Holiday Almanac December 19: Meltaway Cookies & Hot Cider

For more information on the Holiday Almanac, go here. Or to see what I've been up to on past Holiday Almanac days, check out this page.

These meltaway cookies went fast in this house-- so fast I didn't even have time to take them to work with me as planned! They're basically a dressed-up shortbread with a few extra ingredients and some powdered sugar dusted on top... come to think of it, they're not so different from these kourabiedes I made back in February!

And, similar to the kourabiedes, Judson was so excited about these he nearly ate the entire batch the very day I made them.

The almanac recommends serving these with hot cider 'from a glass punch bowl decorated with holiday seals.' I may not know what a holiday seal is, and I may not own a glass punch bowl, but served with warm cider out of a stoneware mug, these did the job just fine.

The verdict:

4 spoons out of five. They're delicious, but they're best the day you make them, so not ideal for this season where you often need to make things in advance... but, luckily, these are so tasty you're unlikely to have any that make it past the first day.

The recipe:

Meltaway Cookies

the directions:

Heat oven to 200C/400F.
Mix thoroughly butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla.
Add flour and salt, stir well to combine.
Drop rounded teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheet.
Bake 6-8 minutes until set but not brown.
Remove from oven and while still warm, sift additional powdered sugar over them.

Makes 40-60 small cookies.

the ingredients:

1 c butter, softened
½ c powdered sugar, sifted + more for sifting
1 tsp vanilla
2 ¼ c cake flour, sifted
¼ tsp salt