Christmas Butter Cookies

When I was kid my favorite cookie in the world was Mom's recipe for Christmas cookies. They were not the typical however and I believed they were highly superior to all others. Of course that's what she told me. It didn't use regular sugar but powdered sugar and lots of butter. We made them thin and crispy.
I'll bet I've made them only once in the past 20 years because there are just other things that I prefer to get my sugar intake from at Christmas. But now that we have a little 4 1/2 year old that likes to help in the kitchen, this would be a good year to make them again.

I remind myself to lower my expectations when it comes to 4 1/2 year olds. We are all much happier in the end. She lasted through one pan and then was off to 'decorate' the house with all the stickers she got at school that day.

A few days later I pulled the remaining dough from the refrigerator.

 The 'lighter' version.

I must admit, these were a lot easier to eat.

The Recipe:

Kuchen -Recipe for a Family Tradition

If you haven't made your Kuchen by Christmas Eve, it's not too late.

I've intended to have this post done for posterities sake and my nieces or any other relatives or friends interested in the wonderful custard dessert.

First, we'll make the dough for the crust.

Sweet Refrigerator Dough (Makes 6 Kuchen)
Heat:
3/4 C. hot milk
1/2 C. butter
1/2 C. water
Mean while, mix together:
1-1/2 C. flour
2 pkg. yeast
1/2 C. sugar
2 tsp. salt
(add hot mixture to this. make sure it's not too hot)
Add:
2 eggs, mix
Add 2-3/4 C. flour
Turn out on floured surface and knead in more flour. It will be a soft dough. Oil a bowl. Place in dough ball in bowl, cover with saran wrap or foil and chill a minimum of three hours before using. (Will keep in refrigerator for several days.)

Kuchen (This will make 2)
Cut dough in half. Then cut that into thirds. Use two parts to roll out for two Kuchens. Put the rest back in the refrigerator.

Place in pan like you would a pie crust. Dough will be much thicker though.

Trim away excess dough with a knife.

Brush the bottom of the crust with melted butter. 

At this point add any fruit you prefer. We grew up on prunes and peaches, but I've eaten it with apricots, cherries and cranberries. Dried fruit, not too dried though. If it's dry like a raisin, let set in boiling water to soften. I buy prunes that are already pitted and soft so all I have to do is snip them into smaller pieces with a scissors. Let this sit and prepare the filling.

Custard Filling:
4 eggs slightly beaten.
Mix together:  1/2 C. sugar, 1 Tbl. Flour, dash of salt. Add to eggs.
Add 1 tsp vanilla.  (I actually used coconut sugar this year, turned out fine.)

Last slowly add in 2 C. warm cream.
I heat the cream in the microwave til it is quite hot. (But not boiling or it will cook your eggs.)
Pour into 2 prepared pans.

Sprinkle with a little cinnamon.

Bake 325º for 10 minutes. Turn the oven down to 300º and finish baking. Depending on the temp of the cream and depth of your pie it could take 20-40 minutes longer. Insert a knife in the center, when it comes out clean, it is done.

The very last and important step is to 'butter' the crust edge. Easiest way to do this is just rub the end of the cold stick over the crust as soon as you take it from the oven.

If you like custard or creme brûlée, you will love this!

Kuchen (makes 2)
Custard Filling:
4 eggs slightly beaten
Mix together:  1/2 C sugar, 1 Tbl. Flour, dash of salt. Add to eggs. Add 1 tsp. vanilla.
Add 2 C. warm cream.
Brush bottom of crust with melted butter. Put fruit in pan. Pour custard in pan.
Sprinkle with a little cinnamon.
Bake 325º for 10 minutes. 300º 20-40 minutes.

If you'd rather not make 6 kuchens, this dough is fabulous to use for 'Christmas bread'. Roll it out in a rectangle and sprinkle with candied fruit. Roll it up in a loaf-looking shape, let raise, bake and and drizzle powdered sugar frosting on the top. Yum!

12 Days of Christmas - Day 6

A tradition in our family, from my mother's side, is to make Kuchen for Christmas.

It's an egg custard sort of thing with prunes or other fruit. Perhaps I'll get time to post the recipe this year.

The 12 Days of Christmas -Day One

In 2009, I started making digital cards for the 12 days of Christmas and emailed them to friends and family. Since I didn't have a blog in those days, I shall post them this year. I repeated the tradition yearly, but alas, I ran out of ideas. So most of these will be from 2009 and maybe I'll through in an extra from 2010.