Snickerdoodles with brown butter are a cinnamon surprise from the U.S. I decided that they are perfect for the season. In case you don’t know, snickerdoodles have a similar base as sugar cookies, but are then formed into balls which are then rolled in a mixture of sugar and cinnamon before you bake them. As far as I know you can find snickerdoodles in the U.S. throughout the year, however, due to their cinnamon flavor I decided to make some during the season.
Yay, tomorrow is the official beginning of the season! That’s why I brought along some super cute santas made from sugar cookie dough. I stumbled across the idea last year when I visited one of my favorite blogs, Tieghan made these cute little santas for her cookie box and I was hooked immediately. So finally, one year later, I can scratch off this item from my baking list. Oh, and in case you didn’t know, we have a special day here in Germany on December 6th, Nikolaus is yet another day when children put their freshly polished boots outside the door and then secretly they are filled with sweets and the like. So typically, I wanted these to be ready for December 6. I just hate it when bloggers post the idea on the day itself, I decided to give you the chance to actually make these little cuties on time, so that’s why I am starting the season with them!
Don’t they look amazing? I find them perfect for a cookie box, as a little gift, to show your love, there are so many ideas when to take them with you. I even managed to freeze them, sugar cookies are super easy to freeze when plain, but I even froze these santas sucessfully with royal icing aka their beards. Seriously, why not invite a friend, turn on some music and make these santas? Preparing the dough doesn’t take long, and forming the santas is so much more fun when you have company.
Recipes with a story behind are the best in my opinion. This definitely holds true for these Heidesand cookies. For that reason I feel especially honored to introduce them here. The recipe was passed down from the lovely lady Mrs. P. Mrs. P was busy baking these cookies for her granddaugther when the handyman who was working at her place asked why it was smelling so nice in her kitchen. Mrs. P. replied that she was preparing Heidesand cookies as these were the favorite of her granddaugther and immediately handed a cookie to the handyman. He was so excited about the cookies after he tried them that he continued praising them as soon as he returned home. The girlfriend of the handyman listened to his story and immediately requested that he ask for the recipe the next day when he was about to return to Mrs. P’s house. He glady returned the favor and asked Mrs. P. for the recipe. She got very excited, immediately sat down and wrote down the recipe for him, which he then faithfully passed on to his girldfriend. And this is the point where the story takes a tragic turn. Because Mrs. P. passed away shortly after. But had passed on the recipe to the girlfriend, who has baked this recipe many times and now passed on the recipe to me. I will definitely hold it very dear in my recipe collection.
