Author Kathleen Ernst's Favorite Christmas Cookies

A few years ago I had the pleasure of moderating a panel at a Bouchercon with Kathleen Ernst. I knew her Edgar and Agatha nominated American Girl History Mysteries, that she had won an Emmy for her television writing/producing and I knew that she was a nationally known Civil War expert. What I hadn't known was that I was about to meet an amazingly talented person who writes books for all ages who I would then be lucky enough to have as a friend. I've seen Kathleen do programs for fond American Girl fans, for adult writers, and other audiences with the same humor, skill, and love of her craft. Now I see she has cooking skills as well! Enjoy!

-Amy

My Favorite Christmas Cookies

I didn?t know my father?s mother very well. Grandmother Ernst was Swiss, and reserved. I was too young when she died to have forged any kind of real relationship with her. I?ve always regretted that. I have no personal mementos, no treasured keepsakes.

Not so with my mother?s mother. Grandma Johnston lived long enough to know that I?d developed a sincere interest in family history.

Each year Grandma J. baked hundreds of Christmas cookies. Wherever I happened to be living, I could count on receiving a tin box full of Christmas cookies. I visited one December during her final years, when her health was failing. She sat in a wheelchair in the kitchen, directing my grandfather as he mixed the cookie dough. I can still see her frail hands patting the dough into balls, and placing them carefully on cookie sheets.

After Grandma J. died, I inherited her recipe cards. Some were decades old, battered and ink stained. Some were much newer, even typed. If she?d gotten the recipe from a friend, she noted the name.

I thumbed through the cookie recipes, recognizing family classics, puzzling over types I didn?t recall. Then I came to a card for Nut Wafers. In parenthesis, my grandma had written ?Mrs. Ernst.?

I?d never known that Grandma J. had gotten this, or any, recipe from Grandmother E. This was something personal, a tiny glimpse into my Swiss Grandmother?s life. I could hardly wait to bake these cookies.

Following the recipe precisely, I mixed up a batch. I used Grandma J.?s old brown bowl, the one she?d always used for cookies. I knew the Nut Wafers would be perfectly wonderful. After all, both of my grandmothers had liked them.

Well?they weren?t perfect. When I used a damp cloth stretched over a class to flatten the dough before baking, as instructed, it stuck to the fabric. When I baked the cookies, the edges crisped before the centers had set.

I spent a couple of days feeling sad. Then I tried again. I gave myself permission to tinker. With just a couple of minor changes, I ended up with a cookie that I love.

Each December, I bake Nut Wafers. Doing so still makes me feel close to both of my grandmothers. It doesn?t matter that I changed the recipe a bit. Now it belongs to all of us.

Kathleen?s Grandmothers? Nut Wafers
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups raw sugar
2 eggs
2 t. vanilla
1 c. ground walnuts
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, melted
1-1/2 t. salt
½ t. baking soda
2-1/2 c. flour

Cream the butter with the sugar. Beat in eggs, vanilla, ground nuts, and melted chocolate. Stir the remaining ingredients together in a separate bowl, and then add slowly to the dough mixture.

Drop by rounded teaspoons onto a greased cookie sheet, about 2? apart. These spread, so don?t use too much dough. Bake 10-12 minutes at 325 degrees. Cool slightly before removing to a drying rack.