A Collection of Christmas Cookies

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It’s Cookie Week around here which simply means that we’re spending the whole week talking about cookies and only cookies. If you haven’t checked out Monday’s brand new biscotti recipe, hop on over and give it a read and add them to your cookie baking list too.

Christmas cookies are especially fun to make (and enjoy) because usually, they are little crunchy works of art. Here are a few of my very favorite holiday cookie recipes from the blog.

You can go directly to each of these recipes by clicking on the corresponding photo.

And because any cookie can be a Christmas cookie if you just believe, you can browse all of my cookie recipes here.

Strawberry Sumac Fregolotta

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This simple and summery strawberry sumac fregolotta is an easy Italian shortbread tart, filled with sticky, homemade strawberry jam.

strawberry sumac fregolotta 1.jpg

I’ve been taking the last few days off of Instagram and it has been luxurious. It took me a while to realize, but I’ve been stuck in a creative rut. The realities of the pandemic have finally reached my kitchen. A lot of the inspiration that I draw from food friends and restaurants has run out and I’ve been feeling like I’m grasping for recipe ideas from nowhere. On top of that, spending hours a day on Instagram with a screen that constantly refreshes new recipes and photos wasn't helping. My brain felt like it was both too loud and too quiet at the same time. The last few days have been peaceful. I’ve been working on some backend blog stuff, trying out spontaneous recipes, and playing with my camera so that I’m prepared to get you all sorts of new recipes this summer.

One of the places that where I’ve found inspiration during this restaurant-less spell has been my cookbook shelf. I’ve been going back to old favorites, like my used, beat-up copy of Chez Panisse Desserts, published in 1985. There are no pictures, only pencil illustrations of fruit, and it’s a treasure trove of produce-inspired pastries. (It’s also apparently selling for $240 on Amazon so I will be taking my copy to the grave with me.) The other book I’ve been enjoying lately is Thalia Ho’s Wild Sweetness. I’ve been baking my way through it’s pages over the last month or so and it’s where the inspiration for this tart came from.

What is a fregolotta?

A fregolotta is an Italian tart, made from a coarse, shortbread-like crust. The name comes from “fregole”, the Venetian word for crumbs and the same shortbread dough that gets pressed into the bottom of the pan, also gets scattered across the top haphazardly. Often, the crust incorporates some sort of nut or grain, like semolina or polenta or almonds. In this rendition, the crust is made from ground sunflower seeds, cornmeal, flour, sugar, egg yolks, and butter. This Italian jam tart can be filled with any jam you like, but since we are smack in the middle of strawberry season (and they are my very favorite fruit), I couldn’t resist cooking fresh strawberries down with a little sugar and bright, tart sumac to create a sticky, sweet jam filling. In practical notes, if your jam seems a little too liquid-y, just scoop out the berries and reserve some of the strawberry sauce for drizzling on ice cream later.

Strawberry Sumac Fregolotta
Yield
makes one 9" tart pan
Author
Anna Ramiz
Prep time
20 Min
Cook time
45 Min
Total time
1 H & 4 M

Strawberry Sumac Fregolotta

This Italian pastry is made of a shortbread-style crumble crust filled with sticky strawberry sumac jam.

Ingredients

for the strawberry sumac filling
  • 1 lb strawberries, trimmed and quartered
  • 1/2 lb granulated sugar
  • Juice of 1/2 of a large lemon
  • 1 tbsp ground sumac
for the crust
  • 1 1/4 cup + 1 tsp (160 g) all purpose flour
  • 120 g ground sunflower seeds
  • 1/4 cup (40 g) cornmeal
  • 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp (115 g) granulated sugar
  • Pinch of salt
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp (200 g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed

Instructions

  1. Stir together all filling ingredients in a medium pot and bring to a boil over medium heat. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, until strawberries have broken down and the mixture has thickened. Transfer to a bowl and chill until room temperature.
  2. While the filling is cooling, place sunflower seeds in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Add the flour, cornmeal, sugar, and salt and pulse once or twice just to combine.
  3. Add the butter to the food processor and pulse until butter has broken up and is pea-sized. Add the yolks and pulse until mixed in and dough just begins to come together.
  4. Press 2/3 of the dough in an even layer on the bottom and up the sides of a tart pan. Spoon the strawberry filling* (see notes) into the tart pan and crumble the remaining 1/3 of the dough over the top of the tart.
  5. Place the tart pan on a parchment-lined baking sheet at bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes, until filling is bubbly and crust is golden brown. Let cool completely before slicing.

Notes:

If the strawberry filling seems like it has a lot of liquid, fish the strawberry pieces out of the jam and don’t add all of the leftover juice to the fregolotta. Keep the juice for topping on ice cream!

Similar Recipes

A Fancy Strawberry Shortcake

Buckwheat and Black Plum Crumble

Blackberry Lavender Clafoutis

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Lemon Bars with Rosemary Shortbread

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This week there were 25 naked lemons in my refrigerator. This is part of the problem when you bake for a living. Remnants of lemons, deli containers of egg whites, and multiple tupperwares filled with caramel find their way into your fridge and suddenly you have to figure out what to do with them. This week’s surplus resulted in these delicious little lemon squares that are perfect to give as holiday treats!

Now, I know that lemon bars feel very “springy”. They are supposed to be made when it’s warm outside and our Instagram feeds are filled with fruity cocktails and ice cream sandwiches. But I think that winter is the perfect time for a good lemon bar. From November to April, citrus fruits are at their peak and are often overflowing from our fruit bowls, which can be otherwise barren for lack of spring and summer produce. These bars are also easy to put together, only require two components, and can be cut into little bite-sized squares, perfect for stuffing into Christmas cookie tins and giving out to co-workers. People will thank you as the tangy-ness brings a welcome respite in a season filled with sugar and chocolate and nuts.

So look no further for your next holiday baking activity. I adapted this recipe from the newest issue of Bon Appetit and you could definitely substitute lemons with another citrus (orange or grapefruit would be delightful!). The rosemary in the shortbread gives an earthiness and floral quality that complements the sharpness of the lemon curd, leaving you with a perfect bite and successfully clearing my refrigerator of all of my zest-less lemons. Now to figure out what to do with all those egg whites…

Lemon Bars with Rosemary Shortbread

Ingredients: 
For the shortbread: 

1 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup powdered sugar

2 tbsp granulated sugar

3/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped

1/2 cup butter, cold and cut into pieces 

2 egg yolks

For the lemon curd:

3 large eggs

3 egg yolks

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tbsp cornstarch

Zest of 1 large lemon

1 cup fresh lemon juice 

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature, cut into pieces


Procedure: 

To make the shortbread: 

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper so that there is at least 3 inches overhang on each side. Set aside. 

  2. In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, powdered sugar, sugar, salt, and rosemary and pulse a few times to mix together. Add the cold butter and pulse until the largest pieces of butter are pea-sized. Add egg yolks and pulse until dough begins to come together in clumps. Transfer the dough to the prepared pan and use your fingers to press it into an even layer on the bottom of the pan. Bake for 25-28 minutes, until golden brown. 

To make the curd: 

  1. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees. 

  2. In a small bowl, whisk together sugar and cornstarch to break up clumps. Then transfer the sugar/cornstarch mixture to a medium-large saucepan, add eggs and egg yolks and whisk until smooth and sugar is mostly dissolved. 

  3. Whisk in lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract. 

  4. Place the saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the curd begins to bubble around the edges and thicken slightly, about 5 minutes. Simmer, still whisking, for about 1 more minute and remove from heat. Strain curd into a large bowl and add butter, piece by piece, whisking to incorporate after each piece. 

  5. Pour curd into the pan and spread evenly over the shortbread. Bake for 20-25 minutes until curd is set (there will be a slight wobble in the middle) and then let cool. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill overnight. 

  6. Before serving, slice into squares and dust with powdered sugar and fresh rosemary.