Alie’s Wish Cookies for Christmas

Well, nobody really knows why people make ginger cookies before Christmas, but we truly appreciate the efforts for these delicious tastes and scents. At least, I do a lot! Especially, I love Alie’s cookies which smell of ginger and cinnamon, and taste of vanilla and butter. She always gives me a call before she prepares them. In her warm kitchen, where you can discover various spices, herbs, and ingredients, we bake cookies in several tastes and shapes.

One year, I missed our session with Alie and decided to visit my cousin on Christmas to enjoy her lovely village’s celebrations and New Year markets. Alie had already baked a bunch of cookies and prepared a gift box for me to take some with me.

It was a snowy and cold day; people started to decorate their houses for the New Year. Warm lights illuminated the streets, and candy colors surrounded the environment. I could see happy faces, some were running around to complete the missing items in their kitchens, and some were trying to fit the gift boxes in their cars.

When I hopped onto my train, a 4-hour journey lay ahead of me. After we departed from the station and glided into the silent, snowy valleys, I watched the falling snow from my window and decided to open my gift box; it was time to enjoy the delicious cookies! I'm sure that the vanilla-cinnamon scent, spreading as soon as I opened the lid, filled the entire compartment.

As you know, Alie is one of the gifted storytellers I have ever known, and of course, she didn’t miss the opportunity to share one with me to accompany my trip.

Have you heard about Hansel and Gretel? The lonely siblings who were abandoned in the woods by their father just before Christmas, in the arms of cold and hunger. Because he and his new wife were too poor and incapable to feed the children, the father had to give up on them. Unfortunately, these siblings, whose tragedies began before Christmas, had no drop of water in the cold and damp forest. With only a small piece of dry bread in their pockets and thin sweaters trembling on their bodies, they walked shivering through the dark woods.

They searched for a warm place to crawl inside, maybe a cup of warm soup to fill their empty stomachs. When the hope in their hearts was about to dim, they encountered a colorful candy house made from delicious-smelling cookies, cakes, and many other ingredients, ready just for their sweet tooth. Of course, the little boy ate until he couldn't move, but the girl was clever and waited until she met the owner of the house.

As a result, the witch caught them both because of her brother’s cupidity and locked them in the house until Gretel made a plan to escape. The witch was emotionless, and her skin was leaning toward a color between green and gray. She never sleeps, night and day. Thanks to Gretel’s smartness, they were able to escape, but the boy’s cupidity had already blinded him because of the enchanted cookies he ate all the time, which the witch used as a cursing trap.

They hid in the forest for a while without anything to eat or drink. It became devastating for Hansel; he wanted to live in the candy house, which offered him more than he could imagine. So, he left his sister in the woods while sleeping and turned back to the witch's house to fill his stomach.

Gretel was desperate, but she had to save her brother from the witch before she ate him. So, she went back and got into the cursed candy house of her own free will. Hansel was in an iron cage hanging from the kitchen ceiling. The witch was feeding him with cookies. He was happy and not aware of the situation; his mind was all blurry. So, until she had a plan, Gretel decided to obey the witch's commands.

Meanwhile, she was assisting her with various spells and household chores. Her most essential task every day was cleaning the large oven of the witch, into which she had to fully enter, and ofcourse feeding her brother.

After some long-lasting days for Gretel, during which she fed on stale bread to avoid the witch's enchantments, the witch got hungry and commanded her to burn the oven. Gretel was aware of the witch's plan to eat her brother. So, after her days-long obedience to the witch's commands, she knew she wouldn’t be getting suspicious of her. Thus, she decided to realize her plan to deaden it.

She told the witch that the oven had a problem inside and she needed help to burn it. The witch was too hungry to be passionate; she climbed in immediately to examine the problem. As soon as she was inside halfway, Gretel pushed her into the oven, closed the iron gate, and sealed it for good. She burned it like hell with relief and saved her little brother from the cage.

Before leaving the candy house, she took some of the elixir books of the witch with her.

After so many years, Gretel was still baking the cookies for every Christmas that she ate at the witch's house! Those enchanted cookies smell like ginger, cinnamon and butter, especially made for their sweet tooth, to deceive them and blind them until they became fat enough to be eaten by the witch.

The witch once told Gretel that she had the talent to cast spells and offered to teach her if she accepted to stay, but of course, it didn’t go well.

Anyway, Gretel decided to bake those cookies for her children and loved ones to spread warm happiness in their hearts. She was not capable of putting a strong charm in the cookies, but she could reverse the one the witch made for them. She knew that our brain has the power to change things and if it ignites the right emotional stimulation for its will, nothing would able to roadblock the way. Our starkest emotion is happiness.

So she wrote a spell to sing and ignite the passion in her. While baking, she sang it continually and put the ingredients together.

In winter's hush, a spell is spun, a tale of joy just begun.

As this sweet’s magic you shall wear, blend in a potion, sweetand light!

Golden orbs of warmth and cheer, in every bite, the enchantment near.

Eat with joy, the golden key, unlock the power of your will.

Your very wish, will cast a spark. For those who savor, dreams hold fast.

She preheats the oven to 180°C (350°F) and prepares 3 cookie trays for the 24 people she’ll treat and let them have a wish for the new year!

She softens the 125g butter slowly and mixes it with ⅓ cup sugar, ⅓ cup golden syrup & 1 tsp of vanilla bean paste together until it becomes pale & creamy.

Then comes the egg gradually, and she beats it until combined. Next, she adds 2 cups of plain flour and kneads until it gets smooth.

Kneading is one of the important parts, you know! This is the step where she adds the enchanting song and the magic into the mixture. Also, adding 1 tsp ginger spices, 1 tsp bicarbsoda, and mixing on slow until it's just combined.

Then, she splits the dough into 3 parts and rolls it out to 5mm thickness on baking paper. To make it crusty, it has to be fine. After it chills for 10 minutes in the freezer, it becomes firm enough to cut!

This part is one of my favorites; I love shaping my ginger cookies, as you can see in the gift box, but if you’re going to focus on one simple wish, shape it to represent your wish. It will strengthen the affection!

Sometimes I bake it to gift my loved ones, so I hide small keyword paper inside the cookies. You’ll find one in yours, my dearest!

If you follow the keyword, you’ll start to unlock the walls to reach your wish.

Wish you a beautiful journey!

Alie