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Not sure at what point cocoa drop cookies became Christmas cookies. They don’t look like ‘traditional’ holiday bakes.

And it may only be in my tattered imagination that my mother turned out a double batch every year around this time.

JQ and I picked it up more than 40 years ago on what may well have been our first celebration of the holiday together.

At the time our holiday season required travel away from our house. Dividing our time between in-laws, rarely did Christmas day find us around the tree in a space we called home.

This persisted beyond days of young married couple in tiny rental properties. Forced to adapt to other’s holiday practices, it became necessary to carve out our own time.

For many years, holiday time involved evening car trips and nights in spare bedrooms. These annual observations of old rituals grew cumbersome about the time we moved too far away to make our participation practical.

Problem solved  .  .  .  mostly.

At some point we shifted the celebration away from its recognized date, eventually landing on Winter Equinox as an appropriate time to celebrate.

There wasn’t a wholesale dissolution of old family traditions  .  .  .  rather a blending that wouldn’t have been possible at the parents’ place.

Onto this festival observance we brought change. Not change to what had been, but to what we did last year.

It turns out that what we wanted was to mix things up. Perhaps that is why the cocoa drop cookies replaced classic Santa-shaped iced sugar cookies.

It’s origins are shrouded in mystery. My mother’s recipe card file resides in one of our  kitchen drawers.

Most of it’s cards suffer from tattered edges and cooking stains. Nearly all have been copied at least once. Each duplication shifting it farther from its origin.

There are still a few written in Earl’s blocky print or Jackie’s fine cursive hand. Some even offer clues as to the Aunt, Uncle or family friend who shared this treasure.

A well loved recipe, especially for a cookie, is not going to avoid picking up remnants of the baking process and eventually ink fades. All, even the ones in my barely legible hand, share memories of the plates they offered.

What really sets this cocoa infused mound apart is it’s icing. Browned Butter Frosting was one of my early culinary challenges.

It is not easy tending a quarter of a cup of butter to a point of golden brown, while not allowing it to slip into burnt territory.

Swirled on the top of each cookie it pairs perfectly with a rich chocolate cake texture.

Unlikely to have ever been in a  ‘Women’s Day’ holiday cookie spread, it’s perhaps this bend away from tradition that has it permanently on our holiday cookie plate.

At this point it’s not important if it ever was, or when it started, because at our house Cocoa Drops are Christmas cookies.

We’d like to wish you a Merry Christmas, and peace in the new year.

Black Dog Hair Blog will take a couple of weeks off again this year. We’ll start posting second or third Sunday in January  ,  ,  ,  hope to see you then.

.  .  .  in case you don’t have the recipe;