Channukah Cookie Recipe (Best Butter Cookies)

By sheila | December 21, 2008

Happy Chanukkah or Hanukkah!

Tonight is the first night of the Jewish Festival of Lights .

It is a tradition in our family to make latkahs, potato pancakes, cooked in oil to remind us of the oil that burned in the Temple for eight days. We also enjoy my grandmother, Mimi Eva’s butter cookies that are sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and cut
into a dreidel (a four sided top) Star of David (Judaica symbol) and menorah (candelabrum) shapes.

I still use the same cookie cutters that I purchase when our eldest son, Joshua, was a baby, 38 years ago. While preparing the cookies, the mixing (Mimi always said, “You can feel when the recipe is right); rolling out the dough on the wooden cutting board (Mimi gave me when I was a bride, 41 years ago); cutting the shapes and smelling the cookies, while they are baking; restores sweetly delicious memories that resonate in my heart!

My Mimi Eva circa 1973

Mimi Eva’s Chanukkah Cookies or Best Butter Cookies
1C. Sugar
2 Sticks Butter(softened)
2 Large Eggs (beaten)
1 tsp. Vanilla
4 C.Sifted Flour
2 TBS. Baking Powder
1 Pinch of Salt
1-2 TBS Sour Cream (Mimi’s secret ingredient)
Sugar and Cinnamon mixture

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Beat sugar, eggs and vanilla
Sift all dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and salt) together and gradually mix into sugar, butter and eggs. Add sour cream as needed.

Refrigerate until firm.
Roll out on to a flour dusted cutting surface.
Cut into driedel, star of david and menorah shapes or other desired shapes
Place on baking sheet covered with parchment paper or sprayed with Pam
Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon mixture

Bake at 350 degrees for 7-9 minutes depending on your taste and oven temperature.

Makes a lot, depending on how thick you like them. Our family likes them crispy, thin and brown.

I’m off to the kitchen…

Enjoy for Chanukkah, any other celebration or just when you want a delicious butter cookie!

Sheila N. Glazov ~ Author ~ Speaker ~ Educator ~ Personality Type Expert
Please, visit my website to learn more about your Brain Colors, my What Color Is Your Brain? book and workshops.
10% of the royalties from the sale of my book is allocated to JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) .