by Lauren Nemec
I love to bake, and this time of year is one of the best for baking. This Christmas, not only have I baked some typical American cookies to share with my friends, family and colleagues, but I’ve also had plenty of opportunities to sample Christmas sweets made by Czech families- for example, “Linecke”, or “Linzer cookies” (the “Na Zdravi” blog written by a Czech living in the U.S.A. offers a recipe for this popular Czech Christmas cookie) .
Why not sweeten your own holidays with a cookie recipe from another country?
“Food Blogga” has a whopping list of Christmas cookies from around the world, at “Christmas Cookies from around the World 2007“.
My own personal favorite- the Chocolate Crunch Brownie- hails from the southern USA and isn’t really a cookie, but my mother has baked it for Christmas for years, and is always one of the first to run out!
Chocolate Crunch Brownies, photo courtesy: La Mia Cucina
1 c Butter or margarine; soften 2 c Sugar 4 Eggs 6 tb Baking cocoa 1 c Flour 2 ts Vanilla extract 1/2 ts Salt 7 oz Marshmallow crème 1 c Creamy peanut butter 12 oz Semisweet chocolate chips (2 cups) 3 c Crisp rice cereal In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar; add eggs.Stir in cocoa, flour, vanilla and salt. Spread into a greased 13-inch x 9-inch x 2-inch baking pan.Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (or 175 degrees Celsius)for 25 minutes or until brownies test done. Cool.Spread marshmallow creme over cooled brownies. In a small saucepan, melt peanut butter and chocolate chipsover low heat, stirring constantly.Remove from the heat; stir in the cereal. Spread over marshmallow layer.Chill before cutting. Store in the refrigerator. Source: Country Woman; Collector’s Edition.
Don’t use cups or tablespoons? Allrecipes.com offers a handy conversion chart from standard U.S. systems to Metric. Or try this ounces to grams calculator.
Happy Holidays, and Happy Baking!
