Holiday Recipes: Jewel Cookies from Deborah Raney
Today I’m thrilled to welcome bestselling author—and one of my all-around, most respected people—Deborah Raney to the blog. I met Deb seven or eight years ago through ACFW (back when it was ACRW) and have always admired her for her talent as a writer as well as her sweet spirit and fabulous sense of humor. Take it away, Deb . . .
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Here’s a recipe that’s a Christmas tradition in my family. Some might think the recipe gets its name from the colorful egg yolk paint, but in fact, these cookies are named after Jewel Fuson, a sweet neighbor from my childhood (to whom I dedicated A Nest of Sparrows). Though Jewel and her husband, Don, had no children of their own, Jewel used to invite all the children of our little farming community to “paint” and decorate cookies at her farmhouse every Christmas. After Don and Jewel moved into town, my sister and her family moved into their farmhouse, and my sister continued the tradition for her children and mine. Jewel often stopped by as an honored guest to eat cookies and sip hot chocolate poured from her musical teapot that played “Tea for Two.” Jewel was spunky into her 90s. She died a few years ago, but I think of her often––especially at Christmastime. My sisters and I inherited some of Jewel’s vast collection of cookie cutters, and that teapot has an honored place in my sister’s house.
Jewel Cookies
1 cup shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup sour milk
5 cups flour
Edible Cookie Paint (recipe follows)
Colored decorating sugar
In a large bowl, cream together shortening, granulated and brown sugars, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. When well combined, add eggs and mix well. With wooden spoon, add milk and flour alternately, mixing until dough is stiff. Chill several hours or up to one week before rolling out.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare Edible Cookie Paint (recipe below). Divide cookie dough into fourths. Working with 1/4 of the dough at a time (returning the remainder to the refrigerator), roll dough to about 1/4-inch thickness and cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Paint cookies with Edible Cookie Paint and sprinkle with colored sugar before baking. Bake just until cookies begin to brown lightly around the edges, about 10-12 minutes. Baking time depends on thickness of cookie dough. For crisper cookies, roll thinner and bake longer, for softer cookie, roll thicker and reduce baking time.
Edible Cookie Paint:
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon water
Food coloring
In a small bowl, beat egg yolks and water until smooth and frothy. Divide into several small cups and add a different shade of food coloring to each until colors are dark “jewel tones.”
As an alternate to painting, cookies may be baked, cooled, and decorated with frosting and candy sprinkles.
About the Author:
DEBORAH RANEY is at work on her 19th novel. Her books have won the RITA Award, HOLT Medallion, National Readers’ Choice Award, Silver Angel, and have twice been Christy Award finalists. Her first novel, A Vow to Cherish, inspired the World Wide Pictures film of the same title. Her newest books, the Clayburn Novels, are from Howard/Simon & Schuster. She and her husband, Ken Raney, have four children and enjoy small-town life in Kansas.
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KayeDacus.com 
These sound wonderful Deb. I discovered the fun of edible cookie paint this past year through my own trial and error experimentation in the kitchen. Such bright fun colors. I made fall leaf cookies (inspired by Wendy Lawton’s) and then Christmas frogs after finding an adorable frog cookie cutter at a local historic mill. I’ve used a butter cookie recipe, but look forward to trying this one too.
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Thanks for sharing this, Kaye! The recipe looks great and the sentiment is even better.
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