Holiday Grind

¼ cup pecans, chopped (optional)

Step 1—Make your dough: Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and the sugars. Add the eggs, sour cream, orange extract, vanilla, and lemon zest, and blend well. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, allspice, and nutmeg.

Step 2—Fold in your goodies: Using a large spoon or spatula, fold in the chopped fruit and (optional) pecans.

Step 3—Form your log and chill: Dust your hands with flour. Dump your dough onto a nice big sheet of wax paper. Form the dough into a long log about 1 foot in length and 2 inches in diameter. Wrap the log up tightly in the wax paper and chill well in refrigerator—at least 3 full hours. (Overnight is even better. You can even make the dough in advance of baking and keep in the fridge for a day or two.)

Step 4—Bake, cool, and glaze: First, preheat the oven to 375ºF. When ready to bake, unwrap your well-chilled log and make uniform slices between ¼ and ½ inch in thickness. Slicing tip: use a sharp, smooth knife (one that is not serrated) and press straight down, no sawing. Place cookies on a lined or greased cookie sheet and bake for 9-13 minutes. Cool completely and serve plain or drizzle a cross, like a hot cross bun, over each cookie with the easy Snow-White Glaze (recipe follows).

NOTE ON CANDIED FRUIT: Around the holidays, containers of ready-made candied “fruit and peel” are usually easy to find in grocery stores. (Always drain these well before using.) Like any homemade goodies, however, the quality of the final product is reflected in the quality of your ingredients. That’s why, like Dante, I always create my own candied fruit mix for these cookies. I start with jarred maraschino cherries (be sure to drain and chop before adding). To the cherries, I add chopped golden raisins and candied pineapple, bought at my local grocery store. Finally, I add candied orange peels, which I make myself at home—you can, too, just follow my recipe (page 364). It’s easy to create your own unique mix based on what appeals to you. Here are more suggestions: candied citron; candied papaya; dried blueberries, figs, dates, currants, cranberries, prunes; or any of your own favorite dried or candied fruits or peels. If you’ve got a really picky crowd to bake for or finicky kids and don’t think a fruit mix will fly, just drain and finely chop 1½ cups of maraschino cherries. Most people love these sweet cherries on their ice cream sundaes and should enjoy finding the same flavor in these buttery sweet cookies.

SNOW-WHITE GLAZE

Whisk together both ingredients and drizzle glaze in the shape of a cross (like a hot cross bun) over cooled Christmas Fruitcake Cookies. Let dry 20 minutes, then serve or store in an airtight container.

Tucker’s Gingersnaps with Whiskey-Lemon Glaze

Tucker’s ex-Hollywood actress mom did love her bourbon. According to Tuck, this gingersnap recipe was something her southern family baked for years around the holidays. The whiskey-lemon glaze, however, was his mother’s own “spirited” version of the more traditional royal icing!

Makes 36-48 cookies

2½ cups cake flour (see note)

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons ground ginger

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed

¼ cup molasses (unsulphured, not blackstrap)

2/3 cup milk

Step 1—Assemble dry ingredients: First, preheat the oven to 350°F. In a bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, and ginger. Set aside.

Step 2—Make dough: Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar; add the molasses and milk, and blend again. While continuing to beat at a low speed, slowly add in your dry ingredients, blending just enough to make a smooth dough. Do not overbeat at this stage or your cookies will be tough.

Step 3—Wrap and chill: The dough will be very sticky. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, overnight is fine, too. (You can also make the dough a day or two in advance and store it in the fridge.)

Step 4—Roll dough: Using a rolling pin, roll out the refrigerated dough on a flour-dusted board or between sheets of flour-dusted parchment paper. For tips on rolling out dough, see the recipe for Clare’s Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies (page 330). The biggest issue you’ll have is with the dough’s stickiness. Adding flour to your board and rolling pin will help. If using the parchment paper method, slip the flat sheets of paper (with the rolled-out dough between them) into the freezer for 10 minutes. Once the rolled-out dough is well chilled, it will firm up and separate more easily from the paper. The thinner you roll your gingersnap cookies, the crispier they’ll bake. Tucker suggests ⅛ inch, but you may prefer ¼ inch or thicker for a softer cookie. Experiment with what appeals to you.

Step 5—Cut cookies: Use your favorite shaped cookie cutter or a small biscuit cutter, or even the round rim of a juice glass. When you lift the snaps onto the baking sheet, be careful since they’re thin and soft. (Try slipping a metal spatula or pie server under the cutout cookie dough. Or bake the cookies right on the parchment paper where you rolled it.)

Step 6—Bake and glaze: Your baking sheet should be greased, sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, or lined with parchment or silicon sheets to prevent sticking. Bake for 8- 10 minutes. Cool on a rack and brush with Whiskey-Lemon Glaze (recipe follows).

NOTE ON CAKE FLOUR: I strongly recommend using cake flour for this recipe for the best results. Cake flour is milled finer and lighter than regular, all-purpose flour and will give you a more tender cookie. If you’ve never bought cake flour before, look for it in boxes (not sacks) in the grocery store aisle where all-purpose flour is sold. If I still haven’t convinced you to use cake flour, and you want to use all-purpose flour for this recipe, then make sure to reduce the amount of flour by ¼ cup. In other words replace 2½ cups cake flour with 2¼ cups of all-purpose flour.

WHISKEY-LEMON GLAZE

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon whiskey

Too easy. Just place the sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk in the lemon juice and whiskey until smooth. Brush onto your freshly baked gingersnap cookies—but allow cookies to cool before glazing!

Tucker’s Supremely Easy Candy Cane Brownies

1 package of your favorite brownie mix

1 cup pecans, chopped

1 cup chocolate chips

Prepare the brownie batter according to package directions. Fold the pecans and chocolate chips into the batter. Bake according to the package directions. Cool, frost with Candy Cane Frosting (recipe follows), and cut.

CANDY CANE FROSTING

Makes 1¾ cups frosting—enough to frost a 9 × 13-inch pan of brownies (also fun to use on