Something went wrong, or maybe a few things. I had made a note on the recipe card suggesting that I cut the sugar back another 1/4 cup from the previous alteration, because, “they are plenty sweet.” I am reminded of the story about the farmer who discovered he could add some sawdust to his horse’s feed and save money that way. He kept adding more and more sawdust and the horse seemed to do fine with it, until one day it died.

The recipe must have been just about perfect before I changed it just a little, and then the cookies came out terrible. Was it only the lack of sweetness that made them taste strongly of baking soda with pockets of overwhelming clove flavor? Or perhaps I hadn’t mixed the dough enough? I thought I would have to throw them out.

But wait – couldn’t they be used for something? If I dried them in the oven, and ground them finely in the food processor, I could use them as the basis for different cookies….so I tried just that. To the fine crumbs I added a cube of butter, an egg, and extra sugar and flour. A little more ground ginger and a tiny bit of cardamom. Then instead of dropping the dough by teaspoonfuls I chilled and rolled it, into trees. Now we have crisp gingerbread cookies that surprise the eater with an occasional tiny piece of candied ginger, and that warm your mouth with an even more complex and winning flavor. Alas, never to be duplicated.

This made me brave enough to tackle the other failed cookie product that had been sitting in the freezer for awhile, since the time I made some Russian Tea Cakes but only put in half as much flour as they needed. The buttery, pecan-studded cookie crumbs I had stuck in a jar in the freezer, being unwilling at the time to give up on them.

Now I dug them out and experimented in a similar way, adding an egg, sugar, flour, baking powder and lemon zest. I tried to roll this dough, too, but it would not hold together, so I shaped disks and stuck a pecan half on each one. Behold! Another new and non-repeatable Glad Christmas cookie, which the man of the house has tasted and approved. I do hope nonetheless that I can avoid making a yearly tradition of the Cookie Rescue.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Back to December of 2024… Here (pictured above) is a cookie from the New York Times cooks that I’d like to try making this year: Ginger Cheesecake Cookies

If this one were to flop somehow, I think I would save the pieces to use in a trifle — Haha! Don’t believe it. I have done that before, and have I ever made a trifle of those tidbits? No, I just snack on them until they are gone… So, let’s hope they work out as intact cookies. I promise not to cut back on the sugar very much.

I could have got halfway through a cookie recipe in the time I’ve spent thinking about cookies this afternoon. But no, my butter wasn’t soft. So I’ll take a couple of sticks out of the refrigerator right now, and who knows… maybe tonight….

Hoping your Christmas preparations are peaceful.
I love seeing everyone’s plans and decorations.

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel!