12 Grains of Christmas

This cookie project began when I was talking about pie crusts with my friend Amy Halloran. I use unsifted spelt flour at home, but I tend to make sifted wheat crusts for pies to share. Baking is sharing love, and love contains expectations; I don’t want to risk not meeting those hopes with a pie or cookie that has an uncommon color or taste. Yet I want to share my whole-grain love and joy when it’s time for gift giving!

Staring at my pantry with this puzzle in my mind, I saw at least a dozen flours. I realized I should just bake my pantry for Christmas, the way I do the whole year. I decided each cookie would be single grain.

Amy and I brainstormed a list of grains, and I turned my mind entirely to the task. It’s been a wonderful distraction during the election season and some COVID scares at home and at school. I would think about cookies always, drawing on my experiences growing up in Brazil, and all of my years of baking in my own home in America. I thought about them all day at work – I make lunches at my daughters’ school district. I’d snack on yesterday’s cookies when I got home, and take notes on the recipe I was solving. Then I’d bake a fraction of a batch of another variation, and offer samples at dinner, texting pictures to Amy all the while, asking her questions about flour and thinking long-distance with her about how to approach ingredients. Before bed I fiddled with another recipe, in my notebook and in the bowl; in the morning I’d make that miniature batch as I got us all ready for the day. I tasted cookies at breakfast to see how the flavors developed, how the cookies matured. I certainly have enjoyed the engagement, and the excuse to talk about baking with a friend!

These cookies are familiar but go on an adventure with flavors, and I hope they are an invitation you can offer your loved ones who might not be excited yet about whole grains. And of course, I hope you have as much fun making them as I did working on them. Merry Christmas!

Ellie Markovitch