Happy Christmas to all who celebrate! If Christmas isn’t your holiday, please know that I am sending heartfelt greetings with my best wishes to you and everyone for a bright, happy, and — above all — healthy New Year.
I can’t think of Christmas without thinking of my mother in the kitchen — so much good food in my memories: appetizers, soups, roasts, homemade rolls, stews, relishes, and so much more. The love she put into our holiday meals was epic. I miss her especially at this time of year.
One thing I remember above all were Mom’s Christmas cookies. She made so many kinds: molasses crinkles, chocolate crinkles, candy cane cookies, lemon squares, nut thins, peanut butter thimbles (remember that a thimble was a kiss in Peter Pan?), gingerbread men and women, thumbprints, spritz cookies, iced sugar cookies… the list goes on.
One of my favorites were her Christmas Crescent Cookies. As you can see from the well-used recipe card, they may have been everyone’s favorite. In the end, they are just a crescent-shaped wedding cookie but, even so, they deserve their own post. So here you are, with a few minor updates from the original, which I know would be Mom-approved.
~ David
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Susan Manfull
December 25, 2021 at 6:53 amBaking and memories are so intertwined,, aren’t they? As friends and readers of your recipes, we often think of you in our kitchens and around our tables. Merry Christmas, David
Cocoa & Lavender
December 26, 2021 at 10:29 amWe have so many fond memories of being together in the kitchen with you both, whether ours were yours or someplace in France! I agree that kitchen memories are the strongest…
Ellen
December 25, 2021 at 7:12 amThese are my favorite cookies too, David, and I haven’t had them in a while. There is a little Mediterranean grocery store nearby that sells them (in a version chock full of walnuts) and I always pick up a few when I stop in there. They never make it home but I always emerge from the car covered in powdered sugar.
It was nice to wake up Christmas morning, fire up the internet and have this as the first thing to greet me today! (Even the cats are still asleep.) The photos are very special too but I love the recipe card most. “Ad nuts”! Imagine trying to put an index card in a typewriter back in the day. Now that’s love.
Wishing plenty of that (love) to you and Mark this Christmas. xxx Ellen S.
Cocoa & Lavender
December 26, 2021 at 10:33 amI like these made with all kinds of nuts, but I do think that almonds are my favorite. Maybe it’s because it’s easy to buy pre-ground almonds!
It’s nice to know that I spent a little bit of Christmas morning with you! Too warm here for a fire in the fireplace, but that will come soon enough…
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you, Ellen! xo
Susan Esco Chandler
December 25, 2021 at 8:41 amI almost feel guilty! Not baking and all the candy making that was always the hallmark of the holidays: just not for me ! Our mother was amazing ! All the hours she spent in the kitchen, recreating all the delicious sweets and savories that meant celebrations were next and sharing end results meant visiting friends and neighbors. Thank you for sharing your love and memories! XOXO
Cocoa & Lavender
December 26, 2021 at 10:34 amI don’t often make Christmas cookies like my mother did… I’m surprise that you didn’t make them when your kids were growing up, Susan. Every once in a while, I get a craving for one of her cookies and will make a batch. But I find cookies a lot more work than everything else! (Which is the opposite of what everyone else says…) Thanks for reading and enjoying the memories! XO
John / Kitchen Riffs
December 25, 2021 at 8:42 amWe’re happy to celebrate everything: Christmas, Yule, Solstice, Saturnalia, Sol Invictus, etc etc. So when we say “Happy Holidays” we really mean it. 🙂 And happy to have these cookies — it’s been a long time since I’ve had one. My mother used to make them, and I have her recipe somewhere. Yours looks great. Merry Christmas!
Cocoa & Lavender
December 26, 2021 at 10:35 amFor me, John, it’s any excuse for a good celebration that brings people together! I would love to know if your mothers recipe is similar to mine.
Karen (Back Road Journal)
December 25, 2021 at 8:43 amCrescents are one of my favorite cookies as well, they seem to just melt in your mouth. Merry Christmas to you and Mark, have a wonderful day,
Cocoa & Lavender
December 26, 2021 at 10:35 amThanks, Karen! We had a wonderful, quiet day, and hope that you had a wonderful day as well in sunny Florida!
Barb
December 25, 2021 at 8:53 amMerry Christmas, David! Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes and memories every week! I remember these cookies from my childhood, as my grandmother used to make them. She made the most wonderful cookies and candies.
Cocoa & Lavender
December 26, 2021 at 10:36 amThanks, Barb! I hope the traditions like these will continue… At least I know from our Honors students that there is an interest in keeping redipes like this going.
Jane Sanders
December 25, 2021 at 9:21 amI love shared family recipes – it’s like being invited into someone’s home and celebrating the holiday with them!
Thanks for sharing and a very Merry Christmas to you and Mark and a Happy and especially Healthy New Year.
Cocoa & Lavender
December 26, 2021 at 10:37 amThanks, Jane — i’m so glad I have all my mothers recipe cards, is it a real window into what our family was eating and how much we loved it (as you can see by the stains).
Pauline McNee
December 25, 2021 at 2:18 pmMerry Christmas David, it really is a nostalgic time isn’t it, and I love that you are remembering your Mum with this post. These cookies look very good, I must make them one day. I tend to cook family favourites over Christmas as well, and still look through my Mum’s old recipe books. Thanks f o r sharing this one. Cheers, Pauline
Cocoa & Lavender
December 26, 2021 at 10:38 amI think many of us remember our parents at this time of year, especially if they’re gone. through the recipes, and meals, the memories and realities come back… Hope you had a wonderful Christmas, Pauline, and I wish you all the best for the new year.
Fran@ Gdaysouffle
December 25, 2021 at 2:28 pmThese look like the recipe for short bread cookies- so buttery! I still have my typed recipe cards from the 1970s.- Turkey Tetrazini is one of the recipes and I understand that people stlll make that dish!
Cocoa & Lavender
December 26, 2021 at 10:38 amThey’re actually quite different from shortbread cookies, Fran. The nuts give them a completely different texture. We love turkey tetrazzini… although I haven’t made it for years!
Connie
December 25, 2021 at 3:30 pmI LOVE those cookies, and I thought it so charming how you included the original recipe card, front and back. Cards with stains on it mean that the recipe is a winner! I have MANY stained recipe cards like that from long ago. Merry Christmas!
Cocoa & Lavender
December 26, 2021 at 10:39 amSteak recipe cards and stained cookbooks are the best treats. It’s one of the reasons I often buy used cookbooks… not to save money as much as to see how much somebody else loved it. I’m grateful to booksellers for saying things like, “many notations in the margin.“
Eha Carr
December 25, 2021 at 3:37 pmHow great to click on on our Boxing Day morning and have reason for immediate smiles and a madly nodding head ! I SO agree with John and his wife – my celebratory feelings are spread as wide . . . and, David – I clearly remember my Mom making such biscuits tho’ perhaps yours is the first recipe I have seen !! Have just asked my genie to race across the ocean with the hugest holiday wishes for Mark and yourself . . . be happy and forget about being good 😉 !!!
Cocoa & Lavender
December 26, 2021 at 10:42 amThanks for the holiday wishes! We are the same way — ce;ebrate everything (well, almost)! These cookies are a wonderful tradition worldwide… that is what makes them special — they bring us all together!
Jesse-Gabriel
December 26, 2021 at 4:17 pmIn Deutschland heißen diese Kekse Vanillekipferl, sie sind sehr beliebt, besonders in der Weihnachtszeit.
Danke und viele Grüße sendet,
Jesse-Gabriel aus Berlin
David Scott Allen
December 27, 2021 at 6:33 amVielen Dank für Ihren Kommentar, Jesse-Gabriel. Ich kann mir nur vorstellen, warum diese in ganz Deutschland beliebt sind. Die besten Wünsche für ein wundervolles neues Jahr!
Ronit Penso Tasty Eats
December 27, 2021 at 11:05 amSuch buttery cookies are so irresistible, let alone when they bring all these fond memories. The recipe card image tells it all. 🙂
Cocoa & Lavender
December 28, 2021 at 9:05 amThanks, Ronit! It’s amazing that such a simple cookie sparkles so perfectly in our memories!
sippitysup
December 27, 2021 at 5:38 pmI haven’t had these in years but I remember their texture as extra=special. They almost melt on your tongue. GREG
Cocoa & Lavender
December 28, 2021 at 9:05 amThey do kind of melt in your mouth, Greg. Thanks.
Jeff the Chef
December 28, 2021 at 8:45 amThese are also among my favorites, and I don’t think I’ve had them since my grandmother made them when I was a kid! Thanks for the recipe, and Merry Christmas to you!
Cocoa & Lavender
December 28, 2021 at 9:06 amSeems that might have been a couple of years ago… you should make them, Jeff, and bring back that feeling!
2pots2cook
December 29, 2021 at 3:29 amSo our favourite too ! I have my grandmother’s recipe and make a batch for Christmas too ! I wish you have happy and healthy 2022. !
Cocoa & Lavender
December 31, 2021 at 8:03 amThanks, Davorka — I love old family recipes like these!
Raymund
December 30, 2021 at 1:45 pmMerry Chirstmas and a Happy New Year 🎉🎆🧨🎇
Those cookies certainly brings out the festive feel
Cocoa & Lavender
December 31, 2021 at 8:03 amMerry Christmas and Happy New Year to you, too, Raymund!
Valentina
December 30, 2021 at 6:04 pmA very happy new year to you and Mark. I love all of these delicious and warm memories. 🙂 ~Valentina
Jean | Delightful Repast
January 6, 2022 at 8:52 amDavid, I love this post. My earliest and best childhood memories are food-related, so I enjoyed your kitchen memory so much. I always make my wedding cookies round, even though I love the crescent shape. The crescents take just that bit more time and effort I’m getting stingier with all the time! Question: I see you took the salt out; have you gone salt-free?
Cocoa & Lavender
January 7, 2022 at 1:03 pmHi Jean! No – I have not given up salt. 🙂 But I am of the (unpopular) opinion that people use too much salt in sweets. A pinch can enhance (especially chocolate), but more is way too much for my palate. In shortbreads and such (like the wedding cookies) I think no salt is the perfect option. Thanks for asking that. I don’t think I have ever broached that subject on the blog!
Inger
January 10, 2022 at 12:06 pmI’m sure these taste as good as they look! I love seeing the old recipes with all the marks of being well-loved! A belated Merry Christmas!