Sarah Kieffer’s Panettone Sugar Cookies

I seem to think about Christmas earlier and earlier every year. Not because I’m writing a list for Santa but because I’m planning out my Christmas cookie boxes and I want to take the time to test out a lot of recipes so I get a good variety of treats. Last year’s boxes were heavy on the classics: chocolate chip cookies, browned butter rice crispy bars, some little gingerbread truffles so this year I’m already looking for sweet things that will expand into new flavor territory.

Sarah Kieffer’s The Vanilla Bean Blog is a great place to go for such inspiration. Not only does she have a section dedicated to holiday recipes, she has helpful notes on what freezes well and things she has baked that have gone over well. I have several of her suggestions on my short list for the holiday box try out.

The panettone cookies were a late addition because I had a strong impression that I didn’t like panettone. Probably because I had an old, dried out piece at some point in the past. I was able to re-visit that opinion when I ate a slice of cake without knowing what it was. Lo and behold, the lovely, springy, citrusy thing I had eaten was panettone. Suddenly the recipe for a sugar cookie with those flavors was very appealing.

As written the recipe is great. I substituted the dried fruit that I had on hand (cranberries and ginger) but kept everything else the same. A version of these cookies will go in the holiday box this year but I’m going to focus more on the cranberry/orange flavor so it will change over time. Until then, these are great chewy sugar cookies with the added plus of a fresh, citrusy aroma that makes the whole house smell gorgeous while you’re baking. Welcome to the holiday cookie box finals, panettone!