It’s Christmas time. A time for cheer, love, baking, gifts, and all of the joys of the season. I am sure we can all recall a special tradition from our childhood that as an adult we either keep going or we remember it with a special fondness that makes our hearts feel warm. For me, it is a special cookie recipe that my grandma made every year at Christmas.
I do not know the story behind where this recipe came from, but I do know what it meant to me. My grandma made these frosted cashew cookies every year at Christmas time. Apparently one year when I was a small child, my grandma made these cookies and I told her I loved them. She then made them every year because she knew I liked them. That may not have been the only reason she made them, but she had me in mind in her holiday baking. I lost my grandma six-and-a-half years ago. I miss her always, but especially around the holidays.
To keep her memory alive and to share her with my kids, I like to share special traditions and recipes that have a place in my heart.
It makes me feel close to her when I make the same creations for my family.
These cookies are fairly easy to make. Most of the ingredients are things you probably already have in your kitchen. To start, cream together ½ cup (1 stick) butter and sugar. Then beat in one egg and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. You can definitely use a spoon for this. I prefer my stand mixer because I feel like the ingredients are more evenly distributed. Whichever kind of mixing device you have will work just fine. After those are creamed together, you can add your dry ingredients of baking powder (¾ teaspoon), salt (¾ teaspoon), flour (two cups), and cashews (1 ½ cups). You can use either salted or unsalted cashews. Alternate the dry ingredients with ⅓ cup of sour cream.
Once everything is mixed in well, form into balls and place on a prepared cookie sheet.
Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. I tend to check mine after eight minutes to be sure they are not getting too dark on the underside of the cookie. It will completely depend on how warm your oven gets.
After the cookies are made and cooled, it is time to frost them.
In a saucepan, brown ½ cup of butter. To brown the butter, place the butter in a saucepan on medium heat. This takes a little bit of time. However, once it browns it can burn very quickly. The key is frequent stirring. Once it is browned, stir and remove from heat.
Add three tablespoons of half-and-half or evaporated milk, one teaspoon vanilla, and two cups of powdered sugar.
Once that is done, spread over the tops of cookies. And after that, ta da–you are finished!
Christmas time is a time to build traditions with your loved ones.
What are some favorite Christmas baking traditions your family has? Drop us a comment below!
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