Whether you’re talking about what to feed Santa or the abundance of gingerbread men, maybe no pastry is tied as deeply to the holidays as are cookies.
Our Food Team asked readers to submit their classic recipes into the revival of the L.A. Times Holiday Cookie Bake-Off.
More than 150 recipes from throughout Southern California were received.
Of those, recipes from 25 finalists were prepared in November by students and faculty from Los Angeles Trade-Technical College’s culinary arts program.
Then the real heavy lifting (wink, wink) was left to a panel of judges, including some L.A. Times journalists.
Yes, many cookies were eaten on your behalf, but a top 10 was announced.
Here’s a sampling from that selection.
(Catherine Dzilenski / For The Times)
Roxanne Lecrivain’s Clementine Stollen Cookies
Every year the high school French teacher creates a new holiday cookie and throws an exchange party with friends.
Last year’s holiday cookie was a mini version of stollen, the traditional German Christmas bread studded with dried and candied fruit, filled with marzipan and coated in melted butter and powdered sugar.
Originally from Toulouse, Lecrivain says she wanted to replicate it as a cookie.
“I’ve never had any issues with making stollen,” she says. “It’s not hard if you follow the steps.”
Her stollen cookies have a California touch: She makes candied citrus with clementines from a neighbor’s tree. You could purchase candied orange or lemon peel at the store, she says, which works great too, but “the candied clementine segments are so good and very easy to make!”
(Catherine Dzilenski / For The Times)
Jake Hagen’s Winter Cookie with Cardamom, Citrus and Almond
Born and raised in Granada Hills, Hagen grew up baking cookies with his grandmother for the holidays, including classic snowballs and sugar cookies with sprinkles and icing.
“My grandma always had the four grandkids over to bake,” Hagen says. “She and I were always looking for recipes.”
Now a professional baker, Hagen creates a holiday cookie board every year: “I always had a creativity that burned inside me to expand the normal five or so cookies, and that grew to eight, then nine and that got to 25.
“This cookie is what made me fall in love with cardamom to begin with. It’s an old recipe we have been making for years for Christmas, and I never celebrate a Christmas without this cookie. It looks so beautiful and snowy with the icing, and a little orange zest really adds a pop.”
(Catherine Dzilenski / For The Times)
Vanessa Galindo’s Sweet Potato Whoopie Pie with Maple-Orange Cream Cheese Filling
This is a big, fun bun of a cookie — soft and cakey and fragrant with warm holiday spices.
Put two together, filled with an orange-and-maple take on cream cheese frosting, and you have whoopie pie. Traditionally made with moist chocolate cookies, Galindo’s version leans into the season with freshly roasted sweet potatoes, baked until they release their caramel-y juices.
“I like cakey cookies,” Galindo says. “I like a good, crisp biscuit cookie too. But what I really like is a cakey cookie that’s warm and spicy.”
A month ago, Galindo launched her own micro-bakery, Tender Batch, creating weekly drops of cakes, pies, cookies and other baked goods for pickup. “I’ve always loved food,” she says. “I’m originally from Guadalajara, and I remember waking up to the smell of my mom’s pound cakes, simple things. In the summers she would take us to the Mercado de Abastos. She had connections in the market for the best stuff.
“What I’ve learned through her was how organized she was in the kitchen. Also quality. She believed if you had really fresh quality products, you don’t have to create complicated recipes. That’s why I roast my sweet potatoes. That really does make a difference.”
For all the entries, check out the full list.
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