Holiday Cookies: Prize-Winning Family Recipes from the Chicago Tribune for Cookies, Bars, Brownies and More

by Chicago Tribune

For nearly three decades, the Chicago Tribune has run its annual Holiday Cookie Contest, asking readers to submit recipes that are both unique and meaningful to them. Each recipe is accompanied by a brief description or story explaining why the cookie is special to the reader and their family. The Chicago Tribune's award-winning food writers and editors carefully consider these essays, select the finalists, and then publish winning recipes.

Good Eating's Holiday Cookies is a comprehensive collection of the best holiday cookies as curated from nearly three decades worth of reader submissions. These delicious recipes represent an eclectic mix of traditional and modern recipes from diverse cultural background and skill levels, such as Tropical Nuevo Latino Cookies, Dorie's Dark and Stormies, and Grandma Grump's Peanut Butter Drizzles.

Complete with full-color photography and helpful baking tips, this gorgeous compilation brings the warmth and expertise of a cross-generational baking community home for the holidays. From cookie classics to twists on old standards, Good Eating's Holiday Cookies provides the home baker with a plethora of possibilities for any holiday party.

Genres: Cookbooks, Nonfiction, Cooking, Christmas, Foodie, Food

224 pages, Hardcover

First published November 11, 2014

About the author

The Chicago Tribune is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (the slogan from which its integrated WGN radio and television received their call letters), it remains the most-read daily newspaper in the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region. In 2022, it had the seventh-highest circulation of any newspaper in the United States.
In the 1850s, under Joseph Medill, the Chicago Tribune became closely associated with the Illinois politician Abraham Lincoln, and the Republican Party's progressive wing. In the 20th century, under Medill's grandson Robert R. McCormick, its reputation was that of a crusading newspaper with an outlook that promoted American conservatism and opposed the New Deal. Its reporting and commentary reached markets outside Chicago through family and corporate relationships at the New York Daily News and the Washington Times-Herald. In the 1960s, its corporate parent owner, Tribune Company, sought to expand its market. In 2008, for the first time in its over-a-century-and-a-half history, its editorial page endorsed a Democrat, Barack Obama, a U.S. Senator from Illinois, for U.S. president.
Originally published solely as a broadsheet, the Tribune announced on January 13, 2009, that it would continue publishing as a broadsheet for home delivery, but would publish in tabloid format for newsstand, news box, and commuter station sales. The change, however, proved unpopular with readers; in August 2011, the Tribune discontinued the tabloid edition, returning to its established broadsheet format through all distribution channels.
The Tribune was owned by parent company Tribune Publishing. In May 2021, Tribune Publishing was acquired by Alden Global Capital, which operates its media properties through Digital First Media.

Reviews

[Laurie Fieldman · Rating 4 out of 5]

***updated review...already*** changed to 4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐
After I finished this book, I was a bit disappointed with the similarity and basicness of the cookies and began searching in other Christmas baking books for cookie inspiration.

Then I realized... flair, elegance, impressiveness is not the point of this book. It is about preserving traditions and family (hence, the title:)). History. Especially after I thought about the little headings before some of the recipes: grandparents of the bakers who emigrated to the US and arrived in the Chicago area from Central and Eastern Europe (Germany, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia) after WW2. Fleeing the Eastern Bloc Soviet-backed Communist governments, they either took these recipes with them or had to memorize them.

So, if I want more elegance I can check out the New York Times Cooking section or Rose's Christmas Cookies. 🍪🎄✡️. For easy, timeless classics, Holiday Cookies: Prize-Winning Family Recipes from the Chicago Tribune for Cookies, Bars, Brownies and More
*************************************************

Looking for some Midwestern holiday 🎄 🕎 cookie baking inspiration, I found this compilation. It's nostalgia, too, as I grew up in the Midwest with a family of Chicago Tribune readers.

Loved the opening pages anecdote about The Trib inviting Julia Child to judge the finalists one year, as she was in town for a food conference. Julia was excited to participate and her response was priceless. "Well, I wouldn't make ANY of these cookies 🍪🍪🍪!" **whaattt?**

Julia was correct and still is: "She pointed out that some of the bakers had used less-than-quality ingredients. One cookie had stale nuts, another used low-quality chocolate. ...Julia had a point. Even though a cookie recipe may have been passed down through generations of cooks, it still needs to be followed with care, using top-notch ingredients."

Happy Christmas and Hanukkah baking!

Oh, and if you're in the mood for something with mesmerizing colors, artistry and a slight twist on holiday flavors...self-proclaimed mad cookie scientist and cookie artist, Susan Spungen, from a December 2019 article, "12 Christmas Cookies That Will Impress Everyone You Know | NYT Cooking": https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2... or the same article with her demonstrating each of the 12 cookies on YouTube https://youtu.be/XkKbbN2fG54.

Additional sage baking/life advice:

"We have learned many other cookie-making tips from Julia and our expert judges through the years: Follow the recipe exactly. Be patient when shaping and cutting cookies. Be sure not to over-bake cookies (ovens may be different). And sometimes, simple is better."

Yum to all of it: old traditions and new!

[Sandra Noel · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a dark and stormy....cookie!? No, I've not lost my mind, I've just found my new favorite cookie! Dorie's Dark and Stormies are a decadent chocolate cookie with dark chocolate chunks, and I'm in love! A comfy chair, crackling fire, cup of coffee and one of these cookies (or a whole plate!)...what could be more delightful?

I really love this cookbook. It is full of delicious, prize-winning recipes, gorgeous photos and easy to find information on prep time, chill time, bake time and cooling time. The book is divided into sections: Simple Drop Cookies, Sugar & Spice, Fruit & Nut Treats, Chocolate Delights, Sandwich Cookies and Brownies & Bars. If you're looking for healthy treats for the holiday, you won't find them here. Butter is king in this book. Now, nothing makes a good cookie like real butter, but some of these recipes have as much as a pound of butter in them! (I can see why they won prizes!!) With butter prices the way they are right now, that might curtail a little of my holiday baking--but only a little. There are so many recipes that I love or still want to try from this book. I adore the classic Nut Crescents, Dottie's Mexican Wedding Cookies, classic Shortbread Cookies and Black-Out Cookies. My husband will love the Coffee Toffee, and next on my list is the Hazelnut Espresso Truffle Cookies.

This is a great cookbook to get you in the mood for all that holiday baking. I thoroughly enjoyed it and am happy to recommend it to all. As a little extra, I got permission to include the recipe for the Dark and Stormie cookies! Enjoy!!

I received a copy of this book from Agate Publishing for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Dorie’s Dark and Stormies

Yield: 3 dozen cookies
Prep time: 25 minutes
Chill time: 1 hour
Bake time: 14 minutes per batch


1¼ cups flour
⅓ cup Dutch process cocoapowder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 stick plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
⅔ cup packed light brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon sea salt
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small bits


1. Sift the flour, cocoa and baking soda together in small bowl; set aside. Beat the butter until smooth in bowl of an electric mixer at medium speed. Add the sugars, vanilla and salt; beat 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low; add the flour mixture, mixing until incorporated but still crumbly, and being careful not to overwork the dough. Stir in the chocolate pieces.
2. Turn the dough out onto a smooth work surface; squeeze it so that it sticks together in large clumps. (If you need to, it’s OK to lightly flour the work surface.) Gather the dough into a ball; divide in half. Shape each ball into a log 11/2 inches in diameter. Wrap logs in plastic wrap; chill at least 1 hour.
3. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Gently slice logs into 1/2-inch rounds using a serrated knife (some will crumble; simply press broken bits back onto cookie). Place 1 inch apart on the baking sheets.
4. Bake, one sheet at a time, 14 minutes; cookies will not look done or be firm. Cool on pan 5 minutes; transfer to cooling rack. Cool to room temperature.


Note: Dough can be made ahead and frozen. Frozen dough doesn’t need to be defrosted before baking; just slice logs and bake 1 minute longer. Packed airtight, cookies will keep at room temperature up to 3 days or frozen up to a month.


Chicago Tribune recipe for one-time use only in conjunction with reviews or coverage of Holiday Cookies by Agate Publishing and the Chicago Tribune.

http://www.amazon.com/Holiday-Cookies...

[Melissa Lee-Tammeus · Rating 3 out of 5]

I borrowed this from the library to get inspired for holiday cookie baking, as I was growing tired of my standard Christmas cookie recipes I make year after year. This book is a nice coffee table sized, colorful walk down memory lane and beyond. Since this is the Chicago Tribune contest winners from many years past, there are old favorites here that are tweaked and some new ones I had not seen before. More often than not, the cookie recipe is presented with a blurb about the person who made it and why it is important in the family, which is a nice touch. All come with photos, which I love so you know what to expect. Some are easy to pull off and some take a bit of work, so there is something here for everyone. I stole a few and am pleased with the results - pretty straight forward in the directions and no tweaking of times, amounts, or ingredients needed, which is awesome, too.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading the recipes in this book-the recipes are those that were submitted over many years to the Trib’s holiday cookie contest. Some were winners, others were runners up but there is a wide variety all types of holiday cookies.

[Dray · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of yearly awards for best cookie of the year, there were some great cookie recipes included.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

a collection of recipes of cookies - quite a range of recipes from simple to complex

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has a lot of excellent sounding recipes. I’ve copied some I want to try. The library wants their copy back for now.

[BRNTerri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an attractive book, inside and out, but I'm very disappointed in it. I only like one of the two recipes I tried and there's only about three more recipes I'd try.

I received this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

THINGS I'VE MADE FROM BOOK

JOAN'S LITTLE JOYS



I'm not impressed with these cookies at all. This baked cookie looks nothing like the one in the book. Based on the appearance of these cookies while they were baking, the way they were getting very brown around the edges before the minimum baking time was up, I realized the dough was exactly like a Linzer cookie, which is basically like a shortbread cookie; no egg, baking soda, or baking powder in the dough. The photo of the finished cookie in the book shows a very pale cookie that's decorated with a green-tinted glaze. That's why I decided to make it- because it looked nothing like a Linzer cookie. This type of cookie softens up soon after baking and makes for a terrible sandwich cookie. They taste good, though.

WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES WITH DRIED CHERRIES



This is a good-flavored sweet cookie that has ground oats in the dough. They're a little dry. I omitted the white chocolate and added lightly toasted chopped slivered almonds, almond extract, and cherries to half the dough. To the other half I added mini semisweet chocolate chips and finely chopped almonds.

I used a 1T. cookie scoop/1 1/2" diameter and got 36 dough balls. My cookies didn't spread out like the ones in the photo did. If I ever make these again I'll form the dough into a log that's wrapped in plastic wrap, chill/freeze it and make slice-n-bake cookies out of it.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Agate Publishing!

This cookbook is a collection of favorite family recipes submitted over 30 years to the Chicago Tribune. The recipes were reviewed by Tribune judges and only the best were put into this book.

This is a gorgeous cookbook. Hardbound, well-made, it will definitely hold up in the kitchen and look lovely on the shelf. It is packed full with beautiful, mouth-watering pictures of all of the recipes, and it has a lovely mixture of recipes, information about the recipe submitters, and tips and facts about the techniques and ingredients. The cookie and bar recipes are varied and all look like major crowd-pleasers, and we can trust them to be delicious as they are all panel-favorites. I really couldn't ask for more from a cookie cookbook. I anticipate using this cookbook for much of my cookie-baking needs.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice cookie recipes