Each year, I note a theme in the recipes that pour into the Tampa Bay Times for our annual Christmas cookie issue.
One year there were more mocha recipes than anything else, and another year I noticed lots of cookies with tropical flavors, and that would include coconut and macadamia nuts. Citrus was predominant one year. Every year sees plenty of recipes with chocolate and nuts. I guess you could call those holiday evergreens.
The selection for 2014, our 13th annual cookie extravaganza, is all about comfort and joy. Simple cookies with traditional holiday flavors are big. We received few recipes that required hard-to-find ingredients or multiple steps and fancy equipment.
I am not a sociologist, but I would guess that crisis-fatigued cooks are looking for ways to quell the stress of the outside world. So, simple cookies it is for this year's issue.
Many of the submissions — nearly 500 of them — came with stories attached. One of my favorites was from Amy Robison of St. Petersburg, who submitted her delightful Jolly Jelly Strips, which you will find among this year's published recipes.
"My son calls these Vietnam Cookies because I told him how my mother and I had the privilege of baking cookies for my dad's Army troops back in late 1960s and early 1970s," Robison wrote. "We used honey instead of sugar because they shipped beautifully. A homemade cookie must have meant a great deal to soldiers before Skype!"
Robison's story sums up how I feel about Christmas cookies.
They are more than a collection of ingredients baked in a 350-degree oven. They recall time spent baking with Grandma, or trips around the neighborhood to deliver plates of cookies to friends. Mostly, they represent special times with people we love.
Mary Kalp's recipe for Apricot Horns falls into this category. Her recipe came handwritten by Georgina Ambrose, who is the home health care nurse for the Dunedin woman in her mid 90s.
"It is my understanding that this Apricot Horn recipe is from Mary's sister-in-law, Ruth," Ambrose wrote. "They have fond memories of holidays together and always recall this cookie as a family favorite."
The sisters-in-law would have had plenty of time to yak while making this cookie. It's time-consuming, but the results are lovely.
I am often asked how we winnow the large pile of submissions. After 13 years, we see a number of repeats or recipes easily found in cookbooks, so we avoid rum balls, snickerdoodles, sugar cookies and the basic chocolate chip. Brickle, potato chip cookies and snow balls (sometimes called Polish tea cakes or Mexican wedding cakes) come in every year, but we've published them before. Still love them, but the hunt for the new is on our minds.
(You'll find a complete and easy-to-use cookie database with recipes dating to 2002 at tbtim.es/cookies.)
This year, we received few recipes for elaborately decorated cookies, which is just as well, because the Keeler Elves are more Betty Crockers than Martha Stewarts. They like the basics. (You can blame me for Honeyed Almond-Cherry Shortbread, a multistepped Stewart recipe. I picked it out.)
I have two favorites this year, and they aren't my usual peanut butter delights: Noelettes from Lisa Smith of St. Petersburg and Cran-Pistachio Cookies from Josette Konczeski of Tampa. The Noelettes, a chocolate cookie topped with chopped pistachios and studded with candied orange peel, is a sophisticated treat. The cookie itself pops in the mouth and the flavors simply melt away. (You can leave out the candied orange peel if you have an aversion.)
Cran-Pistachio Cookies (am I giving away my fondness for this nut?) are on the other end of the fancy spectrum. This is a workaday cookie that starts with a pouch of sugar cookie mix. It is so simple that a novice cook will have great success. I guarantee it will be gone from the holiday platter in no time.
I also liked Florence Tirabassi's Amaretto Chunk Cookies. (Okay, that's three.) There's a lot going on in these unassuming-looking cookies, and that contributes to making them a winner. Amaretto, chocolate chips, flaked coconut and sliced almonds are the main add-ins.
The ranks of the Keeler Elves grew this year, and recipes were tested by me, Michelle Stark, Karen Pryslopski, Brittany Volk, Barbara Moch, Jan Brackett, Patty Yablonski, Laura Reiley and Lennie Bennett. Sometimes, it's fun to spread the sweetness around, and I am grateful for their willingness to jump in.
The award for most unusual cookie of the year goes to Lime Tarragon Cookies With White Chocolate Lime Topping, sent in by Mary-Ann Janssen of Dunedin. The savory tarragon adds an herbal note to the citrus-tinged cookie. Really, a lovely taste. Over the years, Janssen has submitted some of the more interesting recipes we've received. Her Root Beer Cookies were a hit in 2009.
This year's "wow!" cookie is the Salted Nut Bars from Lorna Dils of Palm Harbor. There are two full cups of mixed nuts on top of a buttery base, which is covered in a sweet mixture of Karo syrup and melted butterscotch chips before baking. They are oh-so-decadent, but you can cut them small.
Dils sent along the story of the Salted Nut Bars:
"Here is a recipe from my mother-in-law in Bethany, Conn., who was known far and wide for her Christmas cookies," she wrote. "Babba Wooster, as she was known by all, started baking after Thanksgiving and delivered trays of cookies to lucky family and friends. This is one of her many recipes and a favorite of mine (and loads of others!)."
I hope our 2014 selection of cookies will turn you into the Babba Wooster of your family and friends. The Salted Nut Bars can get you started.
They are on my list this year.
Contact Janet K. Keeler at jkeeler@tampabay.com. Follow @RoadEats.
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