Cookies and Christ
Stories of Faith And Recipes
Knee Deep in the Snow
Winters in Southwest Iowa were very harsh. Snow was often measured in feet not inches. Oft times, I was the daughter selected to go out and help my dad shovel the sidewalks in front of our home. The winter sky darkened in the late afternoon. By the time Dad returned home from work, the streetlamp reflected on the snow giving a strange illumination to our task. The rhythmic sounds of the shovel scraping the sidewalk and Dad’s breath as he worked hard and quick became sounds of comfort to me.
I remember a particular evening that Dad had assigned me to help shovel the walks. I was eight years old, short and scrawny. There had been at least a foot and a half of new snow that day. As I tried to walk down the steps of the porch to the sidewalk in an attempt to catch up to Dad, I could barely move. Every time I put my foot down in the fresh snow, it sank up past my knee. My dad kept turning around and calling for me to catch up. I was trying to be tough, certainly a trait I was known for, and quickly move towards Dad, but I was truly having a hard time moving at all. I began to get frustrated and tears fell down my cheeks. Dad turned around again to call to me and saw me crying. He came back to where I was struggling and pointed to his footsteps in the snow. He told me that if I walked in his footsteps, I wouldn’t get stuck. He had paved the way with his larger boot. We were both headed to the same place and all I needed to do was follow him. And I did. Not just in the snow that night, but in learning to live the gospel of Jesus Christ and learning to enjoy the happiness that it brings to my life.
By this time in my short life, I had heard many stories of Jesus Christ. I had also been encouraged to live as He had in service to others out of His love for God. I had been invited to follow Christ’s example and be baptized, committing to do my best to obey the commandments and remember Him. At times it seemed difficult to choose the right, but it’s in those moments I needed only to remember that the footsteps were there- truly they were everywhere. I needed only to stop struggling on my own and follow Christ.
-JC
As I reflect on thi experience today, I ask myself:
Do I choose to have faith in following Jesus Christ?
Do I have the courage to stand and be converted as a follower of Christ?
When I struggle, do I reach up to Christ in faith?
Coconut Lime Cookies
1 cup soft butter
8 oz. cream cheese
2 cups sugar
2 XL eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon coconut extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream butter, cream cheese and sugar with an electric mixer on medium-high for 1 minute or until fluffy.
Hand stir in eggs, vanilla, and coconut extract; don’t overmix.
Add dry ingredients all at once and mix until fully incorporated. Add 2-3 Tablespoons more flour for high elevation. Chill dough for 2 hours. Scoop out approximately 36+ 1 ½ ” balls of dough.
Gently roll. Place on greased or parchment paper on an aluminum cookie sheet. Flatten to ½” tall.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10 min. Glaze hot cookie with Lime Icing.
Let cool. Frost cookie with Coconut Cream Frosting.
Garnish with shredded coconut and lime zest.
Let set. Share!
Lime Icing
4 Tablespoons lime juice
2 cups powdered sugar
Mix in food processor until smooth.
Spoon into freezer-strength Ziploc until ready to use.
Coconut Cream Frosting
8 oz. softened cream cheese
¼ cup soft butter
¼ cup cream of coconut (Coco Re’al brand works great)
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon coconut extract
1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
Mix cream cheese, butter and cream of coconut until smooth. Add vanilla, coconut extract, and powdered sugar. Mix until fluffy.
Spoon into quart size freezer strength Ziploc until ready to use.
The Library Book
Just a few weeks before I was to begin Kindergarten, Dad told us the empty house next-door had sold and we would soon be getting new neighbors. To my sheer delight, the new family had two girls and one of them was my age! My new neighbor instantly became my best friend. Her dad was the incoming principal at the high school which was adjacent to the elementary school we would soon attend. My friend’s dad arranged for us to have a tour of our new school. Our mothers took this opportunity to show us the approved route we could take as we walked to and from school each day. They walked it with us many times, making sure we knew the way.
A few days later, I was thriving in Kindergarten and excited each day as so many new things were experienced. One day my teacher, Mrs. Graham, introduced us to the school library. It was huge! We were told we could choose a book to borrow, take home and read it as many times as we could in the week! The librarian reminded us to take special care of these books and return them the next week in exchange for another. We all eagerly agreed. On library day the next week, my friend and I met out in front of our homes on the sidewalk at our usual spot. She was so excited to tell me that her dad told her of another safe way we could go to school. I tucked my book under one arm and clasped my friend’s hand as we skipped down the sidewalk on our new way to school. At one point, conflict arose as the sidewalk’s concrete was torn up. It was marked off and we could not pass. We noted our options and justified that since no cars were coming and it would just be a short walk into the street, it would be okay. As I clumsily stepped off the curb, I tripped. Immediate fear overtook me. My fall caused me to drop my library book which fell into the water runoff grate beneath the street. I cried. I cried for my disobedience in not asking my parents if I could go the new way to school. I cried for my scraped up knee suffered when I fell into the street. And I cried for failing to take good care of my library book as I had promised. My friend insisted we should continue on to school and that her dad would take care of everything. I didn’t listen. Instead, I broke another rule- I left my friend alone. I turned around and ran home as fast as I could sobbing the entire way.
Unexpectedly, my dad was still home, having not left for work yet. I poured my regretful heart out to him. I recounted the tragedy as it had unfolded. My dad made a phone call, then took my small hand securely within his as we retraced my steps to the fateful spot. A man from the city met us there. He removed the large bolts and the grate. My dad borrowed his ladder and retrieved my library book! Dad then expressed gratitude to the city worker and walked with me to school. My dad was my hero that day. He made all of my fears and sadness go away.
As a five-year-old, I don’t believe I had much of a capacity to know Jesus Christ more than a man in a great story. However, I believe through the experience of my library book, the foundation was laid for me to understand Christ’s unconditional love and patience. I saw both of these characteristics in my dad when he rescued me. I could begin to understand that we were not placed on earth simply to navigate this experience or struggle on our own.
-JC
As I reflect upon this experience today, I ask myself:
Do I recognize Christ’s Light in others?
Do I recognize that Christ is my Savior to provide salvation which I cannot do for myself?
Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Pretzel Cookies
1/2 cup soft butter
1/2 cup buttered flavor Crisco
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 XL eggs
1 Tablespoon vanilla
3/4 cup cocoa (I use Hershey’s Dark)
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup broken pretzel pieces
2 1/2 cups semi-sweet or dark chocolate chunks or chips
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream butter, Crisco, and sugars with an electric mixer on medium-high for 1 minute or until fluffy.
Hand stir in eggs and vanilla; don’t overmix.
Add dry ingredients all at once and mix until fully incorporated. Add 2-3 more Tablespoons of flour for high elevations.
Stir in pretzel pieces and chocolate chips. Scoop out approximately 24 2” balls of dough. Gently roll. For a richer flavor and smoother texture, form cookie dough balls, flatten slightly and refrigerate or freeze until ready to bake.
Place on greased or parchment paper on an aluminum cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 12-14 min.
Let cool for ten minutes. Pipe caramel dip (produce section of grocery store or make your own favorite recipe) across cookies and immediately sprinkle with coarse sea salt.
Let set. Share!
Cookies and Christ
I was raised in a large family in Southwest Iowa. My parents were blessed with five daughters and then years later our family welcomed a little brother. My dad was not an Iowa farmer by industry, however, we were raised with the simple truths found in the law of the harvest: You reap that which you sow.
When I parallel this to how I’ve come to know my Savior Jesus Christ, it is simple. Through the efforts of planting seeds of faith, then deliberately and repeatedly nourishing those seeds and plants, I eventually could begin to recognize the healthy beautiful testimony that had grown. My testimony has come not through moments of great tragedy nor triumph but rather through small and simple seemingly inconsequential daily events.
So why Cookies and Christ?
I am an emotional baker: happy, sad, worried, elated. Whatever the emotion, I head to my Kitchenaid. Each of my recipes has been tried, tested and changed countless times until I find a combination of seemingly perfect flavor and texture. Through the years, I’ve found that formulating the perfect recipe is just like the progress of my conversion to Christ. Lots of trying…Lots of failing…Lots of cleaning up mistakes…Followed by resolving to try again.
The following compilation pairs two of my favorite things: Cookies and Christ. Each day, December 1-25, I will include a story of faith and one of my favorite recipes. I invite you along for the journey. May you find the motivation to seek Him and serve up a treat to share with love.
– JC
Cookies and Christ 