of baked goods: apple-cinnamon donuts, cinnamon buns, or Paula Deen’s Baked French Toast Casserole. It’s great in savory dishes like Michael Chiarello’s Roasted Butternut Squash Soup, or beef samosas. And it’s essential in Christmas wassail or hot buttered rum. About.com reports that it can even “improve blood glucose and cholesterol levels in people with Type 2 diabetes,” according to some studies. I don’t know much about that, but I do know that mixed with some sugar, it’s like magical pixie dust to our children. They can’t get enough of it, and I think it actually makes them fly, at least for a moment when coming off the couch. Every morning, I throw a bunch of slices of bread into the toaster oven and turn the nob to medium dark. I grab a small bowl and add a tablespoon of ground cinnamon. Then I mix in about a half cup of sugar. After I butter the hot toast, I liberally sprinkle the sugary cinnamon concoction all over the bread until it forms a deep dark brown granulated goodness on top. It sure does the trick to quiet the kids for about five minutes, or until the sugar starts to take affect. I may not get to sleep in when visiting the grandparents, but I sure do get to enjoy the glee the kids experience when gobbling up their cinnamon-sugar toast.

Geoff

THUMBPRINT COOKIES

THUMBPRINT COOKIES

by Cathy Lee Gruhn

From sending out cards to the mad dash to buy the perfect gift; the holidays bring something exciting and personal to each of us.  I was born and raised in New York City, and year after year the excitement for me is seeing the stores up and down Fifth Avenue presenting their windows ushering in the holiday season.  From the red-bowed encrusted Cartier to the Victorian-esque look surrounding Tiffany’s; to the couture delights of Bergdorf Goodman and Saks; and of course the time-honored themed windows of Lord & Taylor; the anchor of it all—the Rockefeller Christmas Tree with its blue and green twinkling lights. 

December equates not only the holidays for me, it also means a plethora of holiday treats and the steady whir of my mixer with the aroma of butter, sugar and vanilla rising through my kitchen.  This is the time I go full throttle baking!  The giddiness takes over as I scour through magazines reviewing the variety of cookie recipes trying to come to a decision on what I will make on my “great cookie baking day.”   

While I’m no Martha Stewart, I can pride myself in some pretty good sweet treats and no matter which cookies I make, there will be one specific cookie that is always included, because this cookie, the buttery thumbprint cookie with its jewel toned fruit jelly filling always brings a smile and brings back wonderful memories of holidays past.  This simple, classic cookie is the one cookie I would make with my mother as a little girl year after year. 

Classically known as “The Butter Ball,” today most of us know it as a “Thumbprint Cookie.” My mother would prepare the classic butter cookie, and then the all-important job of the thumbprint was up to me, as my thumb was always the ideal-size where the preserves would find their place of honor.  This year my gift boxes will likely include my choir of gingerbread boys and girls making their return, as will a great white chocolate-lemon biscotti and some new additions may include a stained glass sugar cookie, a peppermint brownie with white chocolate and even maybe a savory cheese and rosemary palmier…  However, no matter how many cookies I search out or try, my mother’s Butter Ball cookie, a.k.a. The Thumbprint will have its place of honor.  

What’s your favorite holiday cookie recipe or memory?

BUTTER BALLS

Preheat oven to 325º

1/2 lb. butter

2/3 cup sugar

2 egg yolks

2 cups flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1 Tbs. vanilla

Tart jelly, preferably currant  

1. Cream 1/2 lb. butter with 2/3 cup sugar until smooth. Beat in 2 egg yolks, one at a time, until smooth.
2. Sift 2 cups flour. Measure and re-sift twice with 1/4 teaspoon salt.  Gradually add to the butter mixture.  Beat again when all the flour has been added, and finally beat in 1 tablespoon vanilla.
3. Grease and flour a cookie sheet.  Scoop out 1/2 teaspoon dough at a time.  Roll between your palms into tiny "butter balls" about the size of a marble.  Give them room to spread by placing on the cookie sheet about 1 inch apart and 1 inch away from the edges.  With tip of a finger, form a depression on top of each "ball." Fill each depression with a small amount of tart jelly and bake in 325º oven.  Watch them carefully and bake them only until sandy-colored.  They are done when slightly browned underneath.  Approximately 12 to 13 minutes is the required time.  This recipe makes about 75 "butter balls."

Note:  These cookies resemble a bowl of cherries in that it is almost impossible for the members of your family to leave them alone.  Use the tip of a knife or the tip of a small spoon to insert the jelly (preferably currant) into the depressions of the cookies.

Recipe courtesy The Perfect Hostess Cook Book © 1950 by Mildred O. Knopf.

Image courtesy of DashRecipes.com.