Charlotte: Our Christmas Cookies Of Choice
Christmas is now just days away, and for many of us, it’s about the food and, of course, the treats, like Christmas Cookies. According to a recent poll done by Newsweek, every state has its own favorite Christmas cookie, and for the great state of North Carolina, that would be No Bake Christmas Cookies. No Bake Christmas Cookies are cookies that you do not bake and come in many flavors, including peanut butter, chocolate chip, and oatmeal, to name a few.
Family
For me, growing up being a first-generation American with a mother from the Netherlands, Christmas cookies were always a big thing. And like they do in America with Santa Claus, we would leave Saint Nicholas Dutch cookies (usually windmill cookies with almonds) in wooden shoes on Christmas Eve, along with carrots for his horse.
By Definition
American Christmas cookies are traditionally sugar cookies (though other flavors may be used based on family traditions and individual preferences) cut into various shapes related to Christmas.
Christmas Cookie History
The Dutch brought the earliest examples of Christmas cookies to the United States in the early 17th century. According to the History Channel, due to a wide range of cheap imported products from Germany between 1871 and 1906, following a change to importation laws, cookie cutters became available in American markets.
These imported cookie cutters often depicted highly stylized images with subjects designed to hang on Christmas trees. Due to the availability of these utensils, recipes began to appear in cookbooks designed to use them. In the early 20th century, U.S. merchants were also importing decorated Lebkuchen cookies from Germany to be used as presents.
Some Popular Christmas Cookies
Gingerbread: Gingerbread has existed in some form since sugars and spices were brought back to Europe, from soldiers in the Crusades. However, it was not until Queen Victoria and Prince Albert included it with a variety of other German Christmas traditions that the gingerbread cookies became primarily associated with Christmas.
Bredele: Bredele are Christmas cookies in the Alsatian cuisine of France.
Fattigmann: A traditional cookie that dates from the Middle Ages in Norway, Fattigmann cookies are deep-fried in unsalted fat.
Kerstkransjes: Kerstkransjes are traditional Christmas cookies from the Netherlands. They are round with a hole in the middle. The most common type uses almond chips as decoration.
Great Cookie Bakeries In Charlotte
Sunflour Baking Company
Sunflour Baking Company is the Charlotte bakery & cafe. They have five locations to get a taste of their fresh brewed coffee or small batch, homemade pastries, and breads. Since 2009, Sunflour Baking Company has been a local favorite in the Noda neighborhood as well as for customers all around Charlotte and beyond.
Suarez Bakery
A dessert-focused bakery in Charlotte’s Park Road Shopping Center. They have many holiday-themed cookies right now. They deal in cakes, cupcakes, cookies, doughnuts, pastries, breads, and other desserts since ‘92.
Mommom’s Bakery
Mommom’s Bakery was founded in December 2020 by Linda Goodliffe and her Mom, Susan Goodliffe. Linda is a veteran of the US Navy, among other things, and Susan worked as a nurse for many years. Susan did the Martha Stewart dinner party thing in New Jersey for her husband’s business and nonprofit work (Linda and her sister’s dad) and for large family gatherings for years before Martha Stewart published her first cookbook.
One review said, “We ordered cookies and the pumpkin pie, and both were delicious! Not overly sugared like many we’ve tried; just right. The crispy crust was great.”
