Feast Day – December 6th

1c butter
1c lard
2c brown sugar
½ c sour cream
½ t baking soda
4t cinnamon
½ t nutmeg
½ t cloves
4 ½ c flour
½ c chopped nuts (optional)

Cream butter, lard and sugar – by hand with rubber spatula or with electric mixer. In separate bowl, combine spices, baking soda and flour.

Add sour cream to creamed mixture, alternately with dry mixture. Stir in the nuts. Knead dough into rolls. Wrap in wax paper and chill overnight. Roll dough very thin and cut into shapes. Bake 375 for 10 minutes, or until not quite golden.

Catherine Doherty adds…

“On small slips of paper we write a message from the Bible for every member of the family and insert it in the right arm of St. Nicholas. We cook this slip of paper with the cookie. We decorate the cookie to look like St. Nicholas himself and write each person’s name on the cookie with frosting.”

My alterations from making them myself these last few years…

1. They do not necessarily have to chill overnight, only long enough for the fats to harden the dough enough to be rolled out, just like pie crust dough. Minimum of an hour.

2. They may be rolled out to any thickness you like. Thin if you like crispier cookies. Thick if you prefer chewy. Today I made them at least 1/2″ thick and they were great! Just have a well floured surface and rolling pin either way.

3. The dough is a bit hard to work with when you first get it out of the refrigerator. Once it gets warm, it is less likely to break apart and easier to roll out. Feel free to roll out the leftover pieces again and again to cut more cookies. The taste/texture never diminishes.

4. They freeze well.

We make one large cookie in the shape of a bishop which we all share, then little stars and gingerbread men. Ice to your hearts content, decorate the large bishop one with red and white icing, use up the last of the sprinkles in your baking cupboard. They are so good that another batch usually gets made before Christmas.

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