The Twelve Days of Christmas Baking - Day 1: Swedish Fork Cookies

I had to include my Swedish Dala horse and Christmas candles!

Can you believe that Christmas will be here in two weeks?  I know, crazy!  I remember Hubby and I thinking on January 1, how amazed we were that it was 2011 already.  And now we find ourselves in December looking at 2012 just beyond the horizon.  It's truly amazing how fast time really does fly.

So, with only a few weeks left until Christmas and the end of another year, I thought I'd share with you a wonderful cookie that has brought my family and me yummy memories year after year.  It's also one of the easiest cookies you'll ever make.  Swedish Fork Cookies.

The recipe is from my mom, and if anyone knows her, she's 100% Swedish and would probably live in Sweden if the winters weren't so frigid and the summer sun didn't rise at 3am.  Other than that, she thinks it's the best place in the world.  So, it's no surprise that she loves these cookies.

Even if your aren't Swedish, you'll still benefit from a recipe that calls for two sticks of butter, brown sugar and pecans!   The combination creates a cookie that is buttery and flaky.  It just melts in your mouth!  Yum!

If your butter is too warm and soft, your cookie will turn out like the one on the right.

There is one important thing to remember when making this cookie - make sure that your butter is soft but not a gooey mess.  If it's too soft and warm, the cookie will spread out in the oven, and you don't want a flat, ugly cookie.  You want it to be fluffy and light.  So how do you avoid this?  Here are two tips:

1.  Take your stick of butter out of the refrigerator and immediately pop it into the microwave for 10 seconds.  Then zap it for another 5 seconds.  It seems to work every time.

2.  Use up your dough as quickly as possible.  The longer you let it sit out on the counter, the warmer it becomes.  Because of this, I recommend you not double your recipe unless you have a double oven and can zip through your baking quickly.

I'm glad I could share with you one of my favorite cookies ever!  Happy baking!

The Twelve Days of Christmas Baking - Day 2: Cookie Exchanges