SHAPED PHOTOGRAPHER RECIPES WRITER BAKED Shauna’s jewel-like apricot cookie, a cousin to Jewish toJewish acousin cookie, to a1930 cheese to the dough is an an is dough tothe cheese whose grandma you ask. you grandma whose roots: This tender pastry Thisroots: tender pastry And as for koh-LAH-key for as And Shauna says it depends depends it says Shauna American twist, thanks thanks twist, American filling nods to Hungary. nods filling SUGARED origins. Adding cream from Kraft in Chicago. in Chicago. Kraft from or koh-LAHTCH-key? or rugelach, Polish has Talk about jumbled HANNAH AGRAN Kolacky SHAUNA SEVER s marketing push ROLLED BLAINE MOATS
LIKE TELL TO OUR REGION’S COOKBOOK CELEBRATING THE BAKING MIDWEST’S THE AUTHOR OF ANEW CHRISTMAS COOKIES? CHRISTMAS COOKIES? WHAT WOULD IT LOOK HERITAGE FINDS OUT. STORY THROUGH MWL N/D2019 68 exactly thepoint. neighbor already bake. Andthat’s find oneortwothat you or your timeless andtrue.You’ll probably blossoms. Thesetreats are old souls, USA staples like fudge andpeanut sandbakkels, plus born-in-the- German lebkuchen andNorwegian takes onMexican polvorones, following pages, you’ll findShauna’s cookie tintells allyou needto know.” glance ataMidwesterner’s holiday landscape simply wouldn’t One exist. immigrants, ourunique culinary endeavor, shesays, it’s this:“Without If shelearned one thingfrom the for pies,Bundts,bars andmore. blessedly, notnewatall)recipes kitchen andperfected 125 new(or, cookbooks. Then shehitthe recipe collections andcommunity over newspaper clippings, church to small-town bakeries andpored $30). For twoyears, shetraveled cookbook yet (Running Press, Heartland, Shauna’s mostpersonal Big,BoldBakingfromMade: the writer, motherandhuman.” to learn withnew eyes asabaker, our traditions—and somuchmore home, withmy people, ourfood, Kleenex zone,” sherecalls. “Iwas their ages, itsentmestraight to the them,justasIhadat no onesaw two atatimefrom thetin,thinking my kidsgrabbedChristmas. “When grandmother’s sugar cookiesfor chasing herroots. Soshemadeher the hunger ofsomeone andheart whip upmuffins,but tobake, with O’Hare withanurge to bake. Notto to Chicago in2015, shelandedat moved herfamily from California When foodwriter Shauna Sever
Challenge accepted. Onthe That momentsparked Midwest
FOOD STYLING: CHARLES WORTHINGTON For recipes, seepage 99. Lebkuchen You’ll want to summon the faith and determination of a homesteading pioneer before baking this German staple. The dough requires a two-day Cheater’s rest for the flavors of lemon, Fudge cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg and cloves to ripen. After cutting, baking and icing, Old-fashioned fudge Shauna warns, “they’ll come out (the kind made on awfully similar to a Milk-Bone, marble slabs behind and you’ll wonder what the heck candy-shop windows on is going on.” That’s when you Michigan’s Mackinac give the lebkuchen some quiet Island) requires a candy time in Tupperware with a thermometer and a wedge of apple. The payoff? whole lot of patience. A toothsome texture and deep Shauna prefers a spiciness that warms shortcut version you you from the tummy out. might recognize from the back of cans of sweetened condensed milk, but she gives it a 21st-century boost of bittersweet chocolate and flaky sea salt.
Glaze lebkuchen in translucent icing, or dip them in white or dark chocolate.
“Exchanging recipes with a Midwesterner is a bit like playing therapist—deeply buried memories are revealed, and everyone takes home extra reading material.”
70 71 MWL N/D 2019 MWL N/D 2019 Cracker Toffee Anisette Buttons Shauna describes this kitschy, candy-like Shauna remembers visiting Italian bakeries classic as “the unicorn of the cookie tin.” Irresistible as a kid to buy tiny cookies by the pound. Pink ones. (sweet and salty never fails). Elusive (because Nutty ones. Round ones. Scalloped ones. The it always disappears before anything else). And thrill was in the volume. And that’s the story with mysterious (many people don’t realize there these soft, iced morsels. “Anisettes feel so are saltine crackers involved). “And it’s sturdy,” Italian because it’s about abundance,” Shauna she adds, “so you can pack it into cellophane muses. “Small bites, but a huge yield, to get you packages for a perfect hostess gift.” through all the coffees you’ve got to have.”
If you aren’t fond of anise’s licorice flavor, make these cookies with lemon extract instead.
Polvorones Gramma’s Sugar Cookies Ask an American to share a favorite brownie “I grew up thinking this most beloved recipe recipe, and you’ll get 14 different versions. was special to my family. And in turn that we The same is true of polvorones, Mexico’s crispy, were geniuses because no one else knew airy answer to shortbread (you may know about it, with its unique additions of vegetable oil, them as Mexican wedding cookies). Some confectioners’ sugar and cream of tartar,” have finely chopped nuts in the dough. Some Shauna writes of these crisp, buttery rounds. are crescent-shape. Some are tinted with “Imagine my bewilderment when I found this food coloring. Shauna’s spin: coating them in exact recipe in a vintage Illinois state cookbook, cinnamon sugar for a churro-like effect. titled Mary Todd Lincoln’s Sugar Cookies.” So, Gramma had great taste.
73 MWL N/D 2019 “In the Midwest, our love of baking is real, and it’s deep. We believe in No Carb Left Behind.”
Sandbakkels “I’m a sucker for the kind of holiday baking that requires a bit of shaping and care,” Shauna says. “A tradition that calls people to a table to share the work, gabbing all the while.” Enter these buttery Norwegian gems. The name means “sand Peanut Better tarts” because the cookies (which, flipped over, can double as Blossoms tiny shells to hold cream and fruit) have such a fine, crisp texture. Risking the wrath of Midwesterners everywhere, Shauna admits that peanut butter blossoms often leave her cold: not enough PB flavor, and the chocolate comes off in one hunk. So she ramped up the nuttiness and ditched the candy kiss (gasp!) for a dollop of creamy ganache. A new classic? We think so—but check back in a generation. MWL
HOW-TO VIDEO Hover your phone’s camera here to watch Look for sets of Shauna making fluted tins in Peanut Better thrift stores or order For recipes, see page 99. Blossoms. them online. 74 MWL N/D 2019