“A Taste of Tradition: Amish Christmas Sugar Cookies from the Heart”
Few holiday treats evoke Amish simplicity like Christmas sugar cookies, prized for their soft texture and buttery taste on tables in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana. These cookies use basic pantry staples to deliver pure comfort, often shared at family gatherings and church events.
Amish baking reflects community bonds, with women gathering to prepare dozens for neighbors and stockings. Recipes pass down generations, sometimes with tweaks like buttermilk or nutmeg.lancastercountymag
Historical Background
Sugar cookies trace to mid-1700s Moravian Protestant settlers from Germany in Pennsylvania’s Nazareth area, who shaped them like keystones and called them Nazareth sugar cookies, later adopted as Pennsylvania’s official state cookie. Amish and Pennsylvania Dutch communities adapted these into holiday staples, baking them alongside sand tarts and whoopie pies for Christmas dinners featuring turkey, mashed potatoes, and pies. This tradition echoes medieval European monastery sweets spiced with cinnamon and cloves, brought by immigrants and focused on abundance without excess during winter solstice-inspired feasts.thefooddictator+6
Amish Christmas Sugar Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ teaspoon salt
Optional for decoration: Colored sugar or frosting
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line sheets with parchment.
- Cream butter, sugars until fluffy. Beat in oil, eggs, vanilla.
- Whisk dry ingredients; add gradually to wet until combined.
- Drop teaspoonfuls on sheets; flatten slightly. Sprinkle sugar if desired.
- Bake 8–10 minutes until edges golden. Cool on racks.
Yield: 4 dozen. Store airtight up to a week or freeze dough. Frost modestly for festivity.food+2…