I don’t normally post recipes…

…but this one is not just a delicious treat, it is a fond memory of love. If you think back on your childhood, (I’m 45, if you’re wondering) you discover that many of your happiest memories have a element of food attached to them.
Every year, my late grandmother, Clara, made these traditional Norwegian Christmas cookies. Light and airy, I ate them by the dozen. After a stroke, her voice (but not her loving heart) was silenced and so were her cookies. After she passed, these cookies came to mind every time I thought of her. Although I asked and asked, nobody seemed to know what I was talking about.  I finally found them by describing them and searching for an image.
A heartfelt thank you to Google and YourSuperchef.com.

So here is why I’m posting this:

1. To remind all who read this take time to break bread with your family and friends. Since everyone has to eat, you are engaging in a common purpose. Even if there is strife among you, we still have to eat. Food opens doors and hearts. Be sure to lavish your compliments on the cooks.
2. Love is shown in many ways. We forget that love is not always easy for some to verbally express. Give them a chance to show it to you in other ways like food.
3. Most importantly, remember to thank your Father God for being your Source and Provider. It’s so simple to do, yet, sometimes we just rush into life without remembering that He sent His Son to be our spiritual sustenance, Bread of Life (John 6:32-35) and Living Water (John 4).

-Alan

In Norway, they’re called “karamellkaker.” Another name for them is lace cookies.
Adapted from http://www.yoursuperchef.com/ caramel-cookies/190

Karamellkaker   

download a PDF of this recipe

Ingredients

2 cups flour
2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
2 cups sugar (pulverized, but not powdered, in a coffee grinder)
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ cup (2 parts corn syrup and one part molasses)
½ cup heavy cream
1½ cups melted butter

Preparation method

1. Mix together all dry ingredients
2. Add the syrup, cream and melted butter, and then mix until smooth and sloppy.
3. Use two teaspoons to place small pats the size of a 1 inch ball on parchment paper.
4. Bake at 350`F for 12-14 min until they start to turn caramel color.
5. Allow to cool for a couple minutes before placing them on a wire rack with a spatula.

Tips
~ There are easily 10-12 batches in this, so having another sheet of parchment ready to go  (slide whole paper off the cookie sheet onto the counter and slide the already completed one on and back in the oven) makes the process much faster.
~ Also, they are supposed to spread out and become very thin to the point that there are holes in them that resemble lace. So don’t put them too close together or you will have to cut out squares instead of natural rounds. But don’t worry; they’ll still be just as yummy.
~ A simple way to make the individual cookies is to put the batter in a one gallon Ziploc bag, cut a corner (a half-inch hole will do), and then just let gravity push out the batter as you drop small blobs of batter onto the parchment paper.
~ UPDATE after making these for a few years, I’ve discovered that the smaller you make them, the more useful they are. And when I say small, I mean a blob about the size of a half to a three-quarter-inch marble.
~ Best stored in an airtight box and out of the reach of everyone else in the house.

Deliciously delicate.
Merry Christmas and God bless you!
Enjoy!