Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good cookie

Plus a couple restaurants you might not know are open Christmas Day

Christmas falls inconveniently in midweek for the work week, but it might just make it a little easier to ensure Santa has good, quality cookies waiting for him when he and the reindeer swing by on Wednesday. If Santa isn’t your thing, consider some baking in honor of this here Dood’s birthday on Thursday.

Either way, if you’re hyped for a great Oklahoma bake-off this yuletide season, I’ve got some recipes to consider.

Before we get into upping our collective baking game, let’s talk dining out for Christmas in the 405 diningscape. My good friend JaNae Williams has compiled a partial list of restaurants open on Christmas around town, but I know of a couple she missed. Back in town from Santa Fe to visit friends and family for the holidays, I happened into Magic Noodle in Norman on Sunday for an amazing bowl of Ma La Tang.

The dish is manna from heaven for chile-heads, and the hand-stretched noodle soak up the fiery broth beautifully. The Spicy Beef Noodle Soup is a brilliant counterpoint for sharing, and my old, and I mean very old, buddy Hai Luong can personally vouch for the soup dumplings. Before leaving, I noticed a sign indicating Magic Noodle will be pumping out house-made pasta on Christmas Day.

The other notable local joint opened on Christmas Day is Nic’s Grill. On a lark, owners Justin “Nic” Nicholas and Jovon Bunkley opened for regular service this past Thanksgiving. Response was so good, they’ve decided to repeat the feat on Christmas Day. Nic and Jovon will be slinging burgers from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. If you happen by, don’t be surprised to see this Dood because while the green chile cheeseburgers in the high desert are spectacular, there is only one Nic’s burger with cheese and everythin’.

But before you consider Christmas Day dining, there’s the matter of leaving baked goods out for the Man in Red. Santa leans towards cookies, but my favorite holiday baked good is Nonny’s Harvest Loaf. Introduced to me by dear friend Anne Ferlo in the early 1990s, this spicy-sweet bread loaf works for the Man in Red as well as breakfast around the tree. Wrap itup and save some for Boxing Day. Make two loaves, and freeze one for the nexus of New Year’s Eve and Day.

If we’re talking cookies, there are many ways to go. Me? I’ve always been partial to Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies for Christmas. My mother made them for holiday parties at church, but always made sure there was plenty for Santa, too. Personally, I think Santa likes them best straight out of the oven while the Hershey’s Kiss in the center is still melty. You can also use small Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups as the centerpiece. If you do, maybe consider a standard sugar cookie dough. If you’re a complete peanut butter fiend, go with this recipe. Either way, Santa will be happy.

The Chocolate Cocoa Butterscotch Chip Cookie is ultra decadent, too. Right up the big man’s alley. If you really want to go hog wild for Saint Nick, add some Quadruple Chocolate Knuckle Sandwich Cookies. Kris Kringle is a known Chocoholic, but this time of year he is happy to compound the issue. You’ll be happy to help once you get one of these sweet treats fresh out of the oven.

Peanut Butter Blossom Cups

•1 cup all-purpose flour

•1 teaspoon baking soda

•1/8 teaspoon salt

•1/2 cup sugar

•1/3 cup crunchy baking peanut butter

•1/4 cup butter, softened

•1 egg

•2 tablespoons whipping cream

•1 teaspoon vanilla

•1 12-ounce bag of Hershey’s Kisses of Reese’s peanut butter cups miniatures, unwrapped

Preheat oven to 350 F and grease 36 mini muffin cups or a mini muffin tray with cooking spray.Sift flour, baking soda and salt into a small bowl and set aside.

In medium mixing bowl, use a hand-mixer set on medium for about two minutes to cream together the sugar, butter and peanut butter.

Beat in the egg, whipping cream and vanilla then lower the speed to low and add flour mixture.

Once the dough forms, make 36 1-inch balls and place each into cups or pan.

Bake 12 minutes, remove and press a peanut butter cup into each cookie. Bake 2 more minutes then remove and cool in pan on a rack.

SOURCE: Lila Cathey

Chocolate Cocoa Butterscotch Chip Cookies

•2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature

•1 1/2 cups golden or light brown sugar

•1 egg plus 1 egg yolk

•2 tablespoons milk, half and half or cream

•2 teaspoons vanilla extract

•2 cups all-purpose flour

•1/2 cup premium baking cocoa

•1 teaspoon salt

•1 teaspoon baking soda

•1/2 teaspoon baking powder

•12 ounces butterscotch chips

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda and baking powder in a medium bowl.

Whisk together the eggs, milk and vanilla in a small bowl.

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar with a hand-mixer on medium speed until fluffy and light, 2 to 3 minutes.

Beat in the egg mixture, another 2 minutes.

Gradually add the flour mixture, and mix at lower speed.

Fold in the butterscotch chips until evenly distributed.

Use an ice cream scooper to portion cookie dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheets. Wrap sheets in plastic and refrigerate or freeze at least 1 hour. I froze some dough for about three days with no ill effects.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Unwrap one sheet at a time and bake cookies 15 to 17 minutes. Remove and cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes; slide parchment onto a wire rack and cool to room temperature before eating with cold milk.

SOURCE: Dave Cathey

QUADRUPLE-CHOCOLATE KNUCKLE-SANDWICH COOKIES

Makes 2 dozen cookies

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon table salt

¾ stick unsalted butter, cubed

¾ cup sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons Medaglia D'Oro instant espresso powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup semisweet chocolate chips

½ cup white chocolate chips

1½ cups toasted pecans, coarsely chopped

• Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.

• In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add eggs, then vanilla and espresso, and beat on high speed for 2 minutes.

• On low speed, stir in the melted chocolate mixture until just combined.

• Remove bowl from mixer and fold in the flour mixture with a rubber spatula until just combined.

• Stir in the chips and pecans.

• Place batter in the refrigerator while you preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mine takes 6 minutes 30 seconds to heat up, which allows enough time for the butter in the batter to firm up just enough so the cookies don't spread thin.

• Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Using a small ice cream scoop, scoop the batter onto the parchment-lined sheet. There should have room for eight cookies.

• Bake for 10 to11 minutes.

• While the first batch is cooking, return batter to the fridge and line a second cookie sheet with parchment paper. Just before the first batch is done, prepare another batch on the second cookie sheet.

• Once the first batch is done, slide the parchment off the cookie sheet and let cool on the counter. Return remaining batter to fridge. By the time the second batch is nearly done, the first cookie sheet should be cool enough to prepare for the third and final batch.

• Wrap leftovers well in plastic wrap and store in an airtight container.

• Source: Dave Cathey