Pies and cobblers are great and all, but what to do if you didn’t save a lot of room for dessert? Our answer: A cookie or two will do. Cookies are synonymous with the holidays, whether you’re baking pumpkin spice sandies for Thanksgiving or decorating gingerbread men for Christmastime. And they’re not just for an after-meal sweet: Snack on a few by the fireplace, pack and exchange your favorites with friends or leave a plateful for Santa on his big night.
Sure, you can bake a batch of tried-and-true chocolate chip or snickerdoodle cookies—or you can try something new in your home. The following three recipes from My Art of Entertaining: Recipes and Tips from Miss Maggie’s Kitchen by Héloïse Brion (Flammarion, 2022) will win over any crowd. They’re easy to make and are a must-try for the holidays.
Lemon-Thyme Shortbreads
Makes two dozen cookies
Ingredients:
- 1¾ sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup superfine sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- finely grated zest of 1 lemon, preferably organic
- leaves of 3–4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
For the icing:
- 1 egg white
- 1 Tbs. lemon juice, plus a little finely grated zest
- confectioners’ sugar, as needed
- leaves of 3–4 sprigs fresh thyme
Directions:
Cream together the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl, then beat in the egg and vanilla extract. Stir in the lemon zest and thyme, followed by the flour. Roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper to a thickness of about ¼ inch and chill for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F. Cut out 1½- to 2-inch disks using a plain cookie cutter and place on two baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Chill for 10 minutes, then bake for 15 minutes, until lightly golden. Let cool.
To prepare the icing, whisk together the egg white, lemon juice and zest in a bowl, then gradually whisk in confectioners’ sugar until the icing is the consistency you want. Spread a little icing on top of each cookie and sprinkle with thyme. Let sit for 10–15 minutes.
Holiday Biscotti
Makes 15–20 cookies
Ingredients:
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup superfine sugar
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. bitter almond extract
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 2 pinches fleur de sel
- scant 1 cup dried cranberries
- ¾ cup shelled pistachios, shelled
- ⅔ cup almonds, toasted and blanched
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 340°F. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, superfine sugar, vanilla extract, almond extract and eggs until combined. Stir in the flour, baking powder and fleur de sel, then add the cranberries and nuts. Mix well with your hands to make a dough, then shape into two logs about 2¾- to 3¼-inches wide and 7- to 8-inches long. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 25–30 minutes, until lightly golden. Remove from the oven, let cool for 5–6 minutes, then cut each log crosswise into 7–10 slices. Place the slices cut side down on the baking sheet, lower the oven temperature to 325°F and bake for an additional 8–9 minutes until dry. Let cool. Feel free to experiment with different spices, dried fruits or nuts.
Pecan-Pistachio Bites
Makes about 30 cookies
Ingredients:
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, diced and softened
- ⅔ cup confectioners’ sugar, plus extra for dusting
- a few drops of vanilla extract
- 2 pinches fleur de sel
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- generous ½ cup pecan halves
- generous ½ cup pistachios, shelled
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the butter, sugar, vanilla extract and fleur de sel in a large bowl and beat until combined. Stir in the flour. Grind the pecans and pistachios to a powder, leaving a few larger pieces, and mix into the dough. Roll into balls slightly smaller than golf balls and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10–12 minutes, until lightly golden. Let cool for about 10 minutes, so the cookies firm up and don’t crumble when removed from the sheet. Place a little confectioners’ sugar in a soup plate and roll the cookies in it until well coated.
Recipes and photo reprinted with permission from My Art of Entertaining: Recipes and Tips from Miss Maggie’s Kitchen by Héloïse Brion (Flammarion, 2022). Photos by Christophe Roué