After seeing and reading about these cookies on Serious Eats, I had to make them. Why? I know they kind of look unassuming, but there was something about them, something beautiful in their simplicity, that spoke to me. Plus I loooove cinnamon. I just kind of knew they were going to be good. As usual, I was totally right. The recipe was written about by Gina DePalma, Mario Batali’s pastry chef at Babbo. If she was recommending them, I was going to try them. Two days later, they were baking in my oven. The smell of cinnamony goodness throughout the house was intense 
.
The following recipe came from DePalma’s mother’s cookbook, the McCall’s Cookie Collection, published in 1965. Check it out daaaaahlings, I love where it says, “Cookies grandma never made” LOL. Poor granny, to have a snot nose so bitter that they would publish that for all to see! Guess she didn’t buy them the Betsy Wetsy doll for Christmas, and voila… branded forever. Bad granny, bad! If that’s the case I can write a whole book, entitled “Hot Dinners My Mommy Never Made Me.” Take that Mommy! I told you I’d make you pay for not buying me a Make it and Bake it Oven!
The method of cutting the crisps out was a bit unusual. You just kind of create the shapes free form using a ravioli cutter. For that reason, you get all kinds of shapes and sizes. I kind of liked that. Be sure to roll the dough really thin. Think sweet cracker rather than cookie. This recipe is going to go into my collection of keepers. I will be making these again. They are awesome with a hot drink. Comforting. May they transport you back to a time when life was simpler, back to a time before 16 and Pregnant. Seems like in about 20 years from now, there is going to be quite a few volumes of “Food Stamps Mommy Never Spent on Me.”
This recipe makes a whole lot of cookies, but don’t worry, you’ll like them 
.
Swiss Cinnamon Crisps
- 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup (2 sticks, 8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup light or dark brown sugar (I used dark)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
Topping:
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, salt and cinnamon together and set aside.
Place the butter and both sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer and use the paddle attachment on medium speed to cream them together until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Beat in the egg, vanilla, and lemon zest, stopping once to scrape down the sides of the bowl, until the egg is completely incorporated.
On low speed, slowly beat in the flour mixture, then increase the speed to medium and beat the dough until it comes away from the sides of the bowl. Shape the dough into a large disc and wrap it in a sheet of plastic; refrigerate for at least one hour.
When you are ready to bake the cookies, remove the dough from the refrigerator to slightly soften it while you preheat the oven to 350°F and position the racks to the center of the oven. Spray two cookie sheets or rimmed sheet pans lightly with non-stick cooking spray and line them with parchment paper.
Make the topping by whisking together the milk and egg well in small bowl. In another bowl, stir the 1/4 cup granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon. Set both aside.
Divide the dough into three pieces; work with one piece at a time, keeping the other pieces in a cool part of the kitchen. On a lightly floured board, roll the dough into a rectangle shape, 1/8th of an inch thick. Using a sharp knife or fluted pastry wheel, cut the dough into long strips and then into rectangles about 1 1/2 to 2 inches long; squares work well too. (Alternatively, use your favorite cutters to stamp out the cookies into desired shapes).
Arrange the dough strips 1/2-inch apart on the baking sheet. Using a pastry brush, glaze the top of each cookie with the egg and milk mixture and sprinkle them generously with the cinnamon sugar mixture.
Bake the cookies 10 to 12 minutes, or until they are nicely golden brown. Rotate the baking sheets halfway through the baking time to ensure even browning.
Allow the cookies to cool for one minute on the sheet, and then slide them onto a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat as necessary with the remaining pieces of dough.
Store the cookies up to 2 weeks in an airtight container.
Lovely looking crackers! While we’re on the Mom bashing, apparently my mother no longer loves me. She greeted me with a homecoming dinner of an atrocious warm rotisserie (store bought) chicken salad casserole that I could barely choke down. One of those numbers that are topped with crushed potato chips. If that’s the fare she’s serving now, I may have to rethink my family Christmas visit. We’ve all got a bitch, don’t we?
These crackers look absolutely gorgeous! I love that they’re all different sizes too! Merry Christmas!
Love the thin, love the crispy! I want some…NOW!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family
Oh HH you are too funny!! I am sneaking away from Christmas Eve festivities because I needed to see what you are up to before Santa Gets here!! I have this cookbook…I think my mom gave it to me, It was the year I was born.(1965)..hard to believe…LOL. I love seeing those old cookbooks it does bring back memories of my grandmothers, not my mom she doesn’t have a domestic bone in her body and she is the first to admit it, we are as opposite as can be, that is probably why she gave me the cookbook as she would never think to open it! I’ll have to show her this post she will love seeing the cookbook! ( she loves them even though she never opens or reads them). She does a lot of Paris House Bookkeeping etc. for me, I keep her busy with the stuff I loathe, she’s great with numbers, I’m better in the kitchen…so its all good!
Anyway the recipe sounds great!
Have a great weekend, we are going away, see you in 2011
xx
Bunny
Yum! Yum! Yum! Merry Christmas!
oh they are so pretty, and I really like the edges. sweet
wow! this looks so good:) yum!! thanks for sharing this and hope you have a lovely day.
These cookies look amazing – lovin’ the idea of the ravioli cutter. Kinda rustic yet stylish at the same time. One can never have enough great cookies or cookie recipes. Hope your holidays were grand
xo
These sounds wonderful!! Hope you had a very Merry Christmas!!
I love retro everything! These are gorgeous!
I just love sweet crisps like these, they look lovely
These crackers must taste so good! This is on my to-do list! Happy New Year!
Amazing & special festive cookies! I also love the topping,..yummie cookies!
These would also taste great with home made cinnamon tea. Just infuse 1 or 2 sticks of cinnamon bark in 350 to 400 ml of hot breawed water. Infuse for about 10 minutes or until you have the right cinnamon flavour. Remove the barks.
Enjoy!
Circa 1965!!!! Ha ha!
My late grandmother’s house is full of magazines like this, I wish I could hoard them all but my husband has a bit of a problem with me doing that!!!
Nice biscuits. I need to channel my inner Fanny Cradock too.
These look fantastic. I just loooove those old-timey cookbooks. Such fun.