Glazed Donut Cookies

I took a page from my aunt Cathryn’s holiday survival manuscript and put aside a day to bake. It’s a tradition for her to buckle down in the kitchen a day each December to bake all her holiday cookies. This is a woman who once made 36 Thanksgiving pies in a day so you really don’t mess with her when it comes baking. She uses the cookies she yields from that one day for all her holiday gatherings as well as hostess gifts. It’s a brilliant idea really. So I borrowed it. We decided it would be more fun to do it with our best friends the Coutts. Duncan and Susanne are not only our dearest friends but the feel like family. We spend most weekends with them and rarely miss seeing them during most holidays. Scarlett refers to their children, Sophie, Chloe and Simon, as her cousins. (No offence to her real cousins!) So we really couldn’t imagine a day of baking (and eating) cookies without them. You’ll also be reaping the rewards of our baking blowout all week as we’ll be bringing you the three great cookie recipes we created that day. Unfortunately, our photographer Maya is likely still cleaning her studio of the flour from that day as well.

Photos by Maya Visnyei

You already saw the Cardamom Crescents yesterday so meet today’s treat–the Glazed Donut or Wreath Cookie. They were originally called Minty Mini-Doughnuts due to the candy cane bit sprinkled on the frosting of the original recipe found on Epicurious. However, we made these so early in the season we couldn’t even find candy canes yet? (How is that really possible since Christmas stuff is in stores in October?!) Instead we used the lemony glaze and gave them some fancy silver balls.

The kids liked to still refer to them at donuts. However, when we set out that day to make cookies I had wreaths in mind. You be the judge of what they look like but I’ll tell you one thing. All that really matters their taste and they were yummy. “So good and not too sweet!” was how Maya described them. I hope that was enough satisfaction for her to justify the mess.

Don’t do this.

Now eat and gift and eat and gift and eat and gift.